What is wrong with my monitor?

[stoocake]

I have a strange problem with my monitor. I was sitting in front of my PC the other day (I wasn't using it at the time) when suddenly the monitor turned from working perfectly normally, to doing what you can see in the picture attached.

I have taken the monitor apart since to see if I could spot any obvious problems like dry solder joints or loose connectors, but no problems, not even any dust or anything.

As you can see, the lower 4/5ths of the monitor has a grey tint to it. The top 3-4 inches are ok, then there is abuot 7 rows of grey tinted pixels, then a single row of normal pixels, then the rest of the monitor has the grey tint.

The monitor does the same thing no matter what PC I plug it into, or which input I use, or resolution I run it at..so it's obviously a problem with the unit itself.

Can anyone recommend a fix? I'd hate to have to buy a new unit.

It's a Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20" by the way.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IH8U]

First, and cheapest. Try to get a different DVI, or VGA cable (have seen this work repetedly) if this still does not fix the issue, then the monitor may be toast.

 

[stoocake]

It does it even in the monitors self test mode with the DVI cable disconnected..

...sounds like it might be dead then 5 weeks out of warranty too!

 

[outlw6669]

It is a known problem with that monitor.

...Generally, this results in the whole screen discoloring, but we have witnessed incidents where the strangest interference will discolor only a portion of the screen. The interconnects between the LCD panel and the monitor PCB could also have some interference along them, or even worse, they may be damaged/unset. In our experience with the Dell 2005FPW, when any of these cables were unset, the monitor backlights quickly switched off. The third culprit may have been the Genesis controller itself, although we would expect the whole screen to discolor as opposed to a small blurry portion. Glare and lighting effects also play their portion of tricks on the eye, and we have diagnosed more than one discoloration problem as reflections from unusual sources.

http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2400&p=10

 

[johnnyq1233]

Dude you got a DELL!...lol

 

[stoocake]

The discolouration is more severe than my picture shows..a definate transition from white to grey.

Also...any images that have been up in the discoloured part of the screen 'burn in' for a couple of minutes after you switch to a different image..eg you can see the outline of youtube website faintly if you've watched a video then gone to a site with a different colour background. Then the 'burn in' becomes the new background until you switch.

Very strange