2nd Monitor Stopped Working... Permenently

Hello,

I've got an issue I've never seen before as a tech/network engineer...

I have a dual monitor setup with an nVidia GTX280 running Windows Vista x64. Originally I had a 21" Gateway HD capable LCD screen as my main and a Samsung 17" flat panel as my 2nd monitor, both connected with DVI. It worked fine for _YEARS_ but eventually and very slowly, the 2nd monitor started exhibiting very strange behavior, every now and then the screen would display all lines, but would be fine if I shut it off and back on again. Over time the symptoms got worse, it would repeatedly just think it had no signal, and eventually turning it on and off again several times would fix it. In the end it was acting like it had a signal, but I would get no picture. The power button would no longer turn the monitor on and off, and it also started flashing in an erratic pattern different from the no-signal pattern, like it was getting a signal and immediately losing it or something. Once this happened, I tested the monitor on several different computers using both DVI and VGA, with the same result. I thought the monitor had simply just gone out until it recently started happening AGAIN with the new monitor configuration I've been using for less than 3 months. I know have an Asus 25.5" and am using my older Gateway as a 2nd monitor. The Gateway is now ehibiting many of the same symptoms as the old Samsung, however it seems to have skipped the early stuff and has gone straight into the no-picture-power-button-doesn't-work phase. I can still get it to give me a picture by turning it on and off several times from the surge protector, but I'm concerned that leaving it connected will eventually cause permanent damage like what happened to the last one, if it hasn't already. This is a much more expensive monitor, and I really can't afford to replace any hardware.

If anyone has seen anything like this before and has any ideas for me, please reply! In my 15 years of professional experience I've never seen a computer fry a monitor like this, but it figures it would be my own equipment the first time it happens.   Thanks for any input!