Six year old LCD monitor developed buzzing sound and flickering problem

[DillySix]

I've had this monitor for nearly six years now, so I realize it's probably time to move on, but I just want to make sure it's at the end of it's life before I buy a new one.

Recently, my monitor (a Dell ST2010) started flickering, usually just after being turned on or being woken up from sleep. I had just updated to Windows 10, so I chalked it up to a driver issue and just lived with it, waiting for updated drivers to fix it.

But now, the flicker is present almost constantly, although it's a very subtle flicker that is much more dramatic just after start-up or resuming from sleep. Also, a buzzing noise has developed that accompanies the flicker. I found that turning the monitor brightness down reduces the buzzing to nearly inaudible levels, and also seems to tone down the flickering as well.

After a bit of research, I'm guessing that it's a capacitor going bad, and that I'll either need to open up the monitor and solder on a new capacitor (which I have no experience with at all), or get a new monitor. Is there anything else that could be causing this?

Thanks!

 

[SchizTech]

A sure way to tell is to run the monitor off a different PC (even a laptop with a VGA port). In fact if it's a power issue inside the monitor it should happen with nothing attached at all.

That said, it's almost certainly the monitor, and if I were you I'd take it as a chance to upgrade to a slightly larger or higher res screen if possible. But then I like me a big screen.

 

[ffg7]

I'm thinking a capacitor too possibly on the power board if the monitor uses a regular power cord not a power adapter.