Monitor tinted green - Monitor/Cable OK

[Lord Ned]

Hey everyone, recently I wanted to try SLI to get some more performance out of my games. I have two Geforce 8500 GT's, and I hooked them up no problem. Then, one day I turned my computer on, and everything was tinted green!


On the left side of the monitor I have a zig-zag bar running straight up and down, and the rest of my screen has a wonderful green tint. So after taking the basic trouble shooting steps (Checked the cable connections, etc) and everything still stayed the same, I shut down, pulled the cards out of SLI, and put just one in. I turned it back on, and what do you know, it's still green. I fixed it temporarily by using a VGA to DVI converter and hooking my monitor into the DVI slot on the card, but then I was playing COD4 and the screen started vignetting, and then the black bar showed up and I knew I had trouble.

What I have done:
Tried both video cards on their own in non-sli configuration
Reinstalled GFX drivers, both current and old versions
Tried the monitor on another computer, it's perfectly fine.
Tried both PCI 16x slots in my Motherboard with either card.

What's strange is: The brighter the screen/application, the more pronounced the green effect is and darker the monitor is. So when I have Firefox open with BleepingComputer, it's pretty green and dark. But if I minimize to my spotless black desktop, the green effect is gone (no it's not just hiding), and the only appearance is the zig zag. In addition to this, if I bump the resolution down one notch (From 1440x900 to 1360x768) the green goes away. However, when I went to test COD4 it popped back into it's green status.

GPU-Z reports the temperatures at 53c at idle.


Anyone have any clue what is failing here? I'd say it's drivers/software conflict because it displays fine in the windows XP bootup and welcome screen, but after that it goes kaput. Then again, it could be hardware. Any ideas?


Pictures:
http://i42.tinypic.com/xcmxoj.jpg


Edit:
Okay. I went and played around with a second monitor. I could play Call of Duty just fine on the other monitor, but as soon as I put it back on mine, we had problems. I never actually got back into COD4 -- This is because when I switched the monitors back across it downgraded my resolution. Something about 1400x900 @ 60Hz makes the green happen. Any other resolution is fine. I dunno about lower then 60Hz as it isn't an option, and above 60hz is out of range. However, while my monitor was hooked up to his computer, it was just fine at 1440x900 @ 59.88 Hz.

Where it gets even weirder is shutting down the computer, re-seating the card, plugging it back in, starting her up, and it works fine at 1440x900 @ 60 Hz.


What's going on? Is it my video card, or is my monitor kicking the bucket. (Eek)

[SXRguyinMA]

I vote for your monitor kicking the bucket :up:

[XcOM]

you using dvi or vga?

if its vga i would say either your monitor is going or theres an intermetant break in the cable.

If its dvi i would say the monitor as the cable transmits the colour table

[Lord Ned]

Monitor cable is VGA but it's using a VGA to DVI converter. (Plugged into the DVI slot on my card)

However, it works fine on another computer, at 1440x900 @ Almost 60Hz. So why would it work there and not here?

[XcOM]

it could be your gfx card not liking the monitor? have you installed the drivers and correct colour profiles for the monitors?

[Luke122]

Are you using the same cable and adaptor on another computer?

[Lord Ned]

it could be your gfx card not liking the monitor? have you installed the drivers and correct colour profiles for the monitors?

I don't have a driver disk for the monitor, never have bothered with one. Never have bothered with color profiles either.


Are you using the same cable and adaptor on another computer?

Correct. The cable is imbedded in the monitor (:() so I've been using the same VGA->DVI->Dvi Port on both computers.


I did fix the green tint! I used Powerstrip to force the monitors refresh rate to 75Hz. This made the green tint go away.

This fixed all of my problems for 3-4 days. Then I lost my 1440x900 screen resolution.

When I came home today, I booted my computer up and I was in 1360x768, not my native 1440x900.

I re-installed drivers, I've booted a bunch of times, checked the cables, etc.

I cannot get to 1440x900 in either:
Windows Display Manager
NVidia Display Manager
Powerstrip

I have 1600x900 and 1360x768, but not 1440x900.


Halp. D:

[Eclecticos]

I think it is defiantly the monitor cable, or possibly just the monitor going bad.
I would also check out the monitor in the device manager, update the drivers, and reset the settings to default.
You may also want to check the pins on your DVI cable, to make sure they are not bent or anything.
Also uninstall the video card drivers, and reinstall them.
Make sure they are the updated versions or firmware.

[Lord Ned]

I've updated the video card drivers multiple times with full uninstalls between them.
DVI Converter + VGA Cable pins are Ok -- Can't verify the cable, unfortunately it's fixed to the monitor on one end.
As far as I know they are updated versions/firmware. (Nvidia Geforce 8500, NVidia's site just has 8Series drivers)


Do you think It's worth getting the monitor replaced? It's got a 3 year parts/labor, but I'd still have to pay a effton in shipping.

[XcOM]

run a uge magnet over the top, be careful though, too strong for too long and you can bugger up the monitor, but this should force the tubes to emit LOTs of colour and some times fix them when they get stuck.

[x88x]

Unless I'm halucinating, that there's an LCD not a CRT, guys. Meaning no electron guns. I'd say it's probably the cable having an intermittent break somewhere. if you don't want to get the company to replace it, you could always mod on a VGA port.

[nevermind1534]

I've seen that before, but the problem was just the cable. I think the one I saw was actually tinted green too.

[XcOM]

my bad, thought they were CRT's, not sure where i got that idea from

[progbuddy]

I would say the monitor controller that is built into the monitor is going bad. If it's still under warranty, take it back. If you can. unplug the monitor from its power source and wait a few minutes, then plug it back in. If that doesn't work, then I don't know. Extremely small chance that it is EMI, as it is a VGA cable.

[lonelyboo]

Hey, I am having a simlair problem with my 19" EnVision LCD screen monitor. Well, The problem happened three years ago :P Just never done anything about it. And i believe the warranty is about to run out or did. Not sure.

When i turn on the monitor is a greenish tint. ive also hooked it up to a another compture with same effects. But when i hit the auto progress button on the monitor itself. the color turns normal for just a sec and then quickly goes back to green. anyone have any ideas?. Its a VGA to VGA connector. with them specs anyone think it might just be the cable? or the monitor itself. ill look for another cable and test and see. and let u guys know :lick:

[Drum Thumper]

I'm certain it is a driver issue. Uninstall you video card drivers, run driver cleaner pro or drive sweeper and re-install the drivers in SAFE MODE. If you try to install in what XP defaults to, the find hardware wizard will pop up and **** the install up.

Start there, if that doesn't correct your problem, then start looking elsewhere. Here's a list that I would use:

Reseat video cards
Reverse the position of the monitors
Try different cables
Try different cards (worst case scenario because it is the most expensive route to go)

[Jarod997]

I've seen this before too with a CRT though. The cable was loose. And before you say you already checked, I did read that part. Because the green is coming and going with software settings, I doubt it's the cable. But, here's my 2 cents:

* Screw in all the connectors so they have no chance of coming loose (yes, I know that's a pain with a DVI connector)
* Set the monitor in max rez so that the screen is green tinted
* Grab the VGA cable close to the PC with both hands and work the cable from end to end - bend it around between your hands and see if you can get the image to flicker or change in any way. It's possible the bad cord (if it is) is only affected by a particular resolution & frequency combination.

And here's my 0.5 cents worth:
* Format the hard drive
* Install XP
* Update the video drivers first directly from the website (or download the update to a flash drive and install off that)

If that doesn't work, um, send it back. :( This is why we pay the big bucks for additional warranty.

[haha49]

checked the pins that 1 isnt bent?

[Lord Ned]

Sorry for the late reply but:
Fixed it, got a new system, problem went away.

[Eclecticos]

Replace the fan and pray to God. :D

[Jarod997]

Yup, that method always works. :)

Glad to hear you're up and running again.