Monitor Issues

[Zephik]

My brother came home with a 19" monitor that he couldn't get working, so he gave it to me. Its a Princeton 19". It seems to work but not really.

When I plugged it all in, it said something like "not synced". So I went into display options, clicked "detect" and that showed my desktop background on the monitor for like a second and then it just goes black. When I turn it on and off it does the same thing. The LED light is green and not orange now too, whereas before when it wasn't detected or synced it would turn orange.

Pretty strange. I'm not really sure whats wrong with it but it seems to work so I figured it was investing my time into.

[x88x]

The led being orange means that it was in power-saving mode, probably because it couldn't find a usable signal. The problem you're having now is most likely the backlight and/or inverter. If it's the inverter it might be a relatively cheap fix, but if it's the backlight itself, it's probably not worth the cost to replace it.

[Zephik]

Well I have two spare monitors, both Dell branded. I wonder if I could use the parts from them?

It's just weird that the screen only comes on when I either apply new settings or turn it on. The screen doesn't come on very bright either, btw.

[x88x]

I'd be very cautious trying boards from different monitor models (let alone manufacturers), but I'd recommend at the very least making sure the voltage put into the inverter and controller boards are the same before trying that. The fact that the backlight comes on when you change settings is a little troubling...that makes it seem like the controller board might be going too (in which case it'd probably not be worth the cost of repairing). Repairing dead LCDs can definitely be very fun and profitable, but if the wrong part is broken....you're kinda screwed.

[nevermind1534]

Try changing the refresh rate?

[x88x]

Try changing the refresh rate?

Most LCDs should deny outright any signal outside their set refresh rate (key word being should). My money's still on the inverter. It seems like it might jest be trying to turn on every time it gets a different signal from the controller board, turns on, overloads, and dies.

[Zephik]

Try changing the refresh rate?

Tried that, no luck.