User question
Hello.
I have enough old computer(already 8-10 years old, I took it from my hands especially for giving). I recently reinstalled Windows on it and the screen started to flicker a lot. Eyes get tired quickly, especially on a white background (very noticeable).
How can this blinking be removed?
PS The disk from the previous owner with the drivers - completely "rummaged" and installed everything that was on it. Did not help...
Good day!
In general, both very expensive monitors and cheap ones can flicker. (both old and new)... And many users are very mistaken, thinking that such disadvantages of monitors are somewhere in the past. In fact, your eye may not see the flicker, but it will (for example, you can indirectly notice this by how quickly the eyes get tired)! I will show examples below.
As for the author of the question, the reason for the flickering, judging by his description, is associated with the low refresh rate of the screen (especially, this is true on old PCs where CRT monitors are used (these are so "thick", see on the right in the preview picture)). As a rule, to eliminate this problem, it is necessary to install the appropriate drivers for the monitor and video card, and then configure them correctly.
In the article I will analyze these and other reasons in more detail. So...
by the way, I want to add here ... If, among other things, ripples are observed on your screen, vertical and horizontal stripes run around, distorting the image (as in the example below), then you better read this article first:. In it, I pointed out the main reasons for this "behavior" of the monitor / PC ...
By the way, there is a very good way, find out if your screen is flickering (blinking) a lot. Most modern smartphones are equipped with a camera: so turn on the camera and just focus it on the screen (no need to take pictures, just watch)... It will perfectly show if your monitor is flickering.
As a rule, if something is wrong, you will see on your smartphone how vertical / horizontal stripes run (usually, from top to bottom (from left to right)). This is the very flicker we're talking about. See example below.
Monitor 1 and Monitor 2 - Note the stripes on the second (test using your phone)
A few words about modern and CRT monitors
Modern monitors, as mentioned above, may also flicker. (moreover, even if you just brought it from the store, and just from the glance, it is imperceptible)... To see if there are these stripes, use the smartphone's camera, or an ordinary pencil (they need to quickly wave in front of the screen and see how his silhouette will be displayed (see example below)).
This may happen due to the peculiarities of the monitor backlight. (this is not a marriage, and for this reason the monitor cannot be returned! To protect yourself from such models, you need to personally test the device in a store)... As a rule, a similar feature appears when dimming!
Those. the monitor can work fine at 80% brightness, but when you try to set it to 40%, you will see (on a smartphone) how the screen starts to flicker (and especially in my opinion, this is not good).
As a rule, better monitors (in this aspect) use eye protection technologies (Flicker Free, SoftBlue, SmartImage, etc.).
But, I personally came to the conclusion that all this does not give a 100% guarantee. And the best way out is to check the operation of the monitor upon purchase - i.e. ask the seller to turn down the brightness, open a clean White list and point the camera (or buy something specific, which you have already looked at in reviews and tests).
If you already have a flickering monitor, then, as an option, you can try to fix the problem like this: turn up the brightness (only here you should also exercise measure), and increase refresh rate (if possible). Usually, if you decrease the screen resolution, you can increase the refresh rate.
As for CRT monitors, then at a frequency below 85 Hz screen refresh- it is highly discouraged to work ()! On newer LCD monitors, it is allowed to work at 60 Hz (since the principle of their operation is different).
But I note that, nevertheless, if your monitor is capable of operating at a higher frequency, it is recommended to set it exactly. Below I will show you how to find out the current frequency, and how to change it ...
Adjusting the refresh rate of the screen
Method # 1
Press the button combination Win + R, a small window should appear "Run"... In the "Open" line enter the command desk.cpl and press Enter.
Next, you should open the display settings: depending on the version of the Windows used, the settings screen may differ slightly. For example, in Windows 10, you need to open the "Graphics adapter properties" link.
In the subsection "Monitor" there should be a tab "Screen refresh rate". Actually, you click on it and change the frequencies to the highest that your monitor supports.
An important point!
If you do not have drivers installed on your monitor or video adapter, then almost certainly you will not be able to set any modes other than 60 Hz (even if your monitor supports them!). In this regard, I recommend using special ones (they will automatically check all your equipment and update everything that is needed).
Method # 2
If you have a driver for a video adapter, then just right-click in any free space desktop, and then in the context menu that appears, select their settings (in my case, this is "Intel Graphics Settings").
As a rule, in the main section you can specify the refresh rate, resolution, adjust brightness, scaling and other parameters.
About drivers
If you installed all the drivers from the disk (which came with your PC), then it is far from the fact that all of them correctly "got up" in the system. Often, when, after changing the Windows OS, old drivers, even if they can be installed, they do not work correctly ...
To check if you have a video driver on your system, open device Manager (for this use the combination Win + R, then the command devmgmt.msc ).
In Device Manager, expand two tabs: Display Adapters and Other Devices.
If you have a video driver installed, then in the "Video adapters" tab you should see the name of your video card (without exclamation marks).
If there is nothing in the "Video adapters" tab, or "Standard VGA video adapter" appears (or "Video controller VGA compatible") - then there is no driver on your system. An example is shown in the screenshot below.
Actually, I have a "big" article on my blog dedicated to updating the video driver. I recommend that you check it out if you have a problem with this.
ADDITION!
By the way, after installing modern Windows 10, you may encounter the fact that the driver in your system will be (ie the device manager will show you that everything is "OK") , but you will not find links to its control panel. In this case, you also need to reinstall the driver by downloading it from the official website (see the link to the instructions above).
About cables and cords
The problem with the flickering picture on the monitor screen may be due to a damaged cable. Often, by the way, when pets damage him ...
By the way, it is very desirable to fix the cable (at least with scotch tape (the ideal option is special clamps, see photo below)) so that it does not "dangle" in a slight draft, when someone passes by, or you sit down at a computer desk ...
About malfunction of the monitor, video card
Also, I can not help but note that the distortion of the picture on the screen often signals hardware malfunctions (that is, there is a problem in the hardware). It is not always easy to diagnose for sure which one ...
To begin with, I recommend connecting your computer (laptop) to another monitor; and the current monitor to another PC. Thus, you can immediately find out where to look for the cause of blinking on the screen: in the system unit or in the monitor (sorry for the tautology).
As an add-on!
How to connect a monitor to a laptop -
As for the video card, you can use to check it special utilities that are capable of performing a stability test. You can find out how to carry it out from the article below.
Checking the video card for performance, test for reliability and stability -
I know that many people do not pay attention to various flickering and distortions on the screen. However, purely my opinion - you shouldn't leave it unattended! The fact is that a poor-quality picture on the monitor not only spoils the impression and emotions (God would be with them), but also affects our vision! , tense up, start to watery, etc. Extra health problems, as if none of us need it ...
Here are the TOP 10 most common LCD monitor malfunctions that I felt the hard way. The rating of faults was compiled according to the personal opinion of the author, based on the experience of work in service center... Think of it as a one-stop guide for repairing virtually any LCD monitor. Samsung firms, LG, BENQ, HP, Acer and others. Here we go.
I divided the malfunctions of LCD monitors into 10 points, but this does not mean that there are only 10 of them - there are many more, including combined and floating ones. Many of the breakdowns of LCD monitors can be repaired by hand or at home.
1st place - the monitor does not turn on
in general, although the power indicator may blink. In this case, the monitor lights up for a second and goes out, turns on and turns off immediately. At the same time, twitching the cable, dancing with a tambourine and other pranks do not help. Tapping the monitor with a nervous hand usually doesn't work either, so don't even try. The reason for such a malfunction of LCD monitors is most often the failure of the power supply board, if it is built into the monitor.
Recently, monitors with an external power source have become fashionable. This is good because the user can simply change the power supply in the event of a breakdown. If there is no external power source, then you will have to disassemble the monitor and look for a malfunction on the board. in most cases, it does not represent work, but you need to remember about safety precautions.
Before fixing the poor fellow, let him stand for 10 minutes, unplugged. During this time, the high-voltage capacitor will have time to discharge. ATTENTION! DANGEROUS TO LIFE if the PWM transistor burns out too! In this case, the high voltage capacitor will not discharge in an acceptable time.
Therefore, EVERYONE before repairing to check the voltage on it! If a dangerous voltage remains, then you need to manually discharge the capacitor through an insulated about 10 kOhm for 10 seconds. If you suddenly decide to close the conclusions, then take care of your eyes from sparks!
Next, we proceed to inspect the monitor's power supply board and change all burned-out parts - these are usually swollen capacitors, blown fuses, transistors and other elements. It is also MANDATORY to solder the board or at least inspect the soldering under a microscope for microcracks.
From my own experience I will say - if the monitor is more than 2 years old - then 90% that there will be microcracks in the soldering, especially for LG, BenQ, Acer and Samsung monitors. The cheaper the monitor, the worse it is made at the factory. Up to the point that the active flux is not washed out - which leads to the failure of the monitor after a year or two. Yes, yes, just when the guarantee ends.
2nd place - the image blinks or goes out
when the monitor is turned on. This miracle directly indicates to us a malfunction of the power supply.
Of course, the first step is to check the power and signal cables - they must be securely fastened in the connectors. A flashing image on the monitor tells us that the monitor backlight voltage source is constantly jumping off the operating mode.
3rd place - spontaneously turns off
after the time has elapsed or does not turn on immediately. In this case, again, three frequent malfunctions of LCD monitors in order of frequency of occurrence - swollen electrolytes, microcracks in the board, faulty microcircuit.
With this fault, a high-frequency squeak of the backlight transformer can also be heard. It usually operates at frequencies between 30 and 150 kHz. If the mode of its operation is violated, oscillations can occur in the audible frequency range.
4th place - no backlight,
but the image is viewed under bright light. This immediately tells us about the malfunction of LCD monitors in terms of the backlight. In terms of the frequency of occurrence, it could be put in third place, but it has already been taken there.
Option two - either the power supply and inverter board burned out, or the backlight lamps are faulty. The latter reason is not often found in modern monitors. If the LEDs are backlit and fail, then only in groups.
In this case, there may be a darkening of the image in places at the edges of the monitor. It is better to start repairs with diagnostics of the power supply and inverter. An inverter is the part of the board that is responsible for generating a high-voltage voltage of about 1000 volts to power the lamps, so in no case should you try to repair the monitor under voltage. You can read about it in my blog.
Most monitors are similar in design, so there shouldn't be any problems. At one time, monitors simply rained down with a breakdown in contact near the tip of the backlight. This is treated by the most careful disassembly of the matrix to get to the end of the lamp and solder the high voltage wires.
An easier way out of this unpleasant situation can be found if your brother-in-law friend has the same monitor lying around, but with faulty electronics. It will not be difficult to blind from two monitors of similar series and the same diagonal.
Sometimes even the power supply from the monitor larger diagonal can be adapted for a monitor with a smaller diagonal, but such experiments are risky and I do not recommend starting a fire at home. Here in someone else's villa - that's another matter ...
6th place - spots or horizontal stripes
Their presence means that the day before, you or your relatives had a fight with the monitor because of something outrageous.
Unfortunately, household LCD monitors do not provide shockproof coatings and anyone can offend the weak. Yes, any decent jab with a sharp or blunt object will make you regret it.
Even if there is a small trace or even one broken pixel, over time, the spot will begin to grow under the influence of temperature and voltage applied to the liquid crystals. Unfortunately, it will not work to recover the dead pixels of the monitor.
7th place - no image, but backlight is present
That is, there is a white or gray screen on the face. First, check the cables and try connecting the monitor to a different video source. Also check if the monitor menu is displayed on the screen.
If everything remains the same, we look closely at the power supply board. In the power supply of the LCD monitor, voltages of 24, 12, 5, 3.3 and 2.5 volts are usually formed. You need to check with a voltmeter if everything is in order with them.
If everything is in order, then take a close look at the video signal processing board - it is usually smaller than the power supply board. It has a microcontroller and auxiliary elements. You need to check if food comes to them. With one touch the contact of the common wire (usually along the outline of the board), and with the other, go over the pins of the microcircuits. Usually food is somewhere in the corner.
If everything is in order in the power supply, but there is no oscilloscope, then we check all the monitor loops. On their contacts. If you find something, clean it with isopropyl alcohol. In extreme cases, you can clean it with a needle or scalpel. Also check the board with the monitor control buttons.
If all else fails, then perhaps you are faced with a case of a failed firmware or a failure of the microcontroller. This usually happens from surges in the 220 V network or simply from aging of the elements. Usually, in such cases, you have to study special forums, but it is easier to start up for spare parts, especially if you have a familiar karate fighter fighting against objectionable LCD monitors.
8th place - does not respond to control buttons
This case is easily treated - you need to remove the frame or back cover monitor and remove the board. Most often there you will see a crack in the board or in the solder.
Sometimes there are faulty or. A crack in the board violates the integrity of the conductors, so they need to be cleaned and soldered, and the board must be glued to strengthen the structure.
9th place - reduced monitor brightness
This is due to aging of the backlight lamps. LED lights according to my data does not suffer from this. Deterioration of the parameters of the inverter is also possible due to aging of the constituent components.
10th place - noise, moire and image jitter
Often this happens because of bad VGA cable without suppressor of electromagnetic interference -. If replacing the cable does not work, then power supply interference may have entered the imaging circuits.
Usually they get rid of them schematically by using filtering capacities for power supply on the signal board. Try to replace them and write to me about the result.
This completes my wonderful rating of the TOP 10 most common LCD monitor malfunctions. Most of the breakdown data is collected from repairs of popular monitors such as Samsung, LG, BENQ, Acer, ViewSonic and Hewlett-Packard.
This rating, it seems to me, is also valid for and. What is your situation on the LCD monitor repair front? Write on and in the comments.
Best regards, Solder Master.
P.S.: How to disassemble a monitor and TV (how to snap off the frame)
Most FAQ when disassembling LCD monitors and TVs - how to remove the frame? How do I release the latches? How to remove the plastic from the case? etc.
One of the craftsmen made a nice animation explaining how to disengage the latches from the body, so I'll leave it here - it will come in handy.
To view animation- click on the image.
Friends, let's talk about an equally important topic - the convenience of using a computer, namely the clarity of the fonts displayed on the monitor.
Many of us work at the computer all day. And of course they know how tired the eyes are. But do not many of us do special exercises every day to relax our eyes, I think not.
Let's help our health at least a little and define the necessary clarity of fonts.
Microsoft has already thought about our eyes and offers us its technology ClearType. This technology Designed specifically for LCD monitors, it provides anti-aliasing for fonts for improved readability. ClearType displays words on a monitor screen as crisp and clear as if they were printed on a sheet of paper.
Now let's adjust the clarity of the fonts.
- 1. Let's go to the menu “ Start", Further into the section" Control Panel”, Then select“ Design and personalization”(You can use search windows for other OS, see below)
- 2. In the window that opens, we find the section “ Fonts"And below click on the link" Customizing ClearType Text”. A new window will open.
On windows 10 it will be in the same section.
- 3. Check the box “ Enable ClearType", Click on the button below" Further”. A new window will ask you to install optimal resolution for the screen. After making the appropriate setting, press “ Further”.
- 4. You will be asked sequentially in 4 examples to choose the best text display option. After making the appropriate settings, click the "Finish" button.
Setting the font size
If you think that the font displayed in applications is too small, and you constantly strain to read something on the screen, then you just need to increase the default font size.
To do this, go back to “ Control Panel” –> “Design and personalization"-> click on the item" Fonts"-> then on the right side of the control window select" Changing the font size”And select the most convenient option.
And now we are happy with the result. Our eyes will definitely thank us now.
Quite often when used on stationary computers On LCD monitors, you may encounter a problem with the image on the monitor becoming blurry. Why did this happen, because until a certain point everything was normal? To answer this question, you need to understand what is the cause of this phenomenon, and only then take the appropriate troubleshooting action. Let's try to identify the most common causes.
Why does a blurry image appear?
Speaking about the reasons for this phenomenon, almost all experts identify several of the most common, among which the following can be called the main ones:
- damage to the VGA cable or loose contacts on the connectors;
- incorrect settings of the monitor itself;
- inconsistency between monitor parameters and operating system settings;
- driver problems.
Note: sometimes this list includes incorrect installation Windows updates, which most often can be found for some reason in the seventh modification. This is due to the fact that some updates (and this is confirmed even by specialists from Microsoft) are simply incomplete, and they contain updates for all kinds of VGA drivers, which lead to unwanted effects.
In this case, as soon as you notice the appearance of a blurred image on the monitor, the last installed updates must be removed manually, using at least the item for viewing installed updates in the programs and components section, which is called from the standard "Control Panel".
More effective remedy you can name the use of specialized uninstaller programs like iObit Uninstaller. True, in both cases it will be necessary to re-search for updates in manual mode and exclude from those found those that do not need to be reinstalled (as it is already clear, updates are deleted one by one with a reboot and checking the system operation). As more simple solution you can offer the Show or Hide Updates utility, developed directly by Microsoft Corporation.
The simplest method to eliminate unwanted visual effects
But, suppose that the updates are all right, or their installation is presumably disabled by the user. In most cases, it is believed that the appearance of a blurred image on the monitor can be caused by physical damage the cable that connects the monitor to the stationary system unit... Try simply unplugging the plugs and then reconnecting. If this does not help, "ring" the cable or replace it with a new one. If possible, use an adapter to HDMI (the image stabilizes immediately).
If everything is in order with the cable, try calling the built-in menu of the monitor and try to adjust the clarity of the picture by changing the own parameters of the device, after reading the technical documentation.
How to get rid of blurry image on the monitor in Windows 7 or other OS?
As for system settings, you can check them quite simply. In an empty space of the "Desktop", make a RMB and select the item of the screen parameters. In the settings, first of all, pay attention to the set resolution.
Almost all monitors are set to the recommended value by the system. If it is changed for some reason, install the one you need. Outdated monitors absolutely correctly can work in only one mode, but some support several possible ones. Also check the refresh rate settings. First, set it to 60 Hz. However, if the device supports the use of a higher frequency, it is better to use it (it is believed that the higher this indicator, the better the picture).
How to remove blurry image on the monitor in Windows 10?
When you call the above setting item from the "Desktop" in the tenth version of the system, you will be redirected to the appropriate section located in the parameters menu.
If the option to increase the scale with a value of 125% is enabled, as well as the options for the sizes of panels and windows are changed, set the recommended parameters.
Note: if a computer or laptop does not have a discrete, but an integrated video card, to eliminate a blurry image on the monitor, you can adjust the necessary parameters using, for example, the built-in Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel. If there are special control programs for discrete graphics adapters, it is recommended to change the settings not only in operating system, but also directly in such applications (at the same time, by the way, you can also test the chip together with the monitor).
Driver update issues
Finally, outdated drivers of the video card itself can lead to the appearance of a blurry image on the monitor. Update them Windows tools completely impractical. For optimal effect, use the search for the latest control software updates like Driver Booster. In the case of discrete graphics adapters it is better to use specialized applications from the chip manufacturer.
As a last resort, you can find the necessary drivers either on the manufacturer's website, or search by special hardware identifiers VEN and DEV, which can be determined in the "Device Manager" (through the properties on the details tab), as shown in the image above.
Most often, an ordinary user has the following causes and malfunctions:
Hardware "inconsistency" between the monitor and the computer's video card;
Damaged cable;
An unsuitable driver, and not necessarily a display - most often a video card.
The main reasons due to which the image on the computer monitor is unclear
In order to diagnose and fix such problems, you need to do the following.
1. Use a modern digital monitor connection
Almost any modern monitor being connected in this way, he himself can perform auto-tuning to the best parameters. Usually this is done through a fairly simple and intuitive menu of the monitor - by selecting an item called "Auto-tuning".
2. Configuring image output parameters.
Limit specific hardware capabilities. First, set everything to default (brightness, color, temperature), and set the frequency to 60 Hz.
note! This must be done both on the device itself and in software video cards. It should be remembered that the monitor driver is far from so important - it is usually responsible only for accurate color reproduction, but not for various subtle settings, such as anti-aliasing or frequencies.
3. Configuring and updating the video card driver
There is often a problem when in standard settings the video card does not have a resolution supported by the display. This is solved by reinstalling or updating the video card drivers, or changing the resolution on the monitor, if possible from its menu.
Important: modern video cards are very complex and functional devices. The number of setting points for them is in the hundreds. Ultimately, it may turn out that all the problems with the image arose from one deeply hidden item, for example, "Stretch Unfold" in the "Scale Settings".
To avoid such problems, it is better to use the standard defaults and not try to get the perfect picture through the advanced options. This should be done only with a clear understanding of what a particular menu item is responsible for.
