display nightmare

I recently was relocated to a new area at work. The previous guy mentioned
that his monitor would shake once in a while like it was degaussing but it
was only temporary. When I moved into his area my monitor began to flutter
all the time, it began to flutter less after a week or so but started to
become out of focus. I reduced the resolution to get by for a while but this
was only a temporary fix. I moved my monitor to another computer in the
office and it was still out of focus so I bought a new monitor.



I was a bit disappointed to find my new View Sonic P225F is fuzzy as well. I
tried running an extension cord to a different area with no positive
results. I relocated my desk to the opposite side of my office and there was
an improvement, but nothing to write home about! I don't have the option to
swap offices so what are my options? Line fricken my walls with lead? I'm so
friggin frustrated right now I could take a bat to the bloody thing!!!

I was kind of hoping it could be a video glitch but do you think I could get
any help from PNY, there fricken website is down and I can't find a flippen
number anywhere.

Sorry for venting guys, but does anyone have a suggestion I'm at my wits end
and I can't think properly anymore!

 

does there happen to be a big electrical cable in the wall in your new work
area? Sounds to me like you're working in the middle of a big magnetic
field....

 

and if you are, you're pretty much SOL-- as far as I know, the only real
cure is moving out of the field....

 

I'm not near any 600 volt equipment, there is a 208 volt breaker box in the
vicinity but I'm actually farther away from the breaker panel than I used to
be. I wonder if it might be worth my while to have an electrician come out
to verify the wiring. We have been setting up a wireless network over the
past month, could that be affecting it?
I've also tried 15" monitor on my computer and it looks good. Is it possible
the 21" monitor is more sensitive to these problems? I've tried my new
monitor on other PC in a different area and it seems to be fine as well.

 

No extender cable. I changed the cable, the VGA to DVI adaptor and tried the
2nd socket on my video card...no luck.

 

Simple test would be to bring in a compass... if it goes crazy, you've
identified the problem, but not necessarily the cause.

The cause could be wires (not necessarily equipment) inside the wall, it
could be a steel framing member that's carrying the field from someplace
else, it could be an MRI machine on the other side of the wall, etc.... As
somebody else pointed out, it could be a defective extension cable.

As to your question about monitor size coming into it--yes, a bigger monitor
should be worse, since the electron path from the gun is longer... the field
has a longer time to act on the electron before it gets to the phosphor....

One possible solution, if you can justify the $$, would be an LCD monitor.

 

Walms,

Pretty typical EMF symtoms. I have some 600KV 3 phase lines close to my
house. They're mounted in out of phase pairs so allot of the EMF is
cancelled, but thier's still enough to mess with my monitor. What I found
was that by setting the monitor to 60hz (yuk) solved the problem in my case.
The only reason I can think of is that I'm being affected by a single wire
(the closest one), and that these 60 cycle waves are in synch with my
monitor. This type of energy degrades with distance real fast. 20 feet away
there's no effect at all, unfortunatly, that's in the living room.

An LCD monitor will probably be the best solution. You can get a good one
for about $700.00

Regards


Mark

 

Are you using an extension on the video cable?

 

I feel your pain. I have seen a couple things cause this. One was a
secretary that was always cold and had an electric heater plugged into
the same power strip as computer stuff (fans will cause the same kind
of problem). The most recent, and harder to discover, was caused by a
large color printer/copier that was in the same power circuit. It was
weird because if the copier/printer was not used for a while it would
go into power-save and the problem would go away. Then whenever a
print job went there and it had to heat up the drum again the monitor
would go dim and start to oscillate. Monitors next to each other
cause something similar. Good luck.

 

I tried a LCD monitor today and it was crystal clear. I contacted View Sonic
to send me a replacement monitor to rule out a defective monitor. If it's
not that I'm going to trade it in for the LCD. Thanks for all the imput
guys!

 

Howcum nobody has suggested a Faraday cage? Use 1/4" "constuction
cloth" (wire mech with 1/4" spacing) and make sure the monitor is
completely enclosed, but with at least a 1/2" clearance all around.
Create a "funnel" shaped extension out away from the monitor screen
front, and put a slot shaped viewing "tunnel" at the end at a
comfortable eye level. Of course you have to make sure the cage is well
grounded. I know it sounds like a kluge (it is), but I'd almost bet
it'll work. If it works it would let your bosses know you are quite
right about the EMF problem also, even if they look at you strange. At
least they'll take your complaint seriously. But do it on a weekend so
they don't think you're entirely crazy if it doesn't work.

But I'd also bet that Mark Mossberg's solution (a TFT screen) would suit
you better.

'Spork'

 

I would do that to the whole room, as low frequency magnetic fields are
suspected to be harmfull to health.