Monitor or graphics card going bad??

[Carl Harsch]

My 3 or 4 year old Apple Cinema Display is beginning to exhibit some texture and magenta splotchy color casts (see link  for screenshot).  I regularly calibrate the monitor using an Monaco OptixXR.  It is being powered by an NVidia 6600GT graphics card on a Windows XP system.  My question is:  Could this simply be a case of the monitor beginning to fail or the graphics card beginning to fail?  This is a new issue with a monitor that I have otherwise been very happy with prior to this.

[DarkPenguin]

I'm not on my good monitor but, on this horrible one, I can't see what that arrow is pointing at.

Video cards usually fail by showing odd corruption or simply crashing.

[Carl Harsch]

I'm not on my good monitor but, on this horrible one, I can't see what that arrow is pointing at.

Video cards usually fail by showing odd corruption or simply crashing.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192481\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The arrow is pointing at some wavy lines -- it almost looks as if it were a backdrop with wrinkles in it, or beach erosion in the sand.

[Plekto]

That's the screen's shadow mask slowly dying.   It's also likely suffering from older caps and circuitry, so it doesn't keep things as closely in focus as it once did.

Try reducing the monitor's resolution a notch and see if it goes away.  If it does, then the monitor is suffering the effects of age.  (mine at home is sorely in need of replacement as I can't see text clearly at 1280*1024 any more)

[Carl Harsch]

Thanks for that info (bad as it is  ).  I did try reducing resolution to no avail.  I guess it's time to start considering what new monitor I want to go with and what budget I want to stay within.

[Wayne Fox]

That's the screen's shadow mask slowly dying.   It's also likely suffering from older caps and circuitry, so it doesn't keep things as closely in focus as it once did.

Try reducing the monitor's resolution a notch and see if it goes away.  If it does, then the monitor is suffering the effects of age.  (mine at home is sorely in need of replacement as I can't see text clearly at 1280*1024 any more)
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192574\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'm not aware of an LCD monitor that uses a shadow mask ... I thought that was a CRT technology?

Is the image a screen grab or a picture you took with a camera?  I can't see anything out of the ordinary looking at the image ... no wavy lines.

Have you tried the monitor on a different computer?  That would be the easiest way to see if is a monitor problem.

[Plekto]

I thought it was a CRT.  My error.

If that's a LCD, then the control circuitry is bad. It's fixable, but it may cost what a replacement monitor does.

[Carl Harsch]

Is the image a screen grab or a picture you took with a camera?  I can't see anything out of the ordinary looking at the image ... no wavy lines.

Have you tried the monitor on a different computer?  That would be the easiest way to see if is a monitor problem.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192700\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It's a screen grab.

I will try another computer.  I was thinking about taking it to the local Apple dealer and hooking it up there, but maybe my wife's laptop can drive it.  Good idea.