Monitor Dying?

[LunarMist]

There is a thin yellow stripe visible near the left side of my LCD monitor, especially when it is just on for a while. :bibber: Has anyone experienced such a vertical stripe on their LCD monitor and did the display deteriorate further afterwards?

Now I fear it is the beginning of the end, so if the defect becomes permanent a repair will be needed and/or a new display would be in order. The major concern is that the yellow stripe is intermittent and with my luck the service center will find no problem. I think the display is still under warranty (purchased November 2005). Otherwise I assume that repair would not be economical. Ordinarily I would not care much, but it is an $1800 monitor. Also, I know exactly how the calibration relates to the printers and every monitor type is a bit different.

 

[ddrueding]

I've seen similar stuff on laptop LCDs, but it was due to mishandling. I doubt that is the case here. Is the line perfectly vertical? How many pixels does it affect?

 

[LunarMist]

I think it is about 2 pixels wide, and a perfectly straight line. The monitor has not been moved since 2006.

 

[timwhit]

I think I would at least try to get it fixed under warranty considering what it cost.

 

[LunarMist]

Yes, but what is there to do in the meantime? Now I am tempted by this one, but it is quite expensive.

 

[ddrueding]

That is a pretty monitor, but $5500 is a bit steep. I thought that having hardware color calibration allowed you to get away with cheaper monitors?

 

[time]

This is probably a bit obvious, but are you sure it's not the graphics card?

 

[LunarMist]

Yes.

 

[LunarMist]

That is a pretty monitor, but $5500 is a bit steep. I thought that having hardware color calibration allowed you to get away with cheaper monitors?

If one doesn't care too much about the image quality, cheaper may be better. Calibration does nothing for uniformity of illumination and color, min/max brightness, gamut, and changes caused by viewing angle. Some of the cheap monitors are crazy bright and suffer in the darker gradations at reasonable working brightness of ~120 NITS.

Realistically I am more inclined to get something like the NEC 3090. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a Spectraview version yet.

Meanwhile the monitor is working fine today.

 

[LunarMist]

What minimalist video card would be needed for a 30" display? I don't want one of those big honking ones that has a giant fan and occupies two PCI slots. I believe most of those flamethrowers are for the kids playing video games or movies. A small, quiet 2D only card is desirable. Thanks.

 

[Bozo]

I'm using the older version of this card for my 24" HDMI monitor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127294

I would suspect it would work on a 30" monitor.

Bozo :joker:

 

[ddrueding]

Bozo's suggestion looks fine, but I would recommend this one.

*Dual DVI outputs, so you can run multiple monitors if you like.
*Fanless, so no noise (and presumably less heat to begin with).
*GeForce 8xxx series, so it supports recent standards (DX10 for Vista)
*HDMI support for secure video playback (provided the rest of your system is compatible)
*3x as much money as Bozo's suggestion

 

[LunarMist]

Oh. I thought the video cards for 30" displays cost $300-500. That must have changed in the last few years. I would have no use for dual DVI outputs. Actually the monitor needs dual inputs instead. However, a 30" display has only one of the full resolution inputs and one of lower quality.

I've just recently reached the point of mainly using XP in both systems. Vista would be used only when absolutely necessary - maybe around 2011. Is HDMI also needed if the monitor has DVI and I don't play any non-secured videos? Most any system should play home HD video camera footage correct?

 

[ddrueding]

Correct. DVI is fine for everything except (IIRC) protected BlueRay content. Even that is playable, but at a lower resolution.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't know about the Blue Rays. If I need a special TV or else there is no picture, then forget it.

 

[Mercutio]

I believe you need dual-link DVI support for 2500x1600. Those are not found on lower-priced cards. Standard DVI does top out at 1920x1200.

So yes, Lunar is correct that a cheapie isn't going to be the best option.

 

[ddrueding]

You don't need to go too high-end.

 

[Mercutio]

That's still not a $25 card, either.

 

[LunarMist]

Thanks, all. I was mainly interested in the size and power consumption to ensure that the graphics card would integrate easily into my current system. It is nice to know that the cost is trivial compared to the monitor. I guess it is time to try the NEC 3090, unless there is a better option. The Eizo 30" display is more than twice as expensive, and it won't make the prints any better.

 

[Bozo]

LG L246WP ???


Bozo :joker:

 

[LunarMist]

No, I'm only considering larger displays now. I hope the next one lasts a half lifetime.

 

[ddrueding]

For the record, how long did the current one last?

 

[LunarMist]

Current monitor is less than 3 years old, but I'm hoping it will last for a very long time as a second system monitor after being repaired. The yellow line is present for the first few minutes only. I could live with the defect indefinitely if necessary, but warranty expires in November.