Well, you knew there had to be a reason why you were able to snag a 20" monitor for free, right?
Seriously though, maybe some of the other settings are way out of whack. Like the contrast -- I'd check that first. And most monitors have a "reset" option that returns all the settings back to the factory preset values. I'd start there (if you haven't already) and then try adjusting things again.
If these things fail, get the manufacturer's phone number off their Web site and give them a call Monday morning and see what they say. That's what I'd do. CRTs getting a bit dimmer after a few years is fairly common, but it's rather unusual to have one get
brighter. You could also have a driver issue and/or a video card issue or compatibility thing going on. Shouldn't be too difficult to pin down.
Good luck.
