LCD blacks out for two seconds????

[de8212]

Probably once per day my LCD goes black for ~2 seconds while I'm using the pc and then comes back up fine. The little DVI icon appears up in the top left corner when the picture returns. It's almost the same as when I power it off and then back on. It's plugged into battery backup so I don't think it's my house's power. Just curious if it could be a sign of a dying LCD?
Dell 2407 Rev A04.

 

[corkyg]

I don't think it is a dying LCD - they don't die that way. When it goes black that means the signal has been stopped momentarily - I would look at the video card or some of your API settings.

 

[eplebnista]

Make sure the video drivers are up to date and check to see if a driver has been installed for the monitor. I ran into a situation where a certain nvidia driver release(can't remember exactly which one, only that it was not long ago) was causing a similar thing to happen on a system I was upgrading. It turns out that I had not loaded a driver for the monitor and was using the default generic xp driver, which the video driver apparently didn't like. Once I loaded the monitor specific driver the black-outs stopped occurring.

 

[de8212]

I have tried the newest .inf from Dell's site but the problem remains. I know my video drivers aren't the latest but I have an evga 7950 card and the 93.81's have worked in the past fine. I will do some research and see if I can find some alternative drivers.

Anyone have any other ideas? It's done it ~5 times in the last 15 minutes. :|

 

[Ruger22C]

Mine did that when I first started my PC and I turned on the catalyst control center.

 

[de8212]

Still doing this. I have reseated the video card, tried a new DVI cable and also tried plugging the monitor into the wall (it was in a UPS).
Could it be the video card?

 

[imported_Imp]

Try reinstalling drivers, using the monitor on a different machine? If you have another computer, try it on that. If it persists, do the RMA. You probably bought Dell partly cause of service, use it.

 

[grohl]

I saw this thread - exact same thing happening to my Dell 2707. I figured my 6800 GT is being maxxed out and I am about to do a new build anyway. Weird thing is certain websites seem to cause it to happen - it NEVER happens when I am gaming. Try resizing your browser window (AT at full screen seems to make it happen more frequently). I am using the current monitor driver but haven't updated my video drivers in a while. Let me know if you come up with a better solution.

 

[venkman]

Do you have Vista? This is a new "feature" that signifies an event occurring on your system (security permissions, switching between aero and vista basic, etc).

 

[vhx]

Try enabling CVT Reduced Blank for custom timings?

 

[de8212]

To answer some of the questions.

One of my next steps is to try it on another machine. I've already installed regular windows drivers as well as the one's of dell's site for the monitor.
BTW, I bought it new but off ebay. Anyone ever deal with dell warranty through ebay purchase? It was new and sealed and claimed to have warranty.

I am running XP.

What is CVT and where do I find it?

thanks for all the help.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: de8212
To answer some of the questions.

One of my next steps is to try it on another machine. I've already installed regular windows drivers as well as the one's of dell's site for the monitor.
BTW, I bought it new but off ebay. Anyone ever deal with dell warranty through ebay purchase? It was new and sealed and claimed to have warranty.

I am running XP.

What is CVT and where do I find it?

thanks for all the help.

Listen to people and try the latest drivers for the video card. You already said you are not running the latest

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Listen to people and try the latest drivers for the video card. You already said you are not running the latest

Just tried the 94.24's off of nvidias site and still have the problem.

I'll try swapping it over to another machine later today/tomorrow hopefully.

 

[BassBomb]

I can't believe no one has suggested this......

Check your power settings within Windows.. it may be that Monitor turn off has been set, and thats why you see it lose signal every so often

 

[de8212]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
I can't believe no one has suggested this......

Check your power settings within Windows.. it may be that Monitor turn off has been set, and thats why you see it lose signal every so often

It has been set to turn off after 20 minutes. this is the way I've always had it. I can turn it off just to make sure but the experience I am having it does it constantly while I am using it.

 

[de8212]

Oh, and last night when it would do it my pc would actually freeze for a second or so, then it would go blank. It would come back on and everything was fine. this is why I am leaning towards a video card problem now rather than just the LCD.

 

[vhx]

Goto custom timings and then under the Timing standard choose CVT Reduced Blank. Dunno, read from another thread it helps with that, not sure if it works though.

 

[de8212]

thanks vhx. There's alot of differnt options in there. I'll try to read up because I don't want to make things worse then they are.

Update. I swapped out monitors and it still does it. So I figure it is either video card or possibly BIOS flash. I've also posted on evga boards and found a few people with a similar problem but no resolution.