Monitor Menu Problem

[shadenone]

I've searched around, trying to find an answer to this one, but no one has any ideas other than ship it back to LG...
I have an LG Flatron w2361v monitor (~22") and the menu for it continues to flash on and off again (like it's blinking). I've checked all the buttons and none of them are stuck. I'm assuming it's a short somewhere and I don't know how comfortable I feel about taking the monitor apart and trying to fix it myself, but even if I could, I wouldn't know what to look for.
So if anyone knows how to fix it, awesome. If not, would it be cheaper and more effective to send it to LG to fix or should I just buy a new monitor? If I get a new monitor, I don't know if I'll trust LG again, so are there any reliable brands I should keep an eye out for that won't cost me an arm and a leg?

 

[Puppies04]

Is it a physical button or a touch panel type one? Is the monitor still in warranty? I presume not from your post but it is not made clear. It really depends what LG are going to charge to fix it and if that works out cheaper than buying a new monitor.

As for not trusting LG, that is your decision but pretty much any manufacturer has faulty products, seems you just got unlucky.

 

[shadenone]

Well, as you can tell from my late reply, I decided to just buy a new monitor. Between waiting for it to arrive and messing with it, I didn't make it back here for awhile. This is the monitor I had/have (I haven't given up on fixing it yet. If I can figure out what's wrong with it, DUAL MONITORS!) http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-W2361V-PF-lcd-monitor
The menu and adjustment buttons are physical, but the power button is touch. No, it's not under warranty. I've had it for about 3.5 years and the warranty only lasts for 3, so crappy timing.
My main concern now is repair. If I can fix it myself, great. If not, I doubt I'll trouble with it. When I contacted LG about it, they were very vague about pricing, so I'd rather not pay the money to send it to them and only then find out how much it's going to cost, especially since I have something else for now.
So if anyone else has had this problem (it's common enough that a Google search pulls up multiple sites of people asking for help) and knows how to fix it, I'd love to hear it.

 

[pete1229]

First off LG is a pretty reputable company and their products are usually rated fairly high as you can see by the user ratings in the product link you gave in the OP. Like Puppies said,, you probably were just unlucky with the unit you purchased. As far as cracking any monitor open and attempting servicing it on your own, I wouldn't recommend that at all. Recycle the old one!

 

[Vectronic]

I disagree with Pete... unless you can get a decent chunk of money for it for recycling/selling it.

You have a working monitor now... and one that is more or less not working... so take the opportunity to take it apart.

There isn't much to an LCD, you have the screen, the power I/O PCB, and then the control panel PCB... and the wires in between.

Does pressing the menu button have any effect on the menu flicker? If so, then it's probably the button itself.

It's probably similar to these:

Which are easy to find, and pretty easy to solder if need be.

 

[denis280]

I disagree with Pete... unless you can get a decent chunk of money for it for recycling/selling it.

You have a working monitor now... and one that is more or less not working... so take the opportunity to take it apart.

There isn't much to an LCD, you have the screen, the power I/O PCB, and then the control panel PCB... and the wires in between.

Does pressing the menu button have any effect on the menu flicker? If so, then it's probably the button itself.

It's probably similar to these:

Which are easy to find, and pretty easy to solder if need be.

Good contact cleaner.

 

[shadenone]

Pressing the menu button does typically make it go away, but it just pops right back up again. Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll give it a shot and see if I can't fix it. As Vectronic said, if I break it, I break it. It's not like I absolutely need it right now.

 

[sv_krishnareddy]

So sad why are you breaking good lcd moniter

Its small compliant smps board problem to change that one

you known repairing electronic goods change 1000 mf capacitors OR bad capacitors

 

[Aelian]

Had the exact same problem, with the exact same monitor, at the almost same amount of time (3 years and a couple of months).

I disassembled the monitor (I tried at first to restart the monitor and the PC but didn't fixed it), and disconnected the little board with the menu buttons from it's cable. That fixed the pop-up menu problem, but unfortunately the monitor was shutting down after 15 seconds because of a short that was possible made on the board of the touch-button, on the bottom of the monitor.

So then I disconnected that too. Now I have it working just fine, but I can't use the buttons to turn it off or change settings on the menu (doesn't matter since it was already made up years before and never need to change them again ).

So it seems that it is a standard flaw/bug on this monitor. I believe there are other people with it and the same problem. Anyways, I'm looking to buy a new one now, but will not use it until this one goes off once and for all

 

[farmdve]

Just registered to say I have the exact same problem with the LG Flatron W2261VP-PF. I got it as a replacement of another LG Flatron monitor that went bad after just 3 months, this was back in 2010 March or April. The W2261VP-PF worked fine for a year and a half and then the monitor's buttons started to fail one by one, when they stopped working altogether. After a while when the monitor was ON the menu would sometimes appear and stay stuck there, removing it was a pain in the butt, after a while the problem resolved itself, but now when the monitor is waken when it has been Off or in Standby mode, the menu just flashes a few times and disappears. Like the poster above me, I also removed the circuitry with the buttons by disconnecting it from the mainboard, the problem was NOT resolved.

I also experienced a really bad problem more than half a year ago, these monitors have this preview option where half the screen can be different in brightness and contrast, it got stuck like that and I endured it for a couple of months, then with some luck I got the menu to work, but I still removed it. And just like the poster directly above me, if I accidentally shutdown the monitor via the touch button and turn it on again, it would turn itself OFF, I have to turn it on many times while pulling the casing so that the button isn't pressed by the casing and then slowly release it once it's been on for a few seconds.

The monitor is now over 3 and a half years old, but it's apparent that LG's Flatron series are just a pile of garbage, avoid them at all cost.

 

[nwkegan]

Ok guys, I plied my LG W2361v Flatron apart and tried disconnecting both cables like a poster above suggested. First, I removed just the menu harness from the board and took the board out... It powered on but wouldn't show anything after the splash. I tried removing the power PCB as well, and I got the same response. Now I've plugged both back in and it STILL won't stay - the power sensor functions if I put my finger near it, it turns on, the splash displays, I see a menu for a second, and then it goes black instantly.

I know I made a mistake, but is there any undoing what i've done and can someone make suggestions as to what to try next? Thanks.

 

[denis280]

You should start a new thread about this.

 

[nwkegan]

Ok denis, but what if I fixed the straight-to-black problem, and now I'm just dealing with the same old menu re-appearing problem?

It's driving me crazy. I have no idea what the hell to do about it and since it's outside of warranty I am willing to try fixing it myself.

 

[silvercorby]

I have the same monitor and it just started playing up tonight, I found a less technical way to fix it was by cutting a small strip off an old credit card and jamming it in the [Auto/Set] button as it flashed off, so far it has stayed off. The button does have to be fully depressed for this to work.

 

[hellfire10k]

I had today the same problem. I fix it by replacing all the 5 side micro contacts . cost : 10 euro. Romania 

 

[inachu]

If I wanted a fancy monitor then I just buy a small LED TV set.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If I wanted a fancy monitor then I just buy a small LED TV set.

I did that. BestBuy had a couple of 24" LED LCD TVs for ~$100, that I picked up. They have an acceptable picture quality, although they are TN, and they have half-decent speakers, being an LCD TV rather than monitor. Mostly though, they ended up being cheaper than your usual $130-140 1080P PC monitor with HDMI and speakers at Newegg.

 

[Gargadoun]

I have the same monitor LG W2361V about more than 4 years...and 3 months ago for the first time the menu on the screen started to appear and sometimes was show on and off repeatingly! it stoped when i press a key from the side.
it did it for about a week or so..and then stoped!
So I thought it was all ok.
but 2 weeks ago started again..and now not only the menu appear on the screen but also the sreen was going off and on it self all the time..
i can not see what is going wrong..i think and the monitor goes too HOT on its back.

And i cant find a way to fix this.
what ever i press many times...it cant stop!
i am not a technisian and i am not able to open it cause i propably will mesh it up worst..and i cant send it to LG cause the warranty is gone.

Can anyone help me fix it?
I am despered and cant affort to buy a new MONITOR...plz

 

[Phil Grant]

I've had exactly the same problem including the split screen which Cycling on and off — fun when doing Photoshop. After reading the instructions

http://www.lg.com/us/support-product/lg-W2361VG-PF

I held down the menu button — the second from the top — for several seconds, which locked the screen and kept it from slipping into split screen. While doing this a small gray box appears saying "OSD locked." Now it is this box that flashes intermittently on the screen instead of the much larger and more distracting menu box. I will try to live with this until either I pull it apart (I will try spraying electronic cleaner — I did from the outside and it didn't help) or buy a new monitor — NOT an LG — and keep this one as a spare.

Ironically I bought the LG because it had a longer warranty than the competitor.

 

[Phil Grant]

A few days after I posted the above I started having problems with turning the monitor back on, so I ordered another: an AOC and paid $20 extra at Best Buy to have a four-year complete warranty. I'm leaving my computer and the screen on all the time until it arrives just to not take any chances. Seems like a monitor should last almost forever. Keeping the LG as a spare.

 

[inspectortom]

I started having the same problem with my LG monitor a couple of months ago. I discovered that if I hold the menu button just at the right time, the menu disappeared off the screen. So I covered the button with a piece of scotch tape. This worked for a few days and then the tape stretched and the menu started flashing again. This time it cost me ten cents to fix it. I put a dime on top of the menu button and held it there tightly with scotch tape. There is no room for the tape to stretch and my monitor has been working fine for over two weeks now. I suppose that you could also use a penny and fix ten monitors for the same price.