My new Dell P991 19" monitor has permanent lines going accross the screen!

[FrogDog]

Grey, thin, horizantal lines. At first I thought this was just a problem with my monitor, but no, apparently not. I was looking around in the monitor's menu and there's a "Help" option. I go in there, and it tells me that these lines are not a malfunction, but "wires that stabilize the picture." Ummm, what? These lines are supposed to be there? One is 20% from the top and the other about 30% from the bottom, so it's not like they're out of the way. They hardly show up on dark backgrounds, but on light ones, especially white, they're very clear.

So I guess there's no way to get rid of them? And if it's not a malfunction will the company I bought it from even do anything for me? I guess replacing the monitor would be pointless. I've never seen a monitor with these "stabalizing lines" before, so I had no idea to check up on it before I bought it.

It's a 19" Dell P991 Trinitron monitor, btw. Do all trinitrons have these lines?

 

[UsandThem]

<< Do all trinitrons have these lines >>



Yes, all the ones I have seen. Some are more noticable than others, but you can still see them.

 

[John]

<< I was looking around in the monitor's menu and there's a "Help" option. I go in there, and it tells me that these lines are not a malfunction, but "wires that stabilize the picture." >>



Yes, that is correct. You have a trinitron tube, and all of them have the horizontal damper wires. My 21" Dell P1110 has them too. You will soon learn to look past them and enjoy the enhance image clarity and quality. You will then never see them until someone asks about them, like you are doing right now.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Errr...it's called an aperture grille monitor. ALL AG monitors have the support wires (it's not really to stabilize it, it's to keep it from falling essentially. Maybe you should have looked into what you were buying beforehand.

 

[Paulson]

I never notice mine now either, but I had the same thought when I first got my monitor...

 

[HouRman]

That's the reason why I got an Invar Shadow Mask monitor. (Cornerstone P1460)

The aperture grille monitors have 2 permanent horizontal lines going across the monitor. When displayed on a light colored background the lines are quite visible. While on a shadow mask monitor there are no lines.

The advantage of a shadow mask CRT is they can have crisper images for text applications while the advan of AP grille is that they are capable of brighter colors. I've also noticed the AP grilles also consume about 30-40% more electricity. (Comparing my P1460 to other brand AG monitors)

"Now that you are aware, may the lines become a recurring nightmare of frustration and burden"

 

[Lord Evermore]

I don't think you can broadly generalize that a particular type of tube uses more energy, you need to check the specs for each monitor. For instance I found on Viewsonic's specs that their shadow mask monitors all consume 100W, while their AG monitors consume 150W. But a CTX shadow mask consumes 140W while their Trinitron uses 125W.

 

[Amused]

Good gawd, FrogDog (heh),

You've been a member of AT for how long??? You didn't know ALL Trinitron tubes have two support wires???

Anywho, you can't see them, except on light backgrounds. And even then, I never notice them unless someone here starts complaing about them.

 

[Lord Evermore]

It greatly depends on the actual monitor whether you can see them, and to what degree. Some AG monitors I can hardly see them (but when I do, it annoys me no end), while others they look like they're as wide as dental floss and just as dark.

 

[Sundog]

Yep, my new 21" Sony has them...they do not bug me though...

 

[maddmaxx]

Pretty close to a year ago I wrote in this forrum with the same concern, with the same moniter!! I don't even notice those lines anymore!



peace

 

[Netopia]

Sometimes I have to look really hard to see mine. I guess once you are used to them they just sort of melt into the background.

Joe