Screen shaking!?!

[GreatBarracuda]

Yeah, that's right, my monitor screen actually shakes or vibrates once in a while. It's been happening for I think the last week or so. At first I thought that it's just my eyes after a long day of work. But upon closer examination, it IS my screen. Now I don't know if it's the video card or what but the effect is sort of like this: Shaking effect Of course its not as bad as the link above (actually it only vibrates horizontall), but still noticeable and annoying. What could possibly be the problem?

 

[vshah]

subwoofer anywhere nearby? or maybe power fluctuations or something. try moving the monitor to a diff room, and try it on a laptop to rule out your video card.

-Vivan

 

[GreatBarracuda]

Nice thinking. Now that you mention, the lamp in my room has been flickering. And I will try the monitor another computer. Thanks. Here's my spects btw, if anyone else needs it and can relate the problem to my specific hardware:

Here's my specs:

P4 3.0GHz (800FSB)
ASUS P4P800 DELUXE
512mb DDR400 PC3200
120G S-ATA Seagate Barracuda
ATI AIW RADEON 9800 PRO
Creative SB Live! 5.1
19" ViewSonic P95f+

 

[miri]

Had this happen. Had a 2nd floor apartment with a powerline right outside my window. Moved to a new apartment and no more monitor problems. Power lines are bad, cause cancer to.

 

[Ken90630]

I had a similar problem when I put one of those little desktop fans on my desk a couple summers ago and plugged it in. I put it about 6 inches from my monitor, and, well, you can guess where I'm going with this ....

Moved it to about a foot away and the problem disappeared. Obviously was some electrical or magnetic interference from the fan (very predictable, actually). Have you set anything electrical or magnetic near your monitor recently that wasn't there before? Plugged in anything new to the outlets in the room (or even the whole circuit for that matter) that turns on & off at different times? (Air conditioner, clothes dryer, that sort of thing?)

The other guys' suggestions were good. Shouldn't be too hard to isolate. If you really wanna get cute, try covering the sides & back of your monitor with tin foil and see if it makes a difference. If so, obviously you're dealing with a localized interference prob (as opposed to the monitor going bad or fluctuating wall voltage).

Let us know what you find.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

The other guys' suggestions were good. Shouldn't be too hard to isolate. If you really wanna get cute, try covering the sides & back of your monitor with tin foil and see if it makes a difference.

don't forget your head...it might be those ET mind control waves messing with ya

Flourescent lamps and some fans are TERRIBLE when it comes to interfering with CRTs. I had one fan that didn't even have to be nearby...just being plugged into a nearby socket caused the monitor to shake. Putting it near the monitor made the problem even worse.

 

[Ken90630]

Yeah, Jagec is right -- if all else fails, try wrapping your head in the foil. He he.

 

[vshah]

that'd get hot. and he couldn't see what he was typing....

 

[Ken90630]

Like they say in those Bud Light commercials, "True, true."

LOL

 

[SickBeast]

"This calls for a Bud Light".

Maybe the Bud Light Institute could answer questions on our forum for us.

 

[GreatBarracuda]

Thanks for the good suggestions guys. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but when the lamp in my room started flickering, I got a power bar soon afterwards because I thought that power fluctuations might mess my system up. And since THEN, it's been acting this way. So it could actually be the power bar itself! Kinda beats the purpose doesn't it. And no, except this power bar I haven't installed anything new. Anyone had a similar experience with a power bar?

 

[DoobieOnline]

A buddy had this start happening recently and it turns out he had moved a TV set too close to his monitor. The image would only "shake" when the TV was on and moving it a couple of feet away solved the problem. Hope you get it worked out.

Doobie

 

[Regs]

Did they actually prove power lines cause cancer? I heard it was just a myth. Or you would have to be literally living on a power line for it to have an affect.

But I did have a few problems with interference. But mine was resolved with by changing wall sockets and getting a better surge protector.

 

[Ken90630]

My guess is that the prob isn't likely to be caused by the power bar itself, unless you got a really cheapy one or just a bad one out of the box. Anything's possible, though ....

Extension cords are sometimes frowned upon by some mfgrs, but then you didn't say anything about using one on this setup. If your lamp's flickering like you say though, you've obviously either got a lamp going bad or a wall voltage problem. You could pick up a digital multimeter fairly cheaply at any Radio Shack or comparable electronics store, stick the probes in the socket and check it. If your voltage is dropping and bouncing all over the place, well, .... Only prob with that is the voltage may be fine for hours, then drop once, then be fine again, then drop later on, then ....

And, of course, you know that the prob could be the monitor itself or the computer. You're just gonna have to isolate components and rule things out by process of elimination, is my guess. Did you try what Vshah suggested?

Not to insult your intelligence, but I assume you've checked the physical connections? (Cords aren't halfway unplugged, vid card is seated properly in its socket, etc.)

Now go have that Bud Light.