Need help LCD monitor only displays B&W

[sweetdiesel]

I'm computer illiterate so bear with me here. Out of the blue my wife's monitor started displaying only in black and white. The model is Planar PX2611W. It was running off an Nvidia 512 MB video card off the DVI output. Thinking my video card went bad, I bought a new Nvidia 1GB video card but still have the same issue. When I use the VGA output the color comes back but the screen looks like crap. On VGA, there is a yellow tint to anything with a white background and everything looks fuzzy. On DVI the screen is sharp like normal but only B&W.

I also replaced the computer's power supply with a larger 550 watt unit (guy at BestBuy told me the larger video card needed more juice).

Anything else I can do to test the monitor while I wait for a call back from Planar?

 

[bigjay]

Dose the monitor have separate VGA and DVI ports?

 

[sweetdiesel]

Yes the monitor has separate DVI and VGA ports. I can switch between the two by hitting a button on the front panel of the monitor.

 

[bigjay]

Sounds like it could be the DVI cable or the port on the monitor. If you have another cable try it, or if you have another computer with a DVI port try it to.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Unfortunately I do not have another cable, nor another computer with a DVI port.

I did a screen print and pasted the image into Microsoft paint. Uploaded it to the web and viewed the pic on my laptop. The picture is in color so I "think" that means it's the monitor that is defective, right? :\

 

[bigjay]

Have you tried wiggling the cable connections? Other than that I would buy a new cable first. I can't see it being the computer.

 

[sweetdiesel]

I wiggled the connections. The cables didn't move at all. No change in picture either.

I'll pick up a new cable tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[ohmygahitscoby]

This may be something you have already done, but have you tried playing around with the settings for the monitor?

 

[sweetdiesel]

Yes, I went into the control panel and played with the resolution, colors, and refresh rate.

 

[bigjay]

To fix the VGA, you can try a lower resolution. It would be set high for the dvi.

 

[Candyman]

I'm not hugely computer literate, but if you did a screen grab and it came out in color on another machine, I assume the computer is sending the proper color info. so the only conclusions left are the cable or the monitor, correct?

 

[bigjay]

Since the VGA port shows color it could be in the cable or the DVI port on the monitor so yes.

 

[sweetdiesel]

To fix the VGA, you can try a lower resolution. It would be set high for the dvi.

I played around with the resolution and it looks a little sharper but I could not get the screen to be as bright and sharp as it is with DVI. I'll try a new DVI cable tonight as the VGA picture is not acceptable.


Edit: I got a hold of someone at Planar and they also suggested trying a different DVI cable.

 

[MotoGod]

Do you have any bent pics on the monitor cable or video card by change? Have you tried re-setting the LCD to factory defaults? My kid loves to press buttons...and has played with my LCD in the past to make funky colors and such.

 

[sweetdiesel]

Do you have any bent pics on the monitor cable or video card by change? Have you tried re-setting the LCD to factory defaults? My kid loves to press buttons...and has played with my LCD in the past to make funky colors and such.

I reset it to factory settings a few times with no difference. There are no bent images on the screen and the DVI cable has never moved since installing it about a year ago.

 

[bigjay]

I played around with the resolution and it looks a little sharper but I could not get the screen to be as bright and sharp as it is with DVI.

DVI = HD

VGA = STANDARD DEFINITION

There are no bent images on the screen and the DVI cable has never moved since installing it about a year ago.

They just burn out sometimes for no reason.

 

[sweetdiesel]

I tried out a couple new cables with no improvement so Planar sent me out a new monitor and it arrived today. The new screen looks even sharper than the old unit. Woot!

 

[bigjay]

Glad to hear it.

 

[hamz9561]

Great! I'm glad it all worked out for you!