Video blurry intermittently

I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
PC up again it seems to come right.

Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?

In article < .com>,
says...
> I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
> the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
> ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
> awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
> all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
> PC up again it seems to come right.
>
> Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?
>
>
Is it a CRT monitor? If it is, it could be a sign that the tube heaters
are dying.

--
Conor

I'm really a nice guy. If I had friends, they would tell you.

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Conor wrote:

> In article < .com>,
> says...
> > I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
> > the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
> > ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
> > awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
> > all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
> > PC up again it seems to come right.
> >
> > Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?
> >
> >
> Is it a CRT monitor? If it is, it could be a sign that the tube heaters
> are dying.
>
> --
> Conor
>
> I'm really a nice guy. If I had friends, they would tell you.
>
> Earn commission on online purchases, £2.50 just for signing up:
> http://www.TopCashBack.co.uk/Conor/ref/index.htm

It is an LCD monitor.

<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
> the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
> ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
> awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
> all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
> PC up again it seems to come right.
>
> Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?

Those symptoms to me suggest a heat related failure (and that's not a good
thing). The next thing I would do is find out whether the heat related
failure is in the LCD or in the video card (likely one of those two).

Leave the computer on and turn the LCD off half an hour. Does it resolve?
If not, leave the LCD on and turn the computer off half an hour. I would
guess the failure is on the video card, since that is the component with the
most obvious heat issue.

Is it possible the fan on the card stops working, resulting in overheating
of the card? Try to take off the side of the case during the failure
event and examine how hot is the video card getting. Maybe the fan is
being stopped by a cord that is caught in it?

--
Will

When the PC boots up in the blurry state, go into Display Properties and see
if the desktop resolution is still 2560x1600. I wonder if the video card is
occasionally losing its settings.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
>I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
> the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
> ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
> awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
> all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
> PC up again it seems to come right.
>
> Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?
>

After a bit of playing around, I notice that the blurry state only
occurs from the point that the Windows logon comes up. That is, the
BIOS is as clear as it should be. I wondering if this means it must be
some type of driver issue in Windows rather than heat related. I've
downloaded the latest driver from Nvidia and removed the Dell
driver/software that came with the monitor.

I should clarify what I mean by blurry a bit better. All text in
Windows is unreadable at 2560x1600 and all the icons etc are quite
coarse grained and kind of pixellated.

When I open the display settings the resolution is still 2560x1600. I
managed to reduce the resolution by guessing what I was doing. If I
drop it down then I can start to read the text again, but it still
isn't that same quality as the ultra-sharp display when all is working
as it should be.

The temperature of the graphics card appears to be normal. There is no
fan on the 7600GT card that I have. That would leave the LCD. I'll
take your suggestion Will to turn it off for a period to see if it
cools down. Normally though this glitch happens from a cold startup of
all the components.

Thanks for your suggestions. Given this is an intermitent problem,
I'll see what difference the updated driver makes and wait to see if it
happens again.

First of One wrote:

> When the PC boots up in the blurry state, go into Display Properties and see
> if the desktop resolution is still 2560x1600. I wonder if the video card is
> occasionally losing its settings.
>
> --
> "War is the continuation of politics by other means.
> It can therefore be said that politics is war without
> bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."
>
> <> wrote in message
> news: oups.com...
> >I have a Dell 3007wfp and an Albatron 7600GT graphics card. Most of
> > the time I can run the monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels and the image is
> > ultra sharp. Every 3 or 4 weeks I will start my PC and the image is
> > awful. The text in Windows can't be read and the image isn't sharp at
> > all. If I turn everything off and wait for half an hour and start the
> > PC up again it seems to come right.
> >
> > Has anyone else experienced similar behaviour?
> >

<> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
> Thanks for your suggestions. Given this is an intermitent problem,
> I'll see what difference the updated driver makes and wait to see if it
> happens again.

If the problem is intermittent, I don't see how it can be a driver. A
driver or configuration error should always be visible.

Perhaps your video cable has a loose pin. Have you tried a different cable?

--
Will

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:05:54 -0700, "Will" <westes->
wrote:

><> wrote in message
>news: roups.com...
>> Thanks for your suggestions. Given this is an intermitent problem,
>> I'll see what difference the updated driver makes and wait to see if it
>> happens again.
>
>If the problem is intermittent, I don't see how it can be a driver. A
>driver or configuration error should always be visible.
>
>Perhaps your video cable has a loose pin. Have you tried a different cable?
>

or ensured that the retaining screws on both ends of the cable are
evenly tightened and totally secure.

John Lewis
>--
>Will
>
>
>

Good point about the driver.

I'll have a close look at the cable and buy another one to try and
eliminate it, or not. I did check the cable was firmly attached at
both ends last time this occurred and it was.

Thanks,
Andrew.

John Lewis wrote:

> On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 22:05:54 -0700, "Will" <westes->
> wrote:
>
> ><> wrote in message
> >news: roups.com...
> >> Thanks for your suggestions. Given this is an intermitent problem,
> >> I'll see what difference the updated driver makes and wait to see if it
> >> happens again.
> >
> >If the problem is intermittent, I don't see how it can be a driver. A
> >driver or configuration error should always be visible.
> >
> >Perhaps your video cable has a loose pin. Have you tried a different cable?
> >
>
> or ensured that the retaining screws on both ends of the cable are
> evenly tightened and totally secure.
>
> John Lewis
> >--
> >Will
> >
> >
> >