Problem With My New 19 Inch Lcd?

I just bought a Princeton VL1919 LCD monitor from costco. I had it 5 minutes and it started blacking out. The screen stays black for about 5 seconds then returns to normal for about 10-20 seconds. This goes on forever until I turn off my comp. I know the monitor isnt defective because it works great when plugged into my girlfriends DELL laptop. I have tried both analogue and digi inputs and both do the same thing. Any ideas?

Specs:
Pentium D 3.00ghz
Abit AW8 mobo
MSI RX1600 PRO 256mb
Aopen AW850D 5.1
ROSEWILL PSU RV450 watt PSU

Sounds like your graphics card is struggling with this monitor. Have you tried using a different resolution/scree refresh? Are you able to try a different graphics card? Do you have the most current drivers for the graphics card and the most current ".inf" file for the monitor?

Yes I have tried every possible resolution and refresh rate. As I said the monitor works great when plugged into my girlfriends laptop, it just doesnt like my PC. I have the stock MSI drivers installed for my graphics card, and have also tried all the most recent ATI catalyst drivers, but nothing works. What is an "inf" file?

Have you tried a different graphics card in your PC with this monitor?

The "inf" file is the file that provides information to Windows about the capabilities of the monitor. (In fact, it might not even end in '.inf' - I forget the extension.) Strictly speaking, monitors don't require drivers, but some monitor manufacturers will provide a CD, calling it a "driver disk" which just contains the capability information.


Anyway, if you've tried all possible refresh rates/resolutions, then the likely culprit is the graphics card, alas.

I havent tried a different one, because my old Sapphire is an AGP and my mobo only supports PCI express 16. My MSI video card runs my CRT monitor fine, no problems whatsoever even in very demanding 3d applications and games. Does it just not like LCD monitors in general, or just this particular Princeton monitor?

Yes. Bought a 19 inch widescreen then returned it b/c it only had a vga input then bought the exact same VL1919 from a Costco and I'm having the same exact problem with my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card, and also only with my pc and not with my lappy... or my wifes. Strange eh? I just might return it, I was about to try to warentee it up with ati but perhaps... also the GFX card works fine with a 32 inch lcd tv.... anyother info anyone?

I am also having problems with my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 card installed in my Asus A8V Deluxe w/latest (stable) BIOS and latest Catalyst drivers. I have dual VL1919 screens, one VGA one DVI.

Before upgrading the drivers, the screens would blank as the original poster described. After the drivers were updated to the latest (on 20 Sep 06), the system acts like I unplugged a device and replugged it in really fast. At the same time, the primary and secondary displays change places. By this I mean my primary monitor, which was on the DVI connection, now is on the VGA connection. I can go back into the catalyst control center and change it back until it happens again. I've turned off all of my power management in the BIOS and in Windows (XP SP2). I've now just performed all the updates I can, so we'll see what that does. Also of interest is that the Catalyst drivers can see the actual monitor type, but windows thinks it is just a "Plug-n-play Monitor".

Any thoughts? Is my card going bad all of a sudden? (geez, I hope not)

Ok, I did all the updates, but the monitors still exhibit the same problems I described before, though (unlike the OP) my monitors don't keep resetting every 10-20 secs. It's a "random" time (in mins), generally less than 15.

it's very very odd. Could there be an IRQ conflict? Hmm.... what can tell me what IRQ's have what assigned to them?

Interesting... I do believe it must be a driver issue, since I never had that exact problem since I updated to the last 2 releases of Catalyst... Although also the other variable is when I stopped using my Dell 32 inch TV as a monitor or my 20 flatscreen CRT and changed to a cheap LCD...The 1919... I even tried the latest Omega drivers but the same thing happens... Changed refresh rates, resolutions, every possible option... I downgraded my MoBo firmware and upgraded it... cannot figure this one out. It seemed that when I adjusted the agp speed it would occur less frequently... but still random intervals of black screen, also as if it was unplugged all of a sudden. I tried different cables also... and VGA and DVI, although your problem sucks more cause it's flipping your displays... that would really make me mad. I'm telling you though, with my CRT and LCDTV no problems... I even returned the original LCD I bought that wasn't the 1919 because the same issue, so it's strange as all hell. BTW, my 9800 was broken and I had them repair it, but same blacking issue. Arg!

I think this may be heat-related, though I can't be sure. I have noticed it more frequently after the system has been on a while. Also, after it has reversed itself, the screens flicker periodically after that, just like they did before. Just for fun, I changed to "Horizontal Stretch" mode and no luck. Just 1/2 of my screen blanked out. ugh.

I called Princeton Graphics and they insist it is the driver and card. I called ATI and they insist it's the monitor. They also wanted me to get another 9800 Pro card to test with and another pair of monitors. Because I don't have this problem w/single monitor mode, they also conclude it is the monitors. I'm going to return these monitors and get a pair of Viewsonic VX922's. They seem to have pretty good reviews and are fast. Costco online has them for $249.00 each ($US + shipping).

I can't believe I stumbled on this thread. I have the exact same problem. Perhaps 5 times a day my dual monitors (both 1919 princetons) will blank out and the positions will swap.

I eventually just hooked up 1 monitor to DVI by itself and found that it still blanks out, so I don't think it's a problem with dual monitors at all, but something specific to these princetons.

Did you try the new monitors with no issues? I'm curious as now I'm considering returning these princetons.

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Originally Posted by leisurelarry81

I can't believe I stumbled on this thread. I have the exact same problem. Perhaps 5 times a day my dual monitors (both 1919 princetons) will blank out and the positions will swap.

I eventually just hooked up 1 monitor to DVI by itself and found that it still blanks out, so I don't think it's a problem with dual monitors at all, but something specific to these princetons.

Did you try the new monitors with no issues? I'm curious as now I'm considering returning these princetons.

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Hi, I bought the VL1919 yesterday.
Do you guys have the same model?
It states on the box "improved 6ms response time".
My hope is, this might be a new version that doesn't have that flaw
you mentioned. which gfx cards are you hooking it all up and DVI or VGA?
VGA would be a waste; LCD's should always be connected by DVI.
Just my .02! :)

I installed the new Viewsonic monitors and didn't have a hint of a problem. Instead of returning both monitors to Costco, I offered one of them to my mom. Well, it is now painfully clear that the VL1919 was the culprit because my mom's system (single monitor, analog connection) also has an occasional quirk. I should have returned that monitor. ugh. Oh well, my mom doesn't mind it and it works (generally) pretty well! As for my VX922's, I wouldn't trade them for the world!