Bad horizontal line on monitor: old system

Hi,

I’ve got a 2014 ADK-built system that has seemed rock solid on Cubase 11, including after being in storage for 3 years (i fired it up again last month).

I’m using it with an old monitor i had lying around, it’s almost certainly not the same one i got with the ADK system, but it has been working well as well, until … Recently when i noticed a one or two pixel horizontal line across the screen (pic not attached - my screen shot must not be of high enough resolution to show the very thin line, sorry). It is sparkly and multicolored, though mainly purple.

It happened very soon after i opened the case and moved some stuff around in there (i needed to take a pic of the power supply), which preceded a BIOS type window which I think i was able to back out of without making any changes. Also, I checked for any automatic updates from windows, but there weren’t any that immediately preceded the monitor problem.

Can anyone help me please with the following questions?

1) Can i make the horizontal line go away without having to buy a new monitor?
Things I’ve done to trouble shoot so far include powering the computer down, powering the monitor down, unplugging the monitor cable (when i do that the screen is completely black as expected), replacing the monitor cable with another new/different one, setting the monitor to default settings, toggling different options on my AMD Radeon monitor control panel, changing display resolution and orientation, and others. (Oh, and asking Dr. Google, of course! :grinning:)

2) If i do have to buy a new monitor, how do i make sure it’s not incompatible with my old, c. 2014, system? I would never have thought there could be problems, but when i was discussing with someone about getting a touch screen monitor they said it might require a new power supply, so that opened my eyes to the idea that not every monitor i buy today will be compatible with my old system.

Thank you for any thoughts!

HP W2082 a Monitor
AMD Radeon Graphics “program” in my list

W10 Pro 21H2 build 19044.1682, on ADK-built tower with Intel(R) Core™ i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz; a UAD card; also mobile tracking on Microsoft Surface Pro 6 (Intel(R) Core™ i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz 2.11 GHz; 16.0 GB, 64-bit) ; Steinberg UR28M interface,; wall-powered USB hub containing iLok key

Seems like the first thing to figure out is the source of the line. It could be in the monitor itself, or it could be in the video signal feeding the monitor.

If possible I’d try testing it by temporarily

  1. hooking up your monitor to a different computer
  2. attaching a different monitor to your computer
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You could also use a benchmark utility that included a graphics test. If it gave you an all clear, that would mean the visual problem wasn’t computer-related.

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Is this a really serious question?

First of all… how is your monitor connected? HDMI, DVI, DP?

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Thank you for the great suggestions, @raino , and @anon4! :grinning:

It sounds crazy I know, but we have only one “computer” in the house (my DAW)! The others are three or four are Microsoft Surfaces. No other “computer monitors” either!

I can however (I think) get access to a monitor to borrow to test, so I’ll do that. I’ll look up as well if there’s a way to connect a Microsoft Surface physically to a “computer monitor”.

@anon4 , I downloaded this benchmark utility > > > > > > > > > > > > HWiNFO download latest version , and got the attached results (two images). I don’t think it is showing any computer monitor problems, but am not sure I know 100% how to interpret those results. If that’s the case, I guess it would seem to be a problem isolated to the monitor itself …?

@st10ss , is that really a serious question? :smile:

My apologies, I would have posted in the forum entitled “For really dumb people that don’t know basic things”, but (expectedly?) I couldn’t find it! Holy cow, I’m so incompetent I couldn’t even find an answer on Google, but that’s to be expected as well, isn’t it?! :smile::smile:

But I am able to say I’m using a VGA to VGA cable for connecting, not sure if that is an answer to your question though …

Thanks again everyone, I will look to get a different monitor into the house and test it out :grinning:


I took a look at the results. I don’t see any red flags. I’m thinking about problems that might be invisible to the testing app. It wouldn’t be able to test for image quality, for example, just for whether the monitor was receiving a signal or not.

I suspect something just wore out inside the monitor that isn’t responsible for signal input. It doesn’t sound like something you’d be able to repair.

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Yes, that’s the answer I was expecting. With this information, I bet it’s the monitor what is broken.
Has your computer other connectors for monitors? Something like HDMI or DVI? I would suggest using these connections in the future.

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If so you could hook it up to a TV.

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Yes I have a 24 inch LED tv I’m using for a monitor which is connected by HDMI to my win 10 laptop. My old win XP laptop I used previously used VGA so I had to replace the cable.

OP here: I did a little trouble shooting about my monitor, by borrowing another one … and the borrowed one works perfectly (i.e., no horizontal line running across it).

So I guess that means the problem was only my old monitor, nothing to do with the computer?

If so … when I buy a new monitor … what do I need to look for in a replacement monitor to keep it compatible with my power supply, and with the ADK AMD Radeon HD 6450 chipset?

For example, I was telling someone i was thinking about buying a touch screen monitor, but they said that might not work well with my power supply, something I never would have considered.

Thank you!

Well, the power supply should be no problem with modern touch screens.
Keep in mind, the touch screen monitor will have an integrated power supply as well.

I would recommend a monitor that uses a digital connection to the computer, if your graphics adapter supports it.

OP here: I hooked up the computer to the suspect monitor with a DVI-D cable just to exclude problems with the VGA chain, and indeed there was still a horizontal line on the monitor, so I think we can officially pronounce the monitor as gonzo.

I anticipate getting a new rig in the next year or two, to include a higher end monitor, but as of now my c. 2014 ADK-built rig is running Cubase 11 Pro fine. I bring that up because I was considering buying a replacement monitor that is high end now which I could also use for a new rig (e.g., buying a 1440p even though my current AMD card won’t support it, just running it in 1080p for now, so it will be ready for my new rig when I get it). But since I’m not exactly sure what kind of monitor I’ll want when I upgrade my rig, I think maybe the best thing to do is just buy a run of the mill 1080p for now.

Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks!

I don’t know about “reasonable”. I just grab whatever name-brand thing’s on sale at Best Buy.

@anon4 Done! :smile: