Screen problems

[curmudgeon]

I've got a 17" CRT screen which is used for one of the kids computers. Today I saw that it had a problem with the display, in that it compressed all that it should display into a narrower band, stretching from left to right ok but with blank gaps (fluctuating) up to 2 inches deep at the top and bottom of the screen.

Is the best option to throw the screen out and buy a flat screen? If so, any recommendations to buy in the UK?

Many thanks

cur

[ZH875]

try checking the display properties, the screen resolution and/or refresh rates may have been 'adjusted' by said children. Also worth checking the monitor to see if it has any vertical hold adjustments.

[Loose rivets]

Firstly look at the external controls for a height adjustment. If no luck and you feel confident that you won't kill yourself, on the "chassis" there will be a height control. It may be marked vert(ical) amplitude or some other way of saying the same thing. Try simply swinging this small variable resistor through its range several times, then adjusting the height -- with the aid of a mirror if needed.

The high voltage on colour tubes is seriously nasty...don't get zapped. Use a knitting needle cut to a screwdriver shape if the pot is in a difficult place.

Often the screw either side of the video in wire will also have to be removed. Replace all screws in the holes from which they came. Good luck

[stickyb]

Firstly, just to prove it is the scre that is at fault, have you got another screen you can "borrow" for a couple of minutes just to try out. That will isolate the fault to the screen or something else in the chain.

Secondly, the price of screens is dropping all the time, with a 17" CRT now available for under GBP70, and a 17"TFT screen for under GBP170, so if you can't fix it as described above it shouldn't break the bank to get another.

[Helli-Gurl]

Looks like a simple scan rate problem to me...

[curmudgeon]

Thanks for your replies.

having tried your suggestions, I'm sorry to say that "this monitor is dead, deceased, gone to a better place ..........." (Fill in as required. )

cur