Technical Help - Screen Display

[Cthulhudrew]

Okay, here's something weird that maybe someone knows something about:

Last week, my screen's display suddenly got this weird blue tint to it- as if the red was gone. I tried several things- I degaussed the monitor, fiddled with the monitor display, tried checking the monitor cable; I even tried resetting the computer to an earlier auto-save format. Periodically, the blue tint would go away and the display would normalize, only to go blue again.

A few days later, I logged into City of Heroes to play, and the screen was still going back and forth between blue tint and normal. After several game sessions of CoH, the color display normalized- red showing up fine, but when I quit the game and go back to my normal desktop, the blue tint comes back. To make things even stranger, yesterday while booting up CoH, I opened my Mozilla browser, and the color display went normal again across the board, only to have the blue tint come back when I exited the game.

So, I was initially thinking it was the monitor, but that doesn't explain the CoH thing. I don't have a separate video card- just the one on my motherboard. Software issue, possibly? Any ideas?

 

[XCorvis]

Software is a possibility, but it's really unlikely. 9 times out of 10 what you've described is caused by a bad wire in the monitor cable or connectors. It's probably just coincidence, or maybe the software changes are just exacerbating the problem.

You can boot from a linux boot cd or something similar to test if it's a software issue. If the boot cd OS looks blue, it's a hardware problem. You can also try plugging in a different monitor. Next, grab your monitor cable and wiggle it while watching the screen. Especially at the plugs or anywhere there's a kink in it. The screen will probably flicker and change colors, and then you know it's the cable.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

I'll definitely try your boot suggestion. Any thoughts as to why the color display would work fine when I run my video game, but not otherwise? That's what's really bugging me about the whole thing.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'll definitely try your boot suggestion. Any thoughts as to why the color display would work fine when I run my video game, but not otherwise? That's what's really bugging me about the whole thing.

It works fine with CoH, but not doing normal stuff (surfing net, word processor, etc), correct?

Does CoH change the display settings at all, do you know? Does the color work fine with other games?

My first thought was XCorvis's - a bad wire or connection. I would still try a different monitor or cable, if that's possible for you. However, upgrading or reinstalling your drivers might be prudent, if this is specifically happening with Windows (I assume you're using it, if not, please say so). Perhaps Windows is not setting something correctly, but CoH and other random programs are.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

It works fine with CoH, but not doing normal stuff (surfing net, word processor, etc), correct?

Yeah, that's right.

Does CoH change the display settings at all, do you know? Does the color work fine with other games?

Possibly. Stupidly enough, I haven't thought to try it with other games.

Perhaps Windows is not setting something correctly, but CoH and other random programs are.

Yeah, using Windows. Will try some of your other suggestions. Thanks for the help guys. Will let you know what else I find out.

 

[Merkuri]

My guess is that your monitor's resolution changes when you play CoH, and that causes it to work temporarily. It's very common for computer games to change your resolution - they often run at a lower resolution than your regular desktop because they need more processing power to pump out graphics at a high resolution.

 

[Thanee]

Whether other resolutions work fine can simply be tested by changing the resolution (obviously ). Have you done that already?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Bront]

Software is a possibility, but it's really unlikely. 9 times out of 10 what you've described is caused by a bad wire in the monitor cable or connectors. It's probably just coincidence, or maybe the software changes are just exacerbating the problem.

Actualy, if it's a CRT monitor, it could be the red gun starting to go. It can happen where it only functions sometimes, and a resolution change can sometimes kick it into working.

I'd bet it's likely the monitor. Check the connection cables though first, looking to see if any of the pins are bent (that can cause it too).

 

[Redrobes]

Basically you need to swap some stuff out. The cable and the monitor for starters. My money is on the actual monitor tho. Its highly unlikely to be a software or configuration issue.