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Thread: dual monitor flickering

  1. #1
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    dual monitor flickering

    Hey People,
    Recently I bought a Philips monitor as in this link:
    http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/d...&slg=en&scy=US

    I also have a VGN-Z650N Vaio laptop. So I managed to use laptop as the secondary and Philips as the primary monitor (actually I have also tried using Philips as the only one but it didn't make any difference). I'm using VGA cable.

    Now the problem: I don't know the right term but there is kind of wave in the Philips monitor! I don't know if that's what you call flickering or tearing or vibrating or what but that's it. The screen is not as stationary as my laptop. The problem is obvious in some pages of firefox because of their color or for example in "My Computer" when the page is mostly white so you can exactly feel the waves!

    The refresh rate is 60 which is the maximum possible. I remember having such problem with my CRT some years ago but then I increased the refresh rate and it was solved and at that time I had a PC but now with LCD I can't.

    This is not a problem that I can send the monitor back because of being defective so I appreciate if you can give me some guides to fix it.

    Thanks

  2. #2
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    Have you tried using the monitor with a different source?

    What resolution did you set the Phillips monitor to?

    And what is your video card? Is it integrated (Intel), or something else?

  3. #3
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    No, I don't have any different source. Hummmmmm but if I have to, I probably will!
    1920*1080 for Philips
    1600*900 for laptop

    It's their both maximum possibles.

    Well this is the information about my video card from this website http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Scan.aspx?lang=en-us:

    Product : NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS
    Current Installed Driver : 174.49
    Latest Driver Update: The manufacturer of this system requires that you download the driver for your GPU from their support site.

    The GeForce M series and GeForce Go series notebook GPUs use drivers that have been customized by the notebook manufacturers to support hot key functions, power management functions, lid close and suspend/resume behavior. NVIDIA has worked with some notebook manufacturers to provide notebook-specific driver updates, however, most notebook driver updates must come from the notebook manufacturer. Additionally, the desktop GeForce graphics drivers will not install on Geforce M series and Quadro M series notebook GPU's.

  4. #4
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    You can try lowering the resolutions, or you can try mirroring the screen. I'm thinking it is possible that the two very high resolutions are just too much for the mobile card. But if you set it to mirror and your problem persists, then this obviously isn't the issue.

  5. #5
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi,

    Please try using a different cable as well as what has been suggested. Does the Philips have a removable cable, or is it fixed?

    If it is fixed (at the monitor end) then try a different computer.

    Also try the laptop on another external monitor............. Your local library might help there?............ doesn't matter if it is CRT, because I am just thinking of testing the external monitor port

    As you have tried using the Philips as the only monitor, I don't think that it is the video chipset............given that it runs the inbuilt monitor OK?

  6. #6
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    nihil is right. Even better, if your laptop has it,ditch the vga cable and get hdmi or dvi. Maybe it's just me, but I've always had problems with using VGA cables on mobile units like laptops with secondary monitors. I don't know if VGA cables are prone to breaking from bending the cables or what, but I've had continual problems with VGA cables, no matter what I've bought.

  7. #7
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    You were right. It was a cable problem and HDMI solved it....Thanks for the advice

  8. #8
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Thanks for the response!

    So many threads end without a confirmed conclusion

  9. #9
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    nihil, so true. I always try to give an update to clarify the problem and what the solution was in an effort to help other people who may have had the same problem.

  10. #10
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    So like I said switching to HDMI cable solve the problem at that time. But then I had to use the VGA cable again and I tried like 3 different cables and it was still flickering. I tries these cables with another computer and they worked well so my suspicion is that it's the VGA slot of the laptop that is causing the problem.

    Can you guys think of a way I can clean it or something? Please let me know about it.
    Thanks

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