Computer monitor repair

One of my PC monitors has decided to start acting weird tonight, with some horizontal lines across the bottom third of the screen (pic below). Does anyone have a decent suggestion for where I might be able to get this fixed? Is this the sort of thing they do in the basement of Guanghua Electronics Plaza?

Alternatively, do you think this might not be worth trying to repair? For context, it’s an Acer R240HY 23.8" LED LCD monitor, which I bought second-hand about 18 months ago for 1500 TWD (3000 TWD for two), manufactured January 2016 so presumably out of warranty.

Given the age, I’d probably be reluctant to spend more than say 1000-1500 TWD trying to fix it, but if it could just be a broken capacitor or something I’d be willing to try to get it repaired (or do it myself), since it matches my other monitor. I am pretty sure it’s a monitor issue rather than a cable/graphics card one (the issue still persists when the monitor is connected via a different cable, and when it’s just showing the manufacturer screen with no input).

@Marco might know

It might be something with the screen matrix that can be fixed, if you need to replace the whole thing it’s not worth it. If youre in Taipei, lots of computer shops in Guanhua to fix these things.

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Have you tried another cable?

I did. Switched the cable from my other monitor to the defective one and the issue is still there. The darker/“interlaced” region is also still visible when there’s no input, just the screen with the manufacturer’s logo, so I’m pretty sure it’s not a graphics card/cable problem.

If it’s not the source or the cable, I think you will need to get someone to look at it to see what the damage is. I don’t think it will hurt to try bringing it to Guanhua area. You can also find some cheap monitors there. But dont forget to bargain if you do. And ask for a cash discount if you pay cash.

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Hmmmm… It’s possible it’s a motherboard problem or a panel issue. The issue is that monitor repair is extremely expensive. Can you see any symptoms when the monitor is off? Shine your phone light on the affected area and see if the panel has any discoloured pixels when off.

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That is my experience as well.

OOOh I just noticed something. The entire bottom quarter is interlaced. Not just green.

Yeah, this is what I’m thinking too. Is it Guanghua Digital Plaza or Electronics Plaza that’s better for this stuff? (I’ve only been to the former.)

I’m not quite sure what this means? When the monitor is off I can’t see anything at all besides the reflection of the light - the screen of this model is pretty black when turned off.

It is! It seems like every other row is missing. Is that significant/good/bad?

An LCD that suffers physical damage will have discolouration, even when the panel is off. I threw away a cracked LCD i had recently so I don’t have a picture.

I would suggest it’s like. Shine a strong flash light, like the one on your phone closely onto the monitor. See if you can discern the same lines when it’s off.

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I’m pretty sure there’s been no physical damage recently - the monitor has just been sitting on my desk for at least the last year, essentially unmoved. There was definitely none this evening immediately prior to the issue occurring - I just came back to my computer and it was like that.

I did notice today after the issue occurred that the male HDMI connection into the back of that monitor is bent to like 30 degrees, presumably due to strain on the cable (the wire is a bit short, so I guess the plug got pulled at some point). That doesn’t seem to be the problem though, at least directly - the same wire plugged into the other monitor works perfectly, and a perfect wire plugged into this monitor causes the same issue (and again, the issue is there without any input at all).

Right, but physical damage can come from invisible enemies like corrosion. I am trying to rule out the panel cause it’s the most expensive part.

A lot of times, if the motherboard/cables are going and there’s a spare lying around, then you can just buy another dead one with a bad panel and swap the boards.

You said you bought two, is the other one OK?

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I’ve tried as you suggest, but it’s really difficult to see anything here. This model of monitor seems to have some kind of matte/anti-reflective coating, and the lines are barely visible when the monitor is off (for both the normal region and the defective region). I can’t discern any difference between the two regions.

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I usually go here. There are also many shops around there as well, I don’t remember the street, but it’s where Burger King is.

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The other one is fine, perfectly normal. Good point - I guess I could open them both up and check whether it’s possible to easily switch around the boards to isolate the problem. I don’t really want to start desoldering and resoldering things at this point, but maybe it’s a removable connection (worst case scenario: two dead monitors rather than one working one and one semi-functional one…).

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Yeah, I know the place, I’ve been there a few times to buy computer stuff and when I thought I had a problem with the PSU. I’ve just seen Marco recommend the electronics plaza in another thread, but I wasn’t sure whether that’s more for non-computer items.

It also couldn’t hurt to go into any buy or sell groups in Facebook and see if anyone has any for sale if it’s not worth the repair.

You don’t have to use a soldering iron. If you’re savvy, you can just open it it up, swap the boards and see if the symptoms persist. Cables are removable inside the monitor.

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I’ve been checking, but all I found is one on eBay. Ruten and Shopee are ghost towns.

I’m hoping so. I’ve done that with laptop monitors before but I wasn’t sure if everything’s soldered inside a regular monitor. I guess I have a project for the weekend now!

Yeah, the scratched eBay one of $25 plus $110 shipping didn’t seem too appealing. Couldn’t find anything on Shopee or Facebook either - I guess it’s quite an old model.