Damaged My Monitor

from Sins Forums
I've been playing SINS for about 10 days and I like it a lot.

But I notice today that it has apparently permanently damaged my monitor.

I have a two-year-old at the time top of the line Dell XPS gaming rig, with an nVIDIA 7800 and a very nice Dell 21 inch flatscreen monitor.  This is the best monitor I've ever had, runs flawlessly, never had any problems.

But I notice after some long sessions of playing SINS that the interface controls are burned permanently into my monitor at the bottom and the top. I run a clean desktop with no wallpaper, just the standard Windows blue-green color. Very annoying to have smudgy black and gray streaks.

I'm running the default setup that I got on install:  1024 x 758, 60 Hz, 2 sample anti-aliasing (don't even know what that means, alas); and highest detail on everything.

Anybody got a clue on this?  I see I have my monitor set through desktop properties at 75 Hz.  Could it have been a problem to run SINS for 10 days at 60 Hz?  I have no clue whether that might damage the monitor.

technical
4,707 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
wow did you play one level for 10 days straight.

i've only heard that it happens when the screen is still for a very long time. hence screen savor
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Wow, this is the first time i've heard of anything like this happening to a new-ish flatscreen monitor... It was very common on old CRT's (that's why they invented screensavers in the first place).

Your best bet is probably to call up Dell support and ask them what is going on. You could also have a look through the manual for your screen, see if it says anything about running for prolonged periods of time at a non-native resolution.
Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
It's neither damaged nor permanent, and doing pretty much anything that leaves the same stuff on the screen in the same place for an extended period can do that. Some displays are more prone to it than others.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_persistence
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I've been playing SINS for about 10 days and I like it a lot.

But I notice today that it has apparently permanently damaged my monitor.

I have a two-year-old at the time top of the line Dell XPS gaming rig,
with an nVIDIA 7800 and a very nice Dell 21 inch flatscreen
monitor.  This is the best monitor I've ever had, runs flawlessly,
never had any problems.

But I notice after some long sessions of playing SINS that the
interface controls are burned permanently into my monitor at the bottom
and the top. I run a clean desktop with no wallpaper, just the standard
Windows blue-green color. Very annoying to have smudgy black and gray
streaks.

I'm running the default setup that I got on install:  1024 x 758,
60 Hz, 2 sample anti-aliasing (don't even know what that means, alas);
and highest detail on everything.

Anybody got a clue on this?  I see I have my monitor set through
desktop properties at 75 Hz.  Could it have been a problem to run
SINS for 10 days at 60 Hz?  I have no clue whether that might
damage the monitor.
End of quote


What? (At the bolded parts)

Lets debunk the nasty rumor that games kills hardware. If there's a problem with said hardware, it'll manifest it self sooner or later in any event, regardless of any games it may be exposed to.

Secondly, such a large screen, and widescreen no less, must have a native resolution of around 1680 x 1050 or so. Why would you run it at anything less then that then? Especially 1024x768, it must look like rubbish!

Now, to your problem. It sounds like some form of image persistence, though it's rarely seen on modern LCDs. It happens because the monitor is displaying a static image, that doesn't change. Sins would be anything but static in my book, unless you just left the game sit there for 10 hours without any interaction.

If it really does have some form of image persistence I'd suggest you turn off the monitor for an extended period and see if it sorts it out. Otherwise you may be able to use a program try and fix the screen.

You could try something like http://www.jscreenfix.com/basic.php I guess, though it was the first thing that just came up on google, so there may be other/better/different tools for clearing up the persistence.

In closing though, run your LCD at the native rez and refresh rate, and not anything else.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
He said 'flat screen', not LCD. I believe he's referring to a flat screen CRT.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
He said 'flat screen', not LCD. I believe he's referring to a flat screen CRT.
End of quote


If he is heres his fix

Buy a new monitor.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks for responses.

xardas--nah, I often play four to six hours at a time, but I have the WinXP screen saver set to come on after 10 minutes of inactivity. This problem is unique to this game.

sweZor--thanks, yes, I should contact Dell. But the monitor has worked fine on many games before, including Lord of the Rings Online where I've been known to be online for 12 hours straight.

kryo--thanks very much. That's very encouraging! I've noticed that the smudges persist after leaving the computer off for a couple of hours. But maybe some extended white screen plus longer down times might help.

novaburst--First, games sometimes do harm hardware. It's rare, but it still can happen. Second, a 21 inch screen is not so big these days, and 1024 x 768 is a good setting that I prefer, not "rubbish." I have a condition called macular degeneration that is making me increasingly blind. Everything is blurred for me at resolutions above 1024 x 768. Not long ago that was considered an incredibly high setting. Third,
thanks for the other ideas. I wish it would be easier for me to adopt the simple idea of just turning off my monitor for an extended period!
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
I'm talking about an LCD flat panel monitor, not a CRT.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
If you could provide us a model number, we could see if the 75hz is actually supported. My LCD likes 59-60, anything higher is highly discouraged. I wouldn't be surprised if running that high isn't supported.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Well, good news. After leaving the computer off for about 10 hours, the smudges have gone away, so it seems not to be permanent damage, at least so far. We'll see after more long sessions of SINS. I do think this is worth commenting on, because I've never had any other program leave persistent images on this monitor.

It took me awhile to track it down, but the monitor is model number Dell 2005FPW, which I see is a 20W, not a 21W as I said above. According to the manual, it supports frequencies up to 75 Hz (except only for the supposedly optimal setting of 1680 x 1050, which must run at 60 Hz, and which I don't like as much as good old 1024 x 768). So at least it seems I haven't been running it wrong for two years.