Hi all,

Im having a problem with my pc monitor and hope you can help, ive tried everything i can think of to fix it including searching the net for fixes. Its been happening for some months now and before that was working fine for at least 2 years.

The problem is this: whenever i view movies/my webcam, my monitor intermittently goes on and off (doesnt power off). It just goes black for a second or so and then comes back on a lot, to the point where its impossible to either use my webcam or view a video file. I can however watch videos embedded in youtube web pages.

Any idea what could be the problem please?

Ive got:

windows xp
sony hs94p 19inch monitor (using dvi connection)
nvidia software

I notice from the nvidia software that the refresh rate is 60hz is that correct for the uk? There doesnt appear to be any way of changing it that i can see. The monitor blinks intermittently when the nvidia software shows this 3d animation too.

My graphics card is a GeForce FX 5200 if that helps.

For info, your PC monitor's refresh rate has nothing to do with your geographical location (you may be thinking of TV broadcasts, etc).

Are you getting this issue anywhere else, such as games for example?

I'd start by updating the video card drivers from the nVidia website (http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk) to make sure you're running the latest version.

Also, from the desktop settings (right click on any blank area of your desktop and select Properties, then click on the Settings tab and the Advanced button, then the Monitor tab), can you alter the refresh rate there? 60Hz seems a little low; make sure that the 'Hide modes that this monitor cannot display' option is ticked, and then see what options are available in the drop-down list - select the highest and test, and if that's no good, work your way down the remaining entries in the list.

Let us know how you get on.

If the small, low-frame-rate YouTubes show ok, then I'd suspect drivers or raw processing power deficiency. You might also want to check out "processes" in TaskManager to see if something unusual is going on with individual process CPU usage when this problem occurs.

You also might try changing number of colors (for example: from "highest 32bit" to something lower) to see if that makes a difference. Right now, don't care what it looks like, just find out whether the symptom changes.

Also, IF you have 3rd party video filters installed (e.g. "gamma panel", "powerstrip", etc) those can be problematic with some video adapters, and can also steal processing power you can't afford to lose. Try uninstalling or disabling at start-up.

Make sure your video codecs are up-to-date as well.

Hi Rhort and John,

Thanks for your replies.

Ive spent time going through your points and trying to get nearer the problem.

1. Removed colorvision spyder calibration software from startup folder and restarted pc.
2. I updated the video card drivers.
3. 60hz refresh rate is the only option there so no change possible there.
4. Checked the processes in the task manager. When nothing is happening cpu power is down to 4% etc when idle. Nothing holding it up high. I assume thats ok.
5. Tried reducing the colours to 'Medium 16bit'
6. Downloaded K-Lite codec pack. Thats the only way of getting codecs i know.
7. Tried freecell game and it worked fine.

So as far as i know ive updated everything. The only thing i have found to eliminate the problem completely is adjusting the Hardwaree Acceleration setting down from Full to "Disable all Directdraw and 3d accelerations, as well as all cursor and advanced drawing accelerations. Use this setting to correct severe problems with DirectX accelerated applications."

That give any clues? Anything else i can try? Thanks for your help.

Are you using the latest monitor driver, or does the display properties just show 'Default Monitor on nVidia GeForce 5200' or something similar?

Also, what version of DirectX are you actually running? You can check this by running DXDIAG from the Run option on the start menu - DirectX version is shown at the bottom of the System Information box on the first tab (titled 'System').

Hi Rhort,

in display properties>settings>display: "SONY SDM-HS94P DVI-D on Nvidia GeForce FX 5200." I tried to update the driver using the windows update driver button but none were found. Had trouble finding any updates for the driver on the sony sites/google. The current driver is:

driver provider: sony corporation
driver date: 17/05/2004
driver version: 1.0.0.0

DXDIAG shows: "DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)"

Hope this helps.