DescentBB

I recently was given an NEC MultiSync FE1250+, which I was planning to use as a gaming monitor. This thing is a heavy monster, but 1920x1440@73Hz / 1600x1200@85Hz was appealing enough for me to carry it up the stairs to my place.

The thing is, shortly before I got it, the guy told me he was having issues with it. I hooked it up to one of my machines, and sure enough, the desktop (which was set at 1280x1024) only showed for a second before the image shrunk and collasped to a point before blinking out. After that, I only got an alternating green/orange on the led. Re-powering on and off, unplugging and replugging have the same result.

What's interesting is that I do get a perfect picture during low-res/text-only bootup/bios screens, and I am able to access the display menu from the front buttons. I went through the process to reset it to 'factory defaults' that way, but still no change with other resolutions.

Any suggestions (besides \"go get a new monitor\"; I don't have the $$)? I'd like to fix this thing if I can, but my experience with fixing CRTs is next to nil, and I know the charge in those capacitors could really hurt if I opened it up and started messing around.

Fixing a CRT is generally not something you can do yourself. The charge in an average CRT is not just big enough to hurt, it can easily kill you even long after it has been turned off and unplugged. Take it into a TV repair shop and show them what it does, ask them if it can be fixed and how much it would cost.

Called the local repair shop, they would charge me over $100 just to look at it.

Did a little research online during my lunch break, and it looks like it may be as simple as replacing a cap / resistor, so I may (carefully) open the casing so I can take a look at the board this evening.

At the very least, ask them what tools you need to safely discharge the capacitors for that kind of monitor. Also remember that CRTs are fragile on the inside, hit it the wrong way and it could violently implode.

I had a 17\" Envision CRT that developed a screen-wide blue tinge earlier this year. This site helped me a great deal in isolating the problem:

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/monfaq.htm

Heed the safety warnings and precautions.