[MitchC]

Hey,

I just moved my computer system to university. I am living in a 4 bedroom apartment. The computer is in my bedroom. Soon after setting everything up, I noticed the monitor was 'wavy'. A constant 'giggle'. Anyways, I thought it might be the subwoofer and it not being shielded. But I moved it and turned it off, etc and the monitor issue was still there. Now... my tower is next to my monitor and I have a 120 mm exhaust fan that just pumps out the air. Would the moving air be causing the issue? I tried to block the monitor from getting airflow to see if it was the issue but I still happened... Anyways, just wondering what anyone else might recommend to try. The monitor is a year old, Samsung SyncMaster 997MB. Thanks for all your help in advance... I don't need to be having any seizures...

Mitch

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It would not be the air flow causing the problem.

Try moving the monitor away from the wall and other things to see if the problem goes away. If it does, then try to isolate what is causing the problem. There could be power lines in the wall or something on the other side of the wall which is causing the problem, as well as perhaps your computer, such as the fans.

[Kemasa]

It would not be the air flow causing the problem.

Try moving the monitor away from the wall and other things to see if the problem goes away. If it does, then try to isolate what is causing the problem. There could be power lines in the wall or something on the other side of the wall which is causing the problem, as well as perhaps your computer, such as the fans.

[austin_o]

Hi. The fan inside of your pc tower is dc powered and not likely the cause. Does your monitor sit next to a wall? There may be high voltage ac power behind the wall, near the monitor. Is there an ac powered fan nearby, like a ceiling fan? I know you can't tell what may be behind a wall without an expensive sensor. You could just try setting it up away from the wall. I had a monitor set up in an office near a pillar between workstations that had wires inside that carried voltage. I got little ~~ lines on the side nearest to the pillar. When I moved it way just a few inches, it went away. It may be something else entirely, but this may be worth considering.

[Bartender]

I work at a coal-fired utility plant, where we make electricity. The office people sit under the high-voltage wires leaving the plant. Their monitors twist and hunt continuously. They're being bathed in the huge fields set up by those overhead cables. Hooking up a filter or power conditioner to the AC supply wouldn't make any difference because the interference is coming out of the sky.
The simplest thing to do would be borrow a couple of monitors and see if they all do the same dance. Unless you dropped your monitor in the move it's probly OK.

[MitchC]

Hey,

Thanks for the input! The monitor should be fine. I packed it, it sat in the passanger seat for the ride up, and I carried it into the room. I treat all my computer-y stuff with tons of care. Anyways, I am near a wall... Kind of in a corner. Unforatunately, the way the room is set up I will not be able to get too far out of this corner... There isn't anyway to 'block' this interference? I am 90% sure it's something interfering coming from the wall. Like I said, it's a univeristy residence building so there is lots of power coming in/out.

Mitch

[Kemasa]

The first thing is to determine where the problem is coming from, then you can work on shielding it. Using metal screen mesh might work to shield the monitor, but you need to know where to place it. It might be that moving the monitor out a bit might help too, or side to side.

[MitchC]

Hey,

Well it is indeed something in my bedroom. I plugged my monitor into my roomate's laptop in our living room. The wave was gone. Bring it back to my room and the wave is back. I also moved my monitor around my desk and it was still there. I moved it onto the floor where it was fine. So I think it's safe to say something in this corner is interfering with it. Now what can I do to attempt to fix/prevent this?

Mitch

Edited by MitchC, 10 September 2006 - 11:16 AM.

[MitchC]

Hey,

UPDATE: So... I changed the refresh rate on my monitor from 85 Hz to 60 Hz and the wave has gone away. Does this make ANY sense? Could I just up that rate to 85 Hz when gaming? Is it possible that in the 70 Hz range there is the interference? I tried 72, 75, and 80... All did the wave. But 60 seems fine...

Mitch

[Kemasa]

You could try putting metal between the monitor and computer, such as 1/4" mesh, grounding it might help, but be careful if you do that. The idea is to make something of a Faraday cage, although open at one side, basically shielding the monitor and the cable to it. You could be getting the interference through the monitor or the cable (or both).