TFT/LCD whine?

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Jordan
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TFT/LCD whine?

Post by Jordan » Thu Nov 25, 2004 5:27 pm

I have a Mitsubishi Daimond Pro right now and it's excellent for my web design work but it buzzes. I've not been too keen on TFTs right up til now as they have never been able to match professional CRTs for quality but I would appreciate the smaller form factor, lighter weight for transporting (going between uni and home I do a lot of it) and of course hopefully to get rid of the buzzing!

So has anyone had an problems with TFT/LCD buzz?
Last edited by Jordan on Sun Nov 28, 2004 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

aidanjm2004
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Re: TFT/LCD whine?

Post by aidanjm2004 » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:47 am

Jordan wrote:I have a Mitsubishi Daimond Pro right now and it's excellent for my web design work but it buzzes. I've not been too keen on TFTs right up til now as they have never been able to match professional CRTs for quality but I would appreciate the smaller form factor, lighter weight for transporting (going between uni and home I do a lot of it) and of course hopefully to get rid of the buzzing!

So has anyone had an problems with TFT/CRT buzz?
Do you mean your CRT is buzzing? You can sometimes reduce the buzz on an old CRT monitor by dropping to a lower resolution, or by decreasing the refresh rate (that impairs the viewing experience of course).

I'd be very disappointed if a TFT/ LCD monitor was buzzing.

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:51 am

We've talked about this LCD issue several times before. Apparently, one cause can be the power transformer itself. Use the search to find the earlier threads.

lm
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Post by lm » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:54 am

My 19" CRT (Samsung syncmaster 959nf) buzzes in certain conditions.

- When it is turned on, but the computer feeding it is not powered. The noise is actually a quite loud squeal.

- When the display is in power save mode. The power led is blinking, so that it stays on for 2 sec, then off for 2 sec. In both states the display emits a different pitch of noise, both high frequency. It is very faint, but eventually gets annoying in very quiet room.

When using the computer, this does not make any noise that i would hear, but maybe if i made my computer even more quiet, then some noise might become hearable, who knows...

Jordan
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Post by Jordan » Sun Nov 28, 2004 9:44 am

"Do you mean your CRT is buzzing? You can sometimes reduce the buzz on an old CRT monitor by dropping to a lower resolution, or by decreasing the refresh rate (that impairs the viewing experience of course). "

It's not an old monitor. The Mitsubishi Diamond Pro range is semi-pro/professional monitor (hence why I'm reluctant to swap it for anything else) and I've had it just over a year now. The resolution/refresh rate I have it running at for optimal picture also happens to be the optimal for the least ammount of buzzing. It's a lot quieter in stand-by. If it sounded like that all the time I'd probabaly be quite happy with it.

In my original post it should have been TFT/LCD buzz not TFT/CRT doh!

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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Nov 28, 2004 9:49 am

My old Samsung SyncMaster 151P buzzed at any brightness setting lower than 60; 50 was actually the ideal brightness level for it, so I simply used PowerStrip to counteract it. Anyway, I use PowerStrip because it allows me to assign a keyboard hot key to shut down the display any time I want, so I can sit back across the room with my diNovo, pick a song from my playlist in foobar2000, whose font size I have jacked way up, and then shut off the display and dim the lights for a wonderful listening session, all without getting up to press any power buttons.

My newer Hitachi TFT will make a buzz but it's not the panel, it's the integrated speakers; there's no way to disable them completely, so the only way to kill the buzz they make is to keep them plugged into something. I have them plugged into an old Discman of mine that just sits there behind the display; I guess leaving it ungrounded allows the buzz noise to come out(?)...

-Ed

mr pink
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Post by mr pink » Sun Nov 28, 2004 11:47 am

my liquid video 17"lcd buzzes if the brightness is set below 92%.
I control the brightness w/ the ati software now.

Sizzle
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Post by Sizzle » Sun Nov 28, 2004 12:06 pm

My 23" Sony LCD has fans in it that are louder then my PC. I do my best not to open it up and check those fans out to see if I can silence them. It was an expensive monitor.

pdf27
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Post by pdf27 » Sun Nov 28, 2004 12:27 pm

I've got a 17" Acer TFT, and it does have a very high pitched screetch to it. However it's very quiet indeed (I can only really hear it within about 12 inches of the monitor, or if everything else is turned off). For some strange reason it is far louder when the screen is showing dark colours than light colours.
Seems like MikeC made a good choice in the forum colours then - my monitor is silent here, and loud at some other forums ;p

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Post by chylld » Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:07 pm

lol pdf27 :)

this is an interesting thread... as some of you know my monitors are the loudest part of my system (2 crt's, a philips 109p and an acer acerview 76c) and i'd hate to change over to lcd monitors if they're only going to emit the same buzz. the problem is that i can't ask most people if the monitor is 'noisy' because their systems would almost always be much noisier than mine, and so they wouldn't hear the buzz anyway.

i'm thinking of getting the samsung 710N, which is a good monitor but has a built-in transformer (i.e. no external power brick) - i wonder if this will make noise as ralf mentioned? :/

Edward Ng
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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:37 pm

A lot of the time, the only part of a TFT display that makes noise and heat is the power transformer; if it's built right into the display, it's that much closer to your head/ears than an inline brick somewhere on the floor, behind the desk.

The noise emitted by the inline brick with my older Samsung SyncMaster 151P was really not audible unless I pretty much pressed my ear against the brick, but the brick did get luke warm. My newer Hitachi has the transformer built into it, but as I said, it's really only the speakers that emit noise, so...

...in other words, your mileage may vary.

-Ed

Jordan
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Post by Jordan » Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:48 pm

Well I'm interested in the LG Flatron L1730P so if anyone has any experiance with this that they could report that would be excellent!

Thanks to all for your replies, it's been an interesting read. I didn't expect so many reports of even slight buzzing with TFTs. I've built a few systems for others in the past with TFTs but I never spent any longer than a day with each system and I can't say I piad any attention to monitor noise with them. Maybe it's a good sign that I didn't notice...

wim
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Post by wim » Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:16 pm

i think the lg will be ok. i only have experience with 2 lcds on a quiet enough computer (mine) to talk about the lcd noise or lack thereof. i'm using an lg flatron L1710S right now, and it is silent. i also have tried the benq FP737S-D, also silent. both good monitors in response time and wide viewing angle aswell. i have been gaming happily on this flatron too. the colours are a little "different" from my previous 19" CRT, but they are still nice. (colours seem a bit deeper, a little less "pastelly" than the CRT e.g. the now quite deep blue on this classic windows screen)

i too switched from a high quality CRT (which had a buzz) to a somewhat less expensive and smaller lcd, for noise reasons. i feel the trade is worth it, for size reasons aswell as noise. now i've had a taste of this if i had to go back to a buzzing CRT, no matter how good it looked, i would be pulling my hair out in frustration.

this lg is not mine and it has to go back to the chick i'm loaning it from in a couple of weeks (she's been in the states for a few months and let me try out her monitor). i like it so much that i'm considering buying one for myself, except the 20" version :twisted:


ed: i'm certain it would be possible to open up the lcd and ground or disconnect those speakers internally (actually..i'm quite surprised you got a monitor with integrated speakers in the first place)

Edward Ng
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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:21 pm

The speakers never went into use, but I specifically was looking for a cheaper 17" LCD with quicker response time and DVI hookup; this LCD happened to be the best solution NewEgg had at the time to fit my need, and I figured I'll just disable the speakers entirely. It never occured to me that A) the speakers had no way to be disabled in the interface and B) they'd produce such a loud buzz.

-Ed

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Post by Tyrdium » Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:56 pm

Well, I suppose you could open up the display and take them out, but that'd be a tad risky... :P

Edward Ng
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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:57 pm

Well the Discman isn't bothering me at all, so I'll leave it alone for now.

I also know TFTs can be a mess to take apart and, moreover, reassemble.

-Ed

Tyrdium
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Post by Tyrdium » Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:06 pm

Heh, that's definitely true. I wanted to see pictures, though! :D

Jordan
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Post by Jordan » Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:32 pm

Surely if the discman is grounding the monitor then getting a 3.5mm jack to 3.5mm jack extension lead and connecting the other end to say a radiator would do the trick? Thought it might not be any tidier than your current solution! I have a metal desk so it would be quite simple.

I think I'd prob open up the display and cut the wires to the speakers though...

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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:33 pm

I'm not entirely sure if grounding is the issue; that's just a guess. How much can a Discman ground?

Jordan
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Post by Jordan » Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:35 pm

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Does the discman have batteries in? Maybe just the faintest of signals from the discman would cancel any interferance the speakers are picking up. I don't really know how to explain what I mean, I've had speakers that would buzz after the PC was shut down but with a signal input i.e. when the PC was on they wouldn't...

Jordan
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Post by Jordan » Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:06 am

I actually said the wrong TFT. It's a Sharp LL-171G-B I want.

Simonbun
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Post by Simonbun » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:18 am

A quick piggyback ride on this thread:

Does anyone own the dell 2001fp? I'm going to order it pretty soon to replace my iiyama vision master pro 454 19"crt that emits a quite noticeable buzz.

I'm having my hopes on the 2001fp to be dead silent ...

The Instigator
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easy fix for the speaker buzz

Post by The Instigator » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:45 am

I worked on an old compaq laptop for somebody that would transmit noise from the wireless nic to the speakers in the form of horrendous static. You could also hear a constant buzz from those speakers. To fix it, I just cut off the 1/8th inch jack from an old set of headphones and stuck in the headphone jack. Just having the plug in the socket seems to do the trick. Worth a try right?

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