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Curious as to solutions to an LCD monitor making a high-pitched whine. The frequency of the whine changes based on refresh rate selections.

Can this be fixed? Time for new hardware? Other alternatives?

UPDATE: Apparently the noise stopped a number of hours after it started. For now. :P

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Is the monitor under warranty? – Dave M Mar 29 '10 at 19:19
@DaveM The warranty status is not known at this time. :P – schultkl Mar 29 '10 at 20:27
Can you provide make and model? – Dave M Mar 29 '10 at 21:07
@DaveM It is an HP 1740 LCD monitor: h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12127_div/12127_div.HTML – schultkl Apr 1 '10 at 20:25
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5 Answers

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I have seen a bad inverter cause this noise but not sure about the frequency change with the refresh rate. With prices going down all the time, many time the repair is not worth it.

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I had this happen on a monitor where the fix was to remove it from power entirely. Try pulling the plug on it, waiting 30s and powering back up. Easy enough to try if you haven't yet.

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I forgot, but indeed the same happened to me once. I had to unplug for many hours though. (And also the screen itself was non-readable when it happened.) – Arjan Mar 29 '10 at 19:59
Thanks DHayes and Arjan. :o) Worth a shot! – schultkl Mar 29 '10 at 20:28
Nope, this failed to work. – schultkl Mar 30 '10 at 16:07
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up vote 0 down vote

Sounds like a dying capacitor, look at CRT monitors and TVs and you'll hear a similar whine.

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I have seen this around our office right before the monitor breathes its final breath. Normally the monitor lasts 1-2 weeks with the “whine” and then will no longer power up (have had 6 Optiquest Q9’s die this same death). Open it up to find one (or more) capacitors that have gone bad. Replace the bad capacitors with ones the same size, good as new!

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I have a cheap LCD that sometimes exhibits this problem (Chimei CMV 938D). For me, the most effective solution is playing with the brightness levels - it never whines at 100% brightness. I've always assumed it was the capacitors, though I've never been sufficiently motivated to take it apart and investigate.

It does seems to be temperature dependent - the brightness level at which it starts whining varies day to day, and how long it's been running, so I tend to just leave it on max.

I've had this screen for 2 years now, and it's done it since it was new, so while it might be an early warning of death, I've always just figured it was a function of a cheap build. Admittedly I don't often run mine in the brightness range where it whines.

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