Monitor takes hours to turn on

Question

My Samsung SyncMaster 940nw LCD monitor takes half an hour and sometimes half a day to turn on the display as the power is switched on (or the computer is turned on). Any solutions? Or will I have to buy a new screen?

Answer 1

I found this link which talks about a similar monitor by samsung with similar startup issues. It appears to be a hardware problem.

Best to return it to the store if it is new or contact Samsung support.

Answer 2

This exact same thing happened to me with my Samsung SyncMaster 226BW quite a while ago. When that started happening the monitor was already more then two years old and had worked perfectly fine up until that point.

Additionally, the last 10 seconds or so before actually displayed a proper picture after having been turned on (half an hour earlier) it was flickering really badly. After that long startup time the monitor worked just fine however.

I sent Samsung a support ticket using their e-mail support and it didn't take too long before they had sent me a replacement monitor. This monitor, from what I understand, was just one that had been previously returned by someone else and then repaired by them. I did not get a brand new one.

From what I understand, most LCD monitors use CCFL (fluorescent lights/tubes) on order to provide the backlight. This includes both of our monitors. Just like any regular fluorescent light that you have around the house or workplace the ones in the monitor can break or simply wear out. A typical life span for such a backlight can be for example 60,000 hours. After that time they are likely not to give enough light anymore or are likely to just break/die completely.

Normally, in regular fluorescent lights, a starter is used to heat up and initiate the light. When these are worn out it sometimes takes much longer for the light to turn on. While I am not certain whether or not this kind of starter is used in CCFL backlights as well, there is surely some equivalent counterpart of them. This might very well be what is causing your monitor's long start up times.

In short, I would say that your best bet is to check with Samsung support if you are lucky enough to still have a warranty intact. If not then you might have to buy a new monitor.