Silent monitors

p_UK · Post by **p_UK** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 5:41 am

Any recommendations for monitors that are silent? I'm currently using a Panasonic PanaSync 5G and the feint buzz is really annoying me now. Are LCD panels any better than CRTs? Are there any monitors without the low freq. buzz or high freq. whine?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:40 am

Hello p_UK:

This is an easy answer: LCD monitors are silent (well for all intents and purposes, they are). All they consist of is some light bulbs, and the screen with colored pinholes that each have a little "shutter" in the LCD panel. The "biggest" source of any possible noise is the voltage transformer. I have two 15" 1024x768 CTX PV500's on this machine, and the both together use probably less than half the power that my previous 17" MAG Trinitron used. Edit: They also cost $200 less -- together than the MAG: $650 vs $850 6 years ago. I get a very large desktop (2048x768 effectively) and all I had to do was install an old PCI video card.

LCD's have no amplifiers, coils, electron guns, massive sheilding or anything that can really cause any noise. They are also quite cool running.

These CTX PV500's are very nice BTW -- they only cost me $325 each and they can be pivoted up to a "portrait" mode. They are bright, clear, and excellent for text and still images. Where they and most LCD's are weakest, is when there is fast motion. With a web cam they are fine, but even things like the cursor in DataCAD when I whip my MX-700 around get a little "flashy" and intermittent.

Gandalf · Post by **Gandalf** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 6:41 am

I just turned off my music to listen to my monitor. I don't hear a thing. I ran around my desk listening to any sounds coming from the monitor but I don't hear anything. I hear a *very* slight buzzing when I put my ear against the back of the monitor, but that's about it.
I'm using an LG StudioWorks 995E.

p_UK · Post by **p_UK** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 11:56 am

thanks for the replies. i'll have a look at a few lcd screens soon. i didn't realise that my monitor made any noise until i made the main pc silent. unfortunately, i use my pc mainly at night, so the buzzing is noticable (not a problem in daytime as even a bit of ambient noise masks the monitor noise).

i'll certainly investigate the ctx lcd you mentioned. a portrait aspect monitor would be much more useful to me than the usual landscape one.

auxyone · Post by **auxyone** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 1:09 pm

If you're looking at LCDs, take a look at the Samsung 191T (or Dell 1900FP equivalent). They have stellar image quality (19"@1280x1024), and can be found for very reasonable prices online.

I've owned mine for about 4 months, when they were an arm and a leg to purchase, and still couldn't be happier. It's a solid choice.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 6:05 am

Another vote for the 1900FP. I bought mine back in April and it's, hands down, the best computer investment I've ever made. The image quality is stunning. DVI-in is noticeably better than VGA-in.

Oh, and it's dead-silent.

Phrozenpenguin · Post by **Phrozenpenguin** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:00 pm

Another vote for LCD's being silent.

Also the time to power on/wakeup from standby is much quicker than my old CRT.
Im just saving so i can go dually as well

Dual monitors own.
I got a 15" LG L1510S if you want to know.

sgtpokey · Post by **sgtpokey** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:51 pm

although i have no doubt that LCD's are quieter, I was very surprised to find out that my Dell 19" (a Samsung 191t LCD rebranded by Dell) actually DOES produce a very faint buzz.

I never would have noticed except after quieting a bunch of other things in my system.

Great LCD though, perfect for games with no noticeable ghosting...

starsky · Post by **starsky** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 5:58 pm

Remember that LCD's are rated totally differently to CRT's. If you play games you want to ensure you get one with a low pixel response time (<25ms). Pixel response is the speed issue with LCD's because they only refresh a pixel when the colour changes, where as a CRT refresehs every pixel every cycle (eg 100MHZ = 100 pixel refreshes per second). Theoretically 25ms = 40fps but it is better than that, because you never have every pixel on the screen change at once.... do some research if you are a gamer before purchasing.

If you do graphics you want one with a high brightness and contrast. Brightness >250cd/m2 and contrast > 300:1

I have 2 LG 563LE's and they are VERY silent. This is mainly because they don't have a big whopping transformer in them. They are powered more like a laptop.

I also find that I get much better brightness and performance off my Digital rather than analog connection on my Radeon 8500, even though both monitors only have analogue connections... not really relevant but useful info.

I find that they are much easier to stare at for long periods than my old CRT...

good luck.

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 8:07 pm

Going back to CRTs, I recently noticed my Viewsonic PF790 19" monitor makes a faint but audible buzz noise sometimes during the boot process of Windows 2000 Pro. After it passes the startup screen and into the logon screen, the noise goes away. This might be perhaps because of the resolution?

When I am using linux, I noticed when I bring Konqueror (KDE's Explorer equivalent), the buzz comes up! So now my guess is the amount of "whiteness" on the screen might be the culprit... very annoying indeed! This doesn't happen under Win2k though. I'm still baffled.

p_UK · Post by **p_UK** » Tue Jan 07, 2003 6:09 am

[quote="Dru"]
When I am using linux, I noticed when I bring Konqueror (KDE's Explorer equivalent), the buzz comes up! So now my guess is the amount of "whiteness" on the screen might be the culprit... very annoying indeed! This doesn't happen under Win2k though. I'm still baffled.[/quote]

i had a similar problem with another of my monitors. when there was a lot of 'whiteness' on the screen, the monitor would begin to make a buzz/rattleing noise. this could be stopped by squeezing or hitting the monitor - i guess something inside is vibrating. this only happened after several years of use.

[quote="Dru"]Going back to CRTs, I recently noticed my Viewsonic PF790 19" monitor makes a faint but audible buzz noise sometimes during the boot process of Windows 2000 Pro. After it passes the startup screen and into the logon screen, the noise goes away. This might be perhaps because of the resolution?[/quote]

a colleagues monitor at work exhibits the same problem, except that it emits a high pitched whine that is truly painful. i'm not sure whether it is due to monitor warming up or resolution when booting win2k. it always stops by the time full bootup has finished.

i don't play games so refresh is not an issue. i also have brightness and contrast set very low to make it more comfortable to read.

i suspect anything with a mains transformer in has the capacity to make some noise. i was just wondering whether there was a truly silent monitor rather than a 'very quiet' one.
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Belgarion · Post by **Belgarion** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 7:52 pm

sgtpokey wrote:although i have no doubt that LCD's are quieter, I was very surprised to find out that my Dell 19" (a Samsung 191t LCD rebranded by Dell) actually DOES produce a very faint buzz.

Say, does that unit have a built-in power supply (i.e., power cord plugs straight into the back of the unit)? If so, I wonder if the buzz is coming from the transformer in the AC-DC power supply. Transformers are frequently a source of "buzzing" or "humming" noise (I can hear in the one in my Tripplite UPS when the computer's off).

Belgarion · Post by **Belgarion** » Wed Jan 08, 2003 8:02 pm

Dru wrote:Going back to CRTs, I recently noticed my Viewsonic PF790 19" monitor makes a faint but audible buzz noise sometimes during the boot process of Windows 2000 Pro. After it passes the startup screen and into the logon screen, the noise goes away. This might be perhaps because of the resolution?

When I am using linux, I noticed when I bring Konqueror (KDE's Explorer equivalent), the buzz comes up! So now my guess is the amount of "whiteness" on the screen might be the culprit... very annoying indeed! This doesn't happen under Win2k though. I'm still baffled.

Yes, the amount of "whiteness" does make a difference inside the monitor. I recently bought a Kill-A-Watt power meter (nice toy!) and tried it out on my Nokia 17" CRT. It runs about 71 W with a black (blank) screen. When I fill the screen with white it jumps to a peak of about 94 W or so (these are all for 1024x768 resolution, I suspect higher res modes consume more power). The power value I read at any given time falls between those two values depending on how "white" the screen is overall.

If your case, the buzzing is probably a result of the monitor having to work harder to display the "whiteness" (since it's consuming more power). Also, as for the Windows 2k boot issue, I'd guess it's dependent on the video mode like you suggested. I wonder if this some sort of resonance phenomenon; hit just the right mode/brightness and you hit the resonant frequency of the electronics.

Drewscriver · Post by **Drewscriver** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 11:44 am

As far as the monitor buzzing in konquerer and windows startup, but not windows itself, don't forget refresh rate. You could have both painting the same amount of whiteness under the same resolution, but if refresh rates differ, the monitor is going to be experiencing a different workload. You might want to play around with varous refresh rates/desktop resolutions and see what results you get from different combinations.

ckpurvis · Post by **ckpurvis** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 10:46 am

I, too, have noticed the monitor sound with a white screen. I've got a Princeton EO900 which makes a little buzz. I was able to reduce the buzz by tinkering with the refresh rate on the CRT. It might work for you -- I had a fairly lod buzz at 75 Hz, but at 85 Hz it was much quieter.

An old 17" HP monitor had the contant high-pitched whine, right at the edge of hearing. Truly maddening to me, but I was able to find out from a friend of mine who was a monitor tech that this was caused by a flyback transformer in the monitor. What I got out of his explanation was that this transformer is solid-state so it has no moving parts, but over time it gets less efficient. This causes it to bleed some energy in the form of that whine. Eventually the transformer will fail, but I can't listen to that whine long enough for that to happen. Smacking the monitor did help on my HP 17", but only for a while. Eventually the whine was constant, and I snapped -- and went to buyt the Princeton.

I had another monitor then, but friends with the same problem had a pretty hard time in getting anyone to replace the transformer. Seems that not a lot of TV techs want to work on monitors... I sure won't, since there are a few places in a monitor that'll kill you dead.

Dru · Post by **Dru** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 12:10 pm

That's some interesting info to know. I guess my monitor is "dying" rather slowly then. I noticed that if I hear within a foot or so from the top vents, I can clearly hear the faint yet annoying buzz noise. I've had this monitor for about 4 years now. Maybe it's time to put this monitor on my secondary (less used) computer and buy a new 19" (yay!) but have to spend money for that (not yay =( ).

I did notice my refresh rates in linux were set to 85Hz for vertical. With the newer versions of xserver or whatever they call it, you just set a vertical Hz range, and it will choose the highest VESA standard of some sort. It was using 85Hz. I manually faked my max vertical to 75 and so it sets it that way now. So, my experience was the opposite. With a lower refresh, the buss noise became quieter. I tested the other refresh rates, too. I've concluded that the higher the refresh rate, the higher the pitch of the buzz noise. It has to be pretty darn quiet for me to hear the buzz, though. If there's "any" background noise at all, the buzz can't be heard. However, now that my computer's silenced, I can hear the buzz when there's no other noise (catch 22?).

A monitor should be the component we need to upgrade the least often. How often do you guys upgrade your monitors? My monitors usually last at least 3 processor/motheboard upgrades before getting another one.

If I do end up getting a new monitor, I will see if there's any buzz at all. I just wonder if "new" monitors emit any noise.

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 12:53 pm

Yes, new monitors can buzz too. I know someone who has a brand new Viewsonic p95f+ and it has a minor buzz.

ckpurvis · Post by **ckpurvis** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 7:41 pm

I'd think just about any CRT moitor will make a whine of some sort, it just may be too high for human hearing when all is working well.

I've had my current monitor about five years. I'm now looking at replacing my monitor because it is starting to fail (an oddity with the horizontal alignment or some such CRT nonsense), but if it were not giving my problems I'd keep it another five happily.

I dread replacing it -- I tend to open the wallet wide for a monitor. Like the keyboard and mouse, I am guaranteed to use the monitor every time I use the PC. It makes sense to buy a fine one. I expect when I do my next system purchase / upgrade (Really Soon Now...

) I will replace the monitor. If all goes to plan, I will probably spend almost as much on my new display as I will on the rest of the computer.

'Course, I have a hankering for one of those Samsung displays I read about earlier in the thread...

Beyonder · Post by **Beyonder** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 8:45 pm

powergyoza wrote:Yes, new monitors can buzz too. I know someone who has a brand new Viewsonic p95f+ and it has a minor buzz.

I also have a viewsonic p95f+ (in black

)that has a slight buzz, and my roommate has an older viewsonic that also has that.

God, I can't wait until LCD's are cheaper and just as good....

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 8:58 pm

I find if you buy a quality monitor from a quality maker it will generally be silent. I have a Mitsubushi Diamond Pro 750SB and it is silent. What you pay for is what you get sometimes..

I would recommend Mitsubushi, Liyama, Sony, Panasonic, LG, genuine Samsung (not just the tube), and probably a couple of others I have missed.

Look for high quality aperture grille units too i.e made with Sony Trinitron, Diamondtron or Flatron tubes. These not only 100% flat but produce excellent sharp images and have not come across one of these to make any kind of wierd sounds.

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 9:49 pm

I'll agree with ez2remember with respect to new monitors, but I've seen plenty of quality monitors that start to whine as they get old.

In fact there are labs at school filled with buzzing trinitrons. But not all of them. Even of monitors with the same build date it seems to be luck of the draw as to whether they whine or not.

Silent monitors

Silent monitors

LCD's are totally silent!

Be careful in buying an LCD

Monitor buzzing at different places