My monitor, an Acer AL1716, emits a quiet buzzing noise when I set its brightness below 78. I have done lots of searching online, and I have found a few people experiencing a similar problem with different monitors across various brands (e.g. Samsung, BenQ, Westinghouse).

Is this something that ALL LCD monitors do? I've noticed the screen on my Sony Vaio laptop does a similar thing, although I don't have any other LCD screens with which to compare it.

Can people tell me if there is an LCD monitor that makes absolutely no noise, even when its brightness is low?

Thank you very much for your time.

I don't notice this on either of my Samsung BW series monitors (226BW and 940BW). I leave my 226BW at 36 and it's fine.

Actually I just checked, if I put my hear right up to the top vent I can hear a barely audible buzzing. I set my brightness up to 100 and this was still there, so it doesn't appear to be brightness related. Not sure if there is a small fan in there or what. It's definitely not audible at more than 4 inches, though, so I can't say that I'm concerned :p

Hope that's what you were looking for.

My 932B+ 19" is silent even with the brightness turned down to 5-10.

Depending on the type of circuitry the brightness reduction can sometimes result in oscillation, which is the buzz or occasional high pitched whine that occurs when the circuitry has to 'sink' unused power.

You get the same effect from household light dimmers if they are dimmed almost all the way down when there is a high wattage load on them (eg taking a half dozen 100W bulbs from full bright to dim)

Thanks for the replies. I read in another post somewhere that the dimming in an LCD monitor uses the same principle as that of a dimmer switch. Do some LCDs use a different way to dim the picture, then? Is it a difference between old and new models?

Would other people please tell me if their LCD screens buzz at a low brightness? And if they don't, can you tell me the model of the monitor? The buzz mine makes is very quiet, so you would probably have to put your ear to the screen to hear what I'm referring to properly.

I'm going to buy a new monitor, but if I get another one that hums on low brightness then it will be a waste of money. I tried listening to them in a store, but it was too loud to hear properly, so this is the only way I have of knowing which monitor I should get.

Thank you.

I once bought a Samsung 22" screen which had a horrible high frequency whine with any brightness below 100%, and 100% brightness (like just about all LCD screens) was way too bright.

Equally annoying was the fact that it was a TN (twisted nematic) display. I returned the display within about an hour. TN sucks.

It's the transformer on the back light most likely.(same as a typical fluorescent bulb - they are noisy all too often)

If you can, look for models that have LCD back lighting.

Or better yet, wait a year or so until the new OLED monitors come out.

I have a CMV (hey it was cheap) which makes a whining noise below 66 brightness. Btw thanks I was getting really annoyed with the noise and just bumped my brightness up on the off chance after reading this now its near silent.

As it has been said previously its probably a transformer, if you want to fix it and aren't afraid of pulling your monitor apart you could try gluing the transformer in question which should mitigate the vibration somewhat.

The easier way to fix it is to bump the brightness up, unfortunately this normally makes things far too bright (probably because 10x10^6 Cd/m^2 looks good on the spec sheet) the way around that however is to turn the brightness down in your driver settings page.

Or you could just buy a new monitor, but why throw out an otherwise perfectly acceptable monitor over an easily fixable solution?

Turn it up until it stops whining, then get a glare screen. This drops the brightness by about 20% and is highly recommended to reduce eye strain as well.

I bought a new monitor, an LG W1942S, but it has the same problem, only even worse. It whines horribly when its brightness is lowered beneath 100, and it's even louder than my Acer. I shall be returning it.

I have tried lowering the brightness and gamma on my graphics card while using the Acer and turning the brightness up to 78, but the picture gives me a headache.

I looked up anti-glare screens quickly, and they seem to be very expensive. And I don't know if they would dim the picture enough because I have my brightness set very low, 10/100 usually.

It's impossible to hear this noise in a showroom; I tried in PC World, and they said I couldn't try and listen to the monitors anywhere else in the building. I also spoke to their technician, who said he had never heard anything about monitors making a noise when their brightness is reduced. Great expert.

Is there a type of screen that doesn't make any whining/humming/buzzing noises at all? If I search for "backlight monitor" on Amazon, I only get one result, for a monitor costing £341!

Has anyone got a silent monitor they can recommend? As in silent when you put your ear to it at low brightness? I see a lot of people replying to posts like mine on various fora claiming that their monitor is "dead silent", but I don't think that they really understand the problem and the noise that is being talked about.

Like I said in my first post, my Vaio laptop screen does the same thing, but I would have never have heard it over its loud fans had I not put my ear to the screen and listened for it. So, do ALL screens make this noise, or is there a totally silent one?

I would really appreciate it if people would test their monitors in the way I've described to try and find a silent monitor for me.

Just a theory, but I would think that LED backlit monitors would have the best chance of being silent. That said, I've actually never heard of anyone with audible buzzing from LCD monitors, and certainly none that are as loud as you suggest. Have you tried running the same monitors on a different computer/different outlet? Perhaps the transformer is having to work harder due to a different issue.

I tried running the Acer on my laptop; it made the same noise. I've tried different power leads and plugging the monitor into different sockets, but the noise is the same.

It might be something all monitors do to you.

If other people hear the whine as well, then it's just a matter of finding a different LCD manufacturer, and maybe a more expensive model that has better parts. I know because I can only hear anything from my LCD if I put my ear directly on the vents, and only on one side—the very light noise disappears (to my ears) from just a couple of centimeters away.

If on the other hand people don't hear this whine even when close to the source, then I doubt anyone can really help you with this problem. This would be bacause you can hear higher frequencies than most people, so the devices are basically not made up to your hearing standards (i.e. no manufacturer cares to dampen the frequencies most people don't hear anyway).

sw you're not alone.

I have a 21" Gateway FPD2185W. It emits a whine with the brightness anywhere below 90. It's a common problem with this model. It can't be heard over normal daytime noise but is clearly audible from 3 feet in a quiet room.

If you have an Nvidia card you can try using the Nvidia control panel. On the monitor set the brightness to a high enough level to eliminate the whine and then use the Nvidia control panel to reduce the brightness to an acceptable level.

Hope that helps

Hi. Thanks for the response.

I've tried putting the brightness up on the monitor and lowering it via my graphics card, but the picture hurts my eyes.

I have two 22" monitors, a Samsung Syncmaster 226 BW and a Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview L22-w. The Samsung hums at less than 100% brightness.

The Fujitsu doesn't hum at all but doesn't have as sharp a picture as the Samsung.

Jon

They all hum IMHO, espcially bigger monitors. Most people don't hear it because the ambient noise is too loud. I can only hear mine in the middle of the night and it's loudest just as i'm shutting down so that the pc is off but the montior is still on. I've have a dell 2408wfp and it definitely does this. I normally turn up the brightness all the way up and modify the gamma in the driver of my videocard.

My 42" Plasma does the same thing, the buzz is only audible when the room is silent(which is not that often when the TV is on). However the savings of the "low power" mode are too high for me to disable it just to cure this issue.

Hi

Can you confirm that the Fujitsu one doesn't buzz at all, even when you put your ear to the back and lower its brightness in a quiet room?

I ask because I might try and buy one if you can certify that it doesn't buzz at all.

Thanks.

The Fujitsu I have doesn't buzz at all. Really, not at all. I don't know if this is luck of the draw or if every one of these produced is quiet. I do know that this one has never made a sound with my ear to the back nor when the brightness is lowered in a quiet room. I wish I could say the same for my other monitor.

Jon

Thank you very much for your fast reply. Do you mind if I ask you a couple more questions?

Is L22W its full model number? As I've seen a few online with L22W as a prefix and then another number on the end.

Do the speakers on it not make a noise either?

Thanks very much for your help. I'm going to try and listen to some more monitors in some shops in a few days, and if I can't find one that doesn't buzz (although it is hard to hear them properly in shops), I might have to buy the Fujitsu one.

For those who are interested, my experience so far with monitors I've tried is:
Acer al1716s - buzzes below 84 brightness
LG Flatron 19" W-something - buzzed below 100
Apple 20" Home Cinema Display - buzzed below maximum brightness
A Dell monitor I tried in shops (don't know model number) - buzzed
An HP I tried in shops (don't know product number) - buzzed
My Vaio laptop screen - buzzes below maximum

I managed to find a monitor that doesn't buzz - it's an old Dell monitor. The only problem is that its minimum brightness is so high it gives me a headache. From what I've read, I think this older kind of LCD uses a different method of dimming its brightness, an analogue method, which doesn't have the dimming range of modern digital-dimming LCDs. The only problem is that it can't dim far enough for me, so it's no use. I've not found an LCD yet that does not buzz AND can actually be dimmed sufficiently, but hopefully I can soon.

Also, I found out that my Acer is under warranty - I wasn't aware that it had a 3-year warranty. I sent it back, describing the problem, and a week later they sent it back without fixing it. I phoned them, and they said they couldn't find a problem with it, so they didn't bother fixing it. They also didn't bother sending back my VGA cable and power lead. The operator on the phone asked how I knew that the monitor still buzzed if the cables weren't returned. How nice: steal my cables then accuse me of being a liar. Then he started making a long analogy about a car mechanic and how it was the same situation, saying that if a mechanic says a car starts when you say it doesn't, then there's nothing that can be done about it. Er, right. Yeah, that's really helpful. So car mechanics are liars, too; is that your point? I don't know.

Anyway, I sent it back again using as plain English as possible telling them what to do to hear the fault, but I am not at all hopeful that they will fix it.

If anyone else has a monitor that they can verify that definitely doesn't buzz on low brightness, please list it here. It will help me out very much.

Thank you.

Here's the info taken directly from the monitor's label:
Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview L22W -2
Model WBZA
Rev. 1

This monitor is analog and has no speakers.

Best of luck,
Jon

Does anyone know if LED monitors suffer the same buzzing problem as normal LCDs?

I have a AL2016W and discovered it buzzing just the other day. The sound was driving me NUTS and I was sure it was the grpahics card being buggy.

The buzzing stopped when I increased the brightness past 94.

ive had a pair of Samsung 970p monitors for several years now. I run them at about 50% brightness and ive never heard any buzzing sounds from either of them.

I have a 24" Gateway and the high pitched whine is driving me crazy. And adjusting the brightness doesn't seem to make any difference, or if it does, its still whining way to loud for my sanity. I tried to take this monster apart but its diabolically put together. There are 2 release points on the bottom of the panel that SHOULD allow the back to come off (yes I removed all screws holding the back on) but the back cover stubbornly refused to budge. I could have pried it but then I'd have demolished the back cover. Gateway would probably charge a fortune for that piece. I phoned Gateway but they were more than useless. Just putrid customer support. Googling how-to guides for dissassembly didn't prove useful either. Its like nobody ever takes these things apart.

If you can get the back off you should be able to greatly muffle (maybe you'll have to add a fan if you are restricting aireflow but that can be done silently at 5 volts) the noise of your monitor. Since this is such a widespread problem, we really should endeavor to find the solution. And obviously enough of the population is complacent enough that the manufacturers know they can get away with this. Its up to us to fix it.

mainayme - check around any stickers or labels on the back of your monitor for concealed screws.

I run into simmilar problems when I take mice apart to clean cat hair out of them.

I did. Nothing. 99.99999% sure that is.

I would like to add my experience with the Samsung 2433 monitor. We purchased the monitor for my mom that has vision problems and are happy this the visual aspects of the monitor. However, the brightness bothered her eyes so I reduced to 50% brightness and contrast which was better. However, we then noticed an irritating buzz that I don't remember being initially there.

We ended up purchasing an identical monitor for another PC on the same day and it does not hum, but the settings 60%. I'll double check the sound tomorrow and also try adjusting the brightness on the original monitor.

Thanks for the thread.
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I can't post links yet and I haven't tried, but did find one person that adjusted the screws (loosened actually) and another that claimed a 2 pin travel power adapter solved the issue.

its gonna be a perfectly acceptable monitor over an easily fixable solution..

What is the best use for an extra LCD monitor? I have an extra 15" LCD computer monitor, what could I use it for? Can I hook 2 monitors to my computer? What do I need in order to do it? Serious answers only!
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