L246WP-BN + Vista + ATI x1650 + HDMI/DVI = Flickering

First time poster here. Also Non-Gamer here. Last time I played a video game it was Galaga and it cost a quarter at the local liquor store...where every kid should spend his youth…

So there...I said it...I know squat about all this monitor/video card/ghosting/zero ms voodoo. Yet I humbly ask the resident experts here about a problem I've tried really hard to figure out. Found the 1300 post thread on the LG L246WP...but I'll be retired or dead by the time I read that AND understand it in its entirety. I even searched within the thread for “flickering” or “black out” and learned a lot…just not about how to fix my problem.

I have a bad flickering and intermittent black out problem only when connected via the HDMI to DVI cable. No issues at all with the D-sub analog cable connection. Again, no games will be played on PC or via Xbox or similar, no TV/DVD hook up, no watching videos via a DVD, etc. going on. This is strictly for editing, color correction, etc. using Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom applications (wedding photography).

I, like many, want the most out of their hardware/software and women but I didn’t realize that by connecting via analog I was probably sacrificing some image clarity or “sharpness”. So I found my HDMI/DVI cable and plugged her in and immediately I noticed an improvement in image clarity at the expense of a nasty flicker and 2-5 second black out cycles. Not happy.

Monitor was purchased in Dec. 07 with a production date of March 2007. I’m running a 8 month old Acer Aspire ASE700 Quad core, Vista Home, 2 GB RAM and ATI x1650 Radeon vid card (1GB).

I’ve read hi and low at possible causes:
- Checked cable connections were secure as only an obessive/complusive could...no help.
- Dirty electricity…check...bought a line cleaning power strip = problem remains
- Move speakers b/c possible space voodoo interference…check… = problem remains
- Update ATI drivers…check…you know where this is going…
- Update LG Monitor drivers…tried…but Vista says I have the latest greatest. But I need help here. Within “Display Settings” Vista ID’s the monitor as “1. Generic Non-PnP Monitor on Radeon X1650 Series” so I don’t really know if the LG drivers are loaded and being used or if Vista is driving the monitor via some generic pre-loaded drivers. I know it’s a stupid question but I have the drivers on my desktop that I downloaded from LG. I just don’t know the procedure to update them. I hear people talk about wiping old drivers out then loading the new ones, etc…but honestly I don’t want to wipe out display drivers and have the friggin’ monitor go black on me with arms crossed saying “Now whattcha gonna do rocket scientist?”

I apologize for the long first post and I could go through all the options I’ve tried but you’d hunt me down and kill me. For all my poor attempts at humor I’m really beyond frustrated and at a complete loss.

Between changing settings within Vistas Display Settings AND ATI’s Catalyst Control Center AND the monitors OSD AND switching b/w D-sub and HDMI/DVI it has become apparent that larger forces are at work here. Menus change depending on how connected and what application you are in and I simply cannot figure out how to up the refresh rate to above 60Hz (which I’ve read is the likely issue) AND maintain the native resolution of 1920 x 1200. Lower resolutions look like poop and defeat the whole purpose of trying to go with the digital cable.

I’m going to back away from the computer verrry slowly now and be very still and quiet while someone hopefully has read this far and feels they can help me out. Again, thanks for giving this a go…I’ve tried other photography forums and all I’ve gotten back is mostly the sounds of crickets….

Shoots!

Chirp!
You may not stop the blackouts completely, but those should be rare events. Flickering is not normal.

Reduce some more variables.

Try another DVI Cable.
Install LG drivers.
From your description, they aren't installed. I know, I know, Vista's mock security will warn you about the dangers, but just go ahead and install. It's an exe file, yes? Or is it an inf file?

Set the video card for 60hz, that's all the panel can support natively. This ain't no CRT like at the liquor store.

Borrow another video card.
Or take your screen to another system and connect with another cable.

Troubleshooting can be fun. Not at the moment, but later after it's all over.

Thanks Clockdogg,
There are three files that came in the zip folder for LG L246WP, one each of a .cat, .icm, .inf.
I will read up on the install instructions and not delete the Vista generic drivers. The install instructions are for XP but the drivers are for Vista. I'm sure the install procedure should be similar.

I'll also take the monitor to another system also and try to locate another HDMI/DVI cable. I don't mind upgrading to a different video card but obviously only if this ATI one is not compatible or the DVI port is futzed up. I did check to see that it is seated securely to the mobo.

Glad to hear feedback that this monitor can only be set to 59Hz or 60Hz at 1920 x 1200 as those were the only two options I could get for its native resolution. I got two different numbers from their manual both a max 60Hz and also a up to 75Hz reference, so I kept trying to find a way to bump up the refresh rate. I could, but not at 1920 x 1200. I'm sure I misinterpreted the info. in the manual incorrectly on max refresh rate. Just confused myself I guess.

Thanks again. I'll post back if I figure out what's going on for closure and future ex-Galaga players that may follow in my forum tracks.
Aloha,
Shoots!

this panel maxes out at 59/60hz at its native res, don't try to find away around it.

Check your cable make sure nothing is throwing out heavy interference near by, big speakers, CRTs, possibly cell phones/cordless phones ( i know, PITA and probably not it , but its an easy check, you'd be shocked at what they can interfere with.)

I would put my money on the dvi port being screwed up. I wouldn't recommend ATI again anyway though, AMD Is kind of going under.

Thanks Weenis for confirming that this monitor only goes either 59 or 60Hz while native at 1920 x 1200. I won't fuss with that part any longer.

I did figure out how to install the LG drivers. Vista really insisted that their generic drivers were fine and made it hard for me to figure how to load the LG ones into the big pool of drivers in which to choose from. Unfortunately it didn't do any good. Even when "display settings" shows I'm running LG L246WP (digital) drivers instead of the Generic Non PnP monitor drivers I still get a lot of flickering and black outs (obviously when hooked up via HDMI/DVI). Analog cable still shows zero issues with flickering and black outs.

Here is something NEW I found out. The flickering and black outs are severe when using an application with a darker background (like Adobe Lightroom which is mostly gray and black) or if I'm at a website that is predominately black (like Hardforum!). I couldn't even compose this message when hooked up via digital cable, it was just too much blacking out.
However, if I went to a website with a white background, like Google, it was much better. Still a little flicker and maybe a black out every so often but night and day by comparison to an application using dark colors. Strange.
Not sure if this helps anyone theorize if it is the ATI card or interference or even the monitor. Wouldn't interference affect the monitor when in digital mode regardless of the colors on the screen?

I might just pick up a new vid card and see. I'll check and see what Best Buy's or Circuit City return policies are if this new card doesn't help.

Any suggestion? Assuming a NVidia card. Again, purpose is only for photo editing not gaming or videos.

Thanks again for the feedback

Those symptoms don't sound good. Probably looks worse. Try a new cable. And try this screen on another system with a known good cable.

You might want to pull out your digital scope too. Something is not clocking right. But try on another system, that would be the fastest way to discover whether the HDMI input is hooped or you have some wacky system interactions.

For a 2D photo editing card a NVidia 8400GS would do. But no point getting it until you isolated the problem. My guess is it won't be the ATI card.

Hmmm...I'll have to try a new cable tomorrow. I can also take it to my girlfriends, but she has a mac desktop and according to the LG manual I'll need a converter (not supplied) to hook up to her machine. She is running the 23" Cinema display and it is absolutely beautiful. I would hope her video card can support 1920 x 1200...

In the mean time I decided to see if I set the refresh rate at 59Hz and the various resolutions available to me would make the monitor flicker? Also tried it with a refresh rate of 60Hz. Not sure how this info. may fit into the puzzle but below are the results. I used Hardfourm.com and Adobe Lightroom as the test site/application since it seems darker colors stress the system. Underlined results are for those resolutions that didn’t produce any issues.

59 Hz
1920 x 1200 (native res) = flicker and black outs severe.
1280 x 800 = no flicker in Hforum; acted nutz with fickering and blacking out in LR
Although there were other resolutions available to me the resulting image was unusable…just too large. Couldn’t see the entire contents on my desktop, etc.

60Hz
1920 x1200 = same horrible problem as above
1920 x 1080 = no flicker or black outs (but overall text/images look soft).
1776 x 1000 = no flicker or black outs (text/images are sharper but overall res is still lower)
1600 x 1200 = flickering with both Hforum and LR.
1400 x 1050 = flickering with both Hforum and LR.
1360 x 1024 = flicker, flicker, flicker…
1360 x 768 = flicker, etc…
1280 x 1024 = no flickering or black outs (stretched image though…)
1280 x 960 = no flickering or black outs
1280 x 800 = flicker in Hforum; major flicker and black outs in LR
1280 x 768 = no flicker or black outs
1280 x 720 = no flicker or black outs
1152 x 864 = no flicker or black outs
1024 x 768 = no flicker or black outs
Again there were lower resolutions available but it just made everything too large and unworkable.

For shits-n-giggles I included higher refresh rates via ATI's control panel "Force" feature. As discussed earlier, 1920 x 1200 is not an available resolution at anything above 60 Hz.

70Hz
1024 x 768 = no flickering or black outs
1280 x 960 = no flickering or black outs
1280 x 1024 = no flickering or black outs

72Hz
1024 x 768 = no flickering or black outs
1280 x 960 = no flickering or black outs

75Hz
1024 x 768 = no flickering or black outs
1152 x 864 = no issues
1280 x 720 = no issues
1280 x 768 = no issues
1280 x 800 = Both Hforum and LR flickered and blacked out several times over a 2-3 minute span.
1280 x 960 = no issues
1280 x 1024 = no issues

Interesting that everything above 60 Hz worked fine except for one resolution at 75Hz (1280x 800).

Thanks to those helping with suggestions. Don't know if this info. is helpful in diagnosing what is going on. I don't have digital scope but I will try to swap cables and also see if I can hook my monitor up to another machine. Thanks again

1920 X 1080 works. The screen is treating the computer as a HD source. Guess you're only meant to watch videos. Can you confirm on the OSD what it believes is connected?

Your girlfriend's 23" screen is the same resolution as your LG, so it shouldn't be an issue for her mac. But it will be very revealing how your LG responds to the mac's output at 1920 X 1200 over DVI.

OSD indicates "HDMI 1920 x 1080 / 60Hz". So I take that to mean it is doing what it is told to do...draw a 1920 x 1080 screen at 60 Hz while connected via HDMI cable. Contrary to what I posted last night, it appears this resolution also flickers a bit (but very minor by comparison). No black outs yet though.

I did find a thicker gaged HDMI/DVI cable at radio shack (their brand) for $70. It made things worse!! It's going back tomorrow.

I haven't tried the monitor on my girlfriends mac yet. Didn't realize the converter for the DVI end of my cable can only be purchased at Apple stores. I'll go and get one tomorrow.

If the monitor acts ok on her system at 1920 x 1200 I guess I'll swap out the vid card, since I've tried the cable and that didn't make a difference. I'm running out of options which I guess is a good thing?!

Thanks clockdogg for shepherding me through these dark times....

Shoots said:

OSD indicates "HDMI 1920 x 1080 / 60Hz".

Click to expand...

Stop the pixels! This isn't a good sign. You want it to say:
HDMI 1920 x 1200 / 60Hz (You paid for 1920 X 1200, you want to see it)

Unless it auto-detects when you try it on the Mac, you may need to smack the OSD around a bit. Or smack around the OSD.

Under the Special Menu, check that DDC-CI is On
Under the Screen Menu, check that HDMI is set to PC (I'm betting it's set to video)

Happy Smacking!

clockdogg said:

1920 X 1080 works. The screen is treating the computer as a HD source. Guess you're only meant to watch videos. Can you confirm on the OSD what it believes is connected?
Your girlfriend's 23" screen is the same resolution as your LG, so it shouldn't be an issue for her mac. But it will be very revealing how your LG responds to the mac's output at 1920 X 1200 over DVI.

Click to expand...

Hi Clockdogg; I think I misunderstood what type of info. you were asking for. I'm quite familar now with the OSD on the monitor (ha!) and DDC-CI has always been set to "on". I've never turned it off. But I just verified that it is set to "on". Also HDMI is set to "PC". Again, I've never futzed with changing it to "Video" since that was never my goal. I was merely replying to your observation that 1920 x 1080 works at 60 Hz (more or less) and verified with my OSD as to the settings. Everything is accurate. When I change the resolution in either "display settings" or ATI's control center the OSD reflects the new resolution set.

I hear what you're saying...I have every intention of getting the most out of this monitor which means running it at full native res of 1920 x 1200 at either 59 Hz or 60 Hz while connected via HDMI/DVI.

When testing the thicker gauged HDMI/DVI cable I tested it at native resolution and at both 59 and 60 Hz. Both produced horrible results. So I guess that rules out the cable.
I'll definetly check native res when hooked up to my girlfriends computer to help determine if the monitor stills flickers and/or blacks out. If it flickers on her machine then I guess it is the monitor that is hosed.
Thanks for your help...hang in there with me!

Update: Monitor works beautifully at native resolution of 1920 x 1200 60Hz on my girlfriends desktop Mac. Didn't need a converter after all. Her system accepted the DVI male and immediately recognized the LG by name and displayed it in all its glory. Her system didn't allow for any other refresh rate but 60Hz so I couldn't even try it at 59Hz.
Opened up Lightroom and went to her website, which is an all black background, and zero flickering or black outs.

So it seems both the cable and the monitor are fine. Everything is plugged into a power strip that cleans "dirty" electricity and the micro tiny speakers that were near the monitor have been unplugged.

It looks like I'll buy a new PCI-e graphics card and hope to God that that is the solution. If that doesn't work then I'm truly at a loss...

One more thing you could try as a last resort is to try other ATi drivers. If you already have the latest ones, try earlier ones and/or Omega drivers. Good luck!

Congrats, Shoots! Let us know how the next episode turns out.

Alright. Seems the remedy was a new graphics card. I went with a Matrox Millennium P690 256mb. Uninstalled ATI control center and the ATI display driver then removed the ATI x1650. Installed Matrox card and then the drivers and all is good. Running HDMI/DVI connection at 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz with no flickering or black outs.
And most importantly my monitor does look better than via analog! So yeah it cost me but now I can run two monitors in the near future both at 1920 x 1200 so I'm happy.
Thanks Clockdogg for walking me through some of the basics. I feel I got a bit of an education just trying to figure out what the issue was!
Thanks again all!

Glad it's finally working for you! See, isn't troubleshooting lots of fun? At least on this side of the trouble.

Yeah it's fun and expensive! Because of all this I upgraded my power supply to a 500 watt one, upgraded the graphics card, bought a APC back up battery surge protector, have another 1 GB RAM and a WD Raptor 150GB scratch disk on the way!
Plus...
Going to attempt to upgrade the 40GB HD in my Epson P-3000 photo viewer to a 120GB HD. Found a tutorial that seems fairly painless...although stay tuned...I'm perfectly capable of screwing it up!

Also learned how to "fix" a DVD/CD drive in all this. When I was driving my tower and monitor to my girlfriends to do some tests the tower took a header when I braked for a bird in the road (the tower was on its side in the backseat and slide forward and onto the floor behind my seat with a small 'thud').

Everything seemed fine on boot up, except for a funny rattling sound coming from my DVD combo drive. Tried a CD and it wouldn't take. Just keep spining up and down. Keey-rap.

I figured I was due some good karma credit for successfully avoiding squashing the bird so I pulled the DVD drive out (hey...who the hell knew they slide out the front?!?!...that was fun to figure out...). Upon exploatory surgery I found a piece of foam with a hole cut out of it. About the size of a half dollar and it was all smushed up and dented as it was in a semi folded position. Just didn't look right, so I fished it out and tried to find it's proper home. Well nothing jumped out at me so I did what any great mechanic does and left it out of the case as I sewed everything back up ! At this point I really didn't care and half resigned myself to having to buy a new drive anyway.

Well the bugger worked just fine and no noise or rattling. Must be for sound dampening or vibration and I'm sure I decreased the life of the DVD drive by some mathematical factor but whatever...it works now and me and karma seem to be even!

So yes, diagnosing is a load of fun and very effective in revealing ones' true character and willingness to just muck around with stuff!
In the end I'm still stoked with this monitor. I'm pretty sure the ATI card just didn't like the widescreen high native resolution and refused to play nice so it got its azz replaced.
Aloha!