This guy could use some theories on a Major Household Problem (1 Viewer)

Hello. I am Nick, nice to meet all of you.
Around April of 2013, I logged onto my PC and noticed that the left side of the screen was slanted. As if something was pulling it in another direction. I thought my PC monitor or PC was on the blink. I upgraded to Win 7, bought new monitors (CRT and flatscreen). Nothing worked.

As the months went by, this problem got worse. The display on my PC then started to stretch on both sides, causing a puff of sorts, a curvature in the middle of the screen. STRANGELY ENOUGH. I also noticed this same glitch-effect on all of my televisions in the house. My flatscreen HDTV in one of the bedrooms is affected the least. My 30 inch standard tv's in the other rooms, affected the most.

That isn't the case with my PC's though. Text quality is bad on both CRT and flatscreen monitors. On the flatscreen, on one side of the screen it's blurred. On the CRT, text looks washed out and faded at times. Using Windows XP, the slanted screen is not THAT noticeable on my flatscreen LCD monitor.

Using Win7 though, it's VERY noticeable on a flatscreen. I've attached some photos to this topic to illustrate the problem further. It's been a year now and this problem doesn't seem to be going away. We've had everyone out here to investigate in the mean time. Our building electricians, cable company, phone/ISP company, etc.

I have noticed lately that the t.v. picture has been improving. But then a few days later, it'll go back to being bad. The puff in the middle on both the t.v. and PC has not dissipated in the least though. And it looks as if the picture is pushing or rubbing against the screen in both PC and televisions.

Similar to how an ulcer or tumor may swell and push up against the stomach wall before it ultimately bursts or pops? I also noticed that sometimes during weekends or storms? The t.v. quality seems to try and improve somewhat.

Any theories from you good people on what this could be would be very helpful. It's been a year now of a gradually worsening problem. I have added pics to this topic. More pics are available per request. I am truly at my wits end here.

Not a theory, but a suggestion: buy some shims at a hardware store to balance the monitor, the tv, etc. At my hardware store, plastic shims cost 39-cents apiece, so for just a few dollars you could conduct an interesting experiment. If the shims help, you could then more confidently explore a permanent solution.

Dave B Ferris said:

Not a theory, but a suggestion: buy some shims at a hardware store to balance the monitor, the tv, etc. At my hardware store, plastic shims cost 39-cents apiece, so for just a few dollars you could conduct an interesting experiment. If the shims help, you could then more confidently explore a permanent solution.

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Not sure what you mean by balance. My tv's and PC's all sit on flat surfaces.

I know, we *think* our surfaces are flat, but then when we put a bookcase on the floor (in a hallway, for example), shims might be needed to achieve a "perfect" balance", I guess because the floor or even the foundation may not in fact be (perfectly) flat.Again, my suggestion could be as wacky as all get-out, but at 39-cents apiece (or thereabouts) you could very inexpensively see if placing a shim at the opposite side of the "pull" would mitigate the pulling.

If all your TVs started degrading simultaneously, it suggests an external problem. Have you suffered a lightning strike or had severe electrical storms? Are your sets a mix of new and old, or are they all old and end of life?Have you tried a UPS to condition the electricity to check that you're not suffering under-voltages?

Kids putting magnets on the sides of these devices?

Sam Posten said:

Kids putting magnets on the sides of these devices?

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THAT was actually my first thought! I had a CRT set go nuts on me when I positioned it too close to an old AR speaker!

Since it seems so pervasive across all his displays...I kinda like Dave's idea that maybe there's some weird electrical issue at play not supplying full power to the displays. But I am not smart about these things at all.

Sam Posten said:

Kids putting magnets on the sides of these devices?

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For the CRTs, a definite concern. But also the LCDs? Maybe they're pressing on the screens; that will cause problems.

That would indicate a serious infestation. Not much you can do but wait it out. In 18 years, they'll be gone.

Here's another thought: replace the PC video card.

I thought you were saying that all the TVs in your house were simultaneous going bad. Now I think you're saying that every display you connect your PC to looks bad. If so, the common factor is the PC. Try a different PC. Look at the displays without the PC connected.

I'm not sure what the photos are supposed to illustrate. All I notice is distortion typical for a (curved) CRT. Or maybe it's the camera lens distortion. I'm not sure.

Dave: A closer look at Paragraph 2 of the OP will make it clear that it's not just his PC.

This is one strange phenomenon. That's why I think your idea about the electric service may have some merit.

DaveF said:

If all your TVs started degrading simultaneously, it suggests an external problem. Have you suffered a lightning strike or had severe electrical storms? Are your sets a mix of new and old, or are they all old and end of life?Have you tried a UPS to condition the electricity to check that you're not suffering under-voltages?

Click to expand...

I live in a New York apartment building. No lightning strikes, severe storms etc. I have three sets. Two Sharp 30 inch tube tvs, black colored. And one RCA Tru Flat HDTV. The picture quality degradation is less noticeable on the RCA and one of the Sharp TV's because the RCA is a High Def set. Connected to a High Def digital cable box. The 2nd sharp tv in one of the bed rooms, is also connected to a High Def box. A Samsung High Def box. I have not tried a UPS yet. I am not even gonna bother with that because even if it works, I cannot afford to run a UPS in my house for 3 tv's in 3 different rooms plus a PC. No way.

Sam Posten said:

Kids putting magnets on the sides of these devices?

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I keep Magnets far away from my PC's and TV's. I know all about the Havoc they wreak. Also I don't have any kids.

DaveF said:

Here's another thought: replace the PC video card.

I thought you were saying that all the TVs in your house were simultaneous going bad. Now I think you're saying that every display you connect your PC to looks bad. If so, the common factor is the PC. Try a different PC. Look at the displays without the PC connected.

I'm not sure what the photos are supposed to illustrate. All I notice is distortion typical for a (curved) CRT. Or maybe it's the camera lens distortion. I'm not sure.

Click to expand...

Here is what I have tried.



When it first started, I was on Windows XP. So I bought a new PC with Windows 7. Issue didn't go away. I upgraded to a new video card. Got off the on board video. Still didn't work.

I bought a Dell PC, still didn't work. I tested two flatscreen panel monitors. Nothing changed. The anomaly looks different on the LCD monitors, obviously because of the size and technology. But it's still noticeably there.

I tried three different CRT's. A Gateway, an HP, and a Dell. Still nothing changed.

Tried different hard drives, SeaGate Sata and Western Digital Sata. No change.

Moved the PC's to different rooms. No change.

Plugged the PC up with one of those long cords into one of the outlets in the hallway of my building. Thus not using any electrical outlet in my apartment. No change.

The electricians who came out said the only thing they found in my apartment was the power was a bit high on the incoming end. I have a surge protector, Monster brand. And nothing else in my place is acting up. Not the lights, microwaves, coffee maker, stove, cable boxes themselves, nothing. My external devices like iPhones and MP3 players work fine as well.

Mike Frezon said:

THAT was actually my first thought! I had a CRT set go nuts on me when I positioned it too close to an old AR speaker!

Since it seems so pervasive across all his displays...I kinda like Dave's idea that maybe there's some weird electrical issue at play not supplying full power to the displays. But I am not smart about these things at all.

Click to expand...

It's interesting that your theory is I am not getting full or enough power to my devices because the building electricians say the power to my apartment is a bit high. I thought the stretching on both ends of the screen would suggest too much power, or some sort of interference. But they tell me that there can't be a problem with the apartment wires or the building wires because I have power to the apartment.

No flickering lights or anything. No brown outs or blackouts. Why would whatever this is be affecting my comp and tele's? But not everything else. My AC and fans run fine. I just started turning them on as of today because it's Summer, weather is getting hot.

DaveF said:

Here's another thought: replace the PC video card.

I thought you were saying that all the TVs in your house were simultaneous going bad. Now I think you're saying that every display you connect your PC to looks bad. If so, the common factor is the PC. Try a different PC. Look at the displays without the PC connected.

I'm not sure what the photos are supposed to illustrate. All I notice is distortion typical for a (curved) CRT. Or maybe it's the camera lens distortion. I'm not sure.

Click to expand...

This anomaly is affecting the t.v.'s and computer in the EXACT same fashion. Picture stretched out on left and right side. Causing a puff in the middle of the screens. As if the desktop and browser windows and t.v. pictures are pushing out against the glass. Text on all visual devices (t.v., comp) looks washed out and faded because of the stretching.

Mike Frezon said:

Dave: A closer look at Paragraph 2 of the OP will make it clear that it's not just his PC.

This is one strange phenomenon. That's why I think your idea about the electric service may have some merit.

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Any theories on the electric service? I have Con Edison as my supplier. Never had any problems with them before. But as I said, NOTHING else save for my PC and t.v.s are affected by this issue. I just assumed power was power. I didn't think anything specific that comes from our electrical supplier would make t.v.s or pc's run a certain way. The technology which makes them display correctly or not, are inside the devices. Electricity just powers them on.

Is it possible there's an airborne interference going on here? A stray beam, EMI, etc? Maybe it's not the power or in the building wiring. But someone nearby is running something (machinery) that is attacking my visual devices incidentally? All things like tele's, cable boxes, and computers emit or transmit a signal when turned on correct? Could something nearby be jamming or warping this signal?




Thanks for your replies and help by the way guys. Keep them coming please.

This may be rude of me to ask, but do other people see these deformities? I can't see anything in the pictures you have posted...

Sam Posten said:

This may be rude of me to ask, but do other people see these deformities? I can't see anything in the pictures you have posted...

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Those photos are digital camera photos. Best I could do because screenshots don't show anything. The techs who came here noticed the warping along with me. They told me to throw out anything in my house that's old and might be causing any sort of interference with my devices. I did that. Wasn't much, just an old PC I had taken apart some time ago. Also I don't have any stray or old switches in my apartment. All of my switches perform a current function.

These are all CRTs? Have you tried an LCD?It sounds like normal CRT distortion. Perhaps you never noticed before?Unfortunately I can't see any problems from the photos, so I'm still unsure what's going on.

Because your flat screen is also CRThttp://www.amazon.com/RCA-F20TF20-TruFlat-Flat-Screen/dp/B00006JBKK