monitor problem

[valter]

IU have encountered a very puzzling problem.
The symptom is that suddenly the monitor goes black, the pc sound is still on. This happens in a seemingly random way, it might be minutes between events or hours.

I have found if I unplug the monitor cable from the pc the monitor puts up its usual searching for signal message.
If I then immediately plug the monitor back in the pc, the monitor has normal display.

I have tried inspection of the cable and wiggling the connection without any result.

I am currently thinking this way. Since when the failure occurs the monitor goes black, without the signal missing message, that it is the monitor that is faulty. If this is true then why does it come on again immediately when plugged in again.

Any ideas welcome. But I do not have access to another monitor

[Rik from RCE]

It's just as likely that your graphics card is at fault. Do you have a spare to test with?

[skilly]

if you don't want to take apart your computer, check all of your power saving settings.(obvious, i know)

but yes, could be vid card, or even power supply, or
some other hardware problem. could also be a virus.(virus is always a possibility for everything these days, it seems like)

-edit power settings, like hibernate,sleep, etc,
-edit you cloud also check your BIOS for a setting

-edit-rolling back or updating the driver for the monitor might help, same with driver for video card

-i had similar monitor trouble when i had a bad power supply....

[valter]

Thanks to all who responded. I have found that when the screen goes black I can unplug the monitor from the pc and plug it straight back in and the display is ok. I am still uncertain what to do. I have checked power settings, and have thought about replacing video card.

[Rik from RCE]

If it resets when you unplug it and plug it back in then the most likely cause is a faulty capacitor in the screen. It is possible to replace a faulty capacitor provided you know how to find the faulty one and remove it and solder a replacement on in.