My second monitor still powers on and detects the DisplayPort connection, but it recently started showing horizontal lines, blurry image corruption, and partial blacking during use. At 144 Hz, the lower half of the screen is black; at 60 Hz, the entire display appears with corrupted lines and blur. Changing the refresh rate changes the symptom, but doesn't fix it.
I tested the cable with my main monitor and it works normally, tried different ports, and reinstalled the graphics driver. My main monitor also works without any problems. The monitor's "No Signal" message displays cleanly, although that only appears centered on a black screen. The issue began suddenly after the monitor had worked normally earlier that day. I also installed a Windows update the previous night, though the problem didn't appear immediately afterward. I haven't tested HDMI yet.
Is there anything else worth trying, or does this point to a failing monitor that needs to be replaced?
3 Answers
Since the cable works with your main monitor, you’ve tried different ports, and the other display is fine, the monitor itself is the most likely failure point. Testing HDMI is still worthwhile, but the fact that the corruption changes with refresh rate often points to a failing panel, timing controller, or internal display electronics rather than a simple cable problem. A clean “No Signal” message doesn’t completely rule that out, because the monitor may render that basic message differently from a full video signal.
A full driver cleanup could still rule out software, especially since there was a recent Windows update, but the symptoms are present constantly and change with the monitor’s refresh rate. That makes a graphics-driver problem less likely than an internal monitor fault. Check whether the monitor’s menu and startup screen are also affected, then use the warranty or replace it if HDMI produces the same result.
You could try a factory reset from the monitor’s on-screen menu and test it with HDMI or another computer. If the image is still corrupted before Windows loads, in the monitor’s own menu, or with a completely different source, then a driver or Windows update is very unlikely to be responsible. At that point, repair usually isn’t cost-effective unless the monitor is still under warranty.
That makes sense. I’ll test HDMI, but it sounds like the monitor hardware is probably failing if the issue appears at every refresh rate.