Image Squashing and monitor turning itself off.

[BackFire349]

The image on my monitor is being squashed while playing some games. WIth Half Life 2, if I have the resolution at 16x12, after a short period of time the right side of the screen will pull into the middle. If I keep playing the monitor will turn itself off. If I lower the resolution down to 12x10, it seems to work fine. It also happens on BF2 at 12x10.

I haven't noticed it with any other games. Doom 3, Quake 4, and FarCry all run at 16x12 just fine.

Is it just my monitor dying? Or could it be insufficient power? I really have no idea what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I did just get a new graphics card, the 7800GS, but my PSU meets the requirements.

 

[cyks]

It would really help if you told us what monitor you are using.

 

[BackFire349]

Oh, sorry.

It's a NEC MultiSync 97F. Flat Pannel

Over 2 years old....maybe even 3, can't really remember.

 

[dderidex]

Oh, sorry.

It's a NEC MultiSync 97F. Flat Pannel

Over 2 years old....maybe even 3, can't really remember.

Looks like a 'Flat Screen', not a 'Flat Panel' (which are LCDs or Plasma) monitor.

And that sounds kind of like the symptoms of a CRT dying...but why other games wouldn't be effected is...odd. Unless there is something about the refresh rate being used for each of the titles causing the problem?

 

[Foobar]

If you're overworking your monitor with very high scan rates (horizontal AND/OR vertical), you can experience deflection problems like this. A quick web search shows that the 97F's maximum scan rates are 96 kHz horizontal and 160 Hz vertical. Since the two combine to form the maximum resolutions and refresh rates your monitor can support, you have to be careful not to overdrive it.
According to your monitor's manual (http://www.necdisplay.com/corpus/B/E/MS77F97F_manual.pdf) your maximum resolutions are:
1600x1200 @76 Hz
1280x1024 @89 Hz
1024x768 @120 Hz
800x600 @153 Hz
640x480 @160 Hz (vertical rate limited)

The actual refresh rate you use should be lower than the maximum to give your monitor's circuitry a break.

Look at the refresh rate on the monitor's OSD in your games. If your monitor screws up with an otherwise acceptable refresh rate, it's heading down that hill.

If you ever want to calculate the maximum refresh rate for a given mode if you only know the monitor's maximum scan rates, use this formula: (max horizontal scan rate) / (1.05 * (number of scanlines)). I calculated 75, 88, 119, 152, and 160 (vertical rate limited) for your monitor, so you can tell if a manufacturer is pulling numbers out of their ass

Also, check out the Repair FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm#monpsitd ("Picture squeezed in then died")

 

[BackFire349]

Thanks a bunch for the great response, Foobar. I've lowered the refresh rates on the games that were screwing up and everything seems to work perfectly. I owe you one, man.