LG L246W

Guys I think my 246W is dying :( Was manufactured May 2007 and I bought it around August that year I think.

There's three main problems:

1. There's discoloration and image retention on the upper right side of the panel - I can see my desktop icons, my Trillian contacts list etc.

2. I'm seeing weird flashing pixels/artifact on the left side of the screen when there's a black background present, both in 2D and 3D. It only does it with pure black - the artifacts go away immediately as soon as there's color there.

3. The screen has started going blank for a few seconds randomly while I'm using the computer and then it comes back. Doesn't seem to be any specific trigger for it - I've seen it happen in games, on the desktop, while browsing or working etc.

I've never used power save/sleep mode with this monitor, I always just turn it off after I'm done using it - it doesn't sit idle with the same image on the screen.

How can I be sure that it's the monitor and not the GPU causing numbers 2 and 3? I've had a lot of the infamous TDR problem with my EVGA GTX570 on the 280 and 290 series drivers, so I have wondered if it actually could be the card somehow... I don't have another system to try the monitor with unfortunately. When the screen goes blank I don't see a TDR message or anything like that and I'm positive the computer itself keeps running through it - there's no crash, music or video doesn't stop playing etc. The card's connected to the monitor via a DVI to HDMI cable from Monoprice.

Thanks, appreciate any advice!
 
Wierd question, but is it like where there's a video playing and a black image in another window on top of that? At least, that's what happens when I use VLC.
 
No, the entire screen blanks out - it's almost like it's going into sleep/power save or something, but it comes back on its own in a few seconds.
 
Also - if I have to get a new monitor what do you guys recommend? I love this one and I'm kinda bummed about probably having to go down to a 16:9, I like the extra vertical space... All the 16:10 ones available now seem to be insanely expensive and/or slow with the response times and not good for gaming. The 246W's always been great with just about anything I've done with it.
 
See smallming above with his new U2412M. Some Samsung models have promise.

Is there any electrical noise associated with the blank out? Do you have another video card to test with? I know it can be a hassle with the EDID bug.
 
No noise when it blanks. I've now noticed weird shifts in parts of the image on screen for a split second at times too, it sort of flips a section of the screen real fast, weird...

If I can run an hour and a half of EVGA OC Scanner's stress test without any artifacts or crashes is that a pretty good sign it's not the GPU?
 
Crap guys - it's the GPU. I connected my 360 to the monitor - no problems at all. Ran OC scanner again and this time started getting all kinds of artifacts, the monitor blanked out 4 or 5 times in a row in quick succession etc. Ugh...
 
Ugh, atleast its not the monitor... a new 24" 16:10 is easily more expensive than a decent (6870/6950 type) card these days...
 
Update - I still can't believe this. It was the freaking DVI to HDMI cable. I had no idea digital cables could artifact and stuff like that - I figured they'd either work or not at all.

After RMAing the GPU didn't fix the problem I went out and bought a new cable and a cheap Samsung monitor as those were the final things I could replace that even made sense. Tried the cable first not expecting any difference and right away all the problems were gone. Never even opened the monitor and returned it...

Lesson learned, check the cheap simple stuff first before buying PSUs and RMAing vid cards! Also digital cables can fail without failing completely!
 
Tabs said:
Update - I still can't believe this. It was the freaking DVI to HDMI cable. I had no idea digital cables could artifact and stuff like that - I figured they'd either work or not at all.
Click to expand...
I've still got mine although I replaced it with a Dell U2412M. Never would have thought the cable could be the problem, but it always looked cheap to me. Mine was only artifacting and blanking out at the native resolution. I'm much happier with the Dell. The color accuracy, contrast and black level blow the L246W away.
 
What do you think about the AG coating on the 2412M though? That really worries me about replacing the 246W - I don't see any of that sparkling stuff with this monitor and I hate that effect on other ones I've seen.
 
Tabs said:
What do you think about the AG coating on the 2412M though? That really worries me about replacing the 246W - I don't see any of that sparkling stuff with this monitor and I hate that effect on other ones I've seen.
Click to expand...
It's not that bad and the effect seems to lessen over time. You may be one of those people that may never get used to it.

Forgot to mention the text on the Dell is far better over the LG. It was one of the first things I noticed.
 
Thanks - maybe I'll check it out. Then again, I sorta think when I switch away from this monitor I'll probably go for 1440p on a 27" or something like that. I've always made every monitor I buy an upgrade over the last one in resolution and size - I went from a 19" 1280x1024 CRT to the 246W, that was a pretty huge change...
 
tthom said:
Yes, of course, but do it carefully and make backup!

Solution for L245WP/L246WP:

1. Export existing EDID -> in Raylar EDID DAT format (Phoenix, monInfo, SoftMCSS)
2. Modify EDID -> extension blocks = 0, don't mod other data! (create backup, open with Phoenix EDID editor, than save)
3. Monitor service menu -> Agent mode = ON (service mode: turn monitor Off, press menu while turn On)
4. Full version of Powerstrip - Monitor properties, Update EDID (should be only HDMI-DVI connected, it's simpler to select the right EEPROM), choose the modded file
5. Restart

This extension blocks data were overwritten with registry hacks, so, that is software solution and this is the hardware version. :)

Good luck!
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I really would like to use this on my LG L245WP but I can't get into the service menu by pressing the menu button while powering on.
Does anyone know how to access the service menu on the L245WP please?

[edit] LOL, nevermind. I'd been searching for this before but couldn't find it. Just now I found something on a Swedish website and used Google translate to understand what it was saying.
It involves 1 extra button so I'm in.
Turn off the screen. Hold the menu button and turn on the screen ... continue holding the Menu button and when you get a picture so you simultaneously press the "down" or "up" and drop everything. Press the menu and you will get service information under "Service Menu" [/edit]
 
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So my L245wp died, no power light no nothing. Had a look at the caps and they look fine. However one of the resistors looks burnt.

So here is the thing according to the service manual it should be a 15kohm bla, bla bla resistor (it currently measures at 16 ohm so clearly something is wrong). It's clearly a "normal" resistor with pins at the ends, but when googling the part number all I can find is a surface mount resistor with the same number. Any ideas?
 
Are you measuring with the resistor still installed? That could throw off your measurement.
 
The problems with my 246W came back after a little bit using the new DVI to HDMI cable btw. I think it probably is the monitor now. It almost seems like an electrical issue builds up over time with it - if I leave it unplugged with no power to it for a while and then use it, it's fine for a while, but the issues always come back. I bought an el-cheapo Samsung 24" TN panel from Costco to test with - ran it for 2 days without any of the issues I get with the 246W. (god that 6 bit TN panel was awful tho - no way was I keeping that, already returned it)

I'm thinking about trying the whole Korean 1440p thing, but I'm worried my GTX570's gonna choke at that resolution... don't really have the money at the moment to buy a 670 or 680 in addition to a new monitor.

FYI too - the 300 series nvidia driver doesn't seem to need the EDID override flags in the ini - it detects as a 1920x1200 monitor just fine without them. I was suprised - I forgot to do the ini fix on my last reformat and was expecting to have to reinstall the driver with it, but it came up just fine.
 
Gunpowderboy said:
Hmmm... Didn't think of that. Could it really have such a large effect (15kohm to 16 ohm)?
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Depends on the circuit. Might want a pro's opinion but it seems like a resistor is just a resistor and Radio Shack should have something to replace it with.
 
I think my LG L246W just died.

For the first time, I've turned it on and instead of working properly it started flashing the LG logo and power indicator. It has never had any issues before today.

I've disconnected it from power for a few minutes, gonna try again. Edit: No luck, same thing.

Edit 2: I've left it plugged in, and after 2 minutes of flashing it finally powered on and it's working okay now. I guess it's most likely a power supply issue, like a capacitor or something.

I'm gonna have to read through this thread and see what I can do to fix it. :)
 
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shurcooL said:
I think my LG L246W just died.

For the first time, I've turned it on and instead of working properly it started flashing the LG logo and power indicator. It has never had any issues before today.

I've disconnected it from power for a few minutes, gonna try again. Edit: No luck, same thing.

Edit 2: I've left it plugged in, and after 2 minutes of flashing it finally powered on and it's working okay now. I guess it's most likely a power supply issue, like a capacitor or something.

I'm gonna have to read through this thread and see what I can do to fix it. :)
Click to expand...

Most likely broken capacitors. Should be pretty easy to find a link to some replacement parts in this thread somewhere. I changed two caps on one LG; pretty easy.
 
Yep, it was the two capacitors, as expected. They're clearly bulging (unlike all others that are good).

imageveo.jpg


imageamhg.jpg
 
Uzi said:
For reference quoted below is a prior post I used to fix the issue I had with earlier Nvidia driversand my LG246 LG 246 LCD Monitor.
These instructions used to work but with this latest driver 197.45 the sections mentioned
in the old post do not exist.
For anyone with the display shifted left problem with LG display monitor this fix should work for sure with the LG246.
The original post has a Override...flags0 section but in aother post elsewhere I had
found reference to adding a line also for the Override...flags1 as well. So here are both lines.

For 197.45 I added to the NV_DISP.INF these two lines in the section labeled
[nv_timingRestrictions_addreg]

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags0, %REG_BINARY%, 1E,6D,3F,56,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00

HKR,, OverrideEdidFlags1, %REG_BINARY%, 1E,6D,3F,56,00,00,FF,FF,04,00,00,00,7E,01,00


Lines begin with HKR and are one line in the INF file. Do not split. all after HKR should be one line.
Click to expand...

FYI to others, I just updated my Win XP GTX 260 drivers to v306.81 using the above method (thanks Uzi) and it works.
 
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Well, screw waiting a month for capacitors to arrive. I took an old power supply and salvaged 3x 10V 2200uF capacitors (should be equivalent to the original 2x 10V 3300uF ones, since they're in parallel) from there, soldered them into the L246 power supply and voila! It turns on perfectly and works "better than new" haha! :D

imagegdr.jpg


Thank you people in this thread for making this fix possible. :)
 
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shurcooL said:
I took an old power supply and salvaged 3x 10V 2200uF capacitors (should be equivalent to the original 2x 10V 3300uF ones, since they're in parallel) from there, soldered them into the L246 power supply and voila! It turns on perfectly and works "better than new"
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Like a boss. :cool:
 
These two capacitors are known to be bad for so many hundreds of people. If you take the monitor apart you may as well change. It is only $5.00 max. Even if they look good they cannot be trusted.
 
Monitor was having problems turning on. I replaced two caps and it's working perfectly again! Love this monitor.
 
Glad to see this thread is still going.

I bought my LG246 WPBN bacn in 2007 I believe it was. STILL GOING STRONG although it has now been relegated to my second computer as I just purchase an HPZR30W.

Its unfortunate that LG abanded this PMVA panel, its a great panel and a great happy medium between pva's and ips panels with better blacks than the latter not to mention cheaper.

I remember I paid around 600 bucks for my LG246. Worth every penny and has served me very well and will continue to do so.

Great to see the helpful posts about repairs, If anything goes wrong with mine I certainly feel its worth repairing if possible.
 
Unable to get LG L246WP working with i5-2500K/ASUS P8H67-M EVO m/b via HDMI:

0. Win 7 64bit latest drivers
1. VGA works at 1920x1200/60Hz but blurry
2. HDMI/DVI to HDMI (LG) not showing the whole screen at 1920x1200/60Hz, auto button pressed, says HDMI/480p, LG or Intel/ASUS issue?
3. DP to HDMI adapter to HDMI (LG), no signal, same adapter worked with my laptop, Intel/ASUS is bad?

Any suggestions please! Thanks.
 
After 5 year; 12000 working hours; capacitor fix; EDID change... My LG L245WP was died.. It turn on, but the color levels are terrible.. I found a value set with the screen quality is so-so, but monitor need to be retire... The service's tip the problem is with the driver board, so..
(at here a driver board should be >100$)

That's it. :(
 
July 2013 update: I got a 770 and got the 246 working with it by modifying the registry after I had installed the drivers. Manually added the binary entry for the edid string found earlier in the thread.
 
Just posting to say thanks for the info about how to replace the bad capacitors. My L246WP died a slow and painful death where it took longer and longer for it to turn on, while the power LED flashed on and off. I replaced the two 10v 3300uF capacitors with a pair of 16v 3300uF capacitors, and things seem as good as new.
 
shurcooL said:
Well, screw waiting a month for capacitors to arrive. I took an old power supply and salvaged 3x 10V 2200uF capacitors (should be equivalent to the original 2x 10V 3300uF ones, since they're in parallel) from there, soldered them into the L246 power supply and voila! It turns on perfectly and works "better than new" haha! :D

imagegdr.jpg


Thank you for people in this thread making this fix possible. :)
Click to expand...

Looks Nice.
 
tthom said:
Try my EDID update method. You won't have problem with that anymore.
Click to expand...

I know this is a really old thread, but I have this monitor and want to try your hardware EDID fix but had a couple questions. I sent you PM. Thanks.
 
I just built a new PC that has Intel HD4000 onboard video. Even before I installed Windows, I had the picture shift in the BIOS. Just wondering if anyone else ever had the problem in the BIOS too. Thanks!
 
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