Dell 19" Trinitron too bright

[ginahoy]

I have a Dell P992 19" Trinitron that has begun to brighten. I've adjusted the brightness controls on the OSD over the past few months until it is now set at 'zero'. The screen is now only slightly brighter than it should be but the black background is beginning to take on a slight reddish tint. There's a definite trend going on here, so I figure I best find out how to fix it.

I tried posting this in Dell monitor forum but got no response. A search tunred up at least a half dozen reports of this problem (P991/P992 Trinitrons), but no one has offered any suggestions other than adjusting video card settings. OTOH, I wouldn't expect technical types to hang out on that board ;-)

I verified the problem is with the monitor and not the NiVida GeForce video card (swapped monitors).

Naturally, I'm concerned that 'too much brightness' will shorten the monitor's life.

Any suggestions?

[Rocketmech]

There should be an internal Master Brightness or Screen controls that may correct the problem. My guess is a component or solder joint has gone bad and needs repair.

[Xweebie]

Some information here:
http://www.geocities.com/emusicraft/

[ginahoy]

Some information here:
http://www.geocities.com/emusicraft/This looks promising... I'm surprised no one ever mentioned this on Dell's monitor forum. Has anyone here tried this?

David

[ginahoy]

I found the following (very long) thread on monitor brightness problems, where you initially introduced your interface and EEPROM adjustment fix.

http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19549&page=10&pp=20

Today, someone posted positive results in the above thread (msg #194) after having completed your fix. That's just the recommendation I was looking for! I'll get in touch with you later today :D

BTW, for those who are curious, most of the posts in this thread related to modifying a resistor in the G2 voltage control circuit for the P1110 and other trinitron monitors based on the same chasis. Although not as elegant as directly modifying the EEPROM, it's a cheap and effective fix for the brightness problem. However, the P992 schematic is very different from the P1110 (e.g., there's no R459) and I don't know enough to figure out which resister to modify.

David

[ginahoy]

I bought the interface offered by Xweebie and all I can say is, it's worth every penny!! Not only is my monitor back to normal, I can now use the interface and software to save all of my monitor settings, including the geometry and color settings. See the above-referenced thread at short-media for more details.

David