CRT Monitor Flickery? Check Refresh Rate

Tears running down your eyes when you see your CRT monitor? Check the Monitor Refresh Rate.

CRTs draw the image you see on the screen line by line. A rate of 60Hz means the screen is redrawn 60 times per second. That's fast, you may say. Its actually not fast enough. You can still see the flicker if you see the monitor with your 'peripheral vision' - if you see the monitor without looking at it directly and stare at some thing like the monitor's base.

To check your monitor's refresh rate, right-click on desktop, select 'Properties...' to get the Display properties dialog box. In the 'Settings' tab, click on 'Advanced' button. Select the 'Monitor' tab there.

The Monitor's current refresh rate is displayed.

If its set to 60 Hz, you can notice the flicker very easily. I would recommend a minimum of 75 Hz or a higher setting, if your hardware supports it.

If there are no other options listed other than 60Hz, or if no other settings work, it means that either your hardware does not support the higher settings or that you have not installed the proper drivers for your video card or monitor. To see if you have any devices with incorrect or missing drivers, you can use the Device Manager (Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager)

Please note that the Refresh Rate Setting is not relevant with an LCD monitor - they display images on the screen with a very different method.

Sore Eyes? How to set your CRT monitor's Brightness and Contrast Levels

Have a CRT monitor? Consider fine-tuning your monitor's brightness and contrast settings to minimise eye strain.

Its best to set your monitor's brightness and contrast settings with black and white text displayed on the screen. The best and fastest way to do it is with the Command Prompt.

Click on Start > Run..., type cmd and press enter. Maximise the window. (You can also use this!)

First, temporarily reduce the contrast of your monitor to its minimum setting. Now, adjust the brightness setting on your monitor so that the black is black enough. Set it so that black looks like pitch black and increasing brightness any more will cause it to become grey. If you set too much brightness, the black area on the monitor will look grey.

Now, to set the contrast setting. You have to set enough contrast so that white is white enough. If you set too much contrast, white text may seem to "bloom" and will not be crisp enough. If you set it too less, white will not be white enough and will look as off-white. Set it to the minimum required setting in which white looks white enough.

You are done! Also remember to check your monitor's refresh rate. It should be above 70 Hz or you will experience eye fatigue.

You can also use this excellent test page from monitorsetup.com to tune and calibrate your monitor. Read their single page documentation to save time and effort.

Want more detailed information? You must see this page.

Remember to clean your monitor regularly with a damp cloth or tissue. Dirt and Finger prints lead to eye strain.