VGA Monitor is turning off the display, but backlighting stays on

[britechguy]

I have an old, but perfectly servicable Viewsonic 24" (I think) monitor that I'm using with the "new to me" Acer TC-885 that I just upgraded to Windows 11. That machine does have a VGA port on the back, so I'm using it.

The screen does turn off after a period of inactivity, but I definitely notice that the backlighting remains on, even when it's black. I do not seem to recall this ever being the case before with any of the machines or Windows versions I've used with this monitor.

Has anyone seen this before and have any ideas if there's a simple fix? This is not an earth shattering problem, as I do tend to turn the monitor power off as well as the computer itself if I'm not going to be using it for an extended period of time. It's just odd.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Model number of the monitor would help. If the monitor supports DVI or HDMI you will get a better quality picture and two way communication to properly put it in sleep mode using the digital connection.

 

[britechguy]

I'll snag the model number when I'm next downstairs.

I think this monitor does have DVI, but I don't think the computer does. The computer definitely has multiple HDMI ports, but the display doesn't, if memory serves.

In the end I may end up swapping out this monitor for another that my partner has and has not been using for years. It definitely has DVI and, I believe, HDMI, which I'd gladly use.

 

[Philippe]

I had the same issue with one of my vga monitors. Turns out it was a setting in the monitor itself to enable power saving mode or something like that.

 

[britechguy]

@Philippe

Thanks. I was thinking about that, too, so now I have the nudge to dig through the menus.

 

[NJW]

... so now I have the nudge to dig through the menus.

It might be worth just doing a factory reset on the monitor – it's fixed several weird display problems for me in the past. Defaults are usually pretty optimal, too, but do check for 'in-store display' overdriven brightness.

 

[britechguy]

@NJW

Thanks, truly, but that's [some "in-store" setting] unlikely the case here. This was my actual in-use monitor for many years before I "went laptop" and never looked back. It was behaving just as I would have expected on the other towers its been connected to.

But it's been out of service (that is, gathering dust) for somewhere around 5 years now.

I'll still check for reset to defaults, though.

 

[NJW]

Thanks, truly, but that's [some "in-store" setting] unlikely the case here.

Sorry, I meant after the reset.

After that length of time out of service, there may well be ageing components (e.g., power supply capacitors) contributing to the symptoms.