PC monitor flickers - what to do?

If your PC monitor flickers, it is not only annoying, it also damages your eyes. You should therefore remove the error. A flickering screen can have many causes and therefore does not always have to be defective. We'll show you how you can easily fix the problem.

PC monitor flickers - find the source of the error

First, you should find the source of the problem to solve the problem.

• Use a different cable, possibly even a different monitor connection (HDMI / DVI), to rule out a defect in the cable or connection. The old cable may have only a loose contact and cause the flickering.
• Connect the monitor to another device. You can use any laptop and PC, tablet (with the correct connection) or game console. This is the only way to find a defect on the monitor itself.
• If the monitor works on other devices without flickering, there may be a software problem.

Tube monitor - set the screen frequency

If you are still operating a thick tube monitor, an incorrectly set screen frequency can be the cause of the flickering.

1. Switch to the Control Panel on your PC and select the item "Display" -> "Screen resolution".
2. Click on "Advanced Settings" and switch to the "Graphics Card" tab. Click "List all modes".
3. In the next window, select the frequency that matches your monitor (see picture). You will usually find this in the device manual. If you no longer have this, you can simply try it out. Usually the values ​​around 60 Hertz are suitable.

Flickering PC monitor - fix software problem

With a thin LCD monitor, setting the screen frequency is not a solution. Nevertheless, you can still fix the problem with a few settings on the software.

• Set the correct screen resolution on your PC. The correct value can be found in the device manual. Many LCD monitors today have a resolution of 1920x1080. In this practical tip for Windows 8 and Windows 7, we explain how to set it up.
• You should also update your graphics card driver. Find out which manufacturer your graphics card is from and follow this practical tip to update the graphics card driver. Mostly, logos of the manufacturer are stuck on the graphics cards themselves. To do this, open the PC and look for the ATI or nVidia stickers.

Worst case with flicker monitor - graphics card defective

• If the above steps did not resolve your problem, there is likely a problem with the graphics card.
• Specialists can check the graphics card for errors and replace them if necessary.
• In rare cases, there is also an incompatibility between the hardware installed in your system. Here too, only a specialist can help.

In the next practical tip you will find out which monitor brackets are best for PC monitors.