this kind of goes hand in hand with the calibrating your monitor thread. however, it's not quite as critical and doesnt usually need to be done as often. still, it can make a difference.

now, someone brighter than myself can try to explain what de-gaussing means and how the need for this comes about. basically, it's just another way you monitor can get screwed up. only this time it usually involves magnetics. rather than try to explain this (which i pretty much couldnt unless i went out and did some electronics reading) i'll simply say that if you want to see what gauss is all about, put a magnet near your monitor's screen and move it around a bit. if you're using a crt type monitor you shld see things start to change color near the magnet. this can also happen on your television screen. i dont know about other types of monitors/tvs, but any that are crt (cathode ray tube) types, this can occur.

the problem is, those swirling lines you see when you put a magnet near the monitor can actually somewhat stick and remain there. not something graphics folks want. so, you now need to de-gauss. some monitors have a built in feature which you can usually access through your monitor's control panel or menu system. see your monitor's manual to be sure.

but, if your monitor doesnt have a de-guass feature, you'll have to find another way. one way i saw recently involved using magnets on a drill motor. you turned the drill on and the magnets revolved around in the circle and you simply held this up to your monitor and moved it around until things looked good again. sort of crude but it shld work. you could probably also buy something fancy from a Radio Shack or other electronics store or maybe even a television shop.

like i say, this isnt something you're going to have to do a lot. if i do it once a year, that's a lot. but, if you ever get those sort of magnetic looking swirling, curling lines of color on your monitor you'll know what it is.

Craig

Hi Craig,

Agree with the degaussing if it is available as a feature of the monitor (CRT only to my knowledge) and many more recent monitors automatically degauss when turned on. Insofar as seeing what a magnet does to a monitor, it is strongly recommended that such a task not be performed. You can buy dedicated degaussing guns, but if you do not know what you are doing, you can inflict far more damage. Some TVs and CRTs are actually aligned with magnets and so degaussing with other than internal degaussing (built in) can actually do more harm than good and damage the alignment.

Would prefer to get others to check their monitor manual to see if it is a feature of the monitor. One of the greater problems people experience with magnetic buildup or even shimmer at the corner (only noticeable in peripheral vision usually) is caused by bad placement of speakers, usually too close to the monitor. Speakers contain magnets and so can alter the image both immediately and to a greater degree over time.

For those not familiar, magnetic buildup in a monitor can resemble a shimmer in one corner or on one side and at the extreme, can resemble, bluish patches/purple or green patches, usually in the corner or corners and progressing

Hi

Putting magnets near your monitor or TV sets is a big NO NO!

Make sure your speakers are not sitting right next to your monitor aswell.

When you look at an all white screen of your monitor it should be all pretty evenly white with no funny coloured patches of other colours. This is called Purity.

Most TV sets and monitors have a " De-Gaussing " coil - circuit built into them that turns on and de-gausses the monitor before the screen gets bright enough for you to see the great Rainbow light show it makes.

If you really need to degauss the monitor screen you could use a AC Solder Gun that is pluged in ( cause of its transformer it gives off a strong magnetic field ) and start with small circles at the center of the monitor and as you back away make the circles bigger. Then once you see you are no longer affecting the screen with the Gun's magnetic feild you are safe to shut off the gun.

Best bet get someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you!!

SnowDog

A lot of speakers are shielded nowadays and are safe to put next to the monitor. This is especially true for center channel speakers and for internal speakers. In my system for example, only the subwoofer is not magnetically shielded.

Pierre