2408WFP blackouts out briefly

I've seen both of these issues occur with my 2408WFP A01, both the 'won't wake up from sleep' issue, and the 'frequent, random 1 second blackouts' issue.  The random blackouts seem to occur most often after turning the monitor on while the PC was already on.  That's on top of the defective 2 inch component overscan issues of the display.  However I am a satisfied customer as Dell has replaced it with a refurbished U2410 A01 that has none of these issues.

e747,

The technician that keyed in the order has to choose New or Used, they can tell you. I cannot access that database.

I also have a Dell 2408WFP monitor which flashes occasionally and goes to a black screen a couple times a day.  I have version A02 and getting somewhat annoyed as when it happens I think I am about to loose all my work.   I am using this monitor attached to a HP laptop and docking station.  I use a DVI cable to go from docking station to monitor.  The laptop has a Nvidia Quadro FX1600M video card.

When I go into system properties I noticed that under monitor I have 4 settings for default monitor and one for the 2408wfp.  Why do I have 4 other lsitings.  I knew I should have one for the laptop display but 4?

The laptop does not appear to flash when not connected to the docking station/monitor.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Version 2410 is not immune from this blackout problem.  My three-week old 2410 rev A01 had its first blackout yesterday, along with some flashing horizontal streaks (second time for this).  Computer is a 2009 Mac Pro, running Leopard and Windows 7, with an ATI 4870 card hooked up to DVI port 1.  The cable is tight.  The problem occurred while running Leopard.  This computer showed no similar problems with an Apple 23" cinema display or a 2 1/2 year old 2407.  The 2407 has worked flawlessly since day one on three other computers.

From reading the posts in this forum is looks like the options are either live with the problem or replace the monitor.  Since the monitor is attached to a business computer, the only reasonable solution is replacement.

Well I received my replacement 2709 which turned out to be refurbished - I set it up next to the faulty one and ran them in mirror mode for several days. The new one also had the black out issue but not quite as frequently. The picture quality of the new one however was much poorer than my existing one, it had a strong red tint on the RHS and for the life of me couldn't get a natural looking white. So with the blackouts and inferior picture quality I decided to return the replacement monitor and hang on to my old one for now. I'll try getting another replacement but not holding our much hope of ever fully resolving this - definitely won't be buying Dell again!

rettenhu,

Test all the ports on the monitor for the issue and report back which ones do, and which ones do not.

Just came across this thread and would like to echo that I have the same problem with my 2408WFP A02 monitor with the ATI 4870 graphics card.  This has been an intermitent problem since day 1.  I have had the original monitor (A01) replaced with an A02 and the graphics has been card replaced as well with no help.  My warranty is about to expire and I'm not sure what recourse is left??

DELL-Chris M, my driver version is 8.681.0.0 dated 11/24/2009 and that definitely does not cure the problem for me...

Thanks and will do Chris.  One of the challenges with this issue is how intermittent it is.  I can go a week without seeing the problem and then I'll get on one day and while doing nothing more than surfing the net, the screen might blink 3 or 4 times in a row with about a one second delay between each blink.  I have also seen plenty of cases where the system seems to "freeze" during the boot.  Not sure if this is related to the blinking problem but the "freeze" always  occurs at the point where the Windows progress bar just begins to display after the BIOS has loaded.  I can see the Windows bar although it is very light and difficult to see---as if it is greyed out.  After a minute or two, and for no apparent reason, the progress bar displays at full intensity and starts moving again...

I started keeping track of the blinking/freezing  on 2/5 and here's  what I've seen since then...

2/5 - one occurrence w/2 blinks

2/13 - 2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot)

2/14 -  2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot)

2/14 - one occurence w/4 blinks

Sorry for that sidetrack about the "freeze" but my question is how long do you suggest I leave a port connected if no blinking occurs before I move to the next port?

Thanks and will do Chris.  One of the challenges with this issue is how intermittent it is.  I can go a week without seeing the problem and then I'll get on one day and while doing nothing more than surfing the net, the screen might blink 3 or 4 times in a row with about a one second delay between each blink.  I have also seen plenty of cases where the system seems to "freeze" during the boot.  Not sure if this is related to the blinking problem but the "freeze" always  occurs at the point where the Windows progress bar just begins to display after the BIOS has loaded.  I can see the Windows bar although it is very light and difficult to see---as if it is greyed out.  After a minute or two, and for no apparent reason, the progress bar displays at full intensity and starts moving again... I started keeping track of the blinking/freezing  on 2/5 and here's  what I've seen since then... 2/5 - one occurrence w/2 blinks 2/13 - 2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot) 2/14 -  2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot) 2/14 - one occurence w/4 blinks Sorry for that sidetrack about the "freeze" but my question is how long do you suggest I leave a port connected if no blinking occurs before I move to the next port?

DELL-Chris,

Here's an update since my last post...

I switched to the DVI-2 port on 2/18.  Here's the blinking log since then:

2/18 - 2 separate occurences w/1 blink

2/28 - 3 separate occurences; 2 w/1 blink; 1 occurence w/2 blinks.

As of 3/1 I switched to the VGA input port.  I will leave it there for a while and report back. 

Hi DELL-Chris M,

Here's a composite summary of my testing on various ports of the 2408WFP monitor for the "blinking" problem:

I started keeping track of the blinking on 2/5 on the DVI-1 port...

2/5 - one occurrence w/2 blinks

2/13 - 2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot)

2/14 -  2 freezes on boots at 2 different times of the day (once was a restart, the other was a cold boot)

2/14 - one occurence w/4 blinks

I switched to the DVI-2 port on 2/18...

2/18 - 2 separate occurences w/1 blink

2/28 - 3 separate occurences; 2 w/1 blink; 1 occurence w/2 blinks.

I switched to the VGA input port on 3/1...

There were NO instances of the monitor blinking or freezing between 3/1 and 3/10

I switched back to DVI-2 port on 3/11...

3/14 - 2 occurences w/1 blink

3/17- 1 occurrence with 4/blinks

I do not have HDMI cables so I can not test that port.  Is there anything else you would like me to try?  Where do we/I go from here?  My warranty expires in about 3 weeks.  Thanks for your support and assistance!

I do not have HDMI cables so I can not test that port.  Is there anything else you would like me to try?  Where do we/I go from here?  My warranty expires in about 3 weeks.  Thanks for your support and assistance!

You'll probably find HDMI is faulty too but that shouldn't be your concern - I would suggest you stop doing Dell's testing for them and get your screen replaced before your warranty expires. It's clearly faulty and there's obviously a problem with these monitors that Dell (not their customers, Chris M) should be testing and fixing.

I'm still waiting on my second replacement monitor having sent the first one back as mentioned previously because it too had the blackout issue as well as poor picture quality.

Dell's silence on this issue is deafening - what exactly are they doing to address this problem?

DELL? HELLO??

DELL-Chris M,

Please check your Private Messages

DELL-Chris M,

Please check your Private Messages (again)  :-)

Any solution to this problem yet?  I have the same monitor and am experiencing the SAME problem.  I have revision A02.  I am using it with a HP 8710 laptop and docking station.  I have tried other cables and verified no cable is loose.  Others have noted it may be a timing issue.  I am wondering if we have a solution yet, Dell?  I expected more for my 400.00.