Dell P1110 excessive brightness

Hello?

Any help please?

Any moderator on deck?

My Dell P1110 has the exact same problem.

I have my "Brightness" set to 0 and my "Contrast" set to 50, and anything black (RGB: 0,0,0) appears gray on my screen.

Please help me fix this.

I have the brightness of my Dell P1110 set to 10.  Anything higher than that will lit the phosphors when showing a pure black (RGB = 0,0,0).  I am not sure if this is standard or if this indicates a problem.  It seems very unusual for a monitor to require such a low brightness setting to achieve this effect.

you may need to register at http://premiersupport.dell.com/ to access this.

The  article is very general.  For example, "Step 1:  Eliminate accessories" is impossible (for a P1110) as the OSD does not work without an input signal.

There is definitely a problem with my monitor as when I go to "Color", then "Color Return", it does not work and shuts my monitor off.  This does not happen on my brother's P1110; It fixed the very slight brightness problem he had.

Can someone else with the same problem try the "Color Return" and let me know if it works?

I have the same problem as well, anyone know how to get this fixed?  I found a couple posts on a monitor repair forum where they successfully added some resistance to a circuit in the monitor to fix the problem.  If anyone has a how-to on this it would be most helpful.

Thanks

Tasc, was this one of the posts you found:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=87612&messageid=1062229659

?

Also, did you try "Color Return" in the OSD?

Someone from Dell should know the solution to this problem.  I believe it to be quite common as everyone I know personally with a p1110 (all of 2) has had brightness problems.  Color Return fixed one of them, and just shuts the monitor off (fails) for me.

ah no, that wasn't the post I saw, yours is much better and actually has instructions!  I'm going to try that later today.  I have a Dell P1110 and a Sony G500, and BOTH of the monitors have this exact same problem - I think they are the same mfg internally.  When I do the color return function on the G500, the monitor shuts off.  When I do the color return on the Dell, it seems to work, but doesn't fix the washed out problem.

I took the Sony G500 to an authorized Sony repair facility and they couldn't do anything, they were worthless.

Color Return on my P1110 also shuts my monitor off.  (Does this happen to anyone else?)

Let me know if the instructions in the article I posted work for you.  I'll let you be the guinea pig, and then I'll try it if it works! :)  Until that point, I appreciate anyone who can give me more information on this excessive brightness problem.

well those instructions didn't work out, but they did get me into the case!  The problem is, the flyback transformer (on my P1110 at least) only has two screw nobs, both for focus, and no nob for a brightness setting.

Check out this post for some background on the problem:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=87612&messageid=1080750317

I just replaced the resistor R459 (which can be found on the board at the very back of the monitor) with a 6.2Mohm (or something around that value) and it really did wonders for the brightness problem.  I have to jack up brightness and contrast to about 65 each now, but the screen looks great and I have black again instead of a washed out grey.

If you need some more detailed instructions on this, let me know.  I took a picture of the fix as well if it's of any interest.

Was there something wrong with the instructions in the article I posted (http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=87612&messageid=1062229659)?  It did not mention anything about replacing parts, only adjusting one screw.  (It said, "Using a shielded or plastic Phillips head screwdriver, turn the bottom-most screw to the left until the washed-out look goes away.")

I'm glad you fixed your monitor.  (It means I have hope too!)  I'm not sure if I am skilled enough to change the R459 resistor (or even to identify it).  If you could post some pictures, that would be of great help.

Also, you used a 6.2Mohm resistor, and in the thread you posted (http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=87612&messageid=1080750317) they speak of using a 6.8Mohm.  Does this matter?  Andrew Martin, also from the thread you posted, used a 4.7 and claims it worked only that it inverted his brightness controls!  I am a bit hesitant to do this fix myself.

yeah, those instructions don't seem to apply to our monitor as we don't have the "bottom-most screw" he is talking about.  But those instructions are good for opening the monitor casing.

It's really much easier than you think to do the fix, and it costs a whopping 17 cents for a resistor.  You can probably successfully use any value resistor from 5Mohm to 7Mohm to make the fix - I think the lower values will just lower the brightness even more.  So if you have a REALLY bright screen, try around a 5Mohm.  If the brightness is not overwhelmingly horrible, go with around a 6-7Mohm.  Either way, you should be able to compensate with the brightness/contrast buttons on the front panel to get it where it looks good.

Once you take the back off the monitor, theres a circuit board on the very back (underneath the RF shielding, which comes off with a few screws).  On the circuit board you will see little components with labels such as R453, C384, etc.  You are looking for R459, its easy to find.  On the underside of this board, right under the R459 label, is the actual resistor.  If you have a small pair of wire cutters, you can get them under there and snip one of the legs to break that circuit.

On the back of the board, where the R459 label is, you will see 2 solder points at each side of the label - this is where you can put on your new resistor.  Just solder it on there, theres a lot of room there so its hard to screw up the solder job.  put the shielding/case back together, and wha-la, you have a new monitor (well at least a new black level).

First picture is of the back of the monitor with the casing and shielding off, area you are interested in is circled in red.  The next picture is just a close up of that area.  Both of these are taken after the new resistor was put on as you can see.

"...and when I do the color return function the monitor no longer shuts off"

Is that for the p1110 (too)?  I was going to ask you that.

As another side note, as far as my experience tells me, if color return does not shut off your monitor, it works and actually fixes the brightness problem.