Question:
I have a Dell desktop PC running Windows 7 and lately I’ve been noticing that the colors on the screen appear to be a little off – not a lot mind you, but enough to notice. Do you think my monitor is going bad? –Grant H.
Answer:
Grant, your monitor might indeed be going bad, but there are a couple of things you can try before taking it to a PC repair shop or replacing it, and both of them are absolutely free – and free is always a great thing, right?
Since driver issues are common culprits in situations like this, the first thing I would try is updating the video display adapter driver and monitor driver to the latest versions. Even if a PC is new, the hardware drivers are often already outdated when you take the system out of the box! Here is the procedure for updating the drivers:
1 – Visit www.dell.com and click the Technical Support link.
2 – Click Support for Home Users.
3 – Click Drivers and Downloads.
4 – Under “Additional Driver Links”, click Dell Monitors and Displays.
5 – Select your monitor from the list in the “Drivers for Microsoft® Windows 7” dropdown box.
6 – Click the Download button.
7 – Install the new driver per the instructions provided.
8 – Repeat the steps above for the display adapter driver, changing your selections as needed.
If updating the driver doesn’t help, try running the Monitor Calibration utility. You’ll find it in the Control Panel:
1 – Click Start
2 – Click Control Panel
3 – Type Calibrate Display into the search box
4 – Click Calibrate Display Color
If both updating the monitor’s driver and calibrating the color fail to make the colors look accurate, then your monitor has probably developed a problem. You can take it to a shop for repairs, replace it with a new one or simply live with the minor color shift if it isn’t all that annoying.
About the author: Rick Rouse is the owner of RLROUSE.COM. He is also an A+ Certified Computer Technician with over 30 years of experience in the industry.
Credits: Image courtesy of Sundeip Arora.