How hard is it to fix a monitor? Thinking of buying a broken one

[FRD]

I've seen Linus' video where he fixes a Gigabyte monitor successfully, by replacing the panel.

In my area someone is selling an Asus 32" monitor with a cracked screen for $50.

Since it's pretty close by and it's a monitor that I would love to own, yet can't afford at full price, I'm wondering. How hard is it to fix? Would it be worth a shot or will I end up in high costs and failure?

I've looked up the panel, it's like $250-$350 on Aliexpress, which is too expensive. I've found another place that seems to sell it at below $200, shipping price unknown.

Can someone with zero monitor knowledge fix it easily? Or is it something that's very hard and just for people who know what they need to do?

I would like your opinions. It's a gamble after all.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

6 minutes ago, FRD said:

I've seen Linus' video where he fixes a Gigabyte monitor successfully, by replacing the panel.

In my area someone is selling an Asus 32" monitor with a cracked screen for $50.

Since it's pretty close by and it's a monitor that I would love to own, yet can't afford at full price, I'm wondering. How hard is it to fix? Would it be worth a shot or will I end up in high costs and failure?

I've looked up the panel, it's like $250-$350 on Aliexpress, which is too expensive. I've found another place that seems to sell it at below $200, shipping price unknown.

Can someone with zero monitor knowledge fix it easily? Or is it something that's very hard and just for people who know what they need to do?

I would like your opinions. It's a gamble after all.

Which monitor is it? It really depends on how much you'll be saving in order to determine if it's a gamble worth taking or not. 

[GuiltySpark_]

What’s wrong with it? How to fix it is entirely dependent on that. 

[BondiBlue]

5 minutes ago, rickeo said:

What’s wrong with it? How to fix it is entirely dependent on that. 

OP says it has a cracked panel, so the panel itself needs to be replaced. 

[Gohardgrandpa]

For what you'll spend here just buy a new monitor

[FRD]

4 hours ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Which monitor is it? It really depends on how much you'll be saving in order to determine if it's a gamble worth taking or not. 

Let's just say it's an expensive monitor and well over $500 retail, but currently there's already a newer model and it's not sold anymore. The panel is a 32" LG panel that many monitors use as their base.

4 hours ago, BondiBlue said:

OP says it has a cracked panel, so the panel itself needs to be replaced. 

Correct, the panel is cracked, looks smashed, but there's no big hole. If there's more than that I won't even try, I'd have to ask the seller to make sure.

2 hours ago, Gohardgrandpa said:

For what you'll spend here just buy a new monitor

That's the other side of me telling me, but one way it's also telling me to try it. It's an expensive gamble though.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

9 minutes ago, FRD said:

Let's just say it's an expensive monitor and well over $500 retail, but currently there's already a newer model and it's not sold anymore. The panel is a 32" LG panel that many monitors use as their base.

Correct, the panel is cracked, looks smashed, but there's no big hole. If there's more than that I won't even try, I'd have to ask the seller to make sure.

That's the other side of me telling me, but one way it's also telling me to try it. It's an expensive gamble though.

So you'll be at most 400 bucks in, not including shipping, on a monitor that's worth approximately your 500 bucks base if it's discontinued. I would say yes if you're someone who really knows what they're getting into. But for a novice who's just looking to save some money on a good monitor... I would say it's not worth it. Even in the video Linus and Alex did, the panel they received did have a stuck pixel and that's something they wouldn't be able to chase the seller for. So you're not going to be getting a factory fresh monitor out of it and there's no guarantee the new panel will bring the monitor back to factory specifications. It could lack calibration and missing features. 

[FRD]

1 minute ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

So you'll be at most 400 bucks in not including shipping on a monitor that's worth I would say 500 bucks if it's discontinued. I would say yes if you're someone who really knows what they're getting into. But for a novice who's just looking to save some money on a good monitor... I would say it's not worth it. Even in the video Linus and Alex did, the panel they received did have a stuck pixel and that's something they wouldn't be able to chase the seller for. So you're not going to be getting a factory fresh monitor out of it and there's no guarantee the new panel will bring the monitor back to factory specifications. It could lack calibration and missing features. 

$400 at most indeed, shipping should be about $60-100 from Aliexpress. I can't really retrieve old prices, but let's say the monitor is like $700 new.

You really make me doubt there. I'm not sure what I'm getting into. Plus, the monitor just laying around will take up space I don't have. I'd have to fix it right away.
What are my options if it fails? Sell it with panel for someone else to try? A good thing at least is that it's local, but I doubt the guy would want a $50 monitor returned.

Calibration or settings I'm not afraid of, more that it can display colors as it should. Also I believe it has G-Sync and the module should not be broken, because those are hard and expensive to fix. Maybe I could test the monitor on the spot to see if it can still display the menu on the broken screen, that can be a good sign.

I'm rethinking if I wanna go for it right now.

[FRD]

11 hours ago, Nacht said:

If its board issue like internal power supply issue probably if screen it self is damaged no way for sure well not sure exactly but i would personally not risk it, if heard of people repairing old crt's cos the components on the board are usually leaky and can easily be replaced.

That's right. If it's the board, then I can't fix it for sure. If it's just the screen, then I can take the risk, but I have to know 100% sure that only the screen is broken and not more than that. CRTs are a different kind and I think much harder to fix. Gladly monitors are mostly just made up of the panel and the board, but they have more tech cramped in it, if it has something like G-Sync, higher refresh rate, etcetera.

[FRD]

Well, I decided not too go for it. The good point is that the seller has a picture where it still displays the monitor menu on the broken screen. The bad point is that it's hard to fix and I found out it didn't come with an adapter, so that's also an extra cost of $30-50. Finally I'm not experienced in fixing a monitor.

I found a similar monitor that's still in good condition for $350 that's almost the same, even though it's the Freesync version and not the G-Sync version and I have an Nvidia GPU. I'm considering that one now, thanks for the help anyways everyone.

[Stahlmann]

On 9/29/2021 at 8:30 PM, FRD said:

I found a similar monitor that's still in good condition for $350 that's almost the same, even though it's the Freesync version and not the G-Sync version and I have an Nvidia GPU. I'm considering that one now, thanks for the help anyways everyone.

Native G-Sync on monitors is basically worthless nowadays as most FreeSync monitors work completely fine with Nvidia GPUs using G-Sync. Most monitors that use G-Sync modules introduce more limitations than fixes when including a G-Sync module.

[FRD]

On 10/4/2021 at 3:10 PM, Stahlmann said:

Native G-Sync on monitors is basically worthless nowadays as most FreeSync monitors work completely fine with Nvidia GPUs using G-Sync. Most monitors that use G-Sync modules introduce more limitations than fixes when including a G-Sync module.

I didn't know about that. So you're saying basically paying extra for G-Sync is not worth it these days?

Recently I saw a FreeSync monitor I'm interested in and I know it could work as "normal" monitor. Doesn't G-Sync/FreeSync give me an advantage if I have a matching GPU?

Also, I've not been up to date about it the last few years. I just knew G-Sync and FreeSync back in the day, now different kinds exist like FreeSync Premium, which I don't know how they work.

I'm happy with my current G-Sync monitor, I always have G-Sync on for my GPU. I remember on my first Full HD monitor without V-Sync on I always would get very bad screen tearing in some games. I never knew what the fix was back then and learned to live with it.

[Stahlmann]

Just now, FRD said:

I didn't know about that. So you're saying basically paying extra for G-Sync is not worth it these days?

Recently I saw a FreeSync monitor I'm interested in and I know it could work as "normal" monitor. Doesn't G-Sync/FreeSync give me an advantage if I have a matching GPU?

Also, I've not been up to date about it the last few years. I just knew G-Sync and FreeSync back in the day, now different kinds exist like FreeSync Premium, which I don't know how they work.

I'm happy with my current G-Sync monitor, I always have G-Sync on for my GPU. I remember on my first Full HD monitor without V-Sync on I always would get very bad screen tearing in some games. I never knew what the fix was back then and learned to live with it.

FreeSync and G-Sync are basically interchangeable these days. Most current G-Sync monitors work with AMD GPUs. And most current FreeSync monitors work with Nvidia GPUs. There is no noticeable advantage to match them in any way.

 

And yes, G-Sync monitors basically cost a lot more without offering anything on top of what FreeSync monitors can do. A while ago G-Sync had some benefits like variable overdrive or a wider VRR range, but nowadays FreeSync monitors can have the same features.

 

The main problem native G-Sync has is that the module always needs a cooling fan, which is almost always the first part to fail in these monitors. Not to mention these small fans often have a whiny tone to them.

[FRD]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

FreeSync and G-Sync are basically interchangeable these days. Most current G-Sync monitors work with AMD GPUs. And most current FreeSync monitors work with Nvidia GPUs. There is no noticeable advantage to match them in any way.

 

And yes, G-Sync monitors basically cost a lot more without offering anything on top of what FreeSync monitors can do. A while ago G-Sync had some benefits like variable overdrive or a wider VRR range, but nowadays FreeSync monitors can have the same features.

 

The main problem native G-Sync has is that the module always needs a cooling fan, which is almost always the first part to fail in these monitors. Not to mention these small fans often have a whiny tone to them.

Oh, so they are interchangeable, that's new to me. Back in the day monitors with either also would work, but you would get no advantage of the v-sync technology, thus wasting money according to some people.

If these days they work fine either way, I kind of want to try it. Because from my experience screen tearing can be really bad or distracting.

 

Good to know that FreeSync monitors now also have those extra features. I assume monitors these days are good, because the technology are advanced a lot. Back then 1080p 60 fps was the goal, now we have everything from 1440p to 4k, high refresh rates, widescreen, etcetera. Even budget monitors have become a lot better.

 

I always heard G-Sync monitors are expensive and hard to repair, sometimes it's said you can only buy a new monitor. In my monitor I don't notice the fan, but even though they're approved these days, they still cost a lot of extra money for no reason.
I think I'm going to learn more about modern monitors. I need a new one later after all with a higher HDMI version.

[Stahlmann]

9 minutes ago, FRD said:

Oh, so they are interchangeable, that's new to me. Back in the day monitors with either also would work, but you would get no advantage of the v-sync technology, thus wasting money according to some people.

If these days they work fine either way, I kind of want to try it. Because from my experience screen tearing can be really bad or distracting.

I have used multiple FreeSync monitors, some certified to work with G-Sync, some not. But all of them worked with my Nvidia GPUs.

 

Quote

I always heard G-Sync monitors are expensive and hard to repair, sometimes it's said you can only buy a new monitor. In my monitor I don't notice the fan, but even though they're approved these days, they still cost a lot of extra money for no reason.

Case in point: Right now i have an Asus PG35VQ, which is a native G-Sync monitor. It's one of the best monitors currently available. But now i have the problem that the fan aged a bit and got louder. Now the monitor puts out a quiet but very annoying whine even while idling. Now i have to figure out how to open the monitor and buy a new fan to replace it. Opening the monitor is harder than i thought and i'm currently in contact with Asus to figure out how to open it up without breaking something. None of this trouble would be necessary on a FreeSync monitor.

[FRD]

7 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I have used multiple FreeSync monitors, some certified to work with G-Sync, some not. But all of them worked with my Nvidia GPUs.

 

Case in point: Right now i have an Asus PG35VQ, which is a native G-Sync monitor. It's one of the best monitors currently available. But now i have the problem that the fan aged a bit and got louder. Now the monitor puts out a quiet but very annoying whine even while idling. Now i have to figure out how to open the monitor and buy a new fan to replace it. Opening the monitor is harder than i thought and i'm currently in contact with Asus to figure out how to open it up without breaking something. None of this trouble would be necessary on a FreeSync monitor.

Nice, they should work of course, but at least I shouldn't be afraid of them and hopefully no screen tearing anymore on modern monitors.

Amazing monitor you have there. Widescreen 1440p 200hz, only the 4K monitor of Asus can top that. I've been looking at the XG35VQ model before, because someone locally is selling it. Anyway, I never heard a fan sound actually from my G-Sync monitor. Even checked if I could hear something. The sound you have must be annoying, like a light coilwhine. I wouldn't have thought monitors had fans. Hopefully you can get it sorted. Asus can be hard on warranty, but easier if it's still within warranty period. The replacement fan should be easy to find, they even have an Asus parts online shop. I hope you figure out how to open it.