I'm having some strange issues with my monitor. It's a LG Flatron W2261VP. When I turn it on there's a small red led indicator to show that's on and the LG logo on the monitor then it should pick up the signal from my PC but it doesn't. It just goes blank, it doesn't even say Check signal input. Now if I change the cable from DVI to VGA or even HDMI it doesn't work at all, it stays blank no matter what cable I plugged in or what PC I connect to it (I did connect it to other PC's).
However if I unplug the power cord and let the monitor without any power for about 3 minutes then plug it back and at when the LG logo appears I hold the "Auto/Set" button which keeps the LG logo on meaning the panel itself is on, then after 30 seconds or so if I let it go the monitor picks up the signal from my PC and works perfectly. But it only works if I hold that button for a couple of seconds which forces the panel to be on. Could it be that one if not more of the capacitors are dying? Or is it something else entirely? Can this be fixed or the only option is to buy a new monitor? I don't have any warranty on it because if I did, I would instantly send it to repair.
Strange, if no signal was getting to the monitor, you should get the "no signal" display.
Don't take this the wrong way, but have you tried powering it on and off with the power button? The manual says you have one of those stupid non-button power buttons. Do you have a spare cable of any kind you can swap in, DVI or other? Testing a different input will help narrow down if the problem is the monitor itself or just the DVI input. What outputs you can test will be determined by what your video card supports though. Have you checked that the monitor is set to DVI input, even if it's set to automatic? Manually set it, just to make sure.
This unplugging for 3 minutes sounds like a heat problem, but we should eliminate the most likely causes first.
Yes I have tried the on/off button it doesn't do anything. It just stays dead. Example yesterday I turned my pc off and my monitor from the on/off button, the power cord still plugged in, and today I woke up hit the on button red led appears to indicate it's on and straight to black. This time not even the LG logo. Meanwhile I did search for this sort of problem and found a post somewhere where the guy said to heat up the capacitors because that's it one of them is dying and needs help to work. The guy suggested a hairdryer to heat to solve the problem and I gave it a shot since I had nothing to lose. And surprise surprise it worked.
After a few seconds of heating up, turned my monitor on and it worked. So I presume it really is one of the capacitors. I also called a specialist to repair it because enough is enough. I don't have the patience to "heat-up" my monitor whenever it doesn't work.
Well, sounds like you've figured it out. Is it going to be worth it to pay to have the capacitor replaced though? It might be if you knew how to do it yourself, but you could be spending money on this, only to have another go soon, just saying. How long have you had that monitor?
Note to self: master soldering components.
Oh, and please update your title with a solved tag.
I don't have the technical know-how to do it myself and I don't want to try and screw it up. I called someone I'll watch and see exactly what he does and learn from him, and the next time I'll do it myself. I've had the monitor for 5 years or so. It's quite old and I even though I would love to just buy a new one. Why not fix this one if there's one small thing wrong with it.