Need some help with a monitor issue

Here's a picture of what my monitor looks like at the moment: http://I.imgur.com/tXko1.jpg

I've noticed that my monitor has some kind of imprint in the background, like it's taken some kind of damage. It's been there for about a year but recently it's gotten much worse. I can only see it on some background, like I can see it very clearly on a webpage with a grey background but I cannot see it on a white background. It is very distracting and annoying when I'm trying to watch videos or even just browse the web on my computer.

Anyway, what kind of damage does my monitor have? Is this a part I can replace, or will I have to buy a new monitor?
 
I think I can safely suspect that this might not be a monitor issue at all, the problem may lay with your video card or adapter. Sometimes with older video cards or video adapters something with them goes all screwy. I've seen your problem once, maybe twice, and if I remember right, I think we had to shell out some money for another video card. I think the tech at Best Buy told my friend something about video adaptive ghosting, which is a problem created when some of the video cash or memory doesn't clear all the way, and an image is pertinently embedded inside the memory of the video card.There for leaving a ghost image of one of your prior wallpapers or such.

One sure quick way to tell if this is a monitor issue, take your monitor and hook it up to another computer, see what it does! Other than that, I'm suspecting a video card or video adapter issue!

Ps- while we are at it, why not tell us what type of computer your running, what video card or video adapter your using, what operating system your running and maybe how much RAM your using?
 
I think I figured out the issue, actually. My wallpaper had become burned into the monitor. I don't know how, considering I'd only been using the wallpaper for a few days, but that was it. I don't think my video card is the issue, considering I have a fairly recent video card, the Nvidia GTX 460. Anyway, I changed my wallpaper and then watched some shows and generally used my computer like I normally would, and the burn-in seems to have faded almost all the way. I can barely see it anymore, even on a grey background.

Thank you for your reply, Zen, but I think this one fixed itself :)
 
I'm glad that you were able to figure out what the problem was. It's interesting that was indeed a monitor issue, that one caught me off guard. Normally this is a video card problem with part of the cards video relay being influenced by a permanent image being ghosted into the cards memory, therefore always being displayed either on the whole monitor screen or sometimes just a sliver of it.

Curious to know, seeing that you figure it's a monitor problem, have you try'd resetting your monitor, like pushing "recall" or "reset" on the monitors menu functions? Normally "recall" or "reset" will flash the monitor for a split second and wipe the inside clean.

But glad to hear things are back on track for you! :)
 
Oh boy. Seems like my monitor reverted back to how it was looking yesterday. I don't know how. It was looking way, way better this morning.

I tried using the Factory Reset in my monitor's menu to no avail. I haven't been able to try plugging my monitor into another computer, unfortunately, so I still can't really tell if this is a monitor issue or a GPU issue. Would it be possible that a more modern graphics card could do something like this? And is there anyway I could clear my video card's cache or something to try to get rid of it?
 
Wow, this was a real quick turn in events! Now your monitor has reverted back to bad behavior! If your monitor was a child, I'd tell it to go sit in a corner for a nice long time out!

Funny how this is looking more and more like my original premise, being a video card issue! I know most video card company's create their cards on a production line, all are supposed to be identical, but in the end some are proven to not be. Perhaps your card, regardless of it's newness or power or number, maybe your card slipped through some quality control cracks and was released from the factory with an unknown defect.

Maybe if your card is still protected under a warranty or in store protection plan, you could return it for a new one, and maybe the new one will be less problematic.

In regards to your notion of maybe clearing or cleaning your video cards cache or memory, your going to have to get some expert advise from someone else. Maybe someone else could jump in here and maybe advise you or help you out with that. Yeah, I might be A+ Hardware Certified, but when it came to the video card or video solution part of the course, I found out the hard way that it was a pretty weak spot for me. If you know how to do it yourself, great, but if not, wait around for someone to jump in here and properly advise you on what to do!
 
Ok, I've just hooked my computer up to an LCD TV to test whether it was the graphics card or the monitor itself. The TV it's currently hooked up to has no signs of burn-in, so that should mean my video card is fine (thank goodness). So, do you know of any way to fix a monitor with an issue like this, or should I just shell out ~$140 to buy a new one?
 
If the monitor's dead, I don't quite get why you can see the toolbar ok in the attached pic? (sorry, I don't have an alternative diagnosis, I just don't see what could be wrong with the monitor itself to produce that effect) :confused:
 
The monitor is not dead, I never said that. It just has an image burned into it and I am wondering if there is a way to fix that.
 
The monitor is not dead, I never said that. It just has an image burned into it and I am wondering if there is a way to fix that.

I didn't say that you said it was, did I, the significant word was "IF".
And yes, you're very welcome to my input and assistance.
 
Let me just offer up my "bottom line" here!

Monitor ghosting or as some might call burn in isn't something that can really be fixed and or repaired. I'm afraid that if the monitor isn't covered by a warranty and or a in store protection plan, then your going to be out the cost of a brand new monitor. There's just really no way to sugar coat this, your monitor is damaged in a way that isn't all that fixable. But the bright side to all of this, is the fact that apparently there are no viable issues with the video card itself! Perhaps the next monitor that you select will be a different one, than what you currently have. If it was me, and I had this problem with a certain monitor company and model number, I sure wouldn't buy the same thing, due to fear that if it happened on one monitor of the same company and model number, it very well could happen again!
 
As I tried to point out previously (to no avail) the problem is unlikely to be burn-in, the toolbar shows up fine!
I may have a fix for this.
 
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