Why is my monitor not working?

Why is my monitor not working?

• Last night, I was using the computer normally when the monitor decided to go blank (it literally just turned dark). I put it down to overheating, and turned it off for the night. This morning, I turned the PC on, the monitor worked for about a second, then went black again. The odd thing is that the monitor's power button is green, indicating that it's working. I turn it off, then on again, and the screen works for another second, then turns black, the power button on the monitor is still green. Does anyone know what I can do to fix this?

• Answer:

  LCD or CRT? Does it have digital controls, like an on-screen menu? Hit some buttons and see if that shows up. If it does, you're not getting a video signal from the computer. Graphics cards dying for no apparent reason is much more common than entire monitors dying for no apparent reason. Also, if it's an LCD, they sometimes get stuck in an intermediate calibration state when it gets an unstable, funky signal from the computer. Every time the signal timing changes, the monitor has to resync to the signal. Most monitors simply go black during this process. If it's getting fed garbage signal, it could cause your monitor to continuously sync, thereby remaining continuously black. A faulty graphics card (or driver) causes this, as well as crappy or interference-prone signal cable. Or your monitor sucks and bit the dust.