What caused my monitor to suddenly get darker?

Tilted Picture on a CRT PC Monitor?

• Yeah, so I got an old CRT monitor awhile ago, and, well, the picture is very annoyingly tilted 3 degrees counter-clockwise. It happened because it was stored next to some magnets and that caused the yoke to move or something. It has a control panel where you can adjust the rotation, but for some reason it doesn't work. Values 0 and 100 look exactly the same. Anyways, I'll get to the question - Is there any software or anything I can do to fix it without opening it up and adjusting the yoke myself? Anything to adjust the display 3 degrees or something? Google is no help, by the way. I already tried. I couldn't find it in any forums, either. I mean, I'm not stupid; I know where to look first. Yeah, so if you're wondering, I know what I'm doing. I work at a computer shop, but, to be honest, 30,000V DC doesn't sound too appealing. Yep. There's a sticker on the back that says "Warning! 30 Kilovolts DC!" I thought it was lying, but according to Google that's how much you need to fire a electron beam 2 feet. And this repair needs to be done with the screen on and showing a grid to get it perfect, so... Yay electricity.

• Answer:

  Well, it seems you've done your homework well. Yes, there is around 30KV used in the tube to create the picture, and it doesn't dissipate quickly even after the screen is off or unplugged either. Interesting that the on-screen rotation controls had no effect. They should be able to rotate left or right with the controls. I am not aware of any software or other external option that can adjust the rotation easily. Magnets did not affect the display rotation. Magnets will magnetize the screen and cause discoloration of the image or focusing problems, but not rotation. That is a physical change of the hardware or an electronic component failure of the ciruitry that can adjust for that. Personally, I'd just go in and adjust it, but I used to work on those a lot anyhow. As long as you don't go messing with the high voltage transformer or the big lead that attaches to the picture tube itself with that big suction cup looking piece, you should be safe from the 30KV. The yoke usually has a small clamp that needs to be loosened slightly so it can be rotated to adjust for the picture rotation. Don't try moving any other pieces on the yoke itself as those control other aspects of the picture.