How to switch from a CRT monitor to an LCD monitor

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By desolator144
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It sounds simple. You just unplug the CRT and plug in the LCD monitor, right? Wrong! There’s a few very important details to go over before you make the switch or you may break your brand new LCD! By the way, these instructions are for an XP PC, not a Mac or Vista machine although Vista’s steps are very similar.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

First you want to get the LCD monitor unpacked and attach the stand and everything else the directions specify to get it ready for use. Plug in the power cable and screw in the VGA cable on the back if it isn’t already a hard wired one.
Step 2

Now before you unplug your old monitor, leave the computer on and logged in and right click on a blank spot on the desktop and click properties. That will bring up the display properties window.
Step 3

Go to the settings tab and click the advanced button at the bottom
Step 4

Now go to the Monitor tab and you’ll see a drop down menu for the screen refresh rate. For an average CRT monitor, it’s probably set at 75Hz. Almost all LCDs run at 60Hz. You should check the documentation that came with your new monitor to make sure but there’s about a 99% chance it runs at 60Hz. So change the frequency to 60Hz to get ready for the LCD. If LCD monitors are run at a higher refresh rate than they can handle, some can be damaged by it so this step is very important.
Step 5

Chances are your CRT now looks really flickery. That’s fine because now you need to shut down your computer. This isn’t absolutely necessary but it helps ensure that your PC picks up all the correct settings and driver for the new monitor.
Step 6

Once your shut all the way down, unplug the 15 pin VGA cable from the back (it’s usually blue). Also unplug the old monitor’s power cable from your outlet or power strip.
Step 7

Now plug in the new monitor’s power cable and screw in the new VGA cable. If your monitor came with a DVI cable, it should have come with a VGA to DVI adapter and if your graphics card came with DVI port(s) you should have gotten some DVI to VGA adapters so either way, if you need to convert it, screw in the converter first. Or if your card and monitor both support DVI then just use the DVI cable
Step 8

Now turn your new LCD monitor on and then turn your computer on and the new monitor should work immediately. Once you get logged in, you should find the Auto button if your monitor has one and press it once to make sure that all the pixels are lined up properly.
Step 9

As a final, optional step you should look at the new monitor’s documentation and read what the native resolution is. That’s the actual amount of pixels that the screen contains. If you match the computer’s output with the monitor’s pixel count (aka resolution) everything will look as sharp and correct as possible. Most 17 inch non-widescreen monitors these days run at 1280x1024 and widescreen ones vary but are usually some variation of 1280 by something or a bit higher. To change the resolution, right click on the desktop again and click properties then go to the settings tab. There’s a slider there to change the resolution. Change it to match then click apply and if everything looks correct, click ok. You may also want to hit the auto button on your monitor after changing resolution to re-align the pixels.

Comments

ruf1950 said

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on 7/1/2009 OH - and this was added to favorites for further review :)

on 7/1/2009 I had no idea; I thought it was just plug and play! Excellent job explaining how to switch from a CRT monitor to an LCD monitor. Thanks for sharing such valuable info. 5*****