The Problem: On what has always been a perfectly good LCD monitor, you begin to see a faint but distracting “ghost image” to the left or right of desktop elements (like windows, icons, or black text on a white screen). Unlike the burned-in images associated with old CRT or new plasma monitors, this image is “live” — when you move screen elements or change the contents of the screen, the ghost image moves and changes, too. The effect looks a bit like those slightly-offset ghost images you used to see on television screens back when t.v.’s were hooked up to “rabbit ears.”
The Solution: The good news: it’s not your monitor, or some obscure driver, or the video card in your computer. In most cases, it’s the monitor cable. If this just started, you probably added some new electronic gizmo to your desktop, or the shielding on your current monitor cable has been compromised in some way. If the monitor cable is touching another cable, a modem, or even an inkjet printer, move the cable. If this doesn’t fix the problem, replace the monitor cable.
How I Discovered This: The image on my 22″ widescreen Samsung monitor — always a great performer — suddenly became smeared with a ghost image like the one described above. I tried all kinds of things, including twiddling refresh rates and downloading new video drivers.
Nothing worked … but I did notice that the ghosts weren’t present when I would hook my laptop up to other external monitors. This ruled out the video card (hooray!) but made me think something was wrong with my trusty Samsung.
Then, while thinking about when, exactly, the problem began, I realized I had added a new printer — an HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One — to my desk at about the same time. Could it be emitting some kind of interference that would screw up the image on my monitor?
I plugged in my monitor. Ghost images galore. I unplugged the printer … and, just like that, the ghosts were gone! In the end, in order to have both my monitor and printer on at the same time, I’ve had to move the monitor from one end of my desk to the other. (That was my zero-dollar solution; I could have shelled out the big bucks for a monitor cable with better shielding.)
This was such a simple fix, I had to share it here. Hope it helps you!
Um……dude.
I LOVE YOU!THANK YOUx 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
WOW! that solved my problem. The speakers were close to the monitor cable, I moved it and the ghosting disappeared. Thank you.
Thank you so much for writing this article. It solved my problem by moving the cable. HP wanted $60 to speak to a second level tech.
Awesome! It worked! Every other Website had me ready to buy a new monitor or video card… Thanks!
I moved the heater I had under my desk and the ghosts disapear from my screen… but now I hear voices…
Thank you so much! I, too, had changed drivers, refresh rates, etc. and was getting ready to replace my monitor. One last Google search led me to this article. Slightly moving my monitor cable eliminated the ghosting!
Thank you for this article! Written in 2009 but it still helped me out a lot! I had the same problem and it was caused by other cables from my computer hanging on the monitor cable.
Unbelievable! tossed a fairly new monitor for bad ghosting. I got a new quality monitor and after short order I started getting moving horizontal lines. At this point I thought maybe it was my computer and I hooked up another and got the same results. Had to be my monitor right? I ordered another monitor from amazon and the next day as I was staring at my bad monitor, I noticed new ghosting that appeared in the same area as the monitor I had trashed. I found this article and hooked up a new DVI cable. Much to my amazement my monitor was absolute perfection. I went on Amazon to cancel my order ($270) and I was too late. Another monitor is on the way, but it is what it is. This article was spot on!
Um……dude.
I LOVE YOU!THANK YOUx 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
Thank you so much for writing this article. It solved my problem by moving the cable. HP wanted $60 to speak to a second level tech.
Awesome! It worked! Every other Website had me ready to buy a new monitor or video card… Thanks!
I moved the heater I had under my desk and the ghosts disapear from my screen… but now I hear voices…
Thank you so much! I, too, had changed drivers, refresh rates, etc. and was getting ready to replace my monitor. One last Google search led me to this article. Slightly moving my monitor cable eliminated the ghosting!
Thank you for this article! Written in 2009 but it still helped me out a lot! I had the same problem and it was caused by other cables from my computer hanging on the monitor cable.
Unbelievable! tossed a fairly new monitor for bad ghosting. I got a new quality monitor and after short order I started getting moving horizontal lines. At this point I thought maybe it was my computer and I hooked up another and got the same results. Had to be my monitor right? I ordered another monitor from amazon and the next day as I was staring at my bad monitor, I noticed new ghosting that appeared in the same area as the monitor I had trashed. I found this article and hooked up a new DVI cable. Much to my amazement my monitor was absolute perfection. I went on Amazon to cancel my order ($270) and I was too late. Another monitor is on the way, but it is what it is. This article was spot on!
Thank you so much, that was the exact problem I had.
Fiddled with my monitor cable so it wasn’t touching anything else.
Bada bing bada boom ! The ghosting vanished..
Mine too was resting against the printer power cable.
Thank you. Of all the googled posts I read, your was clear, direct, and, wait for it, spot on!
Ah that fixed it. My monitor cable was going right under my center speaker, must have been the magnet.
UNFORTUNATELY it didnt work for me! Same story but the printer thing is not an issue here, nor any other device in my chain. The monitor seems to be good on other pc’s, but not on my laptop. But other monitors and other cables work fine with my laptop. Only this specific combi laptop + acer monitor doesnt work! Biizarre eh? Any clues? Drivers? Vista? Acer? Magnetic fields ?????
Thanks a lot for the post had the same problem and corrected after de tangling the keyboard cable from the monitor cable.
Holy shit. You’re right! It was the VGA cable. Fucken VGA cable!!!
Thankyou man !
Thank you SO MUCH. At one point I started to wonder whether it was my eyes! I moved the cable about an inch to get it away from the phone/printer/360/mouse/keyboard/speakers/router and it just vanished. Panic over!
Very fine you explained this one.Its really very helpful to all those people who are looking for it to complete and I think this is the main place where can they search about it.
Thanks so much for the post.. tried moving the monitor cable away from my other cables and it worked instantly!! Turns out it was wrapped around my keyboard and mouse cables, so I just untangled them. I’m so glad it was a $0 fix too, thanks again!
Holy freakin’ moly, it worked for me, too!! lol :)…I had all sorts of “ghosts” and “smears” appearing on my Samsung monitor, and figured I’d have to either buy a new monitor or have some tech person walk me through 19 different lengthy possibilities to fix it. But all I did was unplug my monitor cable, move it so that it didn’t touch the monitor cable from another computer I have set up, and voila…crystal clear monitor again lol.
Thanks for the helpful advice!
best tip ever.
Awesome! – Dummy me, my VGA cord was about to fall out and still had the HDMI connected but not hooked up to anything. Thanks!
thank you so much . have had problem since moving desktop position . looks great nowinfo was quite exact
Jeez Louise! All I had to do was push the cable connections into their fittings a little tighter! The ghost images always ran to the right side of the screen and would come and go (I occasionally move my monitor around). This LCD screen is fairly new. I’d never had one before and I just thought it was something that happened with these types of screens and I’d have to live with it. THANK YOU!
Brilliant – Thank You!
My eyes have been suffering for days and, like you, nothing I tried worked! Finally realized I should try a google (for “fix monitor ghosting”), and this page was my first result and the perfect solution. Nothing was touching my cable; I just need to push the contact into the back of my PC because it came loose somehow.
Thanks a million for the clear description and explanation that was so easily googlable!
I can’t believe I put a new monitor in the budget when all I had to do was detangle the cable. I thank you and my eyes thank you.
Thanks – just worked for me too
Thanks so much, that’s exactly what happened to me. You saved my day.
Thank you π
Holy cow! I struggled with a ghost image for weeks. Couldn’t figure it out! Took your advice, and WOW! it’s all fixed. Thank you so very much!
Thanks, Mark, it worked for me too.
BTW, (Find your path. Tell your story. Share what works.) = (excellence in action)
Brilliant! I have never achieved such satisfaction so quickly fixing a computer problem.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I just moved my monitor around a little, and it was totally fixed. I was worried I’d have to get a new one.
YAY! You’re fabulous!
Thank you for posting. I moved the cable around and away from the other power cables and the ghosting disappeared.
You’re a genious! Thoughtmy cheap monitor wasjust that — cheap. Butnow I know it was agreat deal. Your fixis perfect!
This worked perfectly for me too.
you are really a genious-absolutely vey intellect and clever.Thanks for this article that solved my problem as well.
Thank you!!I first noticed it on FB where anything on white/light background would lightly smear. And I thought it was some new visual effect ahaha… my compaq w17q WAS sitting on my subwoofer rofl..Peace
That TOTALLY worked…I just fiddled with my cable connection on both ends and it disappeared! Thank you!!!
Wow, what a fast and easy solution! Thank you so much…you saved me a lot of trouble. I’ve been worried about this for a long time and all I had to do was tap on the monitor chord to fix it. Wow…thanks again, you’re the best!
Oh, wow. Thank you, haha! All I did was scoot my monitor forward (which probably jostled the cables a little) and voila! Extreme black text ghosting is gone!
Thanks again!
Great discovery!so its a ghost image I also have here.
thanks for sharing your discovery.
Way to go! I have a Samsung 22″ too and unplugging would work but who wants to do that every day! So I fiddled with my audio cable that was wrapped around the electric and VGA cables and the second I separated it, presto! Great find!
Thanks, simple fix.
I see a lot of people have the same problem. I for one was ready to buy a new monitor!
I didn't even try to google for the problem. So I tried it 5 minutes ago, read your post, tried your therapy, and
it's all gone!!
You are a genius!! Thank you ever so much!!
Greetings
Thanks for the post! Absolute genius, was close to refunding the tv because the ghosting was that bad.
I realised it was just a cheap VGA cable and as soon as i changed it, Ghosting had gone!
Cheers
Thanks so much! Worked for me too! When my husband asks me how I fixed the problem, I'll tell him I called ghostbusters!!! ;o)
wow. so simple. Thanks.
BRILLIANT JUST MOVED MONITOR CABLE A BIT AND PRESTO NO MORE GHOSTINGON OCONS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Thank you so much, my son told me it was the monitor and I've been sitting here for weeks waiting for it to blow up.
Did as you suggested and hey presto! fixed.
You are a legend, thanks again
Thought I was gong to have to go BACK to Best Buy once again to get computer/monitor repaired. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you soooo much. It. Just. Worked. π
You just saved me the cost of replacing my monitor, Thank you so much! I only wish I had seen this 3 months ago, because I've been squinting that long – when moving an audio cable crossing over the video cable solved everything in 5 seconds. Thanks again.
All I had to do was move the cable! Thanks so much!
Just twiddled the connection and "voila", fixed. Had me real nervous for awhile there.
You just saved my life, thanks a lot!
Wow ! Solved my problem as well. I must have spent 10 hours (at least) tweaking the display generator (graphics card) trying all kinds of settings. In my case, it wasn't the printer so much as a crummy cable. Thanks a million !!
Moe
Ibid. all of the above. saved me a lot of hassle
Dude, thanks. I was almost ready to buy a new monitor.
In my case, my Dell 15 inch LCD monitor started displaying light, blurry ghost images that were smearing off to the right of all text and graphics (i.e., everything). I checked the power cable where it enters the back of the monitor and it was a tiny bit loose, so I pushed it in to seat it better, and that fixed my problem.
It works just like he said. Thank you!
Bingo – unplugged monitor, plugged it back in – problems solved.
Now what shall I spend the money on which I thought I was going to have to spend on a new monitor π
This solution worked perfectly. Once I unplugged my HP 1020 laserjet printer, the ghosting disappeared.
Dude like all the others I love you!
Thank you. I just bought a refurbished monitor and after a week I saw ghosting and was worried that the monitor was bad. After reading this I touched the VGA cord on the monitor and the problem instantly went away. Thanks!
The best ever two minutes I spent on the internet. 30 seconds for googling, 30 for reading your article, 30 for adjusting the cable and 30 for writing this message of thanks.
Thanks a lot.
Thank you! I had tried what i thought was everything.. I adjusted the settings, new vid driver, more settings.. still that smearing
I tightened the cable and poof. fixed.
Its a lovely monitor and I'm so glad I don't need a new one.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you!!! I was afraid that my monitor was heading South. You saved me some bucks.
Thanks a lot
Barry
Wow, mine was caused by a chair pressing against the monitor cable. Moved it, ghosting gone. Unbeleivable. Thanks, you're a legend.
OMG! It worked! No more ghost images. Thanks so much Mark!
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!!!
Perfect! I moved the cable to my monitor and the problem is fixed! I had been fooling around with all the monitor settings I could think of and this was the answer. I hadn't added any new peripherals but the cable had somehow gotten draped over an external hard drive
Thanks a lot!
EXACTLY the right solution for me as well!
Thanks!!
What a simple fix. It worked for me this time it was the web cam cable that was the source of the problem. Thanks a lot for such a simple fix
YES! Had the same problem with monitor cable as well. Was stressin' that it was my tv. Oh, using my 32" Samsung HD LCD as monitor. Anyway, thanks a whole lot for the info π
You, my friend, are a godsend. I've had ghosting for months. Could not for the life of me figure out the cause.
Years later and you are still helping! Awesome quick fix!
Yay! My secondary monitor started displaying ghosting today — Googled and hit your site! All I had to do was reach round and fiddle with the cable and the ghosting disappeared. Thanks!
I had this exact problem and thought it was static or something because I did a monitor diagnostics and I still had the ghost image.
I read your post, moved my monitor cable, and the ghosts are gone! Thank you!!!
Mark
You are Prince!
Thanks
My, my – this second hit on Google "ghosting on Samsung monitor" was the winner – didn't even have to unplug anything, just make sure the cable was clear after recent desk re-arrangement. Many thanks for sharing a true money saving, simple solution!
Excellent ! Problem solved !
Many thanks.
Thank you so much for your advice, I am glad I found your website.
I was having the ghosting and thought my screen was getting a problem.
It was the 2 cables touching, now everything is back to normal.
Paula
Just worked for me too! Thanks
Thank you! This fixed the problem with my wife's screen!!! it was driving me nutz and could not figure it out! her screen looks incredible now!
Thanks – it was actually my KVM switch. Worst part is I've been using it for months and haven't noticed until I tried Windows 8 and the high contrast colours made it really obvious.
Moved my monitor away from the laserjet and the shadow disappeared. Thanks for the easy fix!
Wow – awesome! I was about to start shopping for a new monitor when I decided to just look it up… probably the fastest and easiest I've ever been helped with a google search. π
Problem solved. I went & got the latest drivers downloaded for my card & monitor when all the time is was the cable. Thanks.
Thanks for that. I also tried everything under the sun to sort out the problem. Can't believe it was the cable needing a bit of a wiggle.
I LOVE YOU!!!! I am SO glad I found this page! Sure enough, I had a loose connection from moving my computer around. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS FIX!!
Thank you. Thought my eyes were failing me, then thought the monitor was failing – turns out one tug on the monitor lead resolved the issue. Thanks so much it might have taken me weeks to discover the issue – if ever
Literally just minutes ago, this very thing happened to me, and I've never had ghosting of any kind on any of my monitors. This is a new LCD monitor, but "open box", so I thought uh oh, maybe this is why it was returned. Went Googling and up pops your post and away goes the ghosting! Thank you so much Mark, hope this zero dollar solution continues to work!
My life is back to normal. So simple! Thanks.
Swapping out for a good shielded cable has turned my ghosty 27" Samsung into a sharp, clear work of art… Thank you!
Thanks Man I had a slightly different problem I had a white outline around contrasting elements of the picture. After swapping from the cheap HDMI cable to VGA cable bam! no problem.
π
Wow, that was the easyest pc fix ever… my cable was too hot(near central heating) and it probably messed up the shielding in the cable… thanks!
Perfect! just followed the instructions and my problem disappeared….
My wife thinks I'm a genius, but I gave all the credit to this incredibly simple solution. In my case, all it took was fiddling with the cables a bit, after spending time trying a lot of other non-fixes. Thanks for saving my poor tired old eyes.
Thankyou soooo much. After reading all the other alien computer mumbo jumbo – yours I coiuld understand, and it did the trick beautifully.
Thanks mate, I bought a second-hand monitor today, hopefully getting a bargain, but plugged it in for a quick test (NEVER do a 'quick' test!) and was worried for a minute due to the slightly beaten-up nature of the monitor in question. Swapped the cable and it seems to be much improved. I'm pretty technical but don't have enough experience with monitors, feeling slightly sheepish but all's well that ends well.
Luckily I had a heavily-shielded cable in stash, so swapped it out (was using a nasty grey, thin cheap VGA cable which I keep on my desk for basic use as it gets moved a lot). I will look out for more decent VGA cables whilst they are still common and thus cheap on the used market. Luckily this monitor also has HDMI, but that's a whole new game to learn now, too… Cheers anyway, good concise article and page design, too.
Thanks, played with my settings for 20 min and nothing. Read your fix, shuffled the monitor wire a bit, success.
Thank you so much, it worked like a charm!
That is the looney-est thing I have ever heard… BUT IT WORKED!!!
It was my effin' web cam….
You Da Man!!!
THANKS! Rerouting the monitor cable eliminated 98% of the ghosting. I have lots of cables criss-crossing behind my monitors that it's hard to give each cable it's own space which is probably the reason I still have some ghosting visible. But the majority of ghost images are gone. Thanks, it's like I have a new monitor.
I use several USB graphics adapters and KVM switches to add several monitors to my laptop and external keyboards and pointing devices. I thought the USB graphics adapters weren't putting out enough signals or the KVM's were absorbing signal. You hit right on the solution.
thanks.
Thanks for the info. I thought I had to purchase a new monitor until read your solution to the monitor ghosting problem. I moved the monitor cable and no more ghosting. Can't believe it was that simple to fix. You deserve super extra credit!!
Thank you so much. I almost paid 200$ for another monitor. I'm glad I searched this on Google.
You are a money saver.
Thank you very much for this fix. We had just ordered a copy of Windows 7 to update our old computer so I figured it was Murphy's Law at work.
100% fixed! Great tip!!!
Thank you for this simple solution. After reading this, I checked and indeed my cable found it's way beside my printer. I moved it and no more ghost images.
Thank you, Vince
Thank you so much ! That was the problem
bless you dude!!!! what a simple fix for an annoying problem. moved the cable, had my images back, cleanly. hope the good karma accumulates.
This started to happen to my screen too. I found out that if I clean the cable well, remove all the dust etc. then the ghost goes away. But after 2-3 days it comes back. So I had to invest in some high quality cable from belkin.
Hey, Trish! I suppose it's possible that better-insulated cables might prevent the ghosting associated with cross-cable interference. I'd rather just move my cables, though, than buy expensive ones!
Fixed it, THANK YOU!
Thanks for the solution. It was fixed in two seconds.
(Actually the monitor was moved and thus the cable was loose.)
– H5sys.com
I was trying to figure out how to get a new monitor from the US down here in Mexico when I found your site. (What if the new monitor didn't help?!?) Straightened out the crossing monitor/power cords and Bob's your uncle!
Thanks so much!
Thank you so much. I've got exactly the same problem. I've installed new video card drivers, even new monitor drivers, than tried change settings for the monitor and nothing helped. I searched in Internet for solution of this problem and the only place I've found real solution is here. Thank you!
Thanks guys, Sometimes it is the most simple thing that works . My other monitor was fine, so after trying everything I could think of I went to you. Hooray ! I should have gone there first. I had moved my stuff around last week and crossed cables. Thanks again, I was ready to buy a new screen. .
Mike R.
Thanks mate. Good solution. Cheers.
Worked for me too! I had a wireless router plugged into the same powerbar as my computer and monitor. As soon as I plugged the router into another outlet, it was fixed!
Thanks,
Thanks a ton for this idea. It worked for me! Zero dollar solution indeed! π
looks like worked for me as well thank you
Wow! you saved me $150 with this tip. I am a tech guy with decent troubleshooting skills. When I saw ghosting on my monitor, my first thought was it was aging (4 years). Before trying isolating my video card and monitor, I wanted to try google search. Voila, got the right solution on the 1st hit. Thanks you for the perfect explanation and google for finding your post
Please keep this post as long as you can. This will save many people time and money
Again, THANK YOU
OMG!!! Thank-you so much! That fixed it.
WOW! Thanks for that. Cured my ghosting in about 3 seconds. MUCH appreciated!
Thank you SO much!
Turns out it's from my cat walking around behind my monitor and moving the cable just enough to cause this problem. I'm so glad that's all it is. I was worried that it was my video card or something.
I've booked marked your site for future reference. π
Thank you, your advice worked like a charm. Brilliant!
Thanks, Mark, it worked for me too.
Really it is very smart fix. it troubled me for more than 6 months.
thank u very much
WoW! Great solution! I moved my computer table so I could get to the cables in the back and it cleared up instantly! Didn't even have to touch the cables! Just slid the table back and all is good. Thanks!
I was afraid I was gonna have to buy a new monitor. Yippee!
This worked perfectly.. moved the hdmi cable a bit… fixed.. TY
Genius! Thank you!!!!!
Thanks for the info. I didn't even have to replace the cable. As soon as I wiggled the monitor connector, the problem vanished. Apparently it was only a slightly bad connection.
Thak you sooooooooo much, I was worried that I had to start thinking about buying a new screen and this one is almost new
I never would’ve thought of that. Thank you!
Fantastic! I was worried my monitor was going out. Thanks!
You, sir, are a genius. My trusty Samsung also started this about three days ago. I really noticed it today, thought I’d best make that eye appointment, but before I did, you’ve helped me. All I did was jiggle the cable in the monitor. Problem solved. Thanks!!!!
Thanks, this was helpful. I have a tv tuner card conencted to cable tv and pc. the cable tv connection was creating ghost images. Removed the same, problem resolved.
This is absolutely amazing. I had a computer power cable touching my VGA cable, and when I unplugged it the ghost images were totally gone. Thank you!
Brilliant – thank you!
Yeah, thanks a lot man, i was scared ! i am a designer and i could barely see the lines i drew, everything was ghosted. Thanks a lot for this review again!
Mark, you just made my day. Had been beating my head on and off work about this since the last two months. Apparently, it was the ethernet cable crossing over the monitor cable. Up the horns for you!
m/
Had a problem with a monitor Ghosting on May 29, 2013, and changed the monitor cable, and it resolved the issue. Excellent article. Thanks for the help
Great description of the same problem I just started to see.
I haven’t added anything new, but just flipped the monitor cable end for end and the image is clean again.
Thanks for the tip!
Perfect answer! Solved my problem with a 1 inch move of the cable away from the side of the tower. And I was prepared to buy a new monitor.
THANK YOU!! I adjusted my cables and problem is solved! Pure Beauty!!
Excellent. Instant solution. Thanks a million.
Brilliant worked for me, great tip
AWESOME!!!!!! I thought my eyes were going bad. Thank you for sharing
Wow…..so unbelievably easy…thank you, thank you, thank you
Thanks, Mark. It worked like a charm. You saved me the cost of a new monitor.
Just adding my voice to all the others, simple and elegant worked in seconds…been tweeking and strugglling with for years….couldn’t afford another so….from the bottom of my processor Thank you
The latest to say thank you as every time you touch a pc it costs money best fix ive ever had and I never post any comments moorey
Thank you. You solved my problem. I just replaced the cable and viola!
I had blurring next to words and graphics, and then a growing vertical shadow on the left side of the monitor… so… after reading for an hour on this topic…. fearing I was gonna be off to buy a new monitor, cable, or video card….. it turned out the video cable was next to power cable… moved cable, problem fixed… LCD monitor now good as new !!! Thank you
THANK YOU – I love when I can fix a problem in less that 2 seconds. My cable just was not plugged in all the way. Whew!
Give this man an award! My cable was just touching my subwoofer where it hadn’t been before. Thank you sooooo much for this really helpful post. I hope you have a fantastic day because you just made mine!
Just fiddled around with the cable and it worked! Thanks!
Magic! I just googled my ghost problem and this came up………. thank goodness!
I only jiggled the cable and Hey Presto! fixed!
HUGE thank you! XXXX Love you !!
This solved my problem.
Thank you
5 years later – and STILL extremely relevant.
Thank you for contributing.
Witness: the POWER of GOOGLE.
Wow, I just noticed that my laptop power adapter brick was sitting right on top of my video cable – moved it – ghosting is gone! Problem solved! Thanks for sharing an obvious, but elusive fix!!!
You’ve already had a lot of applause for your post, but I’m obliged to add more. My monitor abruptly developed smearing on both sides, looking like an old CRT. After finally finding and reading this, I took hold of the VGA cable about a foot behind the monitor, moved it a few inches to the side, and saw the problem vanish. The damnedest thing. I thought crosstalk problems like this were defeated years ago. Thanks for sharing this bit.
Wow, Al! Thanks for the note. I’m glad to hear the tip helped you!
After replacing a very nice monitor (HP w2207) to fix this issue, continued to have this annoying problem. Found your article and tried to moving the cable without success, but replaced the VGA cable with an HDMI cable. Problem solved! Wanted to offer this as a possible solution for others with HDMI compatible computers & monitors.
Thanks for pointing me to the source of the problem!!!!
John
WOW. I had lost a day trying to adjust my HP LCD screen. I had just about decided to scrap it and use another one I had from a lower priority computer. I read your article – pushed the monitor cable an inch or so in each direction and WOW all the streaking ghosts are gone!!!!! Now I just have to recreate the colour settings on my screen that I have screwed up trying to find a solution – but that’s easy. Thanks a million.
That worked. No wonder why your page is at the top of Google results
Hey guys!
You may also want to check the response time in your monitorΒ΄s menu. Sometimes itΒ΄s faster than what the graphics card and driver can handle. It happened to me!
Thank you! In my case, I hadn’t changed anything when the screen suddenly started doing this, but the computer had just downloaded some new updates. I tried System Restore twice to go back to pre-update situation, and that didn’t work. After reading your article, I thought I’d try moving the cables and began moving the external video camera that I’d been using for Skype. I was really just moving things around–and suddenly, the screen was normal again! I’ve now unplugged the camera. THANK YOU!
THANK YOU so much, this happened a couple of days ago after downloading some upgrades. I tried all manor of restore and resets but after reading your article I just untangled and seperated all the wires at the rear of my desktop, and VOILA a perfect screen again.
Thanks so much for your very inexpensive solution !!!
Les
Thanks!
I noticed smearing on my monitor from left to right. I wiggled the monitor cable, and it went away! I had just installed a new video driver, so I had thought that that was the problem.
Thank you very much; my 9 year old LCD screen is still good!
I had only just noticed my monitor displaying this behaviour. Quick wiggle of the cable and it is sorted!
Super easy. Thanks.
Thank you SO much! I found your post via a Google search because I was having this same issue. I just checked the cable, and it was a little loose in the back, so I plugged it in tight and the monitor is fixed!!!! Yay! I was afraid I was going to need to buy another monitor π
Thanks for sharing!
Many thanks, just moved the power cable to the monitor and the problem is fixed.
I LOVE YOU FOR THIS FIX! XD
Thank you very Very much. You saved my day!
wow what a simple fix. I had no idea. THANK YOU!!! HAHAHA I will be laughing about this all day. Was trying driver updates setting changes. =]
Thank you very much..
Just pulling my computer table away from the wall… resolved this issue… WOW.
I’ve had this shadowing problem off and on for some time. I thought my favorite monitor (HP w2207) was dying. I googled the issue and found your post … this was exactly my problem. A slight movement of the cables and my monitor is perfect again. You, sir, are a genius! There’s nothing better than a simple fix that completely works. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Brilliant!! Found ghosts all over my monitor, thought for sure would need replacing, found this article, moved the cables and bingo!!! Back to being normal.
Thank you so much, so nice to find someone who is happy to share their experience without wanting something in return.
Cheers!!!
Thanks for your help. It really worked
Thanks for this – a quick jiggle of the cable and this issue vanished, along with my panic over where I was going to find Β£100 for a new monitor!
I LOVE YOU <3 MARRY ME !!!!!!!
Thank you for the simple fix. I’ve been noticing for the past week that I suddenly had a double image and it was driving me crazy. I was nearly ready to order a new monitor when I read your article. I just reached under the bottom front of the monitor and grabbed the cable between 2 fingers and gave it a little wiggle and the double image was gone instantly. Hard to believe it was so simple. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much! I swapped out my old monitor for a new one and left the same cords. I was so freaked out that I had bought a bad monitor, this was amazing.
Thank you! I was having trouble with an image file and I thought there was something wrong with my camera! Then, when others told me that they couldn’t see what I was talking about (and I realized that the same image looked find on my laptop), I came across this article, moved my monitor cable just a little bit and the image looked fine! Go figure!
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome. After several attempts at more complex solutions. The simplest one was the one that worked.
Thank you ! My Samsung 2223NW had some smear right of bright images, but I had some doubts about a so simple solution. Changed the VGA cable and the problem was gone. I also noticed tha using a DVI to VGA adapter gave me a sharper image than VGA to VGA. Great tip !!!
well, thanks a bunch. After trying everything allowed within my supertechpowers and scratching my head until I’ve lost more than a half of my hair on only one side of my empty skull, you’ve made it! This was this stupid LAN cable hanging next to its buddy video cable. Fixed in one sec. Thanks again, I will not have to fix my glasses in fine.
Thanks a lot, this really helped! Was misguided by some articles earlier; the cable was the real cause, this fixed it.
i brought a new cable and then my monitor started to form a ghost image what to do
Hi, Divyansh. You’ll need to either move the cable or move whatever is touching the cable (and causing the interference). Printers and second monitors are usual culprits. Good luck!
Thanks Mark, just spent 2 days doing all the ussual (complex) attempts to fix my ghosting problem. You led me to checking problems with the VGA cable and you were dead on. Got to love your KISS solution. Thanks again.
My ghosting problems on my Samsung LCD were caused by the ethernet cable. Unplugged it and the ghosting went away.
Thank you, Mark! I really hope that even though you posted this seven years ago, you still get notified when people post comments. In my case, the base of the monitor had a cable guide that brought the monitor cable and the electric cord together. I moved the monitor cable away from the electric cord and the problem was solved instantly! Thanks again.
Thanks, I just jiggled the monitor cord and it cleared up. I was afraid it was burned into my screen until I read your article.
Amazing, this has been bugging me for some time, I gave the moitor cable a wiggle and boom ghosting gone.
Thak you very much.
Thank you!! I had had this problem for some months and I thought I would have to buy a new monitor. Such a simple fix, just adjusted the cable a bit.
Wow. Just wow. Very thorough for such an easy fix. I moved my monitor cable a half inch and it was fixed, THANKS!!!!
You literally fixed my problem in less than 30 seconds! I am sooo grateful. Unfortunately, I no longer have any reason to procrastinate further and must now do my taxes using that same computer. Thank you so much for sharing this information!
Ditto – THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I was thinking it was my monitor, I just unplugged and it was fixed!!!
Thank you, a great easy fix
Thank you! My monitor cable was touching the docking station for my laptop. Problem solved!!
Excellent advice. It worked fine for me.I removed a spliterr cable which allowed me to connect my pc monitor and my lcd tv. the blurred image an ghost images dissapeared.
thank you very much.
Thank you! Thought I needed another screen!
My problem is solved thanks to you:) Cheers!
Thank youuuu!!!! π
so, tho i am happy that so many people have found this to work, for me, it does not, i have tried everything now (except new cable) tried moving everything around, no difference. unplugging-plugging. changing the ends of the cable (vga) basically everything that i have read, from anywhere,, and it makes no difference, im not sure about you guys, but on my screen, when i move my mouse/cursor. the lighting also changes a bit. i really do hope i don’t have to get a new screen. so my next try will be a new cable.
Thank you, sir. This worked for me as well! I had messed with my cable before, but that didn’t seem to help…today, just touched it and the monitor went back to normal. Probably still need a new cable (work computer…). Thanks again!
It’s stupidly simple in retrospect but THANK YOU.
Dude, i fucking love you.
I’ve been having an ongoing problem with the “Ghosting” of text, etc., to the right side of text, images, etc., on my wife’s desktop connected to a Dell monitor. I tried a new power cord, I tried swapping out monitors ( have a couple of “spares” and two large ones I use) to no avail. finally got under her kitchen desk area where there’s like NO ROOM (we also have our WiFi there) and started messing with the cable connecting her webcam to the computer. As i moved the cable around, I could see the “Ghosting” increasing / decreasing. I disconnected the webcam and the Ghosting is GONE!! Hopefully it will last; I’ll keep you posted, but I was ready to hit the ‘buy’ button on Amazon and try a new monitor
Hi Mark, just like to say thank you for the tip to get rid of ghosting on my monitor. Took just 10 seconds literally to tweak the cables then no more ghosting, brilliant! Thank you so much.
Simon.
Thank you! My relatively new ViewSonic monitor starting ghosting a couple weeks ago, and I thought is was on it’s way out just like it’s predecessor had gone a year or so before. But my wireless mouse/keyboard transmitter things were sitting on top of my monitor cable, and when I moved them off, the ghosts disappeared! I, too, probably trashed a perfectly good monitor last year because it was ghosting so badly.
Brilliant! Desktop speakers were too close to monitor cable….moved them a few cm’s away and hey presto, fixed.
Wow. I’ve been living with ghosting on my 2nd monitor for about a month now and it was just getting worse and worse. After reading this, I looked behind the monitor and literally just moved the cable. Voila! The ghosting went away. Thank you!
Thank you, thank you! Brand new computer with brand new monitor and I was having this problem. First time it showed up I honestly thought it was my eyes until I had hubby dearest take a look. This definitely worked, thanks!
Chock up one more THANK YOU! It was serious too, my monitor would not wake after sleep, just a bright white screen that might return if I switched it off and back on. I was suspecting that the monitor was dying. Just unbelievable that they’d make lines in 2016 susceptible to something as simple as inductive line interference and even then without cautioning users.
I can not believe that was it!!!! Thank you so much!
Worked like a charm! I switched my VGA cable with another, and bingo!!! π
duh. thanks for getting me past this mental block….
WOW!!! All I had to do was jiggle my monitor cable around a bit, and voila! Problem solved. Thank you so much for the simple and free fix!
Thank you so so much! I was so worried that my LCD might have gone bad π Thanks again!
Thanks so much, mate! I thought the after streak was some weird graphical effect of Windows 10, and I looked all around the web and tinkered with settings to get rid of it. Turns out I just had to unplug my monitor and back!
You just solved my eight year old problem!
I am thankful to you for sharing this tip.
Posted on November 14, 2016
HOW TO FIX LCD MONITOR GHOST IMAGES Mark this article totally helped me, thank-you so much, just moved monitor wire and viola all was well with my screen. Thank-you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well done Mark , cured the problem !
Hi, wow !! After trying boat loads of troubleshooting (un-installing/installing new/old, drivers, changing resolution, write combining, etc, etc) – for ages – in a vain attempt at trying to rid ghosting/shadows from my monitor – I happened to come across your post – so I read it & thought ‘Tried everything else – what harm could it do ?’ & proceeded to take your advice so unplugged the cable & untangled it from all the other spaghetti, cleaned the general area at back of my pc – then when I plugged it back in – Hey Presto !!! It’s fixed the problem completely !! I’m chuffed to bits & owe you a very big thank you sir – for your simple yet totally effective solution.. Nice one !! Cheery bye for now… Rx
Thank you. A solution so simple it makes me feel stupid for not having thought of it myself.
Wow… such a simple solution to a problem I was worried was going to cost hundreds of dollars to repair. You’re awesome.
Legendary that is brilliant you’re advice
Thank you so much! I actually bought a new monitor, then noticed the shadows still appeared. Frustrated, I searched again and found your post. Just moving the cable worked. But, I’ve been wanting a new monitor anyway so I’m going to keep it. Thanks for posting!
Most useful article ever. Yes, the internet still got it! kkkkk
Mark McElroy, new ‘techsupport’ hero.
Best blog post ever.
Unbelievably easy to resolve the problem! Thank you! Last time this happened, we bought a new monitor…and I was thinking I needed another new one or that I was doing something incredibly stupid somehow unknowingly and causing the problem myself. I guess I was doing just that – it’s all about placement. I just moved the screen a tad, moved the speakers etc., and voila! “Bob’s your Uncle” as we say in the UK. All done!
Thanks Mark! My monitor has gradually been getting more and more ghosted. Today was the last straw!
So I updated my Intel graphics driver, but the result was as bad as ever. So I disconnected my printer. The ghosting diminished, but still there.
Then re-plugged my Microsoft Cam, connecting into the USB slot I had used for the printer cable, and then plugged the printer cable into the USB slot where the cam had been connected. Bingo! No ghosts, blurs or smudges anywhere!
Let’s hope it lasts. At least I now know what was ‘causing’ the problem!
My screen hasn’t been this clear for YEARS!
Many, many thanks!
Gonna add my thanks to the long list of comments. Worked like a charm!
Mark,
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Thank you sooooo very much for willingly sharing this simple fix! I can’t believe it!!!! It is great to have my computer back in good shape!
Mine was the modem cable. Thx Man
here it is so many years later and I found this advice which has helped me tremendously. THANK YOU, thank you thank you. It was clear and precise and within just a few minutes of straightening the cables and moving things around on my desktop the shadows on my screen disappeared!!!
many many thanks.
OMB… just moved my cables around and it is like a NEW MONITOR. Was already shopping online for a replacement…
Just tightened my monitor cable..all good!! Thanks for the simple fix!!
Mark, You are the man! Thank you for such a simple fix to a problem that was really bugging me. When I read your solution, I thought no way it would work. I moved the cable and now my monitor is working fine. Thanks again.
Patrick
Wow! I almost went out and bought a whole new monitor! I just unplugged the monitor cable, plugged it back in and voila! Super simple fix! Thanks a million, Mark!
Perfect! I simply shifted the monitor cable leading into the monitor and bobs your uncle – Gone!
Thanks you.
Thank-you so much this was the easiest fix ever.
Something had fallen behind my Tower and must have been pressing against the monitor cable because soon as I moved it the ghost disappeared.
& here is an FYI magnets can cause ghost too,. it was the first thing I looked for to see if the desk magnet that hold paperclips wasn’t near my monitor..
It Worked, Just pull off and put in the cable again. Problem Gone.
Thank you. Can’t believe tightening the cables worked.
I also send thanks such a simple thing ,just moved cable and poof ghosting gone.
I can’t imagine how many (countless) people this article has helped!
I am sure there are far too many people who have come here and found their SOLUTION, and fail to leave a comment. I will not be one of those people!
I simply unplugged my cable and re-attached it, and TADA… Fixed!
Thank You!
Brand new monitor with ghosting issues right out of the box. I has used the old cable to hook up the new monitor. When I replaced it with the new cable that came with the monitor all is good.
Thanks
wtf
it’s like magic
Dude, 10/10 best post ever
Worked a treat for me, thanks for the recommendation. I could have lived with the ghosting which was mildly irritating but I sure appreciate it not being there any more.
This is a life saver….
I love you. I thought either my $1000 monitor was going or my $1000 GPU.
Thanks, my dude.
Thank you, thank you , thank you. I have been dealing with this by doing everything else. After reading your article, I just rearranged the cables and my ghosting problem was solved.
This was my exact problem! All I did was wiggle the video cables a little and push in the one that goes into the monitor.
Instant exorcism!
WOW! Magic. Moved the cable, images gone.
Thanks so much!!!
Holy cow, thanks for pointing me in the right direction! I have an old IBM model M keyboard which I love but for which I have to use a PS/2 to USB adapter. I bought three adapters from Amazon because they’re really cheap, but the one I’d been using for years seemed to be failing since I kept losing the typing function although the mouse still worked. I put in one of my other adapters which cured that problem, but your question whether I had added anything new plus one of the comments below about one user’s cable being too close to something else got me looking at the monitor cable, and I discovered I had slipped the monitor cable partly under the computer in the process of changing adapters. Once I slipped the cable out from under the computer, problem solved!
Well – done! My cable was a tiny bit loose – jiggled them and problem solved.
Monitor cable was near my power extension cord. Moving it helped. Thanks. π
Having the same problem, I tried replacing the monitor, only to have it do the same thing. I assumed it must be the graphics card. After searching online I came across this solution and it worked perfectly! Thank you so much for posting this! It saved me from spending money that would have been wasted only to find out it was the cable.
nice i thought my monitor going to be bad again.
wow, I checked everything!!then I hit on your article and abacadabra!!..there was a wad of paper stuck between the monitor cable and the wall!! fixed it immediately!! Thanx alot!!
Bingo! I found that it was all down to the plug not being fully home in the laptop vga socket.
Thank you! It solved my problem now. Ghost Image is very annoying.
It worked. THANKS!
I moved my monitor cord away from other cables and it worked perfectly – thanks.
Wow… the best fix I ever had. Recently I had moved my monitor forward to see it better and must have moved some cables. Pushing the monitor back the three inches must have separated the cables and the ghosting was gone. Thank you Mark.
I was just about to go and buy a new monitor but decided to Google my ghosting problem first… And there you were with a solution so simple I was kicking myself for not thinking of it.
Thank you Mark!
Mark,
I couldn’t believe that your monitor ghost image solution would work. I just adjusted my cables and they were gone. Thanks for the best, fastest and most effective solution ever!
Who is awesome? You’re awesome. 9 year old post and still making a difference. Thanks a heap!
THANK YOU, Merci, Mahalo, Grazie, Gracias, γγγγ¨γγγγγΎγγ. In any language … Thank you so much.
I don’t have $$ for a new monitor or a video card.
Thank you man such am easy fix but I get the feeling I would have been searching ages for a fix if not for this article
New gizmos every day, but the same old problems. Thanks man it worked just great!
Wow!!! This allowed me to operate in my most basic repair language (hitting things) and it worked immediately! Didn’t know my VGA cable was so anti-social.
Brilliant! Thank you for saving my sanity!
Same for streaking / bleeding to the right of icons, windows, text, etc. Took me a while to find that unplugging / reconnecting monitor cable works. Now, all I do is relocate (wiggle) the cable until the screen clears up. I can’t neatly tuck the cable out of sight with the others but one messy cable is a free fix for a screen that drives me crazy otherwise.
Just moved the cable and it’s fixed. Thanks man, I thought the monitor was toast!
Had ghosting on my Samsung PC screen. Tried many ways of fixing it and then tried unplugging the screen only. Plugged back in and all ghosting was gone. Simple as that!
Tony
Wow, thank you so much! All I did was wiggle my cable and it took care of it. This had been driving me crazy!
Thank you. I am so glad I found this. Still relevant and saved me the $ I may have spent on a new monitor
I changed the VGA cabel for HDMI and it worked
THANK YOU VERY MUCH !
This worked!! Thank you so much.
Hi. I had a newly developed image blur, skewed off to the right. It’s an old second-hand Dell monitor, so it was possible it was finally on the way out. But, I read your blog, checked the vga cable and repositioned a small USB hub (2 x wireless receivers and vape-pen battery on charge) that was encroaching on the video cable. Et voila, no screen image ghosting skew, just a bright sharp picture. So worthwhile hunting round for a solution. Thanks for your help – Rob
Oh my greatness, hahahaha I feel so stupid now… I’ve been dealing with this problem for ages… I literally just moved the monitor cable and presto! I feel like you’ve just asked me: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”… and that it was the problem! HAHAHAHA! So simple and you just saved me from a huge dent in my wallet. Thanx
Awesome! Thanks for the tip. A 9yr old post and it’s still helping people. Mine was because today for some reason I had the laptop power cable over the monitor cable, instead of the usual other way around.
Wow, it actually worked. Thank you for saving my eyes with such a simple tip! This post was written 10 years ago and is still helping people- well done my man!
Yes, yes, yes, worked. THANK YOU!
Well, thank you very much! That was my problem! Spent hours trying all sorts of fixes! Never thought of that one. Excellent!
Thanks so much – I was going nuts trying to align and register this monitor – it was going to be a goner. Thought I knew quite a bit about monitor problems having worked in tv/video post production for 40 years.You’re Awesome
God bless you π
You are great moved the cable ghost went away Thanks saved me from buying another computer monitor
Wow !! 10 years on and this article is still saving people’s sanity as well as their cash. In my case it was just a loose connection. Lucky I found this solution before I got too carried away with trying to fix a perfectly good monitor. Thanks Mark
THANKS a LOT β¦β¦ Save my day….. GREAT!!!!!
Good info to know! Thx!
Turns out, that I have none of these. Just the standard PC setup. I do, however, have a monitor extension cable, which happened to be the problem in my “ghosting.”
My monitor cable has 15 pins, my ext. cable only 14. So, i swapped it with a cable that has all 15 pins and the ghosts went away.
Thanks for that