7 Ways to Overcome Black Lines on the Monitor

A black line on the monitor usually indicates a disconnect between the panel and the control board. This can occur due to factors such as excess humidity, excessive use of chemical cleaners, or physical damage such as the monitor being dropped.

Apart from that, sometimes you may also see a black line on the monitor due to a problem with the graphics card. It’s usually not possible to solve the problem without performing any hardware repairs. However, for certain situations, you may still be able to repair the monitor yourself.

Check Display Cables and Ports

The first thing you should do whenever you see a black line on the monitor is to check the cable connections and make sure they are in working condition.

You can disconnect then reconnect the cable and check if this solves the problem. Also, if you have an extra display cable, you can also try using it to plug in a monitor and see if the line goes away.

If your monitor, graphics card, or motherboard has many of the same standard ports, try switching to a different port and see if that helps.

Check if Monitor or Graphics Card is Responsible

It is better to determine whether the problem lies with the monitor or graphics card before trying further repairs.

If you have another monitor, connect it to your PC and look for black lines. If only the original monitor shows error, it indicates some problem with the monitor. It could be dead or stuck pixels that appear as irregularly shaped lines, so try to address this before repairing the monitor.

Or, you can also connect the original monitor to another device such as another computer or TV. If the other monitor also shows lines when connecting it to your computer or the original monitor works fine with the other device, the problem is with your graphics card.

Update Graphics Drivers and BIOS

In rare cases, a conflict between the graphics driver and the operating system or BIOS can cause screen errors such as black lines. It occurs more as a flickering line. But in some cases you will get a line when running only certain apps.

You need to update the drivers as well as the BIOS to the latest versions to prevent all these problems.

To update the BIOS, you need to download the latest BIOS update from the motherboard website and then install it. You can also use the specific support application for your motherboard or laptop for this purpose.

Here’s a comprehensive article on how to safely update BIOS.

To update the graphics card driver, follow these steps.

Go to your GPU official driver download page—amd, NVIDIAor Intel. Look for your graphics GPU model (NVIDIA in my case) on the page. Download driver files. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions. Try updating the drivers for your integrated and dedicated graphics if you have any.

Use a Dead Pixel Repair Program

If you have an irregularly shaped line, it most likely represents a dead pixel. It is possible to fix some dead pixels for certain monitors by using a program that cycles through the pixels on the screen with a high frequency. Don’t forget to read user reviews on the internet before using the program.

It won’t work for all types of monitors but you can still try it as it doesn’t carry any risk. You may need to leave it for a few hours. However, if you have an OLED monitor, don’t leave it on for too long as it may cause ghosting.

Change Resolution and Refresh Rate

If the black line only appears occasionally, it could also be because the monitor is not compatible with the current resolution and/or refresh rate.

So you can try changing the refresh rate and resolution and see if that helps. You should check the effect of different values ​​and combinations and choose the highest refresh rate and resolution at which lines do not occur.

To change Refresh Rate,

Open Windows settings by pressing Windows key + I. Open it System > Appearance > Advanced view. Use the drop-down box on the side Choose a refresh rate to change this setting. Back to Appearance. Set Display resolution under Scale & layout to your desired value.

Check Graphics Card

If you get so many black lines that you can’t see the screen at all, it’s usually the point for corrupted graphics card hardware. In such a case, if you connect other monitors to your PC, they will also show the same black line.

In such case, try to check if the graphics card is properly installed in the motherboard first.

Disconnect the power supply and all peripherals from the PC. Open the PC case side panel. Usually, you will need to unscrew the panel and slide it out. But some cases may also require additional methods, so I recommend checking the official source if you run into problems. Be sure not to touch the motherboard or any part of the circuitry without grounding yourself. Doing so may cause damage to the electronic components in the PC due to electrostatic discharge. Disconnect the power cable on the graphics card. Remove the card from the case. Open the latch on the PCIe slot and pull out the card while ensuring that you don’t touch any circuit elements with your bare hands. Reinsert it securely (try using a different PCIe slot if you have one) and secure it to the PC case. Reconnect the power cable and then assemble the PC.

If the monitor still shows black lines, the graphics card may be damaged. If you still have warranty, contact an authorized support center. If not, you may need to buy a new video card.

Repair or Replace Monitor/Video Card

If you have a problem with your monitor and the methods above did not solve the problem, the only option left is to repair the monitor.

You need to open the monitor and go into the panel and controllers inside to check and resolve any hardware issues with the device. I don’t recommend trying it unless you are very familiar with the process as lots of things can go wrong and you risk further damaging the monitor.

It is best to seek professional help for this purpose. If your monitor or laptop’s warranty is still valid and the line isn’t due to physical damage, you’ll need to take it to a support center for repair.

If fixing it is too expensive, because monitor parts are not available locally, it is better to get a new monitor.