Dell U2713HM buzzing noise

xy16644 · 28 Oct 2012 at 22:20

On Friday I took delivery of my Dell U2713HM monitor from OCUK. It was all going well until I noticed that when I have certain windows open the monitor makes a buzzing noise. I noticed someone else had this issue on the Dell forum but after they tried doing a factory reset etc there weren't anymore posts from Dell.

Is this normal for a monitor costing this much? I find it really annoying having to listen to this buzzing noise in the background. Its not constant either so the loudness of the buzzing changes depending on what windows I have open! Certain white backgrounds and a particular spreadsheet of mine make it buzz everytime. In the spreadsheet if I minimise it then the buzzing goes away...restore the windows (maximise) and the buzzing starts again! I tried connecting the monitors power plug into another socket on the wall and this made no difference. Before I had it plugged into a power strip.

Is the monitor faulty? Any ideas or help anyone can offer? This monitors fantastic but this buzzing noise is a pain!

I'm running Windows 7 Pro 64bit and I am using Displayport for the connection to the Intel HD 4000 graphics card on the PC.

mogwai · 29 Oct 2012 at 09:35

Are you able to test any other interfaces such as DVI?

My 6 year old Samsung buzzes if I am on web page that is predominately black.

If the different interface does not help you could return it under the 14 day guarantee and order another one.

Baddass · 29 Oct 2012 at 10:52

funnily enough i've noticed this on my U2713Hm this morning. again only does it on full screen spreadsheets and certain patterns. quite odd. not had time to experiement to see if there's a way to avoid it or a route cause

PCM2 · 29 Oct 2012 at 16:05

That is odd indeed. I've got one of these at work and I'll see if I can replicate it too and see if there are any triggers I can identify.

Castiel · 29 Oct 2012 at 16:39

I've got two of these and neither buzzes and I tested them on white and black background etc.....I use DVI-D into a GTX580.

Baddass · 29 Oct 2012 at 16:48

it has to have text in the spreadsheet as well and it seems only certain things trigger it. a full screen of text at 18pt (approx 55 lines) seems to also trigger it

Castiel · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:14

Baddass said:
it has to have text in the spreadsheet as well and it seems only certain things trigger it. a full screen of text at 18pt (approx 55 lines) seems to also trigger it

I tried various types of text, and variances in screen brightness, colour temp etc as pointed out in other forums and I have yet to hear any buzzing from either of my u2713s...

Diagro · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:34

my Hazro does this.

And according to hazro any sound less then 38 DB is legal and within specs on all LCD's

Baddass · 29 Oct 2012 at 18:38

Castiel said:
I tried various types of text, and variances in screen brightness, colour temp etc as pointed out in other forums and I have yet to hear any buzzing from either of my u2713s...

Drop me an email and I'll send you the sample PDF someone sent me to test out. Be interested to confirm its definitely not a feature of all samples or not

xy16644 · 29 Oct 2012 at 22:12

Thanks for all the replies!

I have not tried any other interfaces on the monitor yet. My motherboard only has HDMI and Displayport. I have only tried Displayport so far. I am trying to find an HDMI cable so that I can test this connection.

This evening I plugged my new computer and monitor into the new APC surge protector I bought to protect my equipment. This did not help with the buzzing noise.

Its such a shame as this monitor is mind blowingly good. I've never experienced image quality like this before.

I'm still not sure if I can tolerate the constant buzzing noise which varies depending on what I am viewing.

I did try doing a factory reset on the monitor but this made no difference at all.

The other strange thing is, when I turn the desktop on and I'm in the BIOS screen (or at the BIOS logo when the machine initially comes on) there is zero buzzing...but as soon as the Windows desktop appears the buzzing starts.

Also, when changing between a spreadsheet, email and some website the buzzing has varying degrees of "buzziness". Its so odd. I can't believe this is normal for such a high end (and expensive) monitor!

xy16644 · 29 Oct 2012 at 22:18

Could it be the Displayport cable itself that causes this buzzing noise? I did order a value OCUK cable with the monitor:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-071-OK

Diagro · 30 Oct 2012 at 00:04

Direct from hazro

The high pitch noise originates from the T-CON board and is common on 30" monitors (regardless of brand). LGs policy is if it is >38dB, it can be claimed for under warranty - but this is under normal use and not when an all white background is constantly used. No 2 panels are ever the same and in many studios where we have fitted +200 monitors, some buzz more than others. It is not a defect - more of a nuisance.

Castiel · 30 Oct 2012 at 00:46

Baddass said:
Drop me an email and I'll send you the sample PDF someone sent me to test out. Be interested to confirm its definitely not a feature of all samples or not

My email is in trust.

xy16644 · 30 Oct 2012 at 07:32

Diagro said:
Direct from hazro

The high pitch noise originates from the T-CON board and is common on 30" monitors (regardless of brand). LGs policy is if it is >38dB, it can be claimed for under warranty - but this is under normal use and not when an all white background is constantly used. No 2 panels are ever the same and in many studios where we have fitted +200 monitors, some buzz more than others. It is not a defect - more of a nuisance.

What is Dells policy regarding this? How does one know its louder than 38dB if you don't have sound measuring equipment?

sadbuttrue · 30 Oct 2012 at 09:23

I've had at least 5 Dell 2209wa monitors replaced simply by claiming the monitor buzzed loudly. In my experience 50% seemed to buzz. You will probably need to contact Dell directly tho as such a 'fault' may be looked upon differently by your retailer.

Diagro · 30 Oct 2012 at 10:44

xy16644 said:
What is Dells policy regarding this? How does one know its louder than 38dB if you don't have sound measuring equipment?

Its an LG policy. They make the LCD.

xy16644 · 30 Oct 2012 at 12:39

I tried this:

http://davidvielmetter.com/tricks/howto-stop-lcd-from-making-humming-noise/

and it made no difference whatsoever.

mogwai · 30 Oct 2012 at 13:06

I was reading about this issue yesterday and someone found that on their monitor mute did not work and turning the built in speakers down to 0 fixed the noise.

xy16644 · 30 Oct 2012 at 13:08

No speakers built into this monitor...

Turning up the brightness to 100% did nothing for the buzzing. Nor did reducung the gamma.

xy16644 · 30 Oct 2012 at 21:03

Hi All

Heres the latest I tried this evening:

1) I used the HDMI port on the monitor to my laptop. This still resulted in a buzzing noise when opening spreadsheets, browsing websites etc

2) I tried a different power cord to the monitor and plugged it into a different socket in the wall. This made no difference and the buzzing continued.

3) I tried changing the refresh rate from 59hz to 60hz. This also made no difference.

4) I also tried adjusting the brightness in the Intel drivers screen but this didn't help either.

I'm out of ideas now and will be contacting OCUK support to request a replacement (I've only had it since Friday last week). I can't believe this is normal for such a high end (and expensive) monitor to make such a buzzing noise of various loudness.

At work someone next to me has two Dell 24" monitors (not sure the exact model) and neither of them make this buzzing noise. I put my ear right up to each monitor and neither made the buzzing noise. I have a 20" Dell at work and it doesn't make any buzzing sound either.