Monitor in direct sunlight = potential problem?

JC · 27 Sep 2009 at 14:38

I've just moved into my new room at uni, due to the sloping roof over the desk I can only get enough space between the monitor and keyboard if I put the LCD in the recess where the window is.

Unfortunately I've just realised today that it gets the midday sun shining onto the back side of the monitor.

Is this likely to cause problems, can the monitor overheat and get damaged or should it be ok?

GregI · 27 Sep 2009 at 16:54

Always wanted to know that. Just to be safe i moved everything as mines was in the same situation. In your case i would suggest some blinds.

Rroff · 27 Sep 2009 at 17:17

There is the potential for heat damage...

Mate of mine bought 2 TFTs second hand and left them in his car for a couple hours in direct sunshine on a warm day and when he got back one of them had cracked.

kylew · 27 Sep 2009 at 17:20

Rroff said:
There is the potential for heat damage...

Mate of mine bought 2 TFTs second hand and left them in his car for a couple hours in direct sunshine on a warm day and when he got back one of them had cracked.

I'd expect that to have been because it was cooped up in a car for so long, stuff can get horribly hot when stuck in cars.

Burn to the touch hot sometimes, or at least feel like it

.

In a room with sun on it, I wouldn't expect the sun to be in the same position long enough to get close to causing damage.

Rroff · 27 Sep 2009 at 17:49

That or the journey could have contributed to it a lot... but none the less a monitor in direct sunshine for any more than a few minutes on a hot day could potentially expand enough from the heat to cause damage.

JonJ678 · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:13

How about a mirror on the back of the monitor? Possibly a daft solution, but a layer of plastic with a layer of foil to reflect sunlight back out the window could be the way to go here

kylew · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:08

JonJ678 said:
How about a mirror on the back of the monitor? Possibly a daft solution, but a layer of plastic with a layer of foil to reflect sunlight back out the window could be the way to go here

It's not stupid at all. I went to Madeira last year and loads of the cars had these foil panels that they'd put in the windows to keep their cars cool while they were not in use.

EsaT · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:10

kylew said:
In a room with sun on it, I wouldn't expect the sun to be in the same position long enough to get close to causing damage.

Just leave some darker object to table/at window when sun shines to it and it becomes quite hot quite fast.
And that's despite of glass actually filtering most of the heat radiation!

explicit4u · 27 Sep 2009 at 21:41

my TV gets a good few hours of direct sunlight and so far there is nothing wrong with it and its been there for over 3 years (sunlight over the front of the screen).

Neil King · 27 Sep 2009 at 22:14

I don't think there will be a problem this time of year as the sun is losing strength as we enter October but in say April to August you might have a problem.

BigRazer93 · 27 Sep 2009 at 23:53

i might sound like a spoon, but why not when gaming and that, get curtains and shut them?

Toastor · 28 Sep 2009 at 09:28

I'm in a similar situation, with my monitor positioned in front of the window. I've never experienced any problems caused by excessive heat, but I do find that when the sun is shining through brightly I need to squint to be able to focus on the screen, and that's far from ideal! Like Ben-Irvine93 said, the solution is a curtain!

Toastor

JC · 28 Sep 2009 at 19:30

Fortunately there are blinds which can prevent this but then my room would be dark 24/7. For at least some part of the day, whether in use or not, the monitor is going to be in direct sunlight.

I was thinking of getting something to use as a barrier, those car windscreen reflectors sound like a very good idea that I hadn't considered.