What does degaussing actually do?
By maezee
@maezee (41997)
United States
August 22, 2011 5:25pm CST
You know the button you push on your monitor and then the screen goes all wonky and then comes back? Well I was messing around with buttons on my old computer and that one, I guess, is called "degaussing".
What does this actually do? I mean, what is the benefit in this? Come on techies, help me out here! Do you use this a lot?
3 responses
@petersum (4522)
• United States
22 Aug 11
The idea behind this is that charged particles may remain in random places on your screen, causing magnetic fields. These could distort the cathode ray beams, causing the wrong colors to be seen in places.
I never used it, and I have never seen the effects that it was supposed to cause.
TV's had it too, but it only worked on switch-on. There wasn't a button for it.
The new flat screen monitors don't have or need it!
@Strovek (868)
• Malaysia
23 Aug 11
Typically after a monitor is used for a while, it tends to develop discoloring on the edges. This is usually due to imbalance of magnetic field near your monitor.
You can do an experiment by placing a magnet near one of the sides of the monitor.
Degaussing is a way to fix the discoloration on the monitor. I am not sure if the newer LCDs still require that. It may or may not.
I hope this answers your question.
@kaylachan (57669)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
22 Aug 11
I don't really have a computer monitor like that. I have the buttons though. Nearest I can tell it adjusts the resulition in some way and refreshes the screen. It's a fuction I don't normally use, but then again I have no real need to. I have my monitor set just the way I like it.
