Colour cycling / Dell monitor service menu (was: Feature request, but must be universallly accepted by ALL blanker authors)

[Adam Nielsen]

> It turns out that the color cycling screen was that old 17" 4x3 Dell lcd 
> monitors response to the synch drop that shuts most modern monitors off.

Someone has probably enabled burnin test mode on this monitor.  The
method to switch it on and off is pretty much the same on all Dell
monitors.

Switch the monitor off with the power button on the front panel, then
hold the 'menu' and '+' buttons at the same time while you press 'power'
to turn it on again.  Keep holding both 'menu' and '+' while the screen
is blank, letting go a few seconds later once the normal display
appears.  This brings the monitor up in service mode.

When in service mode (depending on model) you can press the '+' or '-'
buttons to bring up the service menu, or on older monitors you have to
go into the normal menu (which now displays some additional model and
firmware version numbers, confirming you're in service mode) and go to
the 'factory reset' option.  Normally the factory reset menu gives you
a submenu with yes/no options, but with service mode active you get a
third menu option that will take you to the service menu.

In the service menu, look for the option called 'Burnin mode' or
similar and switch it off.  This will cause the monitor to actually go
into powersaving mode when there is no signal, rather than go through
the colour cycling test mode you're seeing.

Once you've made your changes, exit the menu and switch the monitor off
and on again with the front panel power button to exit service mode.

Cheers,
Adam.