screen has black ribbon across the top

[AdamSpencer95]

I was converting video files then the screen went off and came back on. Didnt notice any changes until on fullscreen when i realised that the top of the desktop is now cut off and a black ribbon horizontally across the screen obscures it. The resolution has not been altered, i have checked the cable is correctly in the monitor and my video card and everything seems fine.
The monitor in question is a HP L1908w monitor connected to my ASUS GT440 DDR5 1gb edition (relatively new). Anyone got any ideas as to whats happened?
It has a native resolution of 1440x900 which it has been at since i got it. The ribbon disappears at 1280x1024 for some strange reason. I've tried re-installing drivers, going on graphics settings etc.. can anybody help me?

 

[dingo07]

sounds like a hardware issue - try putting the card in another machine and test at the native res

 

[AdamSpencer95]

unfortunately this is the only pc i have; i only have a laptop and pc so cant test it elsewhere. what is likely to be the main issue? the actual card itself or the pci slot or some other element of the motherboard?

 

[dingo07]

I suspect the card itself - if at only one resolution you get the black bar, process of elimination says, try another video card to test the monitor, or test both on another computer

you can test your monitor at that resolution from your laptop, if your laptop supports 1440x900 of course

 

[AdamSpencer95]

i didnt think of that! almost forgot i can plug a monitor into my laptop.
yes my laptop supported the 1440x900 and again, the black bar across the top of the screen was still there. this at least lets me rule out the video card as the source of the problem. Why is the monitor doing this then? There is no black bar at some lower resolutions and that portion of the display still works okay, the pixels are alive at least.