Scratched glass on monitor

You can buy glass polish at any auto parts store, but it will only remove very superficial scratches. Anything deeper and you're screwed.

That could make things very much worse if, like many modern monitors, it has an anti glare/anti reflective coating.

Dave

True.

teemoh: The "short" answer is NO.

-- Best Regards, Daniel Sofie Electronics Supply & Repair

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And if it has an AR coating, it will make a real mess.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

But if it hasn't, and you're prepared to work at it, we used to get great results back in the 70's using jeweller's rouge. Another thought for a ' plain ' glass faceplate. How about those windscreen scratch / chip repair people that you see set up in supermarket carparks ? They use a glass-clear epoxy of some description to fill the defect. Guess it might work for a CRT faceplate blemish that wasn't too bad ??

Arfa

Arfa

Not so!

I've used products sold for repairing scratches on boat/motorcycle windshields for glass monitors. It actually fills the scratches, but you have to be careful to follow the instructions. I've used the same stuff to repair seriously scratched CD's with fairly good success. Regards Lee

The proper answer is NO.

There are some polishing compounds for glass. There are different ratings in these compounds to have the correct ones. They start with the more coarse and work to a finer one as the screen is polished.

The problem with the CRT glass, is that they are usually coated for anti-glare. Polishing it will remove the coating from its surface. This is going to make the surface look very bad.

There are some glass scratch filler kits available at some of the major auto parts suppliers. These kits are usually used to mask the scratches in the windscreens of the cars. I have no idea of how this will work for a TV monitor screen.

Since you have a CRT monitor, I am sure it has at least a few years on it. Maybe it would be a good time for you to invest in to a good LCD monitor. Once you start with a good quality one, you will never want to go back to a CRT.

Just don't scratch an LCD monitor screen. In this type, the complete screen would have to be replaced to fix the problem.

Not usually. Some are, most aren't. No NEC CRT models made in the last 5 years have an antiglare coating.

scraches can be danger, i scached an old BW tv years ago and some time in the night the tube imploded, glass everyware.

Not correct. My 2.5 year old FP2141SB has the G-WARAS (OptiClear) coating. NEC still uses their OptiClear treatment on new units:

OptiClear as defined by NEC:

Until you want to use your LCD monitor in any resolution other than its native mode or you want to achieve the best color reproduction (e.g., for WYSIWYG output). I've yet to see any LCD come close to a CRT's clarity at multiple resolutions. Pixel-addressed displays lose every time and probably always will in this regard.

Like a glass cutter, the damage from a scratch can affect glass deeper than the visible damage. Slight scratches are OK, but with deep gouges I'd discard the monitor after discharging the CRT.

CRT Monitors are ridiculously cheap these days so it isn't worth it to take chances with safety.

Dave

However, note that CRT implosion protection has improved dramatically since the early days of time bomb B/W TV tubes.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

True, but all things considered, a deep gouge on a crt is not worth either the slight increased risk of implosion or trying to correct it IMHO. Also, unlike TVs, people tend to sit very close to monitors, and even what could be classed as a relatively safe implosion on a TV could be disastrous on a monitor. A few years ago a 17" monitor for example would cost hundreds so polishing out scratches was sometimes worthwhile, now they're about 65 UKP.

Dave

Most modern computer monitors have a glued on anti-glare, anti-static plastic film layer right on the front of the glass. If the scratch went through the filma nd into the glass, replacing the crt is the only option. If the scratches are superficial and only in the anti-glare plastic layer, then the picture tube can be taken out of the cabinet, carefully peel off the antistatic layer and clean any tape residue off the glass, and reassemble.

Two things will happen when fixing it this way: 1. You will have to work to keep the dust off the screen every day as dust build up will be greater. 2. The image will be brighter and also will be more susceptible to room light glare. Gray scale may be off as it was adjusted with the light dimming properties of the anti-glare filter in place.

But it will be useable.

Maybe on your planet. Not here on Earth.

Yes, I have had to pull off the plastic film off the face of a large number of computer monitors crts in order to make them useable again in this way.

I am not sure what computer crt monitors you use, but every brand I have encountered has the antiglare layer right on the front glass. Even Sam Goldwasser pointed out that the polish would make a mess of this layer in an earlier post.