A Monitor.. by any other name.... might work ?

Ok... I have tried everything I can think of and a few things others thought of and I cannot seem to get a handle on this problem nor can I find a solution out there in cyberspace!
What happens is, my computer boots just nice and my CPU tower hums along like a bird in a tree, but when I look at my monitor, I can see nothing but a dark screen, that sometimes turns a lovely shade of blue.. or green. I turn it off and on repeatedly but get no desktop, although I know its there somewhere in the depths of this monitor.
Now, the monitor ( a Philips 190S and at least 4 yrs old) sometimes lets me see my desktop as it stumbles into the screen with tremors like a drunken sailor.
So.. do I save myself a lot of headaches, and just get a nice NEW monitor, or is there nothing seriously wrong here and a simple solution is out there just waiting to be heard ?
It seems as though the Post is not getting a message or code to turn on the monitor even though its lit up and waiting and seems to "click" with no result.

I dont know if this is directly related, but my computer sometimes loses its time and date, and I have to reset it ...a lot.
The rest of my tirade will be with my software.
Anyone with solutions.. please please... get back to me
Regards, Ticker

 

Can you borrow a monitor from a friend and test that this is the problem and not the video card?