monitor problem - flickering and un-sharpness

Hardware problem I think! A few weeks ago, my AOpen_17" CRT monitor started to flicker & intermittently the screen would become misty for a second or two, partially obscuring the graphics/characters on the screen.
More recently the mistyness has become brighter & lasts longer, for quite a few seconds or even minutes sometimes!
Of late the mistyness has become almost a permanent feature.
However, when I play for example Age of Empires for several hours, the screen does not flicker once & the game picture graphics are perfectly clear(no mist) throughout the game.
When I do anything else with Windows, the mist returns!
Is it the monitor that's packing up(about 2years old) if so wouldn't the screen flicker or become misty even if AoE's was being played?
There are then odd time when the screen becomes normal again for up to a minute.
I have heard that some LCD monitors are suitable for games such as AoE's etc, but have heard that a 'response-time' of 5 or less is necessary & that the 'back lighting' on these screens has a limited life - would be grateful for somebody's comments.
Don't want to buy another monitor unless I'm sure it is the monitor.
Am computer literate/non_scientific - advanced in certain aspects)
I run WinXpHome(SP2 & 3) & Everything is uptodate
Very many thanks

 

Welcome to Windows BBS Forums patustick​

Interesting situation. First guess is monitor, second guess is graphics card. The most rapid way to test hardware is to separate. If possible, could the following be done. Move problem monitor to a different computer. Move a different monitor to problem computer. Check / change signal cable for monitor and inspect port connections on both ends of connections. During these test please run LCD monitor in it's native setting. Unless problems become apparent immediately, monitors should be allowed to have a minimum of 10 minute warm up.