Ever wonder what that "degauss" button on your monitor does besides make a buzzing noise and cause the screen to go crazy for a second? Though that's its main purpose, the degauss button has another useful feature. To understand it, you'll need to know that the earth has natural magnetic fields. The magnetism from these fields can build up inside a monitor causing a loss of color accuracy. Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma. If your monitor doesn't have a degauss button, fear not. Many new monitors automatically degauss themselves.
DEGAUSS
Meaning of DEGAUSS in English
English glossary of computer and Internet terms. Английский глоссарий компьютерных и Интернет терминов. 2012