Intermittent static on external monitor with MacBook Pro

I have a MBP (mid-2009) and added an Acer external monitor last year. When I plug the monitor in or the computer wakes for sleep I often get this intermittent static; the monitor alternates between displaying correctly and displaying static. The period between static can change...one time when I plugin the external monitor it can be 20 seconds and the next time I plug it in it might be 2 seconds between static and regular display.
I can't imagine I'm the only one that has this issue. I've searched endlessly but haven't found anyone else with the same specific problem. Hopefully there's a solution.
Something that's extra quirky is that I run any number of programs on a daily basis including stock brokerage application(Java based), browsers, programming applications, etc. but none of them triggers this behavior EXCEPT iTunes. Not sure if that helps but maybe it does.
Any help is greatly appreciated. I figured I've wasted an hour or more of my life plugging and unplugging the monitor cable trying to get it to run without the static so it was time to ask for help!
Here's a link to a video...I figured this would make it easy to understand the issue. http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=11al7yv%3E&s=8#.U3bfpFhdVK4

Hello dscher,
The article linked below provides some useful troubleshooting steps that you may find helpful.
Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1573
Cheers,
Allen

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