Here are some tips and tricks for troubleshooting and fixing laptop video problems. Video issues are very common within portable computers and with the following tips you should be able to detect and eliminate basic laptop video problems.
Laptop LCD screen has a faint image.
Look at the LCD screen very closely and check if you can see a faint image on the screen. It’s possible that the LCD lid close switch stuck in the “closed” position and the backlight stays off even when you open the LCD screen or turn on the laptop. The switch turns off the backlight when you close the LCD display to save the laptop battery power. Check the LCD lid close switch. Usually it is a small plastic pin located close to the LCD hinges. Try to tap on the switch a few times to turn on the backlight. If after tapping on the LCD lid close switch the backlight stays on, you fixed the problem.
It is also possible that after tapping on the LCD lid close switch the backlight works fine, you see a normal video on the screen for some time and then the backlight turns itself off again. In this case I would blame the FL inverter board. Try to reseat cables on both end of the FL inverter to make a better contact between the cables and the FL inverter board. If it doesn’t help I would try to replace the FL inverter board.
Laptop LCD screen is solid white color.
Most likely it is just a bad connection between the LCD display and the system board. I would try reseating the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen first and check if it fixes the problem. After that I would try reseating the video cable connector on the system board. I would also try reseating cables if there is no video on the LCD screen at all.
The video on the LCD screen is garbled.
Try to connect the LCD screen to an external monitor. If the external video is fine, you have a problem with the LCD screen or the LCD video cable. You can try to fix the problem by reseating the video cable on the back of the LCD and on the system board.
If you see the same garbled video output on the external monitor most likely it is not the LCD screen problem. In this case the system board (with onboard video) is bad or the video card is bad.
I understand that these tips will not cover all video problems with portable computers. If you have a different problem, you are welcome to leave a comment and I will try to help you if I can. 
Are you looking for a new LCD screen for you laptop? Try searching here.
Here’s a notebook display assembly diagram and tips for finding spare notebook parts.
Related articles:
Fixing notebook LCD screen with water damage.
Screen inverter replacement. Fixing laptop backlight problem
Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?
Laptop screen shows strange colors. What could be wrong?
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February 3rd, 2012 at 5:32 pm
@ deb down,
Sounds like motherboard failure. Just in case try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each memory module separately. I don’t think this is memory related problem, but try just in case.
Also, you can try disconnecting the video cable from the LCD screen and test your laptop with an external monitor. Can you get external image when laptop screen disconnected?
February 2nd, 2012 at 1:06 pm
@ Sarah,
It looks like you might have two different problems:
1. Probably the screen goes black because the backlight turns off. This could be related to the inverter failure or LCD backlight lamp failure.
2. Vertical colored lines could be related to the LCD screen failure, video cable failure or even motherboard failure.
There is no simple answer. It’s impossible to tell what is failing without testing the laptop with spare parts.
At least, you can test the laptop with an external monitor. If external image appears to be fine and has no lines, most likely this is not the motherboard issue.
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:42 am
my laptop powers on… I can hear the fan. Black screen with quick flashing horizontal lines. sometimes like greenish psychadelic color and then flashes a bunch of white lines again then powers off.
what is happening?
January 31st, 2012 at 7:56 am
Wow, I am so glad I found your website!
My laptop screen is currently not working – yet when I first turn it on, I can see the logo and sometimes the Windows login screen. Sometimes I can even go as far as logging in, but after a minute or two, the screen goes black. There are also vertical coloured lines in small patches of the screen.
Do you think I need to replace the screen, or the invertor, or something else?
Thank you for your advice!
January 20th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
@ jb,
Test your laptop with an external monitor. What happens with the image on the external monitor when internal screen fails?
January 17th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
@Junior
i don’t think you have a back light problem…
you should see something…
most likely is your video chip problem … because of the heat the links between it and the board are cracking
it can be repaired but it isn’t done at home
i suggest you a service
January 15th, 2012 at 1:22 am
i had a problem with my toshiba satellite L300, it suddenly shuts down and displays turns to white or blue and freezes,
i’ve already tried to change the operating system,but even during the installation the problem still occurs.,
what do you suggest to do with this?
January 12th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
My laptop works, I can hear it booting. but the screen won’t show up(white to black). I try to connect it with an external monitor using the vga, yet nothing happened. please help me find a solution to solve this problem. I think it is the backlight or the inverter, but i’m hoping it’s not. thanks
January 11th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
@ Paul,
If the motherboard connector is damaged there is not much you can do. I don’t think you can replace it at home.
Are you sure it’s missing a pin? Have you tested your laptop with an external monitor? Do you see the same garbled image on the external screen?
January 11th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
@ Kere,
Start your laptop in normal mode, connect and external monitor and switch video to output to the external monitor. Do you see the same garbled image on the external screen? If yes, most likely this is video card failure.
Most laptops have integrated video card – it’s built into the motherboard. If that’s the case, the video card cannot be removed and replaced.
By the way, what is your laptop model? Is it an HP laptop?
Some HP laptops have known problem with the video card.
Take a look at this post: http://www.laptoprepair101.com.....hics-chip/