How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
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:
How I took apart and repaired my notebook LCD screen with water damage
Screen inverter replacement. Fixing laptop backlight problem
Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?
Entry Filed under: Laptop Tips and Tricks
807 Responses to “How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems”
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Pages: « 81 … 16 15 14 13 12 [11] 10 9 8 7 6 … 1 » Show All
May 4th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Hi cj,
I’ve been looking over your site for a while now, seems like you might be the man to talk to. I have a Toshiba Satellite A75, and I have a similar problem to Guido from his posts in early April. I have a few thin vertical lines through my screen. When I press on the casing above the screen it goes away, but comes right back when I let go. Does that sound like maybe the casing is just loose somewhere? Maybe it’s possible for me to tight something instead of having to buy an entirely new screen? Not trying to spend hundreds of dollars if I don’t have to of course. Thanks a lot.
May 4th, 2006 at 5:34 am
Thanks for the advice - I bought a refurbished motherboard and hooked it up and that didn’t fix my lcd problem either. Still the same problem surely trying another motherboard I wouldn’t have the same issue if it was the motherboard. So I guess I will try to replace the cable first since I am sure it is less costly and then if that does not seem to help I will replace the lcd screen. I feel like I will have a new laptop by the time I get finished! Thanks!
May 4th, 2006 at 1:42 am
i have adell insperion i have a line across my screen that goes away briefly when i tap the sides or back of the screen can you give me a clue as to what to do next thank you
May 4th, 2006 at 1:25 am
Hello all
I wonder could anyone help with this problem. I have a Compaq Presario laptop - the monitor display blanks out as soon as the screen goes above a 60 degree angle, the screen is perfectly clear until then. The laptop stays switched on.
Thanks.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:43 pm
Heather,
If I would get a laptop like yours for repair I would suspect the FL inverter board first. OK, you have replaced it and it didn’t help. There are 2 more parts in the display assembly – the LCD screen and the video cable. There is only one way to test witch one is failing – to replace them one by one.
By the way, a faint image on the LCD screen might be caused by a failed motherboard. It is not very common problem, but I have seen it before.
Most likely, technicians in the repair shop already tried to install a test LCD screen and video cable, that’s what I would do first.
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Hey Justin,
I think you have a bad LCD screen and replacing the video cable will not help.
May 3rd, 2006 at 9:59 am
Hello,
I have read all of the entries in this section regarding LCD problems and I am currently having a problem with my Toshiba Satellite 3000 series laptop. The lcd screen is almost black but you can faintly see the display. When I hook it up to an external monitor it looks great and super clear. I replaced the inverter thinking that might be it but with no luck. I am assuming that the only things left to check would be the lcd cable, lcd screen itself or the button to the top left could be stuck causing the backlight to not display. I took this laptop to a laptop repair shop and they previously told me that it was a mother board issue which would have been too costly for me to fix. I am assuming that was not correct since I have no problems seeing the display on an external monitor. Please let me know if you think that it could possibly be anything else. i would rather not trash my laptop since it works great except for the lcd screen. Thanks!
May 3rd, 2006 at 8:43 am
I got a satellite a75-s209 dim video on lcd. Yet external gets awesome video. No backlight activity when pressing the suspend swith on board. need some advise.
May 3rd, 2006 at 1:54 am
hi people….having troubles with my satellite A70 screen….it works perfectly on an external monitor…but on its own..the bottom 2-3 inches of the screen are solid vertical bars (resembling the colors present above them)….i have dismantled the laptop and checked all connections, including grounds…..any help would be great….TY
April 30th, 2006 at 9:04 am
Ibn,
I think this small green speck is the LCD screen defect. I’ve never heard that a bad video cable or a bad inverter can cause this problem. The only way to fix it is to replace the LCD screen.
Or to set a green background as a wallpaper.