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?
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
May 20th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
I have a 2647- 4EU IBM T22 Laptop .. I have used it for past three years … since about three months, the display becomes almost zero … if loked carfully, very faint image can only been seen on screen …. the display come back after I reparatedly connect and disconnect external monitor …. some times it takes many such attempts … external monitor alwayd shows image from laptop … any advice to repair this laptop willl be highly appreciated .. I wish to repair it myself… Thanks a lot
May 18th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
i like to say this is a very very helpful and informative website. thank you so much for some of the items here.
i have an ASUS W3V with ATi x600. just recently my TFT LCD would dim or faint out. 98% happens during the startup of games (warcraft and counter-strike). for every other tasks such as photoshop, web browsing, MS office, it would be perfectly normal.
when i alt-tab back to the desktop, re-plug AC power, or gentle tapping would get the LCD to come back. sometimes nothing works and i have to restart and it comes back to normal.
i downloaded all the latest driver and it kept me trouble free for a couple of days then the problem came back again.
there is no switch for the lid and its a hinge type. the LCD does turn off when the lid is almost shut (sensor inside hinge i believe). when i use an external monitor it works perfectly.
from your expertise, do you think this is the faulty inverter? hardware problem? or some software problem?
any imput would be highly appreciated, thank you everyone.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
hi i have a p35 satelliote and only half of my light works its only a faint light and it keeps makin werid beeps does that mean i have to get a FL? help me pls i couldnt use my computer fo 5 months
May 17th, 2006 at 2:36 am
PPS. the OSD does work for some functions except the the contrast and brightness and colour settings are all stuck at -1. Thanks
May 17th, 2006 at 2:34 am
Hi there all. I have a Philips 170s4fg/00h model LCD which suddenly stopped working. The backlight comes on just as normal when I turn on the PC but no display. The OSD works fine as well. I have looked at the controller board for signs of an issue but nothing burnt or blown up that I can see. Big ups for any suggestions.
May 16th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Hey Ed,
Before you start buying and replacing parts it would be a good idea to narrow down witch part is failing. You mentioned that the laptop repair center replaced at least the LCD screen, so let’s trust them and exclude the screen from the list of suspected parts. I have never seen that a bad FL inverter is causing the problem like yours. Usually, if the FL inverter works, you have the backlight and if it doesn’t work you do not have the backlight. So, we have 2 parts left – the system board and the video cable. Start the laptop with an external monitor connected and check the video. If you see the same vertical stripe on the external monitor, then the system board is bad and has to be replaced. If the external video is fine, then most likely the video cable is bad (replace the cable) or the video connector on the system board is bad (replace the motherboard).
I can look up for part numbers for you. Please give me the model number for your laptop. You’ll find it on the bottom of the laptop, it would be something like this: PSA70U-09700E.
May 16th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
CJ,
Could you get me the part numbers for the MoBo, VGA cable, inverter and LCD for a Satellite A75-S211? Any other suggestions would be great too!
Thanks,
Ed
May 16th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Anderson,
I have attempted to solve the problem, unsuccesfully. I have completely disassembled the laptop (I was also going in to clean the heatsink) and display assemblies, disconnecting and reconnecting all of the connectors. This has had no effect on the display issue. I guess my next move is to start ordering replacement parts. It seems that the problem could be anywhere in the video system, from the video card, to the cable, to the inverter or the LCD itself. If anyone has any other suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated.
May 16th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
I am having the same problem Ed did in 115. How did Ed solve the problem? My LCD in a Toshiba A75-S229 displays a magenta colored stripe near the right side in the display, during the BIOS system screen too.
May 14th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Hey, sorry but I have a problem similar toGuido R .Rolon as
my screen also has similar colored lines…What should I do? Will my acer warranty cover it?
I dun want to waste unnecessary cash as I need the laptop for my school work.
What is the problem actually?