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?
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March 28th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Hey Carline,
Connect the laptop to an external monitor. If you see the same pattern of bad lines, the system board or the video card is bad. If the external video is fine, I would suspect the LCD screen.
March 28th, 2006 at 8:43 am
HI
How to check if the inventer is still good or need to replace?
Jeff
March 28th, 2006 at 8:38 am
I have a Toshiba A70 and few days back when I start up, I got a black or sometime a flash screen. I try to connect my laptop to a monitor and it’s work fine. I check all cable and all seem to be ok.
Could some help me to solve this problem.
Thanking you
Jeff
March 28th, 2006 at 8:09 am
Nice site!
I have a laptop here in repair, and I think the videocard is broken(it’s a seperate geforce 5700 go). The laptop displays strange white dots all over the display when booting(on both the screen, and the external video connector), and I don’t think it passes the videobios(on boot). Any tips? I’m thinking of ordering a new videocard for this laptop, do you think this is wise? The laptop is a Acer aspire 1510 series.
Thanks in advance Jules
March 28th, 2006 at 7:56 am
I have a Dell Latitude CPX600 & I see individual pixels sometimes on the screen.A I shut down the sysytem, rows of pacman like characters appear. Upon re-boot, those packman like charactors get super small and appear in several rows when Windows 2000 is booting.
Then the screen goes back to one line of pixels and then to seveveral lines of pixels in any new windoe that opens. And then that whole thing will stop if the system is rebooted (again).
March 27th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Hey Dustin,
To me your problem doesn’t look like an overheating issue at all. Most likely it is just a failing FL inverter board. Usually you can get the backlight back for a while when you tap a few times on the lid close switch. You can find the switch close to the left LCD hinge. Make sure that the lid close switch is clean. Sometimes it might get stuck, causing the backlight to turn off.
One thing concerns me. You mentioned that you noticed a slight pinkish hue on the screen. It might indicate a problem with the LCD screen. Try to connect your laptop to an external monitor. If you see the same pinkish hue, most likely you have a problem with the video card (it is a separate board in this model). If the external video is fine, then I would suspect the LCD or the video cable connection. In some cases the LCD screen still would be usable because after it warms up the pinkish hue can go away.
By the way, a few days ago I created a guide for taking apart Toshiba Satellite 1200 laptop and opened a discussion for this particular model on my blog.
March 27th, 2006 at 6:34 am
Hi cj600..
I have checked the AC adapter and have tried using another AC adapter result is the same….
Yes maybe your right I also think that its the board.. Do you know anybody here that might have a copy of a service manual of Mitsubishi Apricot AL?
March 27th, 2006 at 4:29 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite 1200. Yesterday, with no prior problems, the display went black. My research landed me here. Thanks to your guides I was able to, maybe a little over cautiously, (or fearfully) reseat the inverter connections. Thank you very much for sharing you wealth of knowledge.
After reassembling the display, I was delighted to find that everything booted normal once again. Sadly, I watched as my efforts vanished into a sea of darkness just after windows explorer started.
It seems that the longer I wait between tests the longer I have a display. I can still , with a lot of effort, see the faint display in the blackness. If anything when the backlight is on I notice a slight pinkish hue on the darker transition screens.
Before I order an inverter I want to be sure that the problem is not some sort of overheating issue or safety shut off for the backlight. I’m probably reading too much into the whole thing. Any insight (or reassurance
you might offer would be greatly appreciated.
Great site….thanks for helping out
March 27th, 2006 at 12:20 am
If you have no internal and external video, most likely it is not the LCD problem. I would check the AC adapter first. Also I would check the memory module. If you cannot boot your laptop with a known good AC adapter and memory, then it is possible that the system board or the video card (not sure if it’s a separate board in your laptop) is bad.
March 27th, 2006 at 12:03 am
Hi…
Im trying to repair an Mitsubishi Apricot.. It does not give any display. Tried to reseat the connector but nothin happende, also tried to connect an external monitor the same thing no display…
Is this an indicative of a bad onboard display or motherboard?