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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November 10th, 2006 at 2:11 am
cj2600 thanks for the advice mate. I will give that a go when i get back from work.
November 9th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
chuoc lam,
I think that you might have a loose video cable, probably it popped up from the connector when you dropped the laptop. The video cable has connectors on both ends. One end connects to the motherboard, you’ll have to remove the keyboard to access it. The second end connects to the back of the LCD screen, you’ll have to open the display assembly and reseat the cable. I don’t have a complete disassembly guide for this model, but if you go through other guides on my Toshiba laptop disassembly site, click here. You’ll understand how access the video cable. Take a look at Satellite P25 guide, it’ll show how to lift up the keyboard and take apart the display. I would try reseating the cable on the motherboard first, because it’s much easier to lift up the keyboard then open up the display. If it doesn’t help, the display assembly will be next.
November 9th, 2006 at 7:23 pm
I have a “Dell Inspiron 9300 Laptop” and the problem Im having is the screen is blank when booting Windows XP as well as when booting up the System but if I mess with the button which switches between external and internal display it works only when loading from outside of windows. The mean reason for the problem was because I bought a New TFT to plug into the external port. Then I installed the driver but for the wrong TFT which was the internal one and accidentally set the resolution higher then it supported and now it won’t reset back so Im unable to use the monitor but it is clearly lit. When I am able to get it to display stuff on screen out of windows the content showing is clearly visible, so if you could provide some incite as to fixing the problem it would be greatly appreciated.
November 9th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
hi mate i would be grateful if you could give me some guildence on how to go about fixing my laptop. i dropped it recently (only a light tap on the ground) and the screen now only lights up but no image. Connected the laptop to an external moniter and everything works fine. The internal screen has no cracks or visable damge. Its the toshiba sp10-304 any help would be much appreciated. thanks for your time.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:01 am
Thank you for hosting such a informative site. I had bought 2nd hand Panasonic CF-L2 laptop, which I accidently dropped, and since then there is only faint display. I taked it to repair guy and he told me the CCFT tube is broken and there is no spare parts available. As I went through ur website, there is no problem with LCD lid close switch. So, there must be problem with FL inverter. Please give me advise on how can I repair my laptop, or any other information, as I had spend a fortune on it.
November 7th, 2006 at 7:02 am
I had same prob as u are my lcd has faint lines thought the vga had a problem or probably had a hardware malfuntion so I did try to play wit it but cant find the prob however after about 2 weeks it just sort it out itself got me wondering whats the prob with it
November 7th, 2006 at 12:50 am
Woojie,
Can you bring the video to the internal screen if you press on Fn+F5 keys. Hold down Fn and at the same time press F5. This key combination helps to switch between internal and external screens.
Yeah, it could be a bad video card. The card is integrated into the system board and if it’s bad you’ll have to replace the board.
You might try to disconnect the LCD video cable from the motherboard and test the laptop with an external monitor. Can you make the letters to change color when you press on the top cover (when LCD is removed)?
Here’s Satellite A55 disassembly help.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:36 am
George Hamilton,
Can you make the backlight to fail if you tap on the inverter, not on the keyboard or the lower center of the screen?
It’s possible that the video cable connection to the motherboard is loose. I would try reseating the video cable on the motherboard before buying a new inverter.
Just recently I had a similar issue with Satellite P25.
Here’s the problem. The backlight goes off when you move the display. I opened up the display and found that the cables that go from the screen to the inverter board were jammed between the screen and the hinge. The shielding on one cable was cracked, exposing the wire. Then the screen moves, the wire touches the hinge shortening the inverter and the backlight goes off. The backlight comes back when you tap on the lid close switch.
I put some electrical tape over the cracked cable and the problem was fixed.
So, take a look on the cables inside the display assembly.
November 7th, 2006 at 12:05 am
Jaz Dean,
Yep, it could be a bad inverter board. Make sure that you still can see a faint image on the screen when the backlight is off. If you can, then most likely a new inverter will fix the backlight problem. Likely Dell inverters are not very expensive, you can find one for about $30. Here’s a service manual for your Dell, it’ll show how to access and replace the inverter board.
November 6th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
I have a toshiba satellite A-55. I have no video at all, (not even faint with a flashlight), but do have video on the external monitor. However, the letters on the external monitor change from red to blue to green when I tilt and put slight pressure on the laptop screen. Is this a bad video card? Also, is the video integrated on this model. Thanks for you help!