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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September 27th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Beth,
It’s possible in this model you have a magnetic lid close switch. A piece of magnet is located somewhere under the screen mask and the switch itself somewhere on the motherboard under the cover. When you close the display, the magnet activates the switch and the backlight turns off.
This type of switch cannot get dirty and get stuck inside the case. I don’t think they fail a lot, at lease I’ve never seen one.
So, if you having issues with video, I would check LCD, inverter and cable first.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I have a Gateway M210, and Im having trouble finding the lid switch. I havent removed the LCD, trying to avoid that. Noone can tell me where this switch is on my laptop. Any ideas anyone? Whoever gives me the answer gets 20% a piece of chainmaille, big or small!
September 20th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
I have got a Toshiba SP6100 laptop. I connected it to a external LCD TV ( TV with a PC-IN option ). I can see everything that I do on the laptop – on the screen.
Only the videos I play on the laptop ( MPG / wmv / avi files ) on various players like “windows media player / VLC player / etc – do not show on the screen.
What could be the problem ? help please
September 17th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
i have portege m100, not working properly screen is blank, if powr panel “on” indicator power (led) light green so… orange blinking,
proccessor fan is on, thank is advance
September 11th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Hi,
I have a compaq laptop. Everytime I turn on, it gets me to the re-booting part but does not go all the way through windows and then it shuts off. It does it over and over again.
September 10th, 2007 at 5:35 am
HI! I HAVE A 170S4FG/00 PHILIPS LCD MONITOR AND THERE IS NO PICTURE.ACTUALLY IT SAYS NO VIDEO INPUT.THE BACKLIGHT COMES ON JUST AS NORMAL WHEN I TURN ON THE PC, BUT NO DIPLAY.CAN ANYONE GIVE A CLUE IN WHAT IS GOING ON? THANKS IN ADVANCE
September 6th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Matt,
Is it Toshiba Qosmio G15 or F15? Did you purchase this laptop in the United States?
I believe one time Toshiba had a recall on these models and they were replacing motherboard even on out of warranty laptops (some kind of video card failure). I don’t know if this recall is over or not. If you have Qosmio G15 or F15 laptop, try calling Toshiba and ask them about any recalls. You might get a free repair.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Annie,
I think I know where the RTC battery is located in a Portege M100 notebook. Do you see the wireless card cover on the bottom of the laptop? Do you see another small cover located close to the Wi-Fi cover (on the right side from Toshiba sticker)? I think the RTC battery is located under the small cover.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Inan,
You can try reseating the video cable connection on the back of the laptop screen. Sometimes, when the video cable is not making a good connection with the screen, it might turn white.
September 6th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Sahil,
I think you might have a faulty memory module. Try reconnecting the memory, move it from on slot to another, replace with a known good memory stick.