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 29th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Guys (Girls) I HAVE 7 V5000’s (C500,C300) Compaq presarios With same problem no video to LCD (shows very Dim) LCD’s I tested are Good. On External screen video ok but disporportional only displays correctly when fully booted i.e. in windows
What could possibly be wrong
September 27th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Ranz,
Run Windows update (custom). It’s possible you’ll fine the missing driver on the windows update page.
September 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
okay heres the problem when ever i insert my charger in my laptop the screen fliickers from light to dark every second, and my charger is new it may be the batteries. but when i look at the batterly.[on how many minites is left, and what power source its using] when it flickers dark it says its using battrys but when its light it says its charging. can you help me out on this
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:36 am
i have a Panasonic cf-l2 laptop, the problem is after reformatting all the support drivers are installed except the modem or the Simple Communication Controller which is dificult to find…and the other problem is the default mouse of the laptop wont work only the ps2 will work..pls help me where to find the modem driver of my laptop and how to remedy my default mouse which is not funtioning…
September 21st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Janet Davis,
I assume you purchased a LCD screen compatible with your laptop.
Is the image like that right from the start up? Even the Toshiba logo appears to be smaller than it should be?
Enter the BIOS setup menu and try setting BIOS defaults, there is a key for that F9 or F10 but I don’t remember exactly witch one. It will be mentioned in the BIOS setup menu.
Also, try updating the BIOS to the latest version. Sometimes Toshiba makes changes to the BIOS version in order to support some LCD screens.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Carolinaware,
The switch is magnetic, so there is no lid close button.
I don’t think so, at least I’ve never seen it myself.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Omar,
It will cost you a fortune to buy parts directly from HP. I believe they don’t sell LCD screens separately, you’ll have to buy the whole display assembly witch includes the LCD screen, video cable, inverter board, hinges, cover, etc…
September 21st, 2008 at 10:36 pm
shaolinprince,
I don’t think so but you can unplug the video cable from the motherboard and test the laptop with an external monitor. If the laptop still freezes, it’s not related to the display panel or connection between the cable and motherboard.
Unfortunately, I think there could be a problem with the video card witch is (most likely) integrated into the motherboard. So, it’s bad motherboard.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I just replaced the LCD screen on my toshiba satellite P205 S6237. It works when I turn it on…but the screen is 17″ and the display looks like it’s set for a 13″ . It looks like the old “vertical Hold” on our old tv’s. I’ve downloaded new drivers,personalization..resolution etc…but nothing seems to change this. Any suggestion?
September 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
How do I find the lid closed switch on my P205-S6267? I looked at the diagram and I don’t see a switch like that on my particular model. If it is magnetic, it is still possible that dirt would affect its performance in the same manner?