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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March 31st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Rick Lorey,
1. Most likely it’s a bad inverter board. I would try replacing the inverter first.
2. Less likely it’s a bad backlight lamp.
3. Unlikely but possible a problem with the motherboard.
Does this model have the lid close switch – a small button located close to one of the hinges? Try tapping on the switch. Make sure it’s not stuck inside the case. If the lid close switch is dirty, it might get stuck inside the case and the laptop “thinks” the lid is closed. Because of that the backlight is turned off.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:26 pm
John,
If your laptop displays inverter colors but external video works fine, most likely the laptop LCD screen is bad and has to be replaced.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
JORDAN,
Does it work with an external monitor attached to the VGA port.
1. Could be loose connection between the video cable and LCD screen. Try reseating the cable on both ends.
2. If reseating the cable doesn’t help, apparently the LCD screen was damaged. You’ll have to replace the screen.
March 28th, 2009 at 6:01 am
My toshiba a 100 fell of my bed now it has lines going everywhere looks like a abstract picture.Will not move of this screen.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:45 am
I recently got a laptop working that would not even start and i tested it on an external monitor and all was perfect but when i used the laptop screen all the colours were inverted. Any ideas how to fix this? I tried using power strip to invert the colours but no good. Any help would be greatly appreciated
March 11th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I’ve got a video problem…here goes…I have a hp ze 2000, it works ok but the screen is entirely black. when i look real close i can see that windows boots up, etc., but the screen is black. I plugged in an external monitor and that works just fine…so is this the backlight on the lcd??? please help, thanks for your assistance.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I have a Dell C600 laptop and just recently after turning it on the screen start jiggling violently. Icons, any program you get into. It make my eyes hurt just to look at it. I have no clue as to what to even try. It allows me to go online. I will let me open up programs. Everything else seems to be working but the screen is unbearable to look at. I need help “ASAP” I have a love of sewing and have programs on here that I use all the time and now am stuck.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Jason Webb,
I assume video on the external monitor appears to be fine?
Nope, it’s not related to the inverter or backlight lamp. You still can see the image and it’s bright, it means that inverter/backlight work fine.
Your description sounds like a problem with the LCD screen.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Michael Casey,
I think you can do that but I’m not sure 100%. I searched through the service manual and they didn’t mention models 2652 or 2897. If both LCD screens have the same size, most likely you can swap them. If it doesn’t work, probably you can try swapping the video cable too.
Here’s a link for the service manual. It will help you with the laptop disassembly.
March 8th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Hello,
I have a Dell Inspiron 6000. The bottom 3 inches of the LCD is speckled light blue with yellow and black vertical lines. Above this 3 inches, the screen appears fine. Any ideas whether this would be the inverter, screen, backlight, or a combination of these? Any assistance you could provide would be appreciated. Any way I can send you a picture of this issue?
Thanks,
Jason