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 23rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Hi:
I have a Dell Latitude D610 with a completely dark LCD display, but the laptop still works via the external VGA port.
I have reviewed your posts, but do not believe my problem is a bad inverter board, switch or backlight. In my case, when I go to the setup screen immediately after powering on the laptop, I look at the system settings and the setup is telling me that I have an unknown display type, with a resolution of 000 x 000. Based on this information, I don’t believe my problem is the inverter board, backlight, or video card.
Have you ever seen this condition and if so, which failed component would yield such a symptom?
Thank you.
Best Regards,
Tony
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Josh,
Have you tried installing the original inverter back in place? Can you boot with the original inverter in place?
Check cable connections on both ends of the inverter board.
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I have an IBM Thinkpad T40 which will not boot for the LCD but boots and runs just fine to an external display. Originally, it appeared to be a backlight problem as mentioned above. I tried everything including swapping the inverter board. Now the laptop won’t boot or even POST unless an external display is connected to bypass the LCD. Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated!
September 20th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Richard,
Test your laptop with an external monitor. Connect monitor to the VGA port on the laptop and turn it on. If you get same garbled video on the external monitor, you have a failed video card.
If the video card is a discrete module, you’ll have to replace it.
If the video card is integrated into the motherboard, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
September 20th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Tricia,
I already answered your question in another thread.
I don’t think that your problem is related to the LCD screen.
It’s possible that your AC adapter died while the laptop was running and it shut off because of that.
First of all, I would test the laptop with another working AC adapter.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I need help on mine please, when i hit the power button the lights flash then it powers down, it wont turn on, i had it up and running then it just shuts off now i cant get it back on, I have a Dell 8600. Is it the screen? what do i do. someone help
September 18th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Hello! I have the same problem as the picture in “The video on the LCD screen is garbled”. This happens everytime (1) the laptop loads windows (sometimes) (2) the computer has load and i unplug the ac adapter. but today i cant get to load windows anymore, the garbled screen happens right after you see the windows logo. i can only get it to boot to safe mode, nothing else. is the laptop (toshiba satellite pro m200) useless now? THANKS!!!
September 11th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I have a new notebook HP Pavilion dv5-1020er. When i reload, shutdown or ON him on the only black screen I see a horizontal line. 2 milimetrs. In BIOS and Windows all correct. When i OFF notebook i see her 10-12 seconds. When reload – 5-7 seconds. When ON notebook – 1 seconds. In windows when i choose SLEEP i see her too on 5-7 seconds. What is this? Issue? Sorry for English, i am from Russia
September 9th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Hi! What a great website – I have a problem with my Acer Travelmate 7720g Notebook.
There is no backlight on the screen but the windows page is showing in the background. I have connected an external monitor and it works fine with the notebook.
I also have an Acer Extensa 5220 which is of the same design as the Travelmate. I swapped the invertor and screen from the broken Travelmate along with the LCD cable and it worked fine in the Extensa. I also tried the Extensa invertor and screen and LCD cable in the Travelmate and the screen still didn’t light up…
What could be the problem – The switch for the lid switches off the external display so I assume it is working fine…
Why would the Travelmate not light up the LCD?
Thankyou for any help!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:06 am
I’ve got a Dell m90 that the video stopped working on. Connecting to an external monitor worked fine. The LCD would boot up black, then get some juice to it then did this brightness thing from one corner to the other, then went almost black, lit – no data – with a grid like pattern. I replaced the LCD and now the boot up looks kind of normal – steadily lit – but still no data. I’m certain the LCD is good, I’m assuming the inverter is ok since I’m getting very steady lighting. At this point, might I be looking at a bad cable or board connection? Can I rule out the GPU if the external monitor is working? Thanks!