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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October 13th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Hi,
I have a notebook (FL90) which has the following problem:
In fact the image displayed on the screen is 6 times smaller than it should be and the lcd screen image is split in 6, so the enire lcd screen is filled with 6 times the same image ! (like you can see on those video walls).
thanks for your help to this strange problem !
October 13th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
lhexis,
Can you use the laptop with an external monitor attach? Check out external video. Does it look normal?
October 10th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
to mr laptop wizard,
i have a toshiba satellite l30 laptop..after i used it for some windows application, i shut it down then after 10 minutes i’ve opened it but…the screen appears at dim the resolution is to low..i tried to adjust the brightness but does’t work..
what shold i do??
pls send some clue or tips..
tenx..
lhexis269
October 8th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I have a HP DV1000 and the screen went dim. I took it to a repair shop and they told me I needed a new inverter and quoted me a ridiculous price. I bought an inverter online and replaced it myself and it was still dim. Thinking that it might be the backlight, I bought a new LCD screen and its still dim. So there was more than likely nothing wrong with previous LCD screen. I have no clue what could be the problem at this point. It connects fine with an external monitor. Do you have any idea what could be the problem and what should be my next steps at this point? I really need my laptop for school and as a poor law student I have no money to buy another laptop!
Thanks,
Keshia
October 8th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Hi cj2600
I have a Dell INSPIRON 6000 laptop. After I strike Ctrl+Alt+F1 the screen went black. It works with an external monitor. I can see the Windows XP image, but after the image the laptop screen went black. Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
Helen
October 5th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Laptopman,
1. Take apart the display panel, access the back side of the LCD screen and reconnect the cable.
2. Remove the keyboard, access the video cable and check the connection.
If it sounds too complicated, stop right now and take your laptop to a repair shop.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:00 am
“You can try to fix the problem by reseating the video cable on the back of the LCD and on the system board.”
Yeah, I know this, but HOW????
This “howto” is for idiots, I guess.
September 26th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
thx for the guide but ‘reseating the video cable on the back of the LCD and on the system board.’ how or where?
September 24th, 2009 at 6:48 am
the problem is on the lcd screen, try and fix it on a external monitor to see whether the problem is there or not.
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I HAVE A DELL INSPIRON 9300 AND I HAVE VERTICAL LINES ACROOS THE SCREEN.CAN U HELP ME TO FIX IT?.