Notebook display assembly diagram. How an image appears on the screen.
Here is a simple diagram that will help you to understand how a notebook display assembly works and how an image appears on the screen. I’m not an artist and I tried my best drawing this diagram, so if you cannot see a laptop in this picture, don’t be mad. 
A generic display assembly includes a very few parts and knowing them will help you to understand witch part can cause a problem if you laptop video not working properly.
Video cable. A video signal from the motherboard goes to the LCD screen through the video cable. The video cable connects to the motherboard (or video card) through the connector 1. The video cable connects to the LCD screen through the connector 2. The video cable (in most cases) is also responsible for supplying a necessary voltage for the FL inverter board. The video cable connects to the FL inverter board at the point 3.
FL inverter board. This board is responsible for converting low voltage DC power (point 3) to high voltage AC (point 4), necessary to light up the backlight bulb. If the FL inverter board is bad, the LCD screen (backlight bulb) will not light up when you turn on the laptop, but you still should be able to see a very dim image on the screen.
Looking for a new screen, video cable or inverter board? Find it here.
CCFL (backlight bulb). When the backlight bulb lights up, you can see an images on the LCD screen. In most cases the backlight bulb is a part of the LCD screen and if it’s bad, the entire screen has to be replaced. By the way, some specialized repair shops can replace the backlight bulb itself.
Lid close switch. The lid close switch is a small button that locates close to the display hinges. On some newer models there is no button, because the switch is magnetic. You can set up your laptop to go to a hibernation mode or to a standby mode when the LCD is closed. It’s done through power management software. These modes are triggered when the display is closed and the lid close switch is pressed down. If the LCD screen on your laptop will not light up when you open the display assembly, check the lid close switch is stuck inside (it might happen because the switch is dirty).
Related articles:
Troubleshooting and fixing notebook video problems
How I took apart and repaired my notebook LCD screen with water damage - removing the LCD and taking it apart
Screen inverter replacement. Fixing laptop backlight problem. - replacing inverter board in an IBM ThinkPad laptop
Laptop has bad video on the screen. What is wrong?
Entry Filed under: Laptop Tips and Tricks
221 Responses to “Notebook display assembly diagram. How an image appears on the screen.”
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Pages: « 23 … 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 [1] Show All
July 26th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Ngbede,
First of all, try to reload the video driver.
You can try to fix the lines on the screen by reseating the video cable on the system board (or video card). It’s connector #1 on the diagram above. I think you might have a bad video cable problem because the lines are changing the size. When you have vertical lines because of a bad LCD screen, they usually stay the same size all the time. Have you tried to connect an external monitor? Does it work fine?
July 26th, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Liza,
Before you replace parts, start the laptop with an external monitor attached. If you get a video output on the external monitor, then most likely the system board is good and you have a problem somewhere inside the display assembly. If not, then you might have a problem with the system board.
I think it could be a bad video cable. I would try to replace it first. You have a good chance to fix the problem and the video cable is not as expensive as a new screen. If it doesn’t help, then you might have a problem with the screen (very expensive repair).
July 26th, 2006 at 3:59 am
Men! thanks for such a powerful website. i got a dell inspiron 9300 with dispay problems, there are some vertical lines of varring coluors on the screen the problem has been on for about a month now it the lines are increasing periodically, also now the screen size has reduced from the original 17inches to about 15 inches how can i fix it?
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Last week, my IBM T30 LCD screen needed a wiggle to display an image. This week, display is completely gone. the LCD is always lit but no image. All connectors on your diagram (1-4) has been reseated but no improvement. Any idea? Thanks.
July 18th, 2006 at 11:14 am
That adhesive around the LCD frame is so strong it’s difficult to tell if you’ve missed a screw removal or what. Everything went well, although I think I busted 2-3 of the assembly catches/snaps too. My connector behind the LCD panel wasn’t really disconnected. But it wasn’t totally in place either. I disconnected nearly all the way and reseated it. AOK after that. Amazing!!! The owner is with the State Dept and rebound for Iraq. This PC goes thru some real hard knocks. I told her that this will fix it forever or for this week. We’ll see.
Again, thank you very much for your input and tips.
July 11th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
Hey… very cool article, and excellent site! I am totally adding your feed into my google! Very cool site!!!
July 11th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
[…] This little button is the lid close switch and when you press on the switch it cuts off the power from the FL inverter board. After you depress the switch, the FL inverter board gets power again and it light up the backlight bulb in the screen. Here is a generic laptop display diagram. I think that you are having a problem with the FL inverter board. This board fails often and usually when it fails, it behaves exactly as you described above. Even though you have no backlight, you still have to be able to see some data on the screen. It would be a regular image but very dim. For more troubleshooting steps check out my post about laptop video problems. Posted by Laptop Freak on July 11th, 2006 Filed in Video Problems […]
July 9th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Hey Bobb,
OK, I removed 5 screws under the rubber plugs first. After that I believe, I removed 2 screws on each display assembly side, you’ll find these screws under black seals. I don’t know if it’s necessary to remove screws on sides at this point, but I think it’ll make the entire display assembly looser. The worst part is that the LCD mask is glued to the screen. I was using a guitar pick. You place it between the mask and the screen and carefully move alone the side, separating the mask from the screen. Separate the mask on the bottom of the screen first (the closest side to the keyboard). Then you separate the mask from the screen on sides. Be careful, there are 3 plastic latches on each side of the LCD mask. I broke only 2 of them. 
Finally, finish up on the top. After the mask is removed, everything is easy.
I hate taking apart HP display assembly! It’s even worse then taking apart IBM display.
July 9th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
I can’t yet believe that I stumbled across your troubleshooting incident regarding the HP NX5000 shutting down 3 seconds into the power up. I am working on a customers notebook as we speak. I checked and swapped out everything else. When I got to the last component, the video signal interface to the sys board, I carefully removed it and immediately walked over to my bench. I connected an external display to the video port and Voila - the display works and the PC powers up normally.
I have just one question. I have removed the 5 screws under the rubber plugs on the display side of the LCD Assembly and removed it from the laptop base. What kind of technique or tools do I use to seperate the top cover and the screen’s plastic frame. Am I missing something else, or do you just need to muscle it a bit more. Did you wedge something flat/rigid between the 2 pieces and pop them apart or what? I really don’t want to buy a new LCD panel if I can get inside and correct the cable connection.
I realize that it’s still possible there is something else within the Assembly’s guts that may have gone south. However, this has gone exactly like you described so I’ll be looking for that loose plug.
Thanks for posting the article my friend. And thanks in advance for the pending help getting the LCD Assembly opened up.
Bobb
July 8th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
[…] Here’s a notebook display assembly diagram […]