Here I’m going to post some laptop screen photos showing bad video output. I’ll explain what was wrong with the screen and how I fixed it. I plan to ad more examples as soon as I get new pictures. If you have your own example (and know how to fix it) please let me know and I’ll post it too.
Here’s some help for finding a correct part for your laptop.
Other post related to troubleshooting laptop video problems:
How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
Taking apart notebook LCD screen
Replacing LCD screen inverter
The newly installed screen is not working
Example 1.
Here’s a picture of Satellite M55 LCD screen I made this morning. I got this video output as soon as I started the laptop. There were a lot of vertical lines, and they were changing color without any pattern. To me it looked like Northern Lights (never seen in real life) 
. The external monitor worked fine.
As soon as I applied some tension to the screen it changed the pattern. Some horizontal lines appeared in the middle of the LCD.
Here’s the difference. When I torque the screen, the image appears but it’s distorted with some horizontal lines running across the screen.
Reseating the video cable didn’t make any change and the problem was fixed after I replaced the LCD screen.
Example 2.
I took this picture from Toshiba Satellite M65. I think that this example is very typical. One day you wake up, turn on the laptop and see one or a few hair-like vertical lines in different colors.
When you move the LCD screen some lines might disappear or more lines appear on the screen. A video output on an external screen would be perfect, without any lines. Unfortunately, these lines indicate a screen problem. I’ve never seen this kind of video output caused by a bad video cable or bad FL inverter board. My laptop was fixed after I replaced the LCD screen.
Example 3.
The photo below comes from Toshiba Satellite 5205. The laptop displays identical vertical lines all over the LCD screen as soon as I turn it on. Sometimes these lines are red, sometimes they are blue, sometimes they become wider and change color to white.
The same pattern appears on the external monitor. It displays same vertical lines. When the same video defect appears on both monitors – internal LCD screen and external screen, then most likely it happens because of a bad video card. On some laptops the video card is integrated into the system board, on other models it’s a separate module.
In this example, the vertical lines were caused by a failed video memory on the system board. I’ve tested the video memory with Microscope utility and it failed the test. In Toshiba Satellite 5205 the video memory is integrated into the system board. To fix the problem, I’ll have to replace the board. (We do not have equipment to replace the memory module itself).
Example 4.
Here’s another example of a bad LCD screen. My bad! It wasn’t the LCD screen problem.
As soon as I turned on the laptop, I was getting these reddish marks on the LCD screen but not on the external monitor. Reseating and replacing the video cable didn’t help. The problem disappeared when I installed my test LCD screen. Yes, for some reason I wasn’t able to reproduce the problem on my test LCD screen. But the reddish video appeared again as soon as I replaced the screen. I guess it happened because the system board had some kind of intermittent problem with onboard video or video connector. Long story short, I had to replace the system board and it fixed the problem. Yep, I misdiagnosed this laptop.
Example 5.
Here’s one more example of a faulty LCD screen. The left half of the screen works just fine but the right side is completely white.
Example 6.
Here’s another laptop with a bad LCD screen. This time it’s a tablet PC.
Example 7.
This screen looks like the screen on the example 1. I hooked up an external monitor and the external video works perfectly fine.
Here’s the difference. When I torque the screen, the image appears but it’s distorted with some horizontal lines running across the screen.
After a few seconds the image washes away.
I had to replace the LCD screen.
Example 8.
This laptop displays inverted colors right from the startup. As you see, the Toshiba logo is light green instead of red. The background is light gray instead of black. The Intel logo should be blue on a white background but it is red on a black background.
When your laptop displays inverted colors as on the picture above, this is an indication of a bad screen. You’ll have to replace the screen.
Example 9.
Here are two more screens. In both cases this problem is related to the LCD screen, witch means the screen has to be replaced.
On the image below you see a white band running from the top of the screen to the bottom. This band appears right from the laptop startup and runs through the logo too.
On the following image only the left side of the screen is working properly. This problem is caused by faulty LCD screen.
Are you looking for a new LCD screen for your laptop? Try here.
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February 11th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Van,
It sounds like a screen failure to me. But it’s really strange that the line appears only when Windows loads and it’s not there during POST and BIOS bootup. I’ve seen a lot of screens with a pixel wide vertical lines, but usually the line is ALWAYS on the screen not just in Windows. Weird. Maybe the line is still there but it is invisible on a black background?
The LCD inverter provides power for the LCD screen and cannot cause this problem. If the inverter goes bad, you loose the backlight and the screen becomes very dark. The image is still on the screen but it’s very dim. I’ve never seen that a faulty LCD inverter causes a pixel wide vertical like on the screen.
When you have a faulty video card, most of the time the same problem will appear on both internal LCD and external monitor. So in your case it’s not a video card issue.
I would say it’s a failing screen, probably a bad contact somewhere on the circuit board.
February 9th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Hey guys,
A couple of days ago, my Qosmio G10 -133 develped a vertical bar measuring about 7cm’s wide. Sometimes the bar is a solid colour, sometimes its a solid colour with a whole bunch of multi coloured vertical lines mixed in. At times it even phases out into like a tv snow pattern where I can kinda see anything thats hiding behind it.
If I use the print screen function to take a screen shot. It doenst show up when I view the captured image.
The bars there from start up to shut down. Even when I’m in the BIOS its there. So I know its not a driver issue.
I dont have an external monitor to test on. But would you guys have any ideas?
http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....A50183.jpg
Above is a link to a picture.
February 8th, 2007 at 5:54 am
Hi guys. This site is very helpful with all that thecnical info and the tips. Congratulations!
However, I’ve got a problem with a Dell Latitude CPxJ. Two days ago it was working as normal but suddenly the power wire got disconnected… One hour later the laptop was turned on and, surprise!, the screen showed a lot of trash.
All big images appear with shadows all around the screen.
I’ve tried connecting the laptop to an external monitor, but the result is the same.I’m thinking that maybe the onboard video chip got fried something like that.
Has anyone experienced something similiar? Any help or comments will be appreciated. Thanks.
P.D. Screenshots at http://www.galeon.com/edesi
February 7th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Hi guys. This site is very interesting. Congratulations!.
I have a Dell Latitude CPxj. It was working well until 2 days ago when the power cable was suddenly desconnected. One hour after that it was turned on and surprise!, the video output was full of trash and is like this until now.
I’ve tried connecting an external monitor but the result is the same.
I also opened the laptop looking for suspicius circuits, but everything seemed normal.
Please, if anyone has experienced something similiar or has any idea of how to fix the problem I’ll apreciate your support.
Do you think that the onboard video chip is broken? In that case then it’s probably a lost motherboard.
Thanks for your help!
P.D. Photos of the screen on http://galeon.hispavista.com/edesi
February 6th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I have an Alienware Laptop and last night a pixel wide blue line appeared on my screen running vertically.
It only happens when windows loads during POST and bios bootup it is not there. I ran a direct3d test and it disappears during the test except the last 2 seconds when it goes back to the desktop it reappears. I connected an external monitor to it and the line does not appear there. Before I started the external monitor test while booting up initially after being off for 10+ hours the line was not there but appeared within a minute or two.
I tried resinstalling drivers and direct x with no luck. I got a driver cleaner for Nvidia and removed even the registry keys. When the monitor flickers during driver install the line sometimes disappears for a few seconds.
I talked to a coworker at the tech company I work at and he thought it might be the LCD inverter. What I want to know is it the Inverter, Display, or Video card?
February 6th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Ron,
Maybe you are experiencing some kind of grounding issue? Remove the LCD screen from the case but do not disconnect it from the laptop. Will it work outside the case? Be careful, it might shock you. Do not touch the screen when it’s on. Take a closer look at the wireless cables, aren’t they damaged? Once I had to repair a laptop with similar problem. In my case it was happening because the wireless antenna cable was damaged and the wire got exposed. When I moved the display the wire was touching the metal hinge and the backlight was turning off. Just a guess.
February 5th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
James,
It’s possible that you have a loose connection, maybe the video cable connector on the LCD screen is not seated properly. Check the connection and make sure the video cable is plugged all the way down into the connector.
February 5th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Jester,
It sounds like you have a bad LCD screen. Did you buy your Satellite M35X notebook in the United States and it’s out of warranty? Check out this post, it might save you a few hundred dollars on purchasing a new screen. You might be eligible for a free repair (only for Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75 notebooks purchased in the USA).
February 5th, 2007 at 11:46 am
I have a hp pavilion zv6000, and I am having a problem with the lcd display. When I turn on the computer the screen comes in and then dims out. I move the display and it will come on again. I replaced the video cable and inverter and it is still having the same problem. Can you help me?
February 2nd, 2007 at 11:29 am
reminds you of a nintendo game not all the way in . i would check the connection inside the lcd because you may have caused a tug action and unplugged it inside a little. Just a guess. since you might have not gave enough slack and when you open the monitor it pulls. Mabey you have the wrong screw in somewhere! . Does it work hooked up to an external monitor?