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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December 21st, 2007 at 4:00 am
I closed my monitor while a pen was inside.
The pen caused a hugr black screen displaed image. Do I need to replace the screen, or is there a way to fix it.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:46 am
Hi, let me just say, this page is a very cool resource.
I have an ASUS v6000. When the right hand side of the screen (roughly a 5mm band) displays a ‘near’ black colour, the part of the band displaying it shimmers with bright artefacts like bright green, red or blue. Colours not ‘near’ black, and even black itself display fine in the band. I can reproduce the effect by using the gradient tool in photoshop and sliding the near black part of a gradated image to the right side of the screen. I have tried with an external screen and the banding effect does not occur. And the video and main memory have both tested fine. Screenshots of the error do not reproduce it, unless that part of the image is near the right side of the screen.
I have the feeling the only way to fix it is with a new screen, but I would appreciate any thoughts.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I have a one of the infamousToshiba m35x-s149 laptops. Mine worked perfectly well but has developed a display problem. I get a bar on the screen that is a darker color than the rest of the screen. Other than being darker than the rest of the screen it displays fine. If the background is a light color it almost disappears. The video out seems to dsplay perectly on an external monitor. I have read most of the page and did not see a similar problem mentioned. Any help would be appreciated.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Hello,
Alike Max, I too have figured that Toshiba has bad overheating problems. The fans collect a huge amount of dust overtime, not allowing air to circulate. The result is the laptop completely turns off constantly. I want to know if this is related to the discoloration in the lcd which i also have. My problem most resemble max’s, as the screen will flicker with patches that have discolored pixels going in and out. where is this video card located in the laptop?
December 17th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I just repaired my backllight. now i am getting my screen 1/4/ to 1/2 with vibrating horizontal lines, I can use the mouse. but when moving the screen a bit it chokes the mouse.
any help?
December 14th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Hello,
I replaced the motherboard on my Toshiba m35x. The lcd screen now only shows 1024 resolution and will not extend over the netire 15.4″ lcd screen. About 1/4 of the screen is black (not like it is turned off, but actually only shows a black line). What’s the problem?
December 9th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Hi all,
I have LCD monitor Benq FP15 which i bought from used items.
after 1.5 year i had problem on LCD screen. Bottom of screen about 20% is shows multiple lines without any background and the rest of 80% screen is perfectly fine. I want repair my LCD monitor, any help is appreciated.
Baqi
December 9th, 2007 at 12:16 am
You mention a utility to test video card memory, but I cannot seem to find it. Can you provide the link? Using a Dell Inspiron 8500 and a nVidia GeForce 4 4200 Go video card.
December 7th, 2007 at 11:18 am
my screen looks like both 1 and 7. and worse. it fades in and out, flickers, the image repeats itself vertically etc etc. The only solution I see here is “replace the lcd screen”. For my hp zv6000 (23 months old) that’s running $150 – $200 on ebay (i need brackets, hinges as well, because one of mine is cracked). is there REALLY NO WAY to fix an lcd screen??? It’s got to be a loose wire, a short or improper ground … I’ve had it apart once following instructions here and other places. At this point I have nothing to lose. The computer works beautifully, just the sceen is messed up. I don’t really have the extra money to replace it, and hardly seems worth it when new laptops with similar features run $400-$500! This is driving me insane! If anyone out there has any new ideas … I’d really like to hear them! Thanks!
December 6th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I have a HP laptop but anytime I turn it on it gives me line with color on the screee, can you please show me how to fix it?