faded lcd screen fix made in china
We have a lot of different supplyers. The latest batch of iphone 4s LCD"s all have this problem. Iphone5/5s/6(+)/6s(+) are all fine. We are now testing all the LCD"s out of the batch. All have the dark lines. It looks fine at first. But when you get a pop-up or get the shutdown screen, that is when you see the dark lines.
We repair in an ESD space, having ESD wristbands and heelbands. We are testing the lcd"s using a disassembled iphone. So this issue (we have here) has nothing to do with the metal plate.
One of the people here said something about static getting in the screen when they get referbrished. But is there any way to get this charge out? Someone told us to put the connectors on the table so it could discharge. But this does exactly nothing. Does anyone have a solution?
- If the bulbs are out behind the display, then all the rows and colunms do work on the Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD display, but the background light of the LCD display is uneven, or some cases the display is completely dark. This case no need to repair the pixels, you do not need a silver cable, nor a new LCD display of the instrument cluster. This case you just need to buy the lightbulbs that provide light behind the Audi/VW/Seat LCD display.
- If the Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD display has really pixel problems, then typically lines or colunms of the display are missing. Several cases the characters are broken, numbers and letters shown on the instrument cluster"s display are unreadable - the backlight is even. In case of a real pixel problem, when one or more pixels are missing from the display, you need to buy a silver ribbon cable or some cases a complete Audi/VW/Seat LCD display. It really depends on that if it is a BMW, a Mercede and Audi, Saab, VW or other make, and of course if it a MID display, a speedometer, a board computer or other LCD dipslay. Most cases, when you have a pixel failure, and you decide to repair it, it"s really worth to buy a set of bulbs too, as bulbs tend to go out during repair - this is due to the massive mechanical shocks experienced during the pixel repair procedure.
Well, most of the Audi/VW/Seat pixel repair KITs we sell are designed to be simple and easy to use. The word easy should now be the subject of further discussion. An average Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD pixel repair is far more difficult then replacing a lightbulb. You definitely have to have good mechnical skills, and some household tools, such as nippers, screewdrivers, household tape, and other goodies to fix things around the house.
If you have to ask one of these questions, then you definitly should NOT do an Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD display pixel repair at home (we were asked these questions before, this is not a joke):
Well, Pixelfix is an internationally registered trademark. Pixelfix only sells the highest quality Audi/VW/Seat speedometer LCD display silver ribbon cables, that are capable of lifetime operation. We sell most of our repairs with lifetime warranty, and you will find the exact same displays, cables, and other spare parts that we use for professional repairs. The silver ribbon cables we use for Audi, VW, A6, TT, A3, A4, Passat LCD display pixel repair are real silver, which is a very expensive base material, that is why the price is much higher compared to carbon ribbon cables.
You may keep an eye on your package, if you ordered the Audi/VW/Seat speedometer LCD display silver ribbon cable with postal delivery on you may check the status on your local post office"s website, or if you ordered next day deliver then you need to see TNT / FedEx or DHL tracking site for status.
All Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD displays, silver ribbon cables, speedometer spare parts bought in the webshop will come with an invoice. All invoices are issued electronically, so you will receive an e-mail with the printable invoice in it. This invoce can be printed and filed to the accounts.
No worries, we do provide technical support, and help repairing of the Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD display. However there is an advice you ought to consider before starting the work. If you have not repaired Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s LCD display before, this is mandatory. PLEASE read the manual, and if available watch the video BEFORE starting the work. This will definitely save a lot of time and will help to do a hassle free work.
No worries, this symptom can be due to a bagatel problem which can be fixed easily. If there are no pixels on the Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s display at all, that MUST be due to one of the followings:
- the contacts of the Audi/VW/Seat LCD display or the panel are not perfectly clean - this case there is no contact between the Audi/VW/Seat LCD display and the panel
- the alignment of the silver ribbon cable is no good, so the pads of the silver ribbon cable do not match the pads of the Audi/VW/Seat LCD display or panel.
Let"s talk about the worst case scenario, you started the repair, but you do not seem to deal with the repair of the Audi/VW/Seat instrument cluster"s display. This case we have a backup solution. We always stand behind our customers, so you may send the Audi/VW/Seat LCD display unit to us for repair, and no matter what the condition of the unit is, we can help. More precisely, up to this point we always succeeded, meaning none of our customers managed to do such a damage in the unit that we could not fix. The repair does not cost a fortune, in a lucky case it is 20-30 Euro plus return delivery cost only.
“Original” screens are those containing LCDs manufactured for Apple. “Copy” screens are compatible replacements entirely designed and manufactured by third-party companies not associated with Apple.
LCD display panel can have poorer resolution (i.e. looks “coarser”), worse brightness, contrast and vibrancy and reduced refresh rate amongst other problems.
Changes in specification from original can result in battery and performance issues. Certain badly-engineered screens could even damage the backlight circuitry.
Customers who bring their iPhones to us for a screen repair are offered two choices of replacement- an original or a “copy” screen. The most common response is “Is there a difference- and which one would you recommend?”
Originals are those screens containing LCDs that were manufactured for Apple. So-called “copy” screens are compatible replacements, but designed and manufactured entirely independently by third-party companies, typically in China.
Our answer is simple- the original screen is the one we’d go for ourselves, every time. Some people think we make more money on them, but this isn’t the case. We recommend originals because they’re far higher quality and the price difference is fairly small.
We’d rather only fit original screens. The only reason we don’t is that many people will shop around and choose purely on price. As such, we need to offer the cheaper copy screens to remain competitive and avoid losing these customers. In some cases, they didn’t even know there was a difference in the first place- especially since it’s not in some shops’ interest to draw people’s attention to the issue!
This may well be the worst copy screen we’ve ever come across. As a result, the unfortunate customer has ended up paying twice to have their screen replaced- we’re sure that had they been properly informed, they would have chosen an original in the first place.
While the difference in price between copies and originals can vary across devices, it’s generally around £10 – £14 extra to have an original screen fitted. This really isn’t a lot considering the improved quality and reliability.
We compare our prices to our competitors- and we know that we come out of it favourably. While we have to offer copy screens to remain competitive, we always advise customers to go for the original.
When you’ve spent- directly or indirectly- several hundred pounds for an iPhone with a Retina display, it doesn’t make sense to replace it with a lower-quality screen that can make a £400 phone look like a £40 one! Not only that, but you’re likely to have fewer issues, and a longer-lasting screen.
Many- if not most- don’t even acknowledge the existence of copy screens, let alone explain the difference to the customer. Hardly in their interest to do so if they only fit cheap, low-quality copies. Some of them can hardly be blamed- they know so little, they’re not even clear on the differences between OEM, non-OEM and copy displays themselves! Others can be more deliberately misleading… and some outright lie.
Generally, these shops are looking for the cheapest price on replacement screens.. When offered a copy at a half or a third of a price of the original, they’re going to go for that. That might be fine if they offered the customer a cheaper price- what we disagree with is selling “supermarket beans” (i.e. the copy screens) at “Heinz beans” prices!
Heading towards the “blatantly fraudulent”, we’re aware of companies that shamelessly fit copy screens while claiming them to be original. Worse, they’ll take your broken original screen and sell that to a recycler for more than they paid for your copy!
Apple tightened up their supply chain around 2015, which reduced the number of screens available for repairs and increased their price dramatically. A lot of companies went bankrupt, and Chinese manufacturers responded by making their own “copy” screens from scratch. At first, these weren’t much cheaper than the Apple ones, but the price soon fell.
We should be clear that- despite the name- “copy” screens aren’t direct copies of the Apple originals. Rather, they’re compatible replacements that have been designed from scratch and- as a result- vary in some respects that have an effect on usability and quality.
One of the most important differences between an original and a “copy” screen is how the digitizer (touch sensor) is designed. Apple has it manufactured as part of the LCD itself, whereas the copies have it on the glass.
Although there are only a small number of manufacturers of the bare LCDs themselves, these are then bought by countless other companies who add the remaining components needed to turn these into a complete working screen. As a result, you could easily end up with an LCD from the best “copy” manufacturer, but the digitizer/touch (as part of the separately-manufactured glass) from the worst.
There are countless digitizers out there, and you can only take the supplier’s word that the quality is good. Many ship good ones at first, then switch to cheaper parts to make more profit. This is particularly bad with the iPhone 6S and 6S+, since Apple moved the chips responsible for touch processing onto the LCD itself. As a result, you’re not just getting a copy screen- you’re getting copy chips too.
The performance specification (power drain, etc.) of most copy screens isn’t identical to the originals. As a result, they can drain the battery more quickly and mislead the operating system which was optimised for the original screen design.
It’s even possible that this mismatch could damage your backlight. We do a lot of subcontracted repairs for less-experienced shops, and get backlight repairs in almost every day. We’ve had cases where we fixed the circuit, fitted the new copy screen to test it, and had it break the circuit again!
Copy screens can disrupt the touch ID fingerprint reader. With the 6S, 6S+, 7 and 7+, the home button- part of the 3D touch- is part of the screen assembly. Frequently the home button flexes on aftermarket designs don’t work properly and stop the touch ID working- annoying if you use it to unlock the phone or log in to your bank.
We’ve seen many lift away from the frame that holds them in place. This usually results in the flex cable getting torn, and the screen needing replacing. You don’t even need to have dropped the phone- this often happens through general everyday wear and tear.
That brings us to another major issue with the copies. When you drop an Apple original, the glass often breaks, but if the LCD itself is intact, you can continue to use it until it’s fixed. With the copies, the touch/digitizer is on the glass and stops working when that’s broken. Even worse, the LCD itself is more likely to break due to the thinner and more fragile glass.
We’re not convinced this will happen, since Apple recently changed their repair policy to accept iPhones with third-party screens. However, it is possible that copy screens could be stopped from working via an iOS update, since those make a number of security checks.
Light leak or backlight bleeding is often noticeable around the edges or the sides of a screen. Especially while it is displaying a dark background or is in a dark environment.
NOTE: This article provides information about common issues that are seen on LCD screens. It is not something specific to a particular Dell computer but is something that can be seen on any LCD screen by any manufacturer.
Ever had your TV showing nothing but a black screen even if the audio was working? Unfortunately, that’s a common issue with low/middle-end LCD/LED TVs these days… Even more frustrating, this issue often comes from a rather tiny and cheap component that can be easily replaced. Most common issues are:
The first step into repair is to find the root cause of the issue. As backlight failure is a very common issue, this is the first thing to test. To do so, the easiest way is to power on your screen, put a flashlight very close to it and check if you can see the image through. The image would be very dark, like turning the brightness of the screen very very low.
That implies disassembling the TV to access the backlight which is between the LCD screen in the front and the boards in the rear. In my case, with a Samsung F5000, I had to process as follows:
First we have to remove the back housing to reveal the boards (from left to right: main board, T-CON, power supply) and disconnect the LCD panel from the T-CON board.
Note: Older TVs have neon tubes for backlight, which is thicker and less exposed to this kind of failure. LED backlight is the most common thing these days, but do not mistake an LED TV with an OLED TV. The first one is a classic LCD panel with a LED backlight, whereas the second is an OLED panel that doesn’t need any backlight as it is integrated in each pixels (making the spare parts much more expensive by the way).
There might be a lot of other root causes for similar symptoms, a black screen often looks like something very serious and therefore expensive to repair, but this case is the perfect example that taking some time to look for the root cause can sometime lead to a good surprise: here a 1$ fix!
Resolution: Faded or incomplete segments indicate a poor connection between the LCD and the circuit board. To remedy, clean the LCD, the circuit board and the rubber elastomers that make the connections. Using isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on a cotton swab, do the following:
If cleaning the monitor does not improve the display, an upgrade to a PM5 monitor will be needed. Replacement LCDs are no longer available for PM2/PM2+ Performance Monitors. The PM5 Monitor Retrofit Kit is available from Concept2.
If you did a screen replacement and you feel like the new screen is not as good as the old one, then the above question is what you have running through your mind. Does the mobile screen quality actually degrade or reduce after you replace a broken screen?
The direct answer to this question is NO. A screen replacement does not reduce your display quality, neither does it degrade the screen quality. All replacement screens from the manufacturers are produced with the same quality as the original screens. They are designed to give you the same feel and look as though you were using the original screen.
The only difference between the original screen and the replaced screen is that the former was fitted from the factory, and the latter was hand-fitted by the technician. This means that even with the same quality, a wrong fitting from an unprofessional third-party technician can result in a lesser screen quality for your mobile device.
If however, you do not get a genuine product for the replacement, you can experience a degraded screen quality. If you took your phone to just any random phone repair shop to get the screen replaced, there are chances that you may have a non-genuine display which will give you a poor screen quality.
It is for this reason that you are always advised to only take your phone for repair at accredited after-sales centre where you can get quality spare parts for replacement. Apart from the screen, there are other sensitive parts of the phone that you might want to replace, and it is advisable to always go to outlets where you can get genuine products.
When presented with an option of genuine or copy screens, some people might decide to go for the cheaper option which is often the copy screen. When asked, they could say things like “no one would know the difference”, “it is the same display anyway”.
Well, this is not true at all. The genuine screen was designed by the manufacturer to have the same qualities, feel and design as the original, and to fit the phone perfectly. The copy screen or the non-genuine display could just be some other random unbranded screen in the market designed and manufactured independently by third-party companies, which coincidentally happens to be compatible with your device.
The screen refresh rate is lower:Your genuine screen display has a refresh rate that is designed to fit with the RAM, processor, and storage capacity. With the copy screen, you will find the screen refresh rate to be a lot slower than before.
The screen/glass scratches easily:You will also experience that the copy-screens appear far coarser and scratch easily when compared to the genuine screen. Even a rough fabric or a rough surface can leave some abrasions on the copy-screen. Before long, even the screen display will be a mess for the user.
The Digitiser, 3D touch, and other screen features will not work as well: If you settle for a non-genuine display or a copy screen, do not expect the 3D touch to be as effective as it would have been with the genuine screen.
The screen display will not be as brightas what you get from the genuine phone screen. Also, you can also find that the edges of the screen would be darker. The contrast and vibrancy, when using such screens usually appear “washed out”.
Weak fingerprint recognition:If your phone is the type that has an on-screen fingerprint sensor, the copy-screen may have problems recognizing your fingerprints. In very terrible cases, it may even mismatch fingerprints, thereby reducing phone security.
It can cause other issues due to mismatch:In some cases, copy-screens do not have the same performance specification as the original screen and can drain your battery faster. Some reviews also show that it damages the phone backlight.
There are several other issues you may have to deal with if your phone screen was replaced with a copy-screen. A careful examination of these points will show you that if you get a copy-screen, you will likely need another screen replacement in no time. It is safer and cost-effective to go for a genuine phone screen instead.
Carlcare is the official customer care support for Infinix, TECNO, and itel devices. If you are using any of these brands, you can visit Carlcare to get genuine phone screens for replacement. There is a Carlcare app on Infinix, Tecno, and Itel devices, and you can use it to check the cost of the screen, and the cost of the service. You can also book a reservation online to avoid staying in queue.
Smartphone users all around the world are met with surprises that may show up in the form of System Updates, Sales/Repair Discounts, Extended Warranties, and Device Upgrades from their manufacturers today. However, what most users don’t plan for or anticipate are the unpleasant surprises we get to experience on our devices – usually as a result of usage, accidents, etc. One of such problems is the White Screenon phone.
A smartphone with white lines on phone screen is not very useful. You can’t see or assume anything. It technically stops you in your tracks. When phone screen went white, the fault is hinged on one or more of the following factors.
Here, we refer to both Hard falls and, water intrusion. Many smartphone users affirm that their phones (unintentionally) drop at least thrice a month. Although good devices have secure exteriors, nothing is guaranteed when one happens to fall from a height. The white screen on phone may not even show immediately after a fall, But playback your phone’s timeline in your head and a crashing incident might just reflect.
On the other hand, when water gets into a phone, the phone screen may become white instantly. There are multiple flex cables for key parts of your mobile device that are connected to its Mainboard; liquid substance in these areas is extremely hazardous.
When your smartphone receives a new system update and you decide to run it, you’ll notice multiple warnings, one of which is that you do not turn the device off until the update is complete. Interrupting any update process is one direct hotline to a White screen on a phone or other phone problems.
Other things that may bring up the phone white screen problem include corrupt files in storage, or a corrupt memory (SD Card), which cause problems to a device’s processor.
For every phone issue, there is an existing fix and where there’s none, a visit to your phone repair master is imminent. Try the solutions listed below about how to fix white screen on phone.
Yes, you must reboot the phone first. Since you’re unable to see anything on the screen, this will be a manual job. To Restart, hold down the Volume Up key and Power Button (on the side of your smartphone) at the same time until the phone shuts down, it will automatically come up again. If your device works fine after this, congratulations! Otherwise, let’s move forward with the next tip.
We mentioned previously that an SD Card is also a culprit in the case of a cell phone White Screen. So, you can try to eject it from your mobile phone. Ensure the device is turned off, and once the Memory Card is taken out, you may power your device again.
To get this done, you must seek assistance from a trusted mobile phone repair expert – preferably the one provided by your device manufacturers. Reloading the phone’s system (when its screen has turned white) is one fix that we’ve seen work overtime.
If the problem persists after you have tried all of these suggestions, please go to a mobile repair center to get the screen checked, and replaced fast.
Well, I found some info on the net which brought my Lego Mindstrom LCD back to life. Problem was, the fix didn"t last for long. So, in this instructible I"ll discuss the conventional wisdom, plus, my own finding to help you bring back your Lego brick back to life.
For reference, here is the link to the original post: http://blogs.wsd1.org/etr/?p=495 This post has some good info and is worth reading. However, their "fix" is to simply re-solder the LCD caps inside the brick. Seemed strange to me that re-soldering ceramic surface mount caps would make a difference. But, I must say, it did work the first time I tried it. This fix lasted for about three months. Then, the LCD started flickering and fading again.
Since my Mindstorm"s display was failing again I decided to perform a better fix by replacing the goofy caps. This "better" fix only lasted about a week.
Upon close inspection, I believe the true cause of the display problems is not the caps at all, but instead is the LCD connector ribbon cable. I think that fooling / re-soldering the caps simply flexes the ribbon cable which gets the display working again. However, overtime, the ribbon cable comes loose again.
The hardest part of this whole repair process is separating the LCD / PCB from the Mindstorm. The PCB fits tightly on locator pins and the LCD is stuck down with double face tap.
I replaced all three surface mount caps in my Mindstorm and still had problems return. In my judgement, re-soldering / replacing the caps is a fool"s errand. However, I think goofing around with the caps inadvertently flexes the LCD ribbon cable and gets the LCD working again (for a while).
The real fix is to repair the ribbon cable. The ribbon cable is held to the PCB with glue. Overtime, the stiff ribbon cable pulls away from the circuit board and bad connections develop.
The fix involves using your thumb to rub hard over the the ribbon cable to circuit board interface. Rub hard on both side to reestablish / reactivate the bond between the ribbon cable and circuit board.
Make sure all finger prints have been removed form the LCD and inside surface of the LCD window. I used a little glass cleaner on both the plastic window and LCD. Another suggestion, after using glass cleaner make sure ALL the cleaner has evaporated before reassembly. You don"t want trapped alcohol vapors inside your brick.
Thanks for looking up the replacement part. There are a ton of these NXT"s on ebay for $20 with screen out. Maybe worth the volume purchase from alibaba to make money back. Let us know if that works.
On my device the issue seemed to be the connection between the ribbon cable and the daughter board (as opposed to the ribbon cable and lcd) I tried heating it with a reflow gun and pressing down but that fix was short lived. What has worked for me so far is squashing some open cell packing foam underneath the lcd (where the ribbon cable joins the lcd) so that it applies pressure on the connection between the ribbon cable and daughter board. Hope this helps somebody.ReplyUpvote
FabianT15 - you"re most welcome. There is no permanent fix for this issue except getting the unit replaced by Lego. Problem built in from the factory. Glad I could help.0
When I receive it, I"ll test it. I"m pretty sure it"ll work (based on the spec sheet). I"ll let y"all know. I apparently have several to fix here.0
I’ve owned a Toshiba M55-S3294 since October, 2005. I’ve seen your first example on my own laptop only once and it went away when I rebooted the machine and has never appeared again but it’s nice to know replacing the LCD isn’t to hard after reading around your site.
I do have another question about the same laptop. Can the lid over (mine is copper) be removed without taking the LCD out? I’ve read you can change the color, so before I go looking for one on eBay, I wanted to know what I was getting myself into.
I have a Satellite P30 and today a vertical strip approximately 1 inch wide down the left hand side of the screen turned white. I can move my mouse cursor over to where the “Start” button is in Windows, and activate the “Start” button, however, I can’t see the button or the mouse cursor. Any ideas what might be the cause and solution to this problem?
Most likely it’s the LCD screen problem. Just in case try to connect an external monitor and check out the video output. If you see the same vertical strip (very unlikely), then it’s onboard video problem – the motherboard problem. If the external video is fine, then I would suspect the LCD screen itself. Try to twist the screen, apply some tension to it. Does the vertical strip changes location, color or width?
my screen is dim, it flickers but no lines like in these exampes. the external monitor works fine. i have a m35x-s111 sometimes i can make out whats on the screen but most of the time its to dim. please help. great site
i have a prob that i don’t see discussed yet…..i’m in dire need of help….my toshiba a70 has a prob..it only displays about 11 inches of video on the screen…the right side 3 or 4 inches are black…it works well on an external monitor…no luck updating drivers… also it does the same thing in safe mode…..please gimme a holla on where to go and what to do.i heard you were the best out there
Turn on the laptop and go into BIOS setup. I believe you’ll have to hit ESC key on start up for this laptop to enter the setup. Do you see the same lines when you are in BIOS? If not, then I would say that’s software issue and re-imaging the drive will fix the problem. If the lines are still there, even when you are in BIOS, then it would be a hardware related problem, most likely a bad screen.
I have a Pro-Star 8790. Everything was running fine until a couple months ago. My video distorts at random and forces me to restart my laptop. But I’ve noticed that it only does it when the laptop is plugged in. I listened and heard a quiet clicking noise coming from my power supply (like small sparks) and decided that that was the problem. Now, I’ve bought a brand new AC adapter and it didn’t solve the problem at all. My screen still distorts forcing a restart. I know it’s not a driver problem either. My video card is integrated into my system. I now think it is a video card problem. Does this mean my video card/laptop is fried?
Have you tried to connect an external monitor to the laptop? What about external video, is it bad too? If both screens – internal LCD and external monitor display the same distorted video, then I would suspect the system board. Let me know how it goes with the external video output.
hi, there i have slight problem with my lcd unfortunately the top 8 cm of my screen are gray and do not work, i assume it is completely broken a therefore wish to replace it however my warranty has run out. so i plan on doing it myself, i have two questions relating to this and would really appreciate if you could help me answer them. First of all the laptop in question is a fujitsu-siemens Amilo m7400 and i was wondering if i could replace my lcd with my friends Amilo m7405, in terms of resolution and size they seem identical, however i would appreciate if you could tell me whether or not i am barking up the right tree, my thoughts were that since they were the same model basically that fujitsu would probably have used the same lcd. secondly could you possibly tell me were i could get hold of some sort of manual or instructions. thanks.
It has gotten progressively worse over time. If you apply some pressure to the screen frame, the display will return to normal and the small vertical line will go away. I would assume that this is a loose connection? I intend to remove the frame and re-seat the inverter, LCD cable and do some cleaning. Does this seem like a failing LCD screen? The computer is slightly over a year old.
I would try removing the LCD and putting it back and hope for a miracle. Last month it helped me to “fix” a bad LCD on IBM ThinkPad. The screen was bad, it had some horizontal lines on it. Reseating cables and replacing the video cable didn’t help. But, after I removed the screen and put it back I got a perfect video. I think that when I put all screws on sides back in place, they stretched the screen somehow and made it work fine. I’ve never seen the customer again. I don’t know if it’s going to help you, but I think it worth trying.
I forgot to mention that the screen goes dim every couple of minutes as well. If you give the back of the screen a light tap, it will return to normal. Can you give me any ideas of where to look for a replacement LCD if that is the problem?
With backlight it could be a loose connection problem, try reseating cables on the inverter board. To find a replacement screen, you’ll have to search by the part number. You can find the part number on the back of the LCD screen and it looks like: A000002050 (you might have different part number). Try searching through Google or on eBay. LCD screens are very expensive and very often it doesn’t make any sense to replace the screen, it’s better to buy a new laptop.
If you cannot find the part number for the LCD, give me more info about your laptop: model number and part number from the bottom and I’ll look up a part number for you.
just an update, but disassembling the LCD and re-seating the connections as well as the inverter seems to have fixed the problem. Thanks for your advice.
hello sir, i have a compaq armada M700 laptop…since yesterday i am getting a horizontal line exactly at the middle of the screen. every thing is working absolutely fine. the line is about half a milimitre thick. what should i do…take it to a techician or can i repair it myself
I woke up this morning, turn on my Dell Inspiron 6000 and theres a vertical line. Reboot, Reboot in safe mode and line still there and everything runs fine. After reading the great info on this site it seems a my screen has gone bad. Below is a link to my screen while XP is booting. I need a new screen right? Just wanted to get some feedback before I go spending on one. Thanks in advance.
It looks like a bad screen. From my experience, this kind of failure (thin vertical line across the screen) is not related to a failed video cable, bad connection or bad video card.
I have blue and purple vertical lines along the bottom 40% of my laptop screen and absolutely no image (entirely lines). The top 60% of the screen works great! I tried contacting Gateway but they won’t even answer me as to what it could possibly be without me paying them $3 per minute for cusomter support! Argh! Any advice on why only part of the screen is on the fritz? Thank you.
Start laptop troubleshooting with connecting an external monitor. That’s the first thing to do when you have a bad image on the LCD screen. If the same blue and purple vertical lines occur on the external monitor, then it’s the motherboard (video card) problem. If the external video is fine, then I would say that you might have a bad LCD screen.
Hi I have a Satellite p35-s605,which has developed a red horizontal line on the display,when connected to an ext monitor there is no line,guess Lcd problem also have reinstaled the os and drivers,
I have a gateway m500 that fell off a desk and crack the LCD. I couldnt use the external monitor so we sent it in for warranty to use the external display. I bought another lcd, put it in, replaced the cables,and now I get color with vertical lines but no picture. Now that I have replaced all of this, my external monitor no longer works. Do you have any ideas on what needs to be replaced next? please let me know. Thank you
I have a Gateway 400SD4. When you first turn on the laptop you can see data on the screen but just for s second then the screen goes white, quite brite too! You cannot see any data on the screen. The external monitor looks great. Any ideas? Thanks!
Have you tested if the laptop works fine with an external screen before you replaced the internal LCD? Disconnect the internal video cable from the motherboard and test it again with an external screen. If you still get the same lines on the external video, even when internal LCD is disconnected, then I would say that’s a bad motherboard (video card if it’s a separate module).
If the external monitor works fine after you disconnect the video cable from the motherboard, connect the cable back and test it again. It might be just a loose connection. If you still have the same bad video, then you might have a bad screen.
It’s hard to guess. First of all, I would check if the video cable on the back of the LCD screen makes a good connection with the screen. I’m not sure if it’s going to help you, but I know that on some Toshiba laptop the same white screen appears when the video cable is not seated properly.
If reseating cables doesn’t help, then it could be either the motherboard or the screen problem. I would say most likely it’s a bad screen but I’m not 100% confident.
Thanks for your response. I took the laptop apart and checked every wire in the cable going to the display and could not find any problems with the cable. Even found there is a fuse on the circuit board but that was OK. I put the unit back together and now it’s working! I think you were right, probably just a loose cable as the connection to the LCD itself does not feel that secure.
I was a laptop technician in a company that only uses Dell, IBM and Compaq. I just recently started my own business in a Flea Market and have come across Toshiba laptops that recently needed screen replacements due to accidents and dc-inline jacks that need to be replaced. Your website is a life saver for a tech that is new to the Toshiba brand. I will continue to contribute what I can as I use your website.
I have a dell 9400 with a wuxga true life display. Recently the video card was changed and then the lcd had a blueish tint and no blacks whatsoever. When plugged into a crt all the colors are fine and the video card works good as well. Dell is sending someone out to replace the motherboard and video card, i was wondering if you have ever run into this problem and the cause…Before the lcd was replaced it was wavy and the windows logo during start up was shadowing.. along with distortions to the color. The wavy ness is pretty much gone but no blacks color distortion and a blue tint remaiins… any ideas? why would they change the motherboard?
I haven’t seen a laptop screen with bluish tint yet, but I’ve seen a reddish tint many times. In most cases, if the reddish tint appears on both screens – internal LCD and external monitor, it’s the system board/video card problem. If the reddish screen appears only on the internal LCD screen but not on the external monitor, then I would suspect the screen itself first. I guess the same would apply to a bluish tint.
I think they are replacing the motherboard just as a precaution. Please, let us know what parts Dell technician will replace and if it fixes the problem.
you problem could possibly be the vga cable, or connection of the vga cable. when you check this problem please make sure that your laptop in completely turn off the battery is removed, whit screen is signe of fauly cable or disconnected cable, that is the case if the laptop works on external monitor, else check you video memory. this sort of problem could also couse by dry joint, at mother board chip, or cable connection area.
Thank you for providing all of the laptop lcd tips. I have 2 laptops with pretty much the same issue with a very dim screen or no backlight. Both laptops are fine on external monitor.
The first laptop is an Acer Aspire 3000 that is dim throughout the boot process but a Toshiba M45 has a good screen for about 10 seconds, flickers and then goes dim. I am suspecting both laptops to have a bad FL inverter that needs replacing. Do you have any other suggestions to try? Thanks.
I have reseated cable hardness from lcd to mothe board so many time. My question is…is it the inverter i have ordered and replaced is bad. I think the invert board is to convert small dc voltage into high RMS voltage to ignite the backligh and control
I recently purchased a toshiba satellite p35-s609 from ebay, my problem is similar to bernie’s in which when booting up there will be a couple red lines on the left side of the screen, while installing windows xp I noticed that there is a reddish hue and diminished color (the white sunburst gradient cirles on the background of the windows turn into reddish circles), this problem is not duplicated on an external monitor. I found that if I tilt the laptop a little will reset the color and brightness to its normal display and stay like that as long as it is kept in that position (which is a little awkward at times). Could this hopefully just be a loose connection from the LCD to the motherboard? I have yet to open it up and wondering what my current options are.
I’ve never seen that FL inverter causes such a problem. You a right, the inverter convert voltage for the backlight bulb, but from my knowledge it cannot affect colors on the screen. I guess you might have a failed video cable, but most likely it’s a bad screen.
BTW, look inside the video connector on the motherboard and video connector on the back of the LCD screen. Check if there are any bent pins. Last week I had to repair Toshiba Satellite P30 with a backlight problem. After 15 minutes of testing I discovered that couple pins inside the connector on the motherboard were bent and the video cable didn’t seat properly. The problem was fixed after I carefully straightened the pins.
In the top navigation bar there is a tab “Laptop Parts”. In there I listed 2-3 companies who sell LCD screens for Toshiba. We worked with Spare Parts Warehouse and AG Parts (used to be ID parts) and don’t have any complaints. Man, screens are expensive.
What does work though is if I leave the lcd screen connected but remove it from the case (so it’s not touching the laptop) the lines go away. Is this a grounding issue. It seems like I am close to fixing it but can’t figure it out…
Hi! I just got a new laptop: the HP Pavilion DV8333EA and I’m already facing problems! It’s not a major issue but there seems to be a strong pink tint between text on my lcd screen; particularly between vertical characters such as ‘t’, ‘l’ and ‘i’. It’s quite distracting and I didn’t expect such from a brand new laptop. How can I resolve this?
Is your laptop still under warranty? It could be a major issue with the LCD screen or with the video card. A new computer shouldn’t have any pink tint between characters.
Connect an external monitor and turn on the laptop. If you can see the same pink tint on the external monitor, then it could be related to the motherboard (video card). If the external monitor displays characters fine and the problem appears only on the internal LCD screen, then it could be the screen problem.
Test the laptop with an external monitor attached. If the external video as bad as the internal, then it could be the motherboard (or video card) failure. If the external video is fine, and you have a problem only with the internal LCD, then I would check if the video cable got loose. Probably you’ll have to reseat both connections – one on the motherboard and one on the back of the LCD screen. If reseating the cable will not help, probably it’s a hardware issue.
How about this one. Toshiba A105-S2716 Laptop and everything is working fine. Then the screen goes grey with a few white lines running horizontal across it. The external monitor is working fine, and if I cycle through the Fn-F5 key, the LCD starts working again for awhile. Also, if I reboot it starts to work again for awhile. The time it takes to go to the grey screen is intermittent though. It could be 2 minutes or 20. I’m not sure which component may be bad. Thanks for a great site.
Yeah that’s a weird one. I’ve seen a few Satellite 105 laptops with a problem like that. It works fine for 10-15 minutes and then the screen goes gray with a few horizontal white lines.
When I got a Satellite A105 laptop with this problem for the first time it took me just 10 minutes to troubleshoot it. I connected an external monitor and set the video output on both screens. After 10-15 minutes the internal LCD screen failed but the external video was fine. I just ordered a new screen and video cable (as a precaution) because it looked like 100% LCD issue. BUT replacing the screen with video cable DIDN’T fix the problem. The same gray screen appeared after about 10 minutes. Reflashing the BIOS didn’t help either. After that I ordered a new system board and the problem was fixed.
I don’t want you to encourage buying a new system board right away, because in your case it could be just a bad screen. That’s would be nice if you can find a spare LCD screen and test it for a while. But from my experience this kind of failure on Satellite A105 laptops is caused by faulty system board. As I said before, that’s a wired one.
Hi, i have a prob similar to the 1st one that has been discussed. There r lot of horizontal lines that appear on the lcd and the whole display looks inverted and out of focus. Is the problem very common with M55s?
Hi there. I’ve recently inherited an Inspiron 8000 which works perfectly apart from one thing. When the display resolution is set to the lowest setting the windows desktop is off centre, to the bottom right of the screen.When the resolution is set to the highest setting the right and bottom 3 inches of the desktop are off the screen! I have updated bios,drivers,reformatted the hard drive and re-installed windows. Any help would be much appreciated.
I have installed the latest nvidia driver for the graphics card to no avail. The screen is offset in any resolution. I should mention that the bios and bios splash screen are also off centre. When the laptop is connected to an external monitor everything is fine. I have checked that the graphics card and connectors are all seated correctly.Any other thoughts would be gratefully received.
So it’s not software failure at all, because the screen is off center even before the operating system starts loading. You’ve already updated the BIOS, so it’s not the BIOS issue.
I afraid that it could be either the video card failure or the LCD failure. I cannot narrow it down without test LCD. I don’t think that the video cable can cause such problem.
My notebook’s screen has blue background colour even then it should be black, for example at startup or in DOS command prompt window, so the colours of the screen are distorted. I can send photo to email. External monitor working absolutely OK, even then I replaced the LCD panel the problem persisted. What do you recommend to check?
So you’ve replaced the LCD screen and still have the same problem? Man, that’s was an expensive one, but at least you know that’s not the screen problem.
Before you buy any parts, I would try reflashing/upgrading the laptop BIOS. It’s not likely that the BIOS is corrupted, but it’s possible. I’ve seen some few strange problems with video that was fixed by reflashing the BIOS.
If you experience a problem with the video output on the laptop LCD screen but not on the external monitor, then in most cases it would indicate a display related issue. If onboard video card is bad, the same video problem usually appears on both screens, internal and external. It’s not a rule, but from my experience it’s correct most of the time. I think that you have a problem with the LCD screen but after you mentioned this:
Hey thanks for your reply. It’s got me stumped. I changed the inverter and cable and no difference. The diagnostics clearly say that LCD, inverter, cable are all fine. Problem with adaptor…go figure. The most annoying thing is that it was only 1 year and 9 months old when it had this problem. The laptop is absolutely mint condition, I have used it as a ‘desktop’, not even taken it out more than 5 ocassions! If I need a laptop I’m gonna use my girlfriend’s Intel Macbook. Gonna build my own desktop, that way I can fix it easily.
I have an old 5105-S901 which, within a few minutes of running, shows an increasing amount of random pixel trash on the screen – similar to some of your screenshots (both on LCD and external monitor; shows as corrupted ASCII characters during boot-up). In 640×480 (safe mode) it works relatively stable for a while, but it crashes with ‘unknown hardware failure’ within minutes if it’s running in higher resolutions. After spending countless hours of testing, cleaning, replacing memory and experimenting, I found out that it’s a temperature issue with the video card. The Nvidia chip is getting extremely hot (burnt my finger twice) and if I spray liquid ice on it, the pixel trash immediately goes away. The video card has no active cooling, so I guess it became defective from permanent overheating over the years. I’m not quite sure what to do now – I can’t leave the laptop open all the time and spray stuff on it every 5 minutes. A new video card is ridiculously expensive ($350 – Walmart has a complete laptop for that price) and I wonder if and for how long it would solve the problem. I already force the CPU fan to run permantently at 100%, but that doesn’t help the video card. Is there a way to improve the video card’s cooling in my laptop model ? Have others experienced similar problems?
I have a used ThinkPad T40. I’ve noticed that if direct sunlight hits the back of the screen (the cover), the screen gets multi-colored lines all over. The couple of times that my roommate left the computer in the sun, the lines would disappear after we’d let it cool down. I can only blame myself for this, but the other day I left the laptop near the window, and the sun attacked it once again. Now it’s been two days and many reboots, and I only get picture (on the top half of the screen) when I first turn the laptop on, then it goes to colored or grey lines. I haven’t found any info on the net about screens overheating in sunlight – but is this possible? Is something permanently fried, or can it be tweaked?
I’ve never ever seen or heard about laptop screen overheating in sunlight. Probably I should sacrifice one of my laptops and leave it in the sun to see if I can reproduce the problem.