[Quigby]

I turned on my computer this morning and a blank white screen came up on my LCD. Windows still boots up perfectly and the picture on an external monitor is perfect as well.

Soon after I discovered that the screen would display complete images for a brief moment when turned off and then on. Images are still displayed after this point but they are very dim and the white haze over powers it. Also there is usually a more solid white ring around the outside of the display (when a black background is present, the image is consistent when any other color is present).

I've read of a few issues that can cause similar problems... The lcd cable may be faulty and/or the connection is loose. I've opened up the system and reseated the connection multiple times as well as cleaning the connections. Then there is the possibility that it is a bad lcd inverter, which I assume isn't the case since I have read that the backlight would not function if this were the case and given that I have a white screen the back light is functioning perfectly if not overtime.

Since the image is displayed in it's complete and unaltered form (except for the dimness of course) I assume that the lcd is not at fault and since the picture is fine on an external display It couldn't be the video card.

Anyone have any guidance for me? Would it be worth it to invest in another lcd cable or could it be the inverter? Also everything that I have read concerning similar problems indicated that the lcd was not broken, but could I just be reading the wrong stuff?

Here are my system specs if that helps at all.

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile Intel Pentium M 735J, 1700 MHz (17 x 100)
Motherboard Name Dell Inspiron 6000
Motherboard Chipset Intel Alviso i915PM
System Memory 1024 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (09/28/05)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 (128 MB)
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Mobility Radeon X300 (M22)

Display
PC027 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4WSXGA+, VIDEO ELEC. STDS. ASSOC., QUANTA DISPLAY INCORPORATED

Also I am five days out of my warranty (nice timing, right?); so any repairs have to be done by myself which I can manage as long as I know what needs to be replaced etc... So the copy and paste send back to manufacturer response won't be of much use here.

Thank you for any help.

 

[Quigby]

No one with at least some kind of insight?

 

[Rebellion88]

Have you noticed your screen picture degrading at all such as faint burn marks or any bad connections, im not completely sure myself wish i could be or more help, its obviously not the hardware as a normal monitor works, must be the screen itself. If the screen is damaged you can pick one up fairly cheap just the screen off ebay as i did myself.

 

[Quigby]

No the screen was perfect up until this point, left it on over night and was as stated above in the morning. It was never dropped or anything like that.

 

[Rebellion88]

Have you tried it on an external monitor, maybe a bad connection?

 

[Quigby]

Have you tried it on an external monitor, maybe a bad connection?

Yes I have, I went through all that in the original post. I've reseated the connection and cleaned the pins as well.

I am going to hook the lcd up to another laptop and see if it works that way.

 

[Rebellion88]

Possibly a bad connection from the motherboard through to the monitor?

 

[Quigby]

Yeah that is what I have gathered. Although it doesn't make all that much sense that the cable would fail completely overnight;; you would think some adjustments, cleaning, reseating etc would have some sort of effect on the display if the cable was going bad. So that leads me to believe that it is either part of the lcd or a component on the video card that isn't affecting the external display outputs but only the laptop lcd.

 

[Rebellion88]

To be honest bad connection through a cable would be a long shot because you would have noticed the screen flicker or play up before hand. Overheating could of caused something, was the laptop doing anything when you left it on, or was it in cool place? You could strip it and see if there's any signs such as capacitors leaking, check the wiring. You can even try a local electrician or a tv repair shop, they may find the problem. You could try stressing the the grpahics card by playing a game see if anything happens.

 

[Quigby]

It could have overheated. I left it on running aircrack the monitor is set not to turn off when plugged in and the screen saver doesn't come on. I usually close the lid when I leave it running. I guess it was left on for 8-10 hours.

I have taken it all apart except the actual lcd panel assembly I didn't have a small enough screw driver. I just bought one and will gut that to see if something is going on.

My attempt to try the lcd panel on the other laptop failed I thought they would have the same cable interface but I was wrong. They have the same lcd panel but a different plug shape haha.

 

[Rebellion88]

I've found this, may help getting the screen apart,
http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_lcd_display.html

I think you might have a failed screen inverter (FL inverter); this problem is very common with laptops. The inverter board acts as a power supply for the LCD screen backlight bulb, it converts low voltage DC power into high voltage AC. On most laptops the inverter board is located inside the display assembly below the LCD screen and you can get access to it if you remove the screen bezel (LCD mask).

 

[Quigby]

I've already taken the benzel off and removed the lcd panel, but taking the actual panel apart is something I haven't done and I have the service manual. Thanks for the link though.

The thing about the inverter is that I have read that the back light not function if that is the problem. Am I mistaken? My back light is functioning that is why the image I have is all white. Actual images from the video card are very faint and when the lcd panel is engaged and before the back light can completely fire up a clear image is shown breifly.

 

[Rebellion88]

To light up the CCFL tube (backlight bulb) you have to get power to the FL inverter board first. Before the power comes to the inverter board, it goes through the lid close switch. This switch cuts off the power from the inverter, when the laptop lid is closed. Here’s my guess. May be you have a faulty lid close switch, it would explain why both displays failed the same way.

Try pressing the lid close switch repeatly see if anything happens?

 

[Quigby]

There were never two displays. I am trying to diagnose the first one before I invest in fixing it.

The back light IS WORKING. That is why the screen is illuminated and all white (BRIGHT).

One of us isn't following, sorry if it is me.

 

[Quigby]

Aslo I have seen a lid close switch on other notebooks, I can't find anything similar here. Inspiron 6000 btw.

 

[Quigby]

There is a magnet at the top of the lcd benzle. I think that is what indicates closure. There isn't a physical switch anywhere.

 

[Quigby]

Here is a video of what have been trying to describe,


Click on it.


A still image aswell.

I am cycling the lcd display on and off. The first cycle is extended desktop (that's why it only shows image in the center, it's the wallpaper) second cycle is 3dmark images.

 

[t9dragon]

I have the same problem except it happens on the lower 2/3 of the monitor.

 

[CheriT]

I had same problem on inspirion 6000 although not whole screen just bottom 1\2. I purchased a refurshibed lcd panel with inverter on ebay for about 135.00. This fixed problem and took about 10 mins. to change.
Good Luck

 

[t9dragon]

I had same problem on inspirion 6000 although not whole screen just bottom 1\2. I purchased a refurshibed lcd panel with inverter on ebay for about 135.00. This fixed problem and took about 10 mins. to change.
Good Luck

So was it the screen or the inverter that was bad? Who did you buy from on ebay?