My LCD screen has an issue. The image on the screen is garbled and flickers in some areas.
LCD Screen has a bad connection. The screen itself I know is fine, I can pull on the top left of the screen and everything looks like it’s supposed to. But, when I release the pressure the image becomes garbled and flickers in some areas. I’ve read that sometimes the actual video cable can get loose? If so, I can’t seem to figure out how to get at the inside of the PC to investigate. Do you have any kind of walkthrough or illustrations that might help for this issue?
I’ll run the specs.
IBM Thinkpad A22m 2628 TTU
1Ghz PIII processor, 256MB RAM Rage 3D Mobility
Windows XP Pro SP2
I don’t want to frustrate you, but I think that you might have an issue with the screen itself. Basing on my experience, when you can get a normal image by twisting the screen, then most likely the screen is bad and should be replaced. I do not exclude possibility of a loose connection, so reseating the cable would be a good attempt to fix the problem. Use Lenovo website to download a hardware maintenance manual for Thinkpad A22m. The LCD disassembly would be discussed on the page 99. You can also take a look at my disassembly guides I’ve created for Toshiba laptops. Find a guide about taking apart a laptop display assembly to get a better idea about LCD mask removal.
You can find a cheap LCD replacement here.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
I just wanted to update my situation. I opened the display and reseated the cable on the lcd and that did nothing. I did not open the case itself as I was worried that my intrusions would be obvious and void my warranty. I also formatted and reinstalled windows and all drivers and again no change. The good news is that I bought an extended warranty on it so I have sent it back to staples and they will fix it for me. I’m really glad that I bought an extended warranty and if anyone is debating if they should get one then I strongly recommend that they do purchase it.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Philippe,
It’s hard to say. Either the LCD screen or the video harness is bad. What if you twist the LCD a little bit, will it change something? I would try reseating the video cable first and if it will not help, probably replace the video harness. It’s possible that replacing the harness will not help, but it’s much cheaper then replacing the LCD and you have a chance to fix the laptop. Replacing the LCD screen in some cases doesn’t make any sense because it’s cheaper to buy a new laptop.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:15 pm
My screen is very badly garbled… I cant really explain so i have a video posted here
I have narrowed the problem down to either the screen itself or the connectors. As you can see the laptop outputs fine but the screen is messed up. It was working perfectly 2 hours ago at which point i put it in standby and when i turned it back on about an hour ago it was like this. What should I do?
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Jordan Gantt,
Test the laptop video with an external monitor as I described in the comment 26.
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Danielle,
First of all I would connect an external screen and test the external video. Can you set up the laptop to output video on both internal LCD and external monitor screens? With Toshiba laptops you have to use Fn+F5 key combination to set the video output, not sure about HP laptops.
So, connect the monitor and wait until the video fails. If both screens go bad and the same problem appears on the laptop screen and external monitor, then most likely you have a bad video card. If the video card is integrated into the motherboard, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
If the video goes bad only on the laptop LCD but the external monitor works fine. You have either a bad video harness or bad LCD. I cannot say with one is causing the problem. For the test purposes it’s necessary either install a known good screen or replace the video harness.
This problem also could be caused by a loose video cable. I would try reseating the cable on both ends – on the motherboard and on the back of the LCD screen.
I don’t know what you mean by that. But it’s possible that the video cable coating is worn out and when you move the screen the wire from the harness touches the metal hinges crating a short. If would be necessary to examine the harness and if it’s damaged buy a new one.
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm
my laptop screen is fuzzy and blurs everything… it is a toshiba tectra 8200, is it just old and the screen is going bad? also it has happend before but it was fine for a while and then it went back to being fuzzy and has been science
-Jordan Gantt-
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:18 am
also, if this is going to cost too much to fix, i am going to look for another laptop. I do alot of picture, video and movie editing. Could you advise what kind of laptop i should purchase or tell me what to stay away from?
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:16 am
I have a HP zv6000. My screen recently started turning to “white” i guess… not sure how to describe it but it works for a short moment and then white horizontal lines start going thru the screen and the screen eventually freezes up. This is resolved if i move the screen slightly. It started doing this every so often and now its constant. I have had this for a little over a year and it has worked perfectly until now. I read somewhere it could be “issue with the wire-tape in the hinge of the lid”???? is this so?
December 23rd, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Fredrik,
Not really sure what’s going on with your laptop. The laptop goes into Stand by and Hibernation mode when you close the lid, so the lid close switch works fine. I think the backlight is controlled on the BIOS level, not by the operating system. Here’s my understanding how it works. You close the screen and it activates the lid close switch, the lid close switch cuts off the power from the inverter board and the backlight goes off.
Did you have this problem before you installed Softany Monitor Control software? May be there is a conflict between Softany utility and the BIOS? Try uninstalling the utility. Not sure, that’s just a guess.
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:43 am
Hello! Yes it works perfectly with Stand By or Hibernate but it won’t shut down the screen. I have a software called Softany Monitor Control which can turn off the screen via hotkeys and it works, but I still should be able to just shut my lid and my monitor should shut off. It didn’t work in Safe Mode but it works in BIOS. Do you think that a BIOS update can solve the issue? It seems to me there’s something with my windows, I got Windows Media Center Edittion by the way.
Thanks
// Fredrik
December 20th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
I have a Gateway mx6025 and I have a problem with my screen going black. I can still faintly see the screen if I hold it to light I have it hooked up to an external monitor and I’m using it now to type this. The problem started a while back if you moved the screen it would go black and you could restart it and it would be ok. Now its always black it just flickers on when you first start it up for a second. Is this something I can fix? I took it apart once but didn’t know what I was looking for I thought maybe a broken wire or something unplugged but I didn’t see anything.
A possible solution for the problem has been published here: Screen on my laptop going black
December 20th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Fredrik,
What if you change “Do nothing” to “Stand by “ or “Hibernate”, will it go to stand by or hibernate when you close the lid? Change settings back to “Do nothing”, boot the laptop into safe mode (press F8 key on startup) and test it again. Will it work in safe mode? BTW, find out if there is a BIOS update for your model. Upgrade the BIOS if necessary.
December 19th, 2006 at 6:14 am
Hello! I have an issue with my Dell Inspiron 9400 monitor and I couldn’t find any better place to ask my question.
The problem is that my screen won’t shut off when I close the lid. It works perfectly in BIOS but not in Windows. I have “Do nothing” in the option in Energy options when you close the lid and I have tried exiting every process able in the Taskmanager. Still, my screen won’t shut down when I close the lid. Dell Support had no idea what program that could be making this fuss and my computer is about a month old so I don’t feel like formatting or reinstalling windows.
December 16th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Amir,
It sounds like a bad screen.
December 16th, 2006 at 1:19 am
I have a compaq n160 laptop
and have problem with the lcd screen
when i start it have seems like it has no problem
but after a few minuts it start flickering first slaw
then faster and faster untill I get a white smear on the
screen but it only happens on part of the screen
somthing like 3 quarters of the screen
and leaving me at the top a normal image
if try to reboot the that problem start immediately even
as the computer is rebooting
can you tell me if the problem is the screen
or an internal problem of the hardware?
December 8th, 2006 at 5:39 am
Hello you clever people. Hope you can help me my son has a laptop which he punched. The screen now looks like a shattered glass but the pc seems to be ok. We have been told if we link it to an external monitor/tv via a 15 pin vga plug it will work ok? Is that true? Please help I can’t afford another one for him.
November 30th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
Naresh,
I think it’s just a coincidence and the video problem is not related to the memory upgrade. Do you still have the same video issue if you downgrade back to 1GB?
November 30th, 2006 at 11:16 am
I have an Acer Ferari 4000 laptop. Got the memory upgrade yesterday from 1gb to 1.5Gb. Afterwards, when i moe the laptop here and there, the screen starts flickering. tried toning down the resolution, but didnt’ help.
Please advise.
Thanks a ton
November 28th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
Aivi,
Just to make sure that your problem is not related to the LCD screen, start the laptop with an external monitor and set the laptop to output video on the external monitor. Can you reproduce the problem on the external monitor? If you can see the same bad video output on the external screen, then it’s not a LCD related issue.
In case if it’s a software related problem, I think the best way would be to reload the hard drive back to original factory defaults using a recovery DVD. It’s very hard to troubleshoot software related issues and you can spend hours without any luck and only make it worst. I would recommend re-imaging the drive. BUT do not forget to back up all personal files before you run the restore process.
November 27th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
I have a similar problem with my screen flickering a rainbow of colors. This happened to me before with a Dell laptop, but I solved it by uninstalling the SBCYahoo programs. Now Im experiencing the same problem with my Gateway laptop but it doesnt have the SBCYahoo program. Actually, the Gateway worked fine until I started downloading some programs like YouTube Grabber, TubeSucker, and Total Video Convertor. I also downloaded a Windows Updater program or update from Microsoft, and I dont know what it did. Im beginning to suspect that its the Microsoft update thats at fault. Reason is: I uninstalled the video programs and the problem still continued. Im not sure if uninstalling the programs, like the Total Video Convertor, will uninstall any parts that came with it. Ie: the Convertor installs a codec on my comp to let me view FLV files. Ive tried a System Restore but that didnt work. Is there any way to undo the updates, or delete the codec? I dont know what driver my comp has because the video info screen says “unknown”. Thanks for the help.
October 31st, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Tiffany,
Here you’ll find a link to IBM Thinkpad T30 notebook maintenance manual. This manual has disassembly instructions.
Test the laptop with an external screen. What about the external video, is the external video corrupted too when you move the laptop/screen or it affects only the internal LCD?
Here’s what you can try yourself. Lift up the laptop keyboard and disconnect the video cable from the motherboard. Boot the laptop with an external screen and see if you still have the same issue.
If the problem is gone when the laptop LCD is disconnected and the laptop works fine with the external monitor, then your problem is somewhere inside the laptop display assembly. If you still have a corrupted video output even when the laptop LCD is disconnected, then you might have a problem somewhere on the motherboard.
Before you do all that, try moving the memory module into the second slot and test the laptop again.
Let me know how it goes.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Sohaib Mansoor,
So it’s not related to the motherboard/video card failure and it doesn’t look like a software issue either.
Did you notice if the LCD flickers when you move the display? Can you see any pattern?
From the description you provided I would assume that it could be a loose video cable, a bad video cable or a bad LCD screen. I would try reseating the video cable first (on the motherboard and on the back of the LCD screen). If it doesn’t help, I would replace the video cable and if you still experience the same problem, probably the LCD would be next. Sorry, I cannot help you with disassembly because I don’t work with Sony laptops.
October 30th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Hi, I have an IBM T30 notebook. My problem is with the screen, I think there is a loose connection somewhere because my screen rarely turns on anymore eventhough i know the laptop itself is on (kinda similar to Reuben’s problem with the screen except mine is worst). When I move the laptop/screen a certain way i sometimes can get the screen to turn on but the screen will be corrupted and freeze if i even move the laptop slightly. The problem keeps getting worst because in the beginning I can turn the screen on like 40% of the time by moving, now it’s down to like 5%!. Is there a way for me to fix this problem, take the screen apart and how? or should i just start saving for a new laptop now?
October 30th, 2006 at 3:30 am
Hello! i have sony vaio PCG-V505BP, just a month ago its Display started flickering. And when I restart my laptop for couple of times, it becomes normal as it was a month ago. Couple of weeks back it was taking one restart (restarting laptop) to fix the flickering problem but now gradually it is taking an increasing rate of restart attempts, like now its taking almost 4-7 restarting attempts, plus its flickering line are also becoming larger and whiter. And also when my laptop becomes normal after couple of restarts, i can see a permanant hair like very small horizontal flickering line(not dead pixels line) at the conrner of screen. And yeah i have checked my machine with extarnal LCD display, it displayed normal. Please help me! ill be greatly thankful to you!
October 23rd, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Reuben,
Here are instructions for taking apart Dell Inspiron 9300, it will should help you to open up the display. I would try resetting the video cable first. It’s connected to the back of the LCD screen. Make sure the video cable is seated all the way down into the connector.
October 22nd, 2006 at 12:52 pm
I have a Dell Inspiron 9300. The bottom 1/3rd of my screen is garbled. When I put pressure in the middle of the screen on the left side, I get a clear picture.
For about a month, I was able to put pressure on the left side and then let go to get a clear picture for a long period of time. Now it will not stick at all.
I believe the issue is just with some contacts in there or something, which I would hope is fixable, but I am unable to open the LCD to get a look.
Here is the screen as I see it:
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/Shhhhhhhh/nofinger.jpg
And here when I squeeze the left middle side:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/Shhhhhhhh/finger.jpg
October 20th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
Charles,
Let’s try to figure out if it’s a software issue, or you actually have failing hardware.
1. When you start up the laptop, the first image that appears on the screen is the Toshiba logo. The logo appears to be normal or it’s blurry too? If it’s blurry, then it’s not a software issue.
2. Hook up an external monitor and start up the laptop. How about the video output on the external screen? Is it blurry too? If both screens display blurry video, then you problem could be related to a failing video card OR a corrupted video driver. If the video on the external screen displays normally but the video on the internal screen is blurry, then most likely the LCD screen itself is bad or you have a failed video cable.
3. Restart the laptop and press F8 as soon as a red Toshiba logo appears on the screen. Select Safe Mode from the advanced options menu and press enter. The laptop will boot into the safe mode and only a basic VGA drive will be loaded in this mode. If you have normal video when the laptop is in the safe mode, then most likely your video driver is corrupted. Reinstall the video drive and see if the problem is fixed.
Before we go any further try all three steps I mentioned above and let me know how it goes.
October 20th, 2006 at 11:59 am
I have a Toshiba laptop. About a week ago, the image display on the monitor suddenly became blurry, to the point that it’s incredibly difficult to make out what I’m viewing looking at. It’s the same whether I’m looking at a web page or a document. I have a photo of my daughter’s face set as the background. The image seems almost like its melting–I can see the general outline of her face, but all the colors that compose the image have almost become watery; like I said, as if they’re melting away.
August 26th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
Art,
A flickering screen and intermittent backlight problems are usually caused by a failing FL inverter board. When the FL inverter fails, you still can see the image on the screen but it’s very dim. Sometimes, you can get the backlight back if you tap a few times on the lid close switch. I think that when you press on the area close to the lid close switch, you actually press on the switch itself. Here’s my question. When the backlight goes off, can you get it back on by genteelly tapping on the lid close switch? Or it’s necessary to press on the area around the lid close switch?
If you can get the backlight by tapping on the lid close switch, then most likely you have a bad FL inverter board and you can fix the problem if you replace it. Here’s my guide for taking apart Toshiba Satellite P25 display assembly (www.irisvista.com). The inverter shown on the step 8.
August 26th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Hello. I have been researching why this Satellite P25 LAPTOP LCD will sometimes flicker or sometimes just darken altoghether. I am looking at if for a friend. Well, I connected an external monitor and no problem. Then , as I moved the laptop around, I noticed that it would sometimes work fine. I kinda pushed different sections of the CPU and yes, pushing down on an area right next to the hybernating button, the monitor would work fine. So when it flickers or when it goes completely dark, all I do is press down, sometimes hard, and it will work. However, I know this is no way to have a laptop. Would you agree with me that there is a loose connection? And should I go ahead and try to check the wires. I am a pretty experienced computer user and have opened up other computers, but never a laptop. Also, it’s not mine. I really want to though, cause I am just so curious. If my friend doesn’t have waranty I’m going to suggest I fix it for her. What do you think? Thanks. art