Dim screen on Dell Latitude D800 laptop
I have a Dell Latitude D800. I’ve had it about 3 years and about 2 months ago, I opened up the screen to a dim (faint) image. After a review of common problems, I know that my backlight is failing to come on. Typically I can close the lid and re-open it after a few seconds and I can receive 5 – 20 seconds of lit screen before it goes dim. Depending on how long it takes Windows to login, I can usually do a Send/Receive and sometimes even read/reply to an email or two.
I took off the LCD frame and reseated the video cable to the LCD, as well as the plug going into the FL inverter from the laptop. That didn’t fix the problem but it didn’t get worse.
Also, I’ve connected an external monitor successfully. The display on the other monitor has 0 issues.
Most likely your problem is related to the screen inverter. The screen inverter works as a power supply for the LCD screen backlight. When inverter fails, the screen backlight stops working at all or it works for a short time, as in your case. You have a good chance to fix the problem if you replace the inverter board witch is not very expensive and is easy to access. You can find a new inverter board here and replace it using these instructions.
If replacing the inverter doesn’t help, apparently there is a problem with the backlight lamp (CCFL bulb) inside the LCD screen.
Also, on rare occasions, the backlight failure could be related to the motherboard failure or the video cable failure, but it’s not very common.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:03 am
i also have a sony vaio z series and i am having the same problem as dave whereas i can only have the brightness at maximum or minimum. i am thinking it is software or driver problems but then im sure more people would have had the same problem. I have spoken to online sony reps and they have no answer. I still have warranty but i am reluctant to use it as i dont want to wait ages to get my laptop back.
has anyone been able to fix this problem??
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:37 am
Dell Laptop – Lattitude 5500 – Dim Monitor Issue
The problem started after running enirely on battery for a few hours. Running on regular power not help, monitor still dim.. Appears this is big issue with dell computers. This is a company laptop I using thank goodness, I sending it back and gonna use my laptop for the few weeks left of work I have. If this is what happens with Dell laptops I be darned if I ever gonna purchase one. ( I have an ACER by the way)
July 31st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I seem to have the same problem similar to most. LCD screen is very dim. I could only read the screen with the help of my drop light.
If I close the lid it turn bright again, i can watch video for 5 to 10 minutes or so before it turn dim .
The problem started the day I replaced my battery charger 3 prong socket that sparks.
Did I screw up the power supply and busted something inside? or its my inverter/backlight problem?
please help
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 am
Hi!
My labtop started flickering when I turn it on and the flickering has gotton worse. WHen I unplug the power supply the screen goes dim and you can’t see anything. What could be the problem?
May 18th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
My company had an auction to get rid of old used laptops. I picked up 3 Dell D800s 2 of which wouldn’t boot and 1 that was fine except it had a dim display (readable but certainly not bright enough to use – even though brightness is set to max). I was hoping to swap out one of the displays from the models that wouldn’t boot but both of them are dim as well so it can’t be the inverter or backlight… any thoughts?
February 20th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Darren,
My Dell D800 is acting the same way….I’m wondering if one of Microsoft’s updates is responsible as I tried to install XP SP3 and had to reverse it due to other issues. I’ve replaced the inverter with no change. My power settings no longer contain an option for screen brightness. I don’t how how long thats been gone. I’m going to try reloading XP and see what that does for me.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:17 am
I have a Hp Dv2000. The problem is weird every time I boot my laptop the screen is dim[I can see the Hp logo]. after hitting the Fn F4 a few times the screen comes back on OR if I close the lid and open again after 3 mins the screen is on. the laptop then works fine for 2.5 hrs or so. then suddenly the screen starts getting dim and the back light goes off.
The screen starts working again after a few hours of using the external monitor.
-happens on both power and battery.
-external monitor works fine.
-lid switch works fine[have tested by disconnecting it]
-have tested the ram
I don’t know if the problem is the invertors or some voltage problem on the mother board.
Please help.
January 1st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Dave,
I guess your laptop is still under warranty? Do not repair it yourself, call the manufacturer.
January 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Darren,
I think you have a problem with the backlight lamp but I’m not sure 100%.
I posted your question here: LCD screen recently went dark
December 31st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Just an update.
After I wrote my response (about the Sony Vaio Z series), the laptop actually worked again – until now.
The problem returned. I can only get the screen lit, when the brightness is on its highest settings (which is the case during bootup or bios).
I have no idea what the problem is. My latop is not even 2 months old.
Dave
December 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I’ve got a problem that seems to fit in with some of the other responses here.
I have a Dell D810 laptop and the LCD recently went dark. When starting from cold, the boot screen comes up just fine (normal brightness) but as soon as it gets to the logon screen it goes dark. When taking it out of sleep mode the screen will also light up normally bint only for about 2-5 seconds then it goes dark again.
You can see the desktop icons if you try the flashlight trick so I figure its either the inverter or backlight.
Before I order an inverter I thought I’d throw in what seems to be unusual with my problem:
If I keep the brightness at halfway or less I can get the screen to stay lit all the time. If I raise it above half, that triggers the screen to go dark. I adjusted my power settings to only have the LCD brightness at half all the time.
Also my power settings are set up to have the LCD screen turn off when the lid is closed, and if I close the lid (if the screen has gone dark and then reopen the lid the screen lights up again as normal, but only as long as I make sure to keep the brightness down.
BTW- I did notice my screen having a pinkish tone when it would wakeup, before the screen actually started going dark. It still has that pinkish hue when starting up from cold and it seems that the pinkish tone goes away after it has been on for awhile (20-30min?).
Does this point more towards an inverter or backlight?
thanks
December 20th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Nathaniel, I have exactly the same problem (on my Sony Vaio Z series notebook). I actually figured how I can work with the laptop at least for the time being. The trick to ensure that the brightness level is either on the brightest or lowest level. Then the screen doesn’t go dim. With the settings in between the screen goes dim after a while (a few minutes usually).
Be careful, you also have to adjust the settings in the power options.
I bet when you boot from CD the screen is automatically on the brightest setting? Same in BIOS?
I am still wondering, whether this is a software or hardware problem?
Any ideas?
Dave
December 17th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Thanks for the pointers! Here is my blog on the replacement of the display inverter for a D800.
http://rebootdaily.blogspot.com/2008/12/dell-latitude-d800-dead-display.html
December 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I have a Sony Vaio model number PCG-K27. Suddenly this week the screen is dark when the pc boots to windows, like the lcd backlight is not lit. Power adapter or battery does not matter. (Running XP SP2) If I hook up an external monitor it works fine. The VAIO splash screen is backlit, and if I go into the bios it stays lit. Furthermore, I can boot to a CD and it stays lit. As soon as the Windows splash screen comes up it goes dark. I have tried the fn+f5 or f6 for brightness, I have tried fn+f7 for LCD/VGA. By connecting it to a monitor I have looked at every setting in display properties, energy management, etc. and can find nothing that makes the thing light up. I tried installing the latest video card drivers. I reset the bios back to factory settings. This notebook is borrowed and I do not have all of the installation media for software that the owner has installed, so I would rather not format and reinstall windows if possible. I am open to any ideas! Is this hardware or software? Anyone seen anything like this before?
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Had the same problem with the dim screen. Bought an inverter from a an online site called inverter central. The inverter looked slightly different then the original Dell inverter but the connections were the ame. I pluged it in to see if it wuld work but it didn’t. How do I specify exactly what inverter I need for a Dell latitude d800?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:27 am
I have the same problem with a dell 8000
dim lcd
I can push the lid close button and some times the screen comes back
sometime I have to do this alot
once its up and running it will usually stay that way till I close the lid or turn it off
appears to take a while to warm up and then occurs less often
appears to be getting worse
external monitor has 0 issues
I’m going to replace the invertor but what I’m wondering is if anyone has any comments on the effect of the battery and or wattage of the power supply on this issue
it appears that this might exacerbate the problem
October 19th, 2008 at 5:29 am
my husband has a microtel laptop and he mainly games on it. It is not hooked to the internet.
He was playing a game for about 5- 10 minutes and the screen went completly white and stopped working.
HE THEN TRIED DISCONNECTING BATTERY AND POWER AND LET IT SIT FOR AN HOUR AND THEN TRIED TURNING IT BACK ON BUT IT WOULD NOT RESTART BUT SOUNDED AS IF WAS TRYING TO START BUT SCREEN REMAINED BLANK AND NOTHING WOULD COME UP.
cAN YOU HELP US PLEASE? tHANK YOU
PLEASE CAN YOU HELP US
October 18th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
hi.i like this webside..
there is a green dot on my screen.I have just bought toshiba satellite a305.i want it to be gone from my screen…
September 25th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I am having the same problem as Dan with my D800. I order the complete LCD kit from Dell, replaced it and it worked for about 1/2 day. I then replaced the video card and that didn’t help. I am currently ordering another inverter board to see if that is it. Dan, let me know what you have figured out.
Thanks
August 26th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
i’ll give that a shot and will post back.
Thanks
August 26th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Gabriel,
To me this description sounds like a hardware related problem. Most likely it’s bad inverter board or backlight lamp. I would try replacing the inverter board first, because it’s much easier and you have a good chance to fix the laptop.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Dan,
It’s possible that you purchased a defective inverter board. Can you return it for an exchange?
August 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
By the way.. it’s booting up just fine still. I can BARELY see the outline of some of what should be on the screen as it boots up. There is a little bit of dim flickering.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I spoke too soon. the screen worked beautifully for about half a day, then it stopped working. what does it mean???? I don’t think it’s the bulb because it worked great for a while. Is it shorting? if so, how do I fix it? I’ve replaced the cable and the inverter.
HELP!
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I’ve been searching all over the internet for days, all to no avail and wasn’t able to find anyone with the same problem as me. Very frustrating. Hopefully this site would be my savior, and this is the problem that is closest to mine.
What is puzzling about my problem is that my backlight would only stay off SOMETIMES, but would never flicker. Then, once it stays on, as long as I keep on using it or put it under a screensaver, it would continue to work. So, unlike this individual who asked the question, it doesn’t just last the first X number of seconds.
Most of the time, if I were to let the display turn off (as set in the power settings), the backlight would not turn on again (I still have the dim LCD image). I would then have to go to the Windows logon screen (by either locking or clicking on “switch user”), where sometimes, the backlight would turn on again. Then, once you click on your user profile and load your windows, it may or may not turn off, and of course once it turns on, you’re good for that session. So, what I would do is go back and forth between these screens until my backlight turns on.
An external monitor works fine.
Also, it seems to be getting slightly progressively worse. I use to be able to just hibernate my laptop and turn it on again, and it would fix the problem. But now, even restarting the computer does not necessarily fix it. It also seems like shutting down the computer then turning it back on gives better results than just “restarting”. Also it seems like once I get the backlight to work, if I were to restart my computer anyways, it would continue to work.
On this website
http://www.pbcomp.com.au/laptop-notebook-troubleshoot.html
at the bottom I read:
A conflict with the Laptops BIOS power management and Windows power management is the most common cause of such wake-up failure. Try different settings in the BIOS to see if that might solve the problem. Look to see if the Laptops BIOS is configured to suspend the computer, and how it compares with the value configured in Windows. In most cases let Windows control the power management.
I wanted to explore this route but I’m not exactly sure what it’s referring to. What settings in BIOS? I don’t see any option to suspend the computer. What value is he referring to in windows?
I hope it’s not a hardware issue because if it were, why would it work sometimes, and also not be flickering (indicating something’s loose)?… Unless the loose connection controls a device that would stay on once activated.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
Gabriel
August 20th, 2008 at 11:36 am
OK… here’s what I did and it WORKED! I purchased a new inverter, which didn’t seem to solve the problem. I then purchased a new cable setup for the LCD, and combined with the new inverter, the screen is working great!
August 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Carol,
I agree with Floyd. The problem is not related to the router.
Floyd said:
My comment: If there is no video on both, internal and external monitors, it’s possible motherboard problem.
If your laptop is still under warranty, call Dell.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:45 am
To Carol …..
The brand and type of router or network cards have nothing to do with the screen not lighting up.
It appears that your laptop is defective, it is either not booting up at all or has a bad screen/backlight.
The next time you turn the laptop on take a flashlight and ahine it on the screen, if you can see any graphics or text then you have a bad backlight or inverter, if you don’t see anything then your laptop either has a bad LCD or is not coming on at all.
If your laptop has a connection for a regular monitor then connect it and test the operation.
There should be a power on light somewhere as well as the battery light.
BTW, I have been a computer technician for 9 years.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Hello, I purchased a dell laptop.The battery light is lite up but the screen will not come on.I bought a belkin router but when the dell came it also came with dlink notebook card and says not to play the cd ready to plug and play!!! could that be the problem?I do have a belkin adaptor. I was told you could mix the names of the router and adpt.
Please help first laptop and very discouraged!!!!!!!!
Thank You Carol
Any and all help please
July 21st, 2008 at 10:25 am
I have a laptop with the same problem (Also a D800). I have ordered a new inverter on eBay and will post here w/the results. Hopefully that works!