1

I have a user reporting a laptop screen issue that I have attached. The picture isn’t the best, but the screen is dim. I just had another laptop in with a bad screen that was entirely dim and unreadable. This one just seems like it has the screen brightness set way down.

Could this be an inverter issue?

100_0450.jpg
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6 Spice ups
2

Looks to me like a back light issue. Interestingly there was a Tekzilla episode recently with a segment on repairing such issues… the bottom line was it’s probably more trouble than it’s worth but you can take a look.

3

yes it would typically be an inverter board in my experience. What type of laptop is it.

I have many sources for parts I can send you. It may also be the Backlight. In most cases the screen replacement in will come with both.

4

I had an issue similar to yours for a while and almost bought a new inverter/backlight to replace it.

Luckily I discovered that there was a setting in the bios for the screen brightness, and it was turned all the way down. I turned it up and my screen worked perfectly afterward.

5

Definitely check the brightness settings first. In my experience, inverters either work or they don’t.

6

I’ll just assume that black box is editing something out? Lol, cause that’s not good otherwise.

And check the power settings for the brightness first. Otherwise, it does appear as if the inverter is going out. I’d bet if you wait longer it will start to flicker when opening and closing the lid. They are a pain in the ass to replace, at least Dell’s and HP’s are, but it’s better than tossing the laptop or buying a whole new screen.

7

You’ve got a big black box in the middle of the screen.

There’sYourProblem.jpg

In assume you tried tinkering with brightness without any results. Usually this is the backlight or it’s control board, sometimes this is paired with a faint humming.

If it’s under warranty, send it out for repair

If it’s not and you have a spare, swap the hard disks out and keep this as your spare.

If you don’t have a spare, you can try and find the parts you need, but often you’re looking at working with small things in a small delicate environment. It’ll be cheaper to replace than to repair when you factor in time. However, if you have plenty of time, by all means, go for it.

8

It’s a ThinkPad T series model, not sure which one off the top of my head. I did get the inverter already, but when he sent me this picture I had second thoughts that it might be another issue.

In the case of the other laptop I had worked on, I had a spare screen that I was able to shoehorn in, but in this case I would need to buy a new one, making a new laptop the best route considering the age of it.

If it was a good chance the inverter was the culprit, I would have had him send it in.

9

Have plenty of time in IT? HA!

I should have been clearer that the problem is not the black box in the middle, as I wanted to obscure the person in the picture.

I’ve replaced inverters before. While it is involved, ThinkPad’s are very easy to work on in my experience. It’s definitely out of warranty, or I would have went that route already.

I’ll confirm with the user that they have tried the brightness settings and see what they say.

10

Start by checking both the BIOS settings for the display, and the Windows settings for power management/brightness/etc… Eliminate that as the problem first.

THEN, if the screen brightness or contrast are not corrected, you know the backlight is having problems, which MAY be corrected by replacing the inverter, but may require the backlight to be replaced, which is much more complex an operation than replacing the inverter.

Some how-to pages with pics:

http://laptoprepair.ca/news/1105.html

http://laptoprepair.ca/news/1067.html

11

After looking at the Pic, I would definitely check if there is a Bios setting for brightness. Typically if it was the back-light it would be much darker, almost to the point of being black. The Inverter be flickering or completely out in which case the screen would be black. Also check you cables going from the system board to the Screen. That will require some dis-assembly. Have you done that before?

12

I would check both BIOS and Windows power settings. I’m with the others that inverters work or they don’t.

LCD replacement panels are CHEAP now-a-days, and pretty simple to replace. The President of my org broke his screen and I was able to find a replacement for ~$120 that was actually a little better than the one he had to begin with. The stupid lid on the laptop didn’t even have screws holding it together, it was just a matter of knowing the secret way to pull it apart.

13

I’ve replaced a couple inverters before ($8 part btw) and, in my experience, if you can read the screen (which by the looks of your picture you can somewhat) then it isn’t the inverter. Better the inverter than the screen though. I’ve replaced those too and they are much more expensive.

Is there any discoloration? I had this happen before where the brightness seemed to fade from a monitor of mine, but everything had a red tint to it. Eventually the screen went black and never came on again.

14

In the other laptop I worked on with a bad screen, it had a red tint to it when it first turned on. Afterwards it would go dark. I changed the inverter in that one, and after it didn’t work, replaced the screen.

I’m waiting for the user to get back to me with what they found out adjusting the brightness. I’ll let everyone know what I discover.

15

We have a lot of trouble with laptop screens behaving badly (no particular brand or model) and the solutions vary from a bad part/screen to low power caused by not plugging the AC power supply into it’s power strip.

Kids are fairly good about putting laptops back in the cart, but no good at all when it comes to checking to see if they are actually recharging or not.

We also have a lot of trouble with then using the screens as handles. I didn’t expect this to cause dark/poor quality displays, but that does seem to be the case at times. What I would have expected was total failure.

Keep us posted. If this is a Thinkpad issue I’d like to know your solution.

16

He played around with the brightness settings and nothing, no change at all. He also is hearing a humming noise, so it sounds like it is the screen itself.

17

And if it was a backlight issue you’d most likely see it being dim in a certain area of the screen, not the whole screen.

This is the point where you decide if replacing the screen is worth it, or replacing the laptop (based on age/specs).