Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with laptop and screen

How to restore a glossy laptop screen?

bashos_frog — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:22:31 -0800

Is there any way to restore the glossy coating on a Macbook Pro screen? It seems that my keyboard has has transferred enough oil to my screen to permanently damage the glossy coating in spots (especially the line caused by the bottom edge of the keyboard). Is there any way to reapply some kind of coating, or restorative that will make the screen look new again?

Help Using a Laptop Without a Backlight

Charmian — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:36:46 -0800

Today my laptop's backlight stopped working. The screen is visible, but very dim. I can't repair it immediately (if it's even worth it). Does anyone have any tips for lighting the screen to make it more visible? Shining a penlight didn't seem to help much, because the screen is so reflective. The laptop is a three year old HP Pavilion dv1000. It is no longer under warranty. I probably will get another computer instead, because I don't think I'm up to replacing a backlight myself, and it sounds like getting it done in a shop will cost more than the computer itself.

Laptop screen dying: DIY to prevent RIP?

googly — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:00:05 -0800

My laptop screen appears to be dying. Is there anything I can do? I have a 3-year-old Dell Latitude X1 laptop that has taken a fair bit of abuse over the years. Recently, the screen has started having an intermittent problem: part of the screen will take on a much lighter shade, and it will look as if the resolution has been reduced - almost exactly like when Windows is run in Safe Mode. Here are some pix:

Normal.
Abnormal: 1, 2, 3.

I can rectify this problem by slightly bending the screen from the side, or by changing the angle of the screen.

My questions:

(1) What is the problem? I assume its hardware related, and (hopefully) some connecting wire that is being bent/broken. Or could it be the motherboard?

(2) Is this something that I might be able to fix on my own and for relatively cheap? The computer works great otherwise and I'd really love to hang on to it, but I'm not willing to pay $1000 for a replacement screen.

(3) Is there some way that I can diagnose and/or fix this? I am comfortable opening up electronics and doing basic repair work (e.g. replacing drives and fans and so forth) but hardly an expert.

Laptop screen replacement question.

hwestiii — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:19:26 -0800

Looking to possibly replace my laptop screen. Confused by the options. The screen on my Fujitsu Lifebook began flickering occassionally several months ago, but the problem has recently become so frequent that it is nearly unusable and I'm looking at replacement options.

After searching around on the web, it seems like the problem could be in one of two places, the inverter board that the display plugs into, or the display itself.

What I'm trying to figure out is if there is a reliable way of determining which it actually is. I don't want to replace one item only to find out that the problem is actually the other.

Replace a Gateway Laptop LCD?

nokry56 — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:33:39 -0800

My girlfriend's Gateway T-6836 just fell. Her screen is broken and she called me in tears. I found a replacement screen, but will it work? And how can I replace it? Here's the screen I found: link
Thoughts?

Any ideas on how to get to taking this thing apart and replacing the screen? What potential problems might I run into? Should it be as simple as opening up the LCD, unplugging the broken screen and pluggin in the new one?

Obviously there could be other problems, but I figured I'd start with the screen. I work in IT and am not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I've never had to replace a laptop screen... Help?

VGA-output woes with old laptop connected to HDTV

kampken — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:11:22 -0800

I've connected a VGA-cable from my old Packard Bell Easynote (Windows XP) laptop to my Samsung HDTV but it doesn't display anything and the tv detects no input from the computer at all. I've tested the cable and tv with my Eee netbook and it works perfectly.

The PB laptop has a few hotkeys for switching screens but all they do is disable the laptop screen and nothing happens.
In Windows it only has 1 screen installed in Device Manager and Display Manager, which is the laptop LCD instead of having 2 screens like on my netbook and other computers. I suspect the problem is here.

I went to the Packard Bell website and got a list of all available drivers/utilities and reinstalled without any change. I think there is some sort of ACPI utility missing which would enable the hotkey function. However all the other hotkeys work just fine..so im not so sure. I no longer have any driver/restore cd's from the manufacturer so i can't reset the computer (cause i faintly remember it used to work back then)

I tried to install some Linux distros via LiveCD to see if the VGA-port would work there, but so far i've been unsuccessful since the cd-drive is malfunctioning and the BIOS is too old to boot from USB-drives. I've also checked the BIOS to see if the VGA-port is somehow disabled, but everything seems fine there.

So what are my options? I hope someone has a solution :)

HP LCD gone pinko; love it or leave it?

xz — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:38:28 -0800

I like pink, but not when it's all over my LCD. I like pink, but only when the other option is black. Help me confirm my novice diagnosis, please, concerning my screwed HP Pavilion dv5220us laptop. Doing lots of internet searching (and scrolling through older MeFi questions), i'm pretty sure what's wrong with my laptop is either a blown backlight or a busted inverter board or less likely, a loose cable. What I could use some help with is figuring out whether it's clearly one or the other. That will help me decide whether I get a pro to fix it, try to do it myself, or just save up to buy a new machine.

For a week, when I booted the machine up or woke it from napping (HP Pavilion dv5220us, 2.5 years old), the LCD would be pink for a bit (c.30 sec) then "warm up" and be fine. An external monitor showed no problems at all. Then, after a week of that, suddenly it went black. You could still see an image on the screen, but it was very faint. I rebooted the machine, and again, it was pink for a minute, then fine for a minute, then poof: back to black. Now, after a few days, I don't even get the pink, just the black (with ghost image). An external monitor still is 100% fine.

Repair estimates cost $75 here in Melbourne AU. I've been told "if it's the LCD backlight, we'll need to replace the whole LCD, and that's $700." (MLN Laptop Repair) No dice. The machine isn't worth that much! I found the repair guide online, so I think I could manage to replace the inverter board myself. I'm not super handy, but I've done some hardware stuff. If I need more than a screwdriver, I should probably leave it alone.

I'm just wondering if those symptoms clearly suggest one problem vs. another to one of you extra-smart people. Or, if not, if the likelihood it's just the cabling or the inverter board means I should roll the dice with a pro shop.

How to hookup 2 external monitors to a laptop with one VGA port?

greenknightwatch — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:31:38 -0800

What's the best way to setup 2 external monitors on a laptop with just one VGA port ? I have two Acer AL2216W 22" LCD monitors (1680x1050) that I want to use to provide a dual screen display running off a Inspiron 6400 laptop.

The Inspiron 6400 has one VGA port and no DVI port. I have seen several USB to DVI or USB to VGA adapters which allow you to add an extra video output. Some of these units have external video cards in the cable. Some cables do not have an external video card.

Has anyone else tried this kind of setup with similar laptops, monitors? What equipment did you use to provide a second monitor output on your laptop?

How long before my backlight goes out?

Mrs. Buck Turgidson — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:56:18 -0800

The backlight on my 5-year-old laptop screen has just started to get dimmer and pinkish in the corners. How long do I have before it goes completely out? Days? Weeks? At any moment?

Backlight or Inverter? How can you tell?

doomtop — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:54:28 -0800

Backlight or Inverter? How can you tell? Generally, when a laptop's LCD screen is functioning but extremely dim to the point of not really being able to see, this means that either the Backlight or the Inverter for the Backlight needs to be replaced.

Is there any way to determine whether the problem is due to the Backlight or due to the Inverter, without testing by replacing one or the other?

I am trying to avoid having to buy one part only to find out the problem is the other one.

Need Cleen Screen

imjustsaying — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:40:11 -0800

How can I safely get this glossy laptop LCD clean and free of dust without running the risk of damaging it? Dirty computer LCD screens drive me crazy.

My laptop is a Sony VGN-FE550G with a glossy screen. My acid test for a a really clean screen is to fill it with a black background and view it with bright light hitting it.

When I managed to get the dust off of it I invariably end up with streaks.

Help me reduce the reflection on my laptop lcd.

exphysicist345 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:28:13 -0800

How can I make my laptop's lcd screen less reflective? My cheap laptop's lcd screen is glossy like glass and reflects like a mirror. Granted, I could have paid more money and gotten a better laptop, but...

When I look at the screen, I'm staring into my own reflection. How can I make it less reflective?

The googles talk about matte screens, and I don't want that. I like the sharp, contrasty look. I just want to lose the reflection.

I think what I want is called an anti-reflective coating. Anyone found it? Where can I get it?

Dell notebook, Vista, and Screen Resolution

fructose — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:31:37 -0800

Dell notebook with Vista screen resolution keeps changing itself upon "waking up"- why? I have a Dell Inspiron E1405 notebook and use Windows Vista 32-bit Home Premium. When I close my computer or it goes to sleep, when I open it or "wake it up," the screen resolution changes from my setting of 1280 x 768 to 1024 x 768. It doesn't happen every single time, but probably 90% of the time.

I've tried looking at pretty much all the settings I could find in the area of the monitor and screen resolution and nothing I've done fixes it. The drivers are all up to date.
I've searched Dell support and Google for this and I haven't seen anyone else talking about having this problem.
Could it be a different program I'm running that causes the issue? It didn't always do this. I mostly just use Firefox, Word, Picasa, and Gaim.

Thanks!

Will gluing together a laptop's LCD screen panels work?

cog_nate — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:49:31 -0800

Will using superglue or gorilla glue to glue together the LCD screen case on a laptop computer work? I bought an old beater laptop for my wife to use for at least one month. The laptop works fine, LCD looks great, but the outer panel edges around the screen's case are a bit loose (and are currently being held together by not-very-confidence-inspiring tape). Can I use a few drops of super glue or gorilla glue to fasten the edges together? Or will it off-gas and/or turn solvent and somehow damage the plastics and/or electronics? (This is a Sony Vaio GRZ610, if that makes any difference.)

Thanks in advance.

Vertical line on laptop monitor ... is this the beginning of the end?

momzilla — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:16:52 -0800

Vertical line on laptop monitor ... is this the beginning of the end? Today while I was working on my Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop, a vertical line appeared on the monitor. I rebooted the laptop, but the line, which looks like it is just one pixel wide, is still there. Is this a sign that my laptop monitor is about to bite the dust?

I want my laptop screen closed, but not _that_ closed.

Addlepated — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:18:13 -0800

Is there a doodad that I can hook onto my laptop that will allow me to close it partially, but not let it close all the way? Said gadget should be easily-takeable-offable, too. My primary computer is my laptop. At night, when I go up to bed, I leave it on my end table. If I leave it all the way open, the cats will come and perch on it for warmth, causing me to have such charming hard drive names as "bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvzzzzzzzzzx" when I come down in the morning. However, if I tilt the screen forward enough that it's not accessible to the cats, by morning (either by feline monkeying or by gravity) the screen has flopped down and landed on my mouse. I have dark smudges on the screen from where that's happened, and they're bothering me. They will not go away, so I assume the damage is permanent.

So is there a little wedge thing that I can hook onto the laptop (a MacBook Pro, if that matters) which will allow the screen to close a certain amount (30 degree angle, maybe?) but not allow it to smack all the way down onto the mouse?

(Bonus question - anyone know how to get rid of the bruises on my screen? I've tried gentle circular rubbing to no avail. I get stuck pixels in that area now, too.)

Snowy laptop lockup

T.D. Strange — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:30:28 -0800

My laptop screen randomly locks up and gets all 'snowy', I have no idea why. So my laptop likes to lockup at random, the screen gets jumbled and 'snowy' looking and the whole system freezes. When this happens, it seems to be when I am working with it, either on the internet, IM or office software, or just doing random tasks on the desktop. I play games on it occasionally and it has not locked up in-game before. I also leave it on for long periods of time downloading files and I have never come back to find it locked up (although it has locked up shortly upon resuming use after leaving it running for a long time).

Whenever it locks like that, I have to turn it off and reboot it, and everthing works fine when it reboots, so I am confident it's not the LCD screen itself. (also, the LCD was cracked earlier this month and it jsut came back from repair, the lockups happened before the LCD repair and have continued after I got it back, it's not the screen)

I have no idea what's causing this. I've built/modded/overclocked several computers in the past and am pretty computer savvy, but I have never seen this kind of lockup/crash before. My best guess is some sort of RAM error or a particularly hard/obscure software conflict, maybe even a video card problem, though I would have expected that would have showed up during a gaming session. Google-fu tells me any of the above are plausible explanations. I dont really want to send it off to get repaired again since it's so close to the start of the semester, but I dont want to lose any valuable work later on either.

Basically- does anyone have any idea what could be causing this and how to fix it? Or alternatively- what's the best way to go about isolating potential causes on a laptop without interchangeable hardware?

The laptop is a Sony SZ series, 1gb DDR2, GeForce Go 7400, all drivers are up to date.

What are your recommendations for cleaning a laptop screen?

trojanavenger — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:54:24 -0800

What are your recommendations for cleaning a laptop screen? I have had a Macbook Pro 17" for several months now. Over time, in the middle of the screen, some black marks have appeared. I have no doubt that I have caused those marks one way or another. Anyway, I have tried cleaning the screen with a cleaning solution from Office Depot and a soft cloth, which cleaned some of the dust and fingerprints off. However, the black marks remain. What are your suggestions for cleaning heavy-duty marks from a laptop without destroying it? Thank you in advance.

Why is my Thinkpad screen flickering so much?

n_s_1 — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:02:07 -0800

Help me figure out why my laptop screen is flickering (madly). Here's a YouTube video showing my Thinkpad R40. As you can see, the screen is flickering a lot. Other times, my laptop will boot up just fine, I'll log into my XP account, and then suddenly the screen will flicker for about two seconds, and the screen will just freeze up.

Anyone know what's causing these problems? I believe I have the right video/graphic drivers installed---the machine worked fine for four or five months before the flickering started. Also, for anyone who's certain it's some *X* or *Y* causing the problem, is there a cheap replacement part that I should buy, and would it be easy for me to install?

I went to a Best Buy Geek Squad to get this fixed; they charged me 40 bucks to "re-seat" something; the flicker came back right after I left the Best Buy, though, and to be honest, I was too frustrated to return to the store. If I can, I want to avoid paying hundreds of dollars to fix this thing.

zombie laptop screen

casarkos — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:03:17 -0800

Is my laptop experiencing organ transplant rejection? I have a HP Pavilion laptop (DV1310us, almost 2 years old, far past warranty) whose screen went very dim a couple weeks ago, though I can make out images if I shine a flashlight at the screen. Lots of research pointed at the problem being with the LCD inverter, so I ordered one. But the new inverter I got is slightly different from the old one - it seems HP used a few different LCD inverters throughout the dv1000 series, and I received the other model. I replaced the old inverter anyway, and now this is what happens:

- if I boot up the laptop on battery power only, the screen is bright for a second on startup and then goes dim again. Closing and reopening the lid has the same effect.

- if I boot up the laptop with the AC cable plugged in, everything works, even if I remove the plug later, and the screen remains bright. Yay!

Is it possible that the new inverter is working perfectly, and there's some other issue with the battery instead?
(for reference - old inverter: AS023172018, new inverter: AS023172140)

Diagnose broken laptop display?

betterton — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:51:36 -0800

How broken is my laptop display, and is it worth fixing? My laptop was overly compressed in a suitcase, and now the display is broken. When the display is on, there is a line that arcs in a semicircle across the screen. Near the top of the line there is a black circle about an inch in diameter - in the black circle nothing is displayed. At the edges of the line and the circle the display looks like it has bled - the colors look funny and there are streaks. A friend suggests the waveguide/light diffuser is broken; is this right?

What is wrong with the display? How can I find out how much it would cost to replace?

For extra bonus points, is it worth it to fix or should I get a new laptop? It is a 2-year-old IBM T43.

"A screen",the pittiful cry they heard. Then more wailing and gnashing of teeth.

mu~ha~ha~ha~har — Tue, 15 May 2007 11:52:41 -0800

What is it? Is it possible to repair? Or where on Gods green earth can I get a replacement? Slowly increasing white strip with sporadic coloured lines throughout on my notebook screen. Funnily enough it is more frustrating to look for the answer than it is to just try to ignore it. Ok it was picked up by the screen and too firmly it appears. It started as just a few coloured lines and proceeded to spread inwards then turning white and getting larger slowly but surely.

It is a Sony Vaio VGN-B88GP (PCG-5B3P).

What gives me reason to think it's repairable is that I left it sitting close to the air con. When I came back and the screen flicked back on it was ok. Well I can't be sure completely but from when I was paying attention a good 3/4 of it was back to normal and then began to fade left to right back to white. So there must be hope... perhaps.

Laptop screen quality questions.

archagon — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:57:06 -0800

Laptop screen quality questions: 1. In general, how good are laptop screens at reproducing color?
2. If you're using a laptop, take a look at the following gamma chart. Does the area on the left have any yellow in it?
3. Aside from adjusting the gamma, is there any way to make a laptop screen look better without reducing the image quality?

My laptop screen pales in comparison to my LCD desktop display, even though it got very good reviews. It's rather annoying when I'm doing PS work.

How to deal with my busted laptop backlight?

Iridic — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:52:03 -0800

Should I attempt to repair my broken laptop screen? Earlier this year, my Compaq Presario 2100 laptop (which I bought in mid-2003) started blanking out. From what I could tell, the LCD's backlight seemed to be failing. Occasionally and completely randomly, the screen would come back on, but most of the time I had to hook up an old CRT monitor to the laptop or hold a flashlight close to the screen if I wanted to access my data. Besides that, the optical drive didn't work.

Eventually I scraped some money together and took the laptop to a local independent computer repair shop. After a few days they gave me an estimate: they would replace the entire screen and the drive for a little over $1000. I snorted, reclaimed my computer, and began to look for a new laptop.

But recently I've seen indications on the Web that I'd be able to replace the backlight and drive by myself for far, far less than a thousand. I have not seen any kind of detailed instructions for doing so.

Should I, a person with little hardware experience, attempt the backlight repair? The drive repair? How much should I expect either one to cost? Could I find a less gouge-tastic repair shop? Or would I be better off just getting a new computer?

Gateway laptop screen death

red cell — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 08:51:38 -0800

Gateway Solo 9550 black screen issue [of course there will be--->] My dad's laptop has suddenly stopped illuminating. The OS (winXP) is functioning, but the screen has lost all illumination. There is a very faint trace of what's going on, but other than that, there's nothing. My limited google-foo turned up some other folks suffering the same problem, but no good solution. As always, "thanks" in advance.