I have a laptop that the screen randomly gets lines all over the screen, the display distorts terribly, and can even go black. But it can also display just fine for minutes at a time as well.

Would this be an LCD Inverter going bad, or the LCD screen itself? Just curious what needs to be replaced, and if I can by the inverter board or does that come with a new screen? Thanks.

BTW, forgot to mention reason I thought it might be the inverter board is because pushing on the section below the screen, it will usually fix the problem. Thats where the inverter board is located from the diagrams I have seen. But it also seems to clear up the problem if I push directly on the LCD screen, making me think it may be the whole screen.

[Edited on February 2, 2008 at 3:56 PM. Reason : ]

2/2/2008 3:49:41 PM

I just replaced the inverter on a laptop and it was my understanding that the inverter just powered the backlight. I would think if you get lines all over the screen it is most likely something else. I don't know much about it though.

2/2/2008 4:23:16 PM

The inverter converts DC power into AC for powering the backlight. While it's true that the inverter is typically the first thing to go bad, it definitely doesn't sound like your problem in this case.

Hang onto it if you buy a replacement panel from an online distributor because they will not include it. They'll typically charge $50-$100 for a replacement inverter.

2/2/2008 4:26:34 PM

when my inverter went bad, everything looked normal on the LCD but it was REALLY dark...the replacement was $17 after shipping (ebay) and took all of 30 seconds to install

2/2/2008 4:30:01 PM

Ok, I wasn't sure if the inverter powered the crystals as well, or just the backlight. In that case it probably is the whole damn screen. Thanks for the info. I told them that we gotta get a new screen for this baby and I'm going to replace the whole thing.

2/2/2008 7:16:28 PM