LCD Display Monitor Problem

Laptop Screen Dim, Blank Or Black

Note that these steps correspond with decision points on the flowchart and are reached through the interactive diamond symbols. The text below cannot be read sequentially.

Do you see a live BIOS splash screen? Most laptops will display a manufacturer splash screen with their brand name, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Sony, etc, before launching into windows. Even those that dont should flash a text screen with the BIOS maker (AMI, Award, Phoenix) in the corner, and a message telling you what key combination to use to access the BIOS Setup screens. A biometric screen prompting you to scan a fingerprint before the system will boot counts as a BIOS splash screen here. If the screen lights up with anything, a graphic or text, it means that the basic display I/O system is functioning.

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Is the screen live if you connect an external display? All notebooks should support an external monitor, usually with a high-density D-Shell 15 pin VGA connector, but some might feature a DVI connector instead. Its a vital part of laptop display troubleshooting to determine if a known good external monitor can be used. Newer laptops dont keep the external connector live by default, and some dont allow for simultaneous display on both the LCD and an external monitor. You can toggle between the notebook screen (which isnt working) and the external display with an Fn key combination. The Fn key is located at the lower left of the keyboard, normally between the CTRL and the ALT key. Toshiba uses Fn-F5 to toggle between the laptop LCD and an external display. IBM or Lenovo uses FN-F7, Acer varies with the model, using Fn-F5, Fn-F3, Fn-F8, Sony Fn-F7, Lenovo Fn-F8, HP or Compaq, Fn-F4. There are variations with the age of the laptop and not all manufacturers have standardized on a key combo across the whole range, but you can usually figure it out from the little graphics on the function keys that line the top of the keyboard.

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Can you hear any sound from the hard drive or fans? If you cant get any life at all on the laptop lcd or the external display, its entirely possible that the problem goes deeper than a video issue. Signs of life include the cooling fan blowing, the hard drive spinning up, any LED activity beyond the LED indicating AC power is attached or battery charging. If the system is powering up, even going through boot as you can often tell by the level of hard drive activity demonstrated by the sound or the hard drive LED flashing, with no life on the LCD or external monitor, you have a board level failure. It could be the video processor failed due to overheating, you can try taking apart and reassembling the laptop body on the chance there is a bus connector failure (its only a possibility on some models), but you dont have to bother inspecting the wiring to to laptop screen or connections in the lid since the external monitor bypasses all of these.

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Do you see a very dim desktop image? Can you see a ghost-like image of your desktop that is functional, ie, one that changes if you drag an icon, launch a program or disappears if you shut down. Standard LCDs produce very little visible light on their own, they require the Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light (CCFL) to light the screen from behind. The fluorescent tube is normally located at the top of the screen, and a bright reflective surface distributes the light across the back of the LCD, so it can shine through the liquid crystals of the liquid crystal display, which only transmit red, green or blue (RGB).
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