Laptop screen discoloured

**The Librarian** · October 03, 2010, 04:22 AM

I stumbled across a problem with my laptop last week: suddenly, without notice, the screen went corrupt and started showing discolourations (imagine putting it in 16 bit colours... It's like that), stripes and even some flickering on some parts of the screen. I thought DAMN my GPU is fried and was becoming depressed at the sight of having to turn in my laptop, which would cost me valuable time and money. I started doing some tests myself, did some Google searches, and tried out a GPU stresstest called FurMark. During the test I noticed that the screen sometimes returned to normal, and when I tilted the laptop it remained normal permanently. Until now. The colours of doom have returned.

My conclusion would be that it's a loose connection of the video cable, or in the worst case a malfunctioning of the cable itself. Should I try to open the laptop (warrant has expired) to check the connection? Is it hard to reach? Or could it be a another problem altogether?

**Ishan** · October 03, 2010, 05:45 AM

Have u tried reinstalling the display drivers?
Have u measured the max temp of GPU on load when running 3D-Applications?

**The Librarian** · October 03, 2010, 07:23 AM

Yes I've installed an older driver, didn't change anything. I'm pretty sure it's not a software problem, since the stress-test didn't find any problems. Max. temps were around 93° Celcius. Like I said, I suspect it's a pinched cable or bad connection.

**Ishan** · October 03, 2010, 09:22 AM

Well i think 93°C is something that needs to be considered in a laptop.

Try using MSI Afterburner and set the GPU Fan speed to 100% that will reduce some temp on it.
And if u think it's a pinched cable or loose connection open it up and check it for yourself.

**karamazovmm** · October 03, 2010, 03:21 PM

it really looks like a loosen cable, but do one thing first, clean the laptop, you have to clean the fan, really clean it. I had this problem before and the temps were fine for me but for the pc, they were not, I had removed a great thick layer of dust and voilá the problem was gone.

if that dont work just proceed to open the screen frame, its easy, just follow the manual.

**S.P.Q.R. Praetorian** · October 03, 2010, 04:38 PM

These problems are in line with a backlight that is going out. I had the same problems for about a month with my laptop before the backlight went out. Your laptop will still work fine but you wont be able to see a thing on the screen unless you shine a light at it.

**The Librarian** · October 04, 2010, 06:27 AM

Ok, here's what I've done:

- I've removed the back-panel to check the wires and clean the fan, most dust is gone now (wasn't much to start with). I also removed the graphic card and put it back. Not even entirely sure it was the graphic card at all, but it had a fan and was connected to the motherboard next to the VGA port.
- Just to be sure, I connected the laptop to a desktop screen via the VGA port. No funky colours at all, so I can eliminate the GPU as the problem.
- I've removed the keyboard and keyboard bezel and checked the display cables. I can see a black one, a white one and a grey one, all going to the screen. The white and black ones are connected with an unknown component in the motherboard, the grey cable isn't connected to anything. I'm pretty sure it hasn't loosened, since it was fastened with some tape to the component itself (I suspect it's a spare cable or something). Unless these aren't the display cables at all, which is possible since there are some other cables running from the screen, but they aren't connected to anything of importance as far as I can see.
- I went to a computer shop to ask if they could fix it. They said they couldn't and that I'd have to send it to the manufacturer, which would take at least 2 weeks and cost at least 120€ in fees (not counting the reparation costs). Bugger.

Next step: opening the screen frame and hoping I don't screw up. If that doesn't work, the cheapest solution would be to find a desktop lcd screen to hook it up to the laptop. Any other ideas or comments?

**The Librarian** · October 08, 2010, 10:06 AM

Sorry for the double post, but this is a rather pressing matter.

I just opened my laptop screen, plugged and unplugged the display cable, did they same with the part connecting the cable to the motherboard, and...nothing. Booted up the computer, wiggled the cable around a little (with the screen still detached)...nothing. The garbled colours would NOT disappear. So that leads to only one conclusion: my lcd-screen is broken. Still, I find it weird that the 'normal' colours reappear once in a while.

Any other thoughts or remarks? Should I return my laptop, and if so how much is it going to cost (a lot I guess, I read it can cost as much as the laptop itself).

**karamazovmm** · October 08, 2010, 10:40 AM

the screen? for the envy 15 1080p display it costs 150 bucks a new one, if you buy it 3rd party.

now to send the lappie back to the manufacturer you are going to pay a nightmare

**The Librarian** · October 08, 2010, 11:00 AM

This website was mentioned on some other sites I consulted:

http://www.screentekinc.com/Asus_S96...d-screen.shtml

I can find my laptop model (see above), but not the part number

. The two last numbers are always different from everything I find. Some numbers are suggested on the bottom on the page but they're not the same, and the search function on the site doesn't turn up anything either. This is my part number: 18g241546611. You think it matters that the part number isn't exactly the same?

Edit: another thing. How can I be completely sure that it's the lcd-screen and not the video cable? I don't want to spend 150€ for nothing. Any other things I can try to verify?

**karamazovmm** · October 08, 2010, 11:51 AM

If I were you, I would go to a authorized repair facility, consult the costs of this thing, and go up in the price list as you buy things if the repair shop is trying to rip you off. i.e. conector, cable and etc...

usually the last numbers dont matter, since the screens are fairly standarized for laptops and such.

are you out of the warranty period?

**The Librarian** · October 09, 2010, 03:54 AM

Yes, the warrant has expired two months ago. Murphy's law I guess. The screen from ScreenTek looks like it has a good price (compared to the 'official' prices from Asus which are 100$ more expensive).

**The Librarian** · December 23, 2010, 10:23 AM

Sorry for the bump, but I'm completely at loss here. After several months I know three things:

- It's not the video adapter, because when I plug in a secondary screen there is no problem.

- It's not the lcd screen, because I tested everything with a new one. Problem persists.

- It's not the video cable, because I ordered I new one and tried it out. Still the same problem. The hell?

Could it be the inverter? But I have no problem with the screen appearing too dark, it's just that every colour of the rainbow seems to be stuck on my screen. The motherboard? But then the secondary screen wouldn't work either, now would it?