Spontaneously the laptop screen will “freeze” the current image and then slowly turn white with some faint gray blotches. If I move the top of the laptop toward me, sometimes the image comes back to normal. If I move it backward, then the image freezes and goes white again. The laptop works fine with the external monitor.

Possible cause:

1. Bad connection between video cable and LCD screen.
2. LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

First of all, try reconnecting the video cable on the back of the LCD screen. It’s possible that video cable is not making good contact with the LCD screen.

If reconnecting the cable doesn’t help, most likely this is LCD screen failure. Apparently there is a faulty component or solder joint on the screen controller board. In this case the LCD screen has to be replaced with a new one.

One half of the laptop screen is completely black. The second half of the screen works properly.

Possible cause:

LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

If one half of the laptop screen stopped working but the second half still works properly, this is LCD screen failure.

The LCD screen cannot be fixed at home. You’ll have to remove the failed screen and replace it with a new one.

The image on the screen gets garbled when the laptop moved. To get the image back to normal you have to restart the laptop.
The image on the external monitor gets garbled too when the laptop moved.

Possible cause:

1. Bad connection between laptop video card and motherboard.
2. Bad video card.
3. Bad connection between laptop memory and motherboard.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

When the video fails the same way on both the internal and external monitors, most likely the problem is related to the laptop video card.

1. If the laptop has a discrete video card, it could be connection related problem. Maybe the video card is not making good contact with the slot on the motherboard. Try reconnecting the video card. Apply electrical contact enhancer (I use DeoxIT® GOLD) on both the video card connector and motherboard connector. Test the laptop.

2. In most newer laptops the video card is integrated into the motherboard. In this case the video card cannot be removed and replaced. If the video card fails, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.

3. It’s not likely but possible that this problem is related to bad connection between the memory module and motherboard. Try reseating memory modules.

The lower part of laptop screen displays garbled colors and the upper part of the screen works just fine.

Possible cause:

LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

When a part of the laptop screen works properly and another part has garbled image and colors, the problem is related to the LCD screen failure. The screen cannot be repaired and has to be replaced with a new one.

There are horizontal flashing lines running across the laptop screen. The laptop starts fine and you still can see the picture, but there are flashing lines running across a part of the image.

Possible cause:

1. Video card failure.
2. Bad connection between video cable and LCD screen.
3. Bad LCD screen.
4. Faulty video cable.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. First of all, test the laptop video output on the external monitor. If you see same flashing lines running through the image on the external monitor, you have a problem with the video card. If flashing lines appear only on the laptop screen, the failure is not related to the video card.

2. Just in case, try re-seating the video cable connectors on the motherboard/video card and maybe the back of the LCD screen. It’ s not likely but possible that connection is loose and reconnecting the cable will fix the flashing lines.

3. If re-seating the cable connectors doesn’t help, most likely you have a faulty LCD screen. The LCD screen has to be replaced.

4. If replacing the screen doesn’t help, try replacing the video cable. It’s very unlikely that this problem is related to the video cable but there is a slight possibility of that.

The laptop has green flickering dots in all black images on the screen. The green dots appear in different spots without any pattern. There is not problem with light images, you can see green dots only in dark images.
The image is perfect on the external monitor.

Possible cause:

1. Bad connection between cable and video card.
2. Faulty video cable.
3. LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

The green dots appears only on the laptop screen and the laptop works perfectly with the external monitor. That means the laptop video card works properly and it’s not a software related problem.

1. Check connection between the video cable and video card/motherboard. Make sure the cable is plugged correctly, all the way into the connector. Try reconnecting the video cable.

2. It’s possible that there is a pinched wire inside the video harness and because of that the LCD screen is not getting proper data signal from the motherboard. As a result of that you see all these green dots in black images. Try replacing the video cable.

3. If reconnecting or replacing the video cable doesn’t fix the problem, most likely this is related to the LCD screen failure. Try replacing the LCD screen.

A green vertical line appears on the laptop screen. If the monitor is slightly tapped or moved the line sometimes disappears.

Possible cause:

LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

If you have a single vertical line on the laptop screen running from top to bottom, this is LCD screen related failure.

Most likely there is a faulty solder joint somewhere on the screen controller board, and tapping or moving the monitor temporarily “fixes” the problem, making the screen work properly for a while.

This problem cannot be repaired at home. You have to replace the laptop screen with a new one or use it as is with the line on it.

A wide vertical stripe blocks image on the laptop screen. Everything works fine on the left and right sides from the stripe.

Possible cause:

LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

This is laptop screen failure. The LCD screen cannot be repaired, it has to be replaced with a new one.

If the stripe blocks significant part of the image on screen and makes it unusable, you can set the laptop to output video on the external monitor and use it until the LCD screen is replaced.

The laptop screen shows wrong colors.

Possible cause:

1. LCD screen failure.
2. Video cable failure.
3. Corrupted video driver.
4. Video card failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. Test the laptop with video on the external monitor. If wrong colors appear only on the laptop screen and video on the external monitor works fine, the problem could be related to the LCD screen or video cable.
- try reseating the video cable connection on the LCD screen.
- try reseating the video cable connection on the motherboard.
- replace the LCD screen.
- replace the video cable.

If colors on the screen appear to be inverted and the image looks like a negative, most likely it is the LCD screen failure.

2. If wrong colors appear on both internal and external screens, the problem could be related to the corrupted video driver or faulty video card.
- try reinstalling the video driver.
- try reinstalling the operating system from scratch and installing the video driver.
- if first two steps do not help, most likely you have a failed video card.

Most newer laptops have video card integrated into the motherboard. The integrated video card cannot be removed and replaced separately from the motherboard. When integrated video card fails, it’s necessary to replace the whole motherboard.

Horizontal lines appear on the laptop screen when the laptop display panel is moved. Video on the external monitor works fine even when you move the laptop display. This problem appears only on the laptop screen.

Possible cause:

1. Poor connection between video cable and LCD screen.
2. Bad video cable.
3. LCD screen failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

If horizontal lines appear only on the laptop screen, the problem is somewhere inside the laptop display panel.

1. Could be poor connection between the video cable and LCD screen. Reconnecting the video cable connection on the back of the LCD screen can fix the problem. Make sure the video cable is plugged correctly, all the way into the connector.

2. Could be damaged or defective video cable. Try replacing the video cable with a new one.

3. If reconnecting or replacing the video cable doesn’t fix the problem, most likely this is the LCD screen failure. Replace the LCD screen.