If some one could please help with a second opinion. Actually a first opinion because I just do not know. I have a HP PAvilion ZT1130 and the screen has gone crazy. 99.9% of the time it is dark with some lighter gray (but still dark)vertical bars and a thin red vertical stripe dead center and a Green stripe running parallel 1/4 of the screen to the left. I tried to take a picture but it is so faint my D-Rebel can not pick any of it up. It looks like it's shut off in the pics. Thats how dark gray it is, but is blacker when I shut it off so some light is being produced. Ocassionally it gets a wild hair to work for a few minutes then starts flickering and gets a scrambled image for a while then blinks right back off again. This started happening pretty much all of a sudden. Just woke up one morning and the screen was blank.

I've updated drivers, checked the connections on the board, so now it's down to hardware. I'd really like to have it going before I leave for a trip the end of June so I dont have to carry a monitor with me to use it. LOL

The question is:
Does this sound like the power inverter or the whole monitor?
I can get inverters off ebay for about $50 with the shipping and I can get whole monitors with the front bezel, rear bezel, & cable for $150. I hate to buy one and it be the other and I really have no clue what happens or the symptoms when the inverter goes out or anything else to do with LCD.
If someone can give me a 60% over 40% chance of what it might be. Then I would feel more comfortable about buying one of them and trying it. If someone that knows or even if you have experinced these things at all could give me an educated guess please that would be helpful.

Thank you

 

Sorry, I don't know how you would actually call it but it's probably the backlight of your screen.
My Toshiba screen went dark some time ago just before the Toshiba ran out of a 2 years warranty.
You barely could see what was on the screen.
Toshiba picked it up and returned for free.
They replaced the backlight thingie for the screen.
Don't know what it would cost though, like I said Toshiba fixed it for free.

However my screen didn't went black suddenly but it took a week till it finally went black.

 

While it was going out would the image scramble and flicker?
I guess it really didn't go out all at once I had left it on one night and when I got up the next morning it was dark. Not black just dark. Hooked an external monitor on to it and downloaded new drivers and it started working for 2 or three weeks. Then started flickering so I updated drivers again to no avail. Took it apart and checked connections and it has just went down hill from there over the next two weeks til now it is pretty much out. I have it on the desk with an external monitor and out of a 12 hour day it will come on for about 2 mins maybe, sometimes. Then starts to scramble the image, then starts to flicker, then goes out again.

 

Yes, it got worse and worse until it went completely dark.
Well, not completely dark actually.
If you take a good look, you can see what is on the screen but you have to look very closely.

 

My first guess would have been the "video card" section of the laptop board, but since your external monitor works, it's most likely the screen dying. I would call HP/compaq about it, since the only way you can get a new screen for it easily is through them. Unless you can find a laptop that died for other reasons and get the screen off it. You might get lucky and they know of a quirk with it and have a fix. My guess is it's gonna need replaced.

 

Yea the video was my first thought too.. But the external video and S-Video both still work great. Unfortunatly it's out of warranty and they want $40 just to talk. I went to thier site and looked through the threads on thier forum and there were a few with similar problems. But the advise ranged from either the inverter, to back light. If it's the inverter they are $50 and I can install that. If it is the back light then just for it then it is $200 with labor or there are some entire used screen assemblies from broke units on E-bay for $150 + shipping. Probably the way I would go anyway because the screen has some wrinkles at the bottom anyway. Then I could install the entire assembly myself. I may just through dice and try one and if it don't fix it then buy the other and sale the first back on E-bay.

 

I checked my repair bill and it said.
Replaced col. LCD Module.

 

HUH??? I wonder what that is?


I'm thinking I'll just buy one of these and see what happens.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6773700821 that will have almost everything and be easy to install.

Edited to add:
Unless the inverter is in this assembly and not on the Mother board where I thought it was. If it is then it would be included too.

 

if all you can see are abunch of lines in the middle of the screen then it's not the backlight. if it was you would still be able to see the display as normal but with the lights switched off if you know what i mean, kinda like if you wore really dark glasses. the fact that the display does work sometimes and not at other times can only mean two things. either the ribbon cable is deteriorating and connecting intermitently; give it a wiggle at both ends and in the middle and see if it does anything. the other possibility is that the crystal activation thingy is shot/on its way out which means a new color LCD module needs to be fitted. my old Vaio had the crystal activator die on it and i had to replace the whole thing. hope this helps

 

I tried wiggeling the cable and it has no afect on it. I'll have to look into the LCD module thingy later. LOL I'll see how much it is and how hard to replace. Is it in the monitor housing or in the case on the Mother Board? If the LCD Module is in the monitor then that would support getting that used assembly.

 

in my vaio the lcd module was the LCD panel itself. i'm not sure if that's the norm or not, i just assumed that it was 1 component that does it all.

i don't think you could go far wrong with that item on ebay, JMHO

 

sounds like ur LCD screen... they're a pain to replace.. have had to do it before on a couple restraunt machines and 3 laptops. but call HP get a part number then check ebay for screens 200 bucks is usually what they cost..

 

Yea I think that I'll just get one of those used screens. Shouldn't be to bad to replace. Pop the top plate back off, 2 bolts, 1 cable. Put the new/used Screen assembly on, replace the hinge bolts and pop the cover back on. If it's as easy as it looks anyway.