How To Fix Laptop Screen – How To Replace Laptop LCD Screens
Has your laptop screen failed on you? Have you ever thought about replacing the screen yourself? When attempting to fix your own l aptop LCD screen there are some very basic precautions that must be taken. Without these preparations, further damage could be caused to your personal computer. This is also an important reason to remove the battery before initiating any other actions. Cracked screens, dead pixels, and entire sets of rows or columns missing are signs of a need for replacement. Just because you can’t see anything on the screen does not mean that your screen is broken. Testing it on an external monitor first is the best way to guarantee that you’re doing the right thing.
To take out the screws on the front of the screen, first remove the rubber or plastic screw guards that hide the screws from view. After removing the screws, carefully remove the casing and set it aside (keep the screws together and preferably with the front casing). The next step is very basic and applies to almost every LCD screen inside of a laptop. Each screen is held within bezel with a few screws holding it in place (normally 2). Remove the bezel with careful attention to hinges at the top and proceed to peel back the metallic foil that protects the device from external RF interference. Unscrew the screen from the case and be mindful of the power and video cables that come in through the hinges.
To remove the video and power cables check to see which form of technology is used to attach the wires (all being simple to pull and remove), and carefully detach the wires from their sources. Replacing the old screen with the new one is that simple and the last requirement to changing your screen is to re-attach the power and video cables after you have successfully screwed in and secured your LCD screen back into the bezel awhile during the process of carefully reattaching the front casing. After you have successfully reattached the power and video cables and snapped the casing back into place, you can screw the front casing back on and re-insert the screw guards onto the front of your LCD screen. Now, there is nothing to keep you from getting right back to work.
Troubleshooting LCD Dipslay Issues
In the past, CRT monitors could display lower resolution in full screen as they are not confined by the number of or pixels in general; pixels were not used in CRT monitors. This presents a different set of solutions needed to correct low quality pictures on an LCD screen. An LCD monitor has to spread the lower resolution over the native or highest resolution of the monitor. This creates problems when the lower resolution does not divide itself equally into the pixels of the width and height of the native resolution.
For example: a native resolution of 1024 by 768 will have low quality images if set to 800 by 600 resolution because the pixels cannot be distributed evenly from the 1024 to the 800 and from the 768 to 600. This results in some image pixels being displayed over 2 hardware pixels while other image pixels are displayed over one hardware pixel; the resulting resolution works, but is not very attractive. If you have to display at a lower resolution that can not evenly divide into the native resolution find the display options for your monitor. In this utility you will find parameters to change to improve the image quality.
First start with the contrast ratio as this can be the simplest to change and you may not need to change anything else. If the image seems blurred then increase the ratio in small increments to see the effects; this may take several tries. Next try the color settings of the monitor and pay close attention to the hues of colors seen on the monitor, i.e greens, blues and yellows. This is best done in a low light area to gain the full effect first. After adjusting the color settings in the “dark” turn on the lights and adjust until you have the desired result. This will improve the picture as best as you can; however, the best action to take would be to leave the LCD monitor at its native resolution.
How to Remove a Laptop LCD Screen
Removing an LCD screen on a laptop is actually quite simple and shouldn’t take much more than 15 minutes, in addition it will save an end user from sending it to a technician. This may go without saying, but unplug the laptop before working on it. Locate the screws holding the LCD screen in its casing, and using a Phillips head screwdriver, remove the screws. There are at least four and they can be located on the screen side or the cover of the LCD screen depending upon the manufacturer. The screws tend to stick a little after being completely loosened and a knife or Xacto blade may be needed to free the screws.
Next look for screws or screw covers on the side of the screen; if covers exist use the knife or Xacto blade to remove them. Then take out the screws with the Philips head screwdriver, unscrewing all of these screws allows the user to gently pull the plastic casing from the LCD screen. Start at the bottom of the screen and work around the perimeter of the screen. When approaching the latch to the screen and cover it may be necessary to slide the latch while removing the casing. At this point the screen should be exposed and the casing should be completely removed. Remember this casing only comes off of the front of the assembly.
Slowly tilt the LCD screen forward; some screens have screws on the side holding them to the back casing, these are usually located on the sides of the screen, but varies by manufacturer. After tilting the screen out locate the connection of wires on the back of the LCD screen, this is the video cable and will be secured with tape or clips. Gently tilt the LCD screen back up and find the inverter at the bottom of the screen. Very carefully slide the inverter out, but it may need to be unscrewed first, again depending upon the manufacturer. Slide the inverter cable plug off of the LCD screen and remove the screen.
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