

Flickering laptop screen to now just darkness
#1 OFFLINE
Posted 28 July 2017 - 09:01 PM
I first noticed it quite long time ago when i used my laptop with only the battery, i usually use it plugged to mains, as the power adapter had just stopped working.
I noticed that the display brightness would flicker like between 100% and 80%
As i dont use it on battery only that much i dismissed it for the time being.
Time went by and i started to notice that display brightness would flicker on start up when plugged to mains too, for 5 or so minutes and would then go to normal.
This would continue with the flickering time getting longer and the differences between the brightnes levels would get bigger.
It got to a point where the flickering wouldn't go away at all.
Adjusting the brightness would make it stop, but after some days it would be back, adjusting it again would help, untill it didn't have a affect anymore.
And now we get to the current state which is total darkness.
The display would try to turn on blinking between darkness and the background.
The darkness would win most of the times.
The blinking sound of a one of thouse "fluorescent tube lights" when they turn on, could be heard too.
The computer would work, cause i could hear the logging in sound to my windows account.
So I'd like to know, what could have caused this to happen and can it be fixed, which part do i need to replace if possible as it is a laptop.
#2 OFFLINE
Posted 28 July 2017 - 11:41 PM
Welcome aboard.
Oy. You have a situation there. Eight year-old laptop with display issues. I suspect your display may be kaput. These things are very hard to fix and your chances of finding the exact replacement is probably nil unless you can find the exact same model from someone and can swap it out. Does the laptop have an external video output? You could try plugging it into a monitor and hitting the key that switches to the external display for a start.
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#3 OFFLINE
Posted 29 July 2017 - 05:21 AM
It sounds like the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) tube which provides light from behind the LCD matrix so you can see what's on the screen has died.
You may be able to get it repaired; it depends on the brand and model of the notebook computer.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Aryeh Goretsky
Microsoft MVP 2004.1-2018.6 [Cloud and Datacenter Management]
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#4 OFFLINE
Posted 29 July 2017 - 10:36 AM
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But with this being 8 years old, the parts may be hard to find so not sure it is worth it. Beware of "too good to be true" prices.
For sure, before spending any money, I recommend connecting an external monitor and see what happens. If you see a display there, you know the computer itself is fine and it is just the notebook's monitor. If no display on the external monitor after toggling the applicable Fn + F-key combination (Fn + F5 on my Toshiba) then the problem is in the graphics solution of the notebook and odds are that it is integrated with the motherboard. In that case, I would be shopping for a new notebook.

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#5 OFFLINE
Posted 29 July 2017 - 01:19 PM
I have the same issue with my old Dell Inspiron 1521. I can run it with a separate monitor because it has a VGA jack on the back. If you don't have that option, your laptop is probably kaput.
Oh, and WELCOME TO SCOT'S!

#6 OFFLINE
Posted 29 July 2017 - 01:26 PM
If you don't have a spare monitor, most TVs built in recent years support computer input too.

Freedom is NOT Free!

Heat is the bane of all electronics!
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#7 OFFLINE
Posted 30 July 2017 - 10:07 PM
I have spare monitor, but it is one of thouse big box ones.
The fact that i could see the screen through the darkness happened ones when i transported the laptop from a room to another, it would flicker and go black but i could barely see what was on the screen, don't know about it now have to check at some point.
As for my computer hardware skills go, i have opened a laptop once to dust it.
#8 OFFLINE
Posted 31 July 2017 - 10:56 AM
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See HP Pavilion dv5-1050en replace ccfl inverter. If you feel you are capable, go for it. Or just buy an inexpensive monitor at Walmart and use this as a desktop system. In any event, with this computer already being 8 years old, I sure would not invest too much into it. There's a good chance this failure is the beginning of the end.
In the meantime, I would connect that spare monitor, or connect this notebook to TV and quickly copy off any data you don't want to lose. 8 years for a hard drive is already a good life.

Freedom is NOT Free!

Heat is the bane of all electronics!
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#9 OFFLINE
Posted 02 August 2017 - 08:56 PM
It started right up with the screen working, it is back to the slight flickering effect.
On the other monitor i can not see that flickering.
I'm not sure but the flickering seems to be more in the left side of the screen.
Edited by Davebob, 02 August 2017 - 09:34 PM.
#10 OFFLINE
Posted 03 August 2017 - 01:17 PM

Freedom is NOT Free!

Heat is the bane of all electronics!
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