My first problem with my laptop of over 2 years just started a week or so ago :(.

The bottom 1/3 of the screen on my laptop has become twitchy. It looks a bit like this, only on the bottom of the display. If I push in on the bottom left of the display, the problem goes away until I stop pushing or if I torque the screen a little bit it will also go away for a moment, then the bottom of the screen freezes and is distorted in that area. I've done a little research and found that this problem isn't uncommon, and easily fixed... for a price. But I want to make sure I fix the correct thing. It's either the flex cable, the inverter, or the lcd display itself.

So, my question, how can I determine what the culprit of this problem is, so I don't spend more money than I have to?
If I send my laptop back to dell it'll cost 300-400 USD to get it fixed (no warranty), but I can get a new lcd screen off of e-bay for half of that and install it myself.

I'll post a video of the problem if needed. Thanks in advance.

Ohh. I had that problem with my old Dell laptop. I fixed it, when this happens, by hitting with my hand on the side of the screen.

But I'm not sure if you want to do that.

Nope, didn't work.

Another thing that worked for me: did you try going into Safe mode?

Fixes everything for good.

My guess is that It’s the tendon cable (my personal non technical term). Most laptops have a thin/wide laminated cable that is used to connect between the main board and the LCD, and is flexible enough to be run right through the hinge. These cables are very durable, and don’t break down when flexed repeatedly, hence why I call them tendon’s. The problem is, most of the time these tendon cables are connected at one or more ends with a type of ZIF socket, and continual use of a laptop will sometimes cause one end of the tendon cable to wiggle loose from it’s ZIF socket. I’ve can’t even count how many laptops I’ve seen display the EXACT symptoms you described, and have it all trace back to a loose LCD cable. The problem is, simply re-inserting the LCD cable is sometimes are REALLY complex operation, depending on the laptop, and may require almost full disassembly, which may make things worse if your not careful.

There is also a decent chance that something else might be wrong, VGA issues, damage to the LCD controller. But my money’s on the Tendon/LCD cable.

The technical term being "ribbon cable"

Yeah, but Ribbon cable also applies to IDE cable and the old ribbon cables for printers and 5 and 1/2 inch floppy drives. None of those are as tough and gristly as laptop LCD cables.

Ok, so I just looked it up. This type of cable is offically calssified as FFC (Flat Flex Cable)

I figured it might be the flex cable too, but like I said before, If i apply pressure to the bottom left of the screen, the effected area of the screen works until I lift my thumb off. While this is done there is no movement of (or any contact with) the flex cable at all. That's why I think it might be the LCD display.

I looked on e-bay and I can get one for about 15 USD, so I might try that, and if it doesn't fix it I'll spend the ~200 for the new display.

Maybe the spot you're pressing on is where the flex cable connects to the board.

I've already pulled the display out and checked all the connections. The flex cable connects near the center at both the top and bottom of the back of the display. Where I'm pressing is far off to the left, about a centimeter from the left and 2 cm from the bottom.

Maybe the connectors on the board itself are bad? :/

Didn't see your response at first. This happens even before POST, so booting into safe mode would have no effect. It happens right when the LCD powers up, I can see the bottom of the screen doesn't match the top 2/3 and it doesn't update the image. (e.g. The top could be at the login screen while the bottom is still showing part of the windows loading screen)



Would that have any effect on the external display? Because the external display connection still works perfectly.

Hmmm. I know what you are talking about when you say applying pressure to a certian spot on the LCD fixes it. With one of my old laptops I thought the same thing, but it still turned out to be the flex cable. Well, the flex cable and the hinges, turns out one of the hinges had busted and by putting pressure on the LCD I was preventing tension on the flex cable.

But I've also seen where that wasn't the case,.

[Edit] Opps, you allready tried that [/Edit]

You could also removing the LCD from it's plastic housing, turning the laptop on, and seeing if you can locate the exact pressure spot on the LCD itself. The only risk with this is that LCD's do have some higher voltages than main boards do, so there is risk of shock (watch out for the Inverter board, a small board usually about 1/2"x3" or so covered in plastic, THAT is what will hurt the most)

Next, look at the back of the LCD itself. Most LCD's have a controller board attached directly to them. It's possible that there is a loose connector on the controller board. If that's not the case, then there is a good chance that your problem is indeed in the LCD display itself, and simply needs to be replaced (thank ebay).

This isn't a software issue. Most part manufacturers list this part as an "LCD harness". Regardless of where you bend the LCD panel to alleviate the issue, I would still recommend re-seating both ends of the LCD harness just to be safe (as West Wind stated, this could be a simple matter of too much pressure being applied to the LCD panel). You should also re-seat the LCD inverter cable (as West Wind stated, be careful, because they pack a punch...I've been hit a few times myself). However, I've seen hundreds of LCD panels that look exactly like that when they're going bad. If this issue doesn't show up on an external display, I would suggest replacing, or having your LCD panel replaced. It's incredibly easy to do. If the unit is under warranty, make them do it. If it's not, just buy one off of eBay.

I've already taken the display out to check the connections, There was no tension or pressure on the flex cable and my hinges are still good (a little loose, but not broken or cracked) and not causing any tension on the cable.

I'll check the inverter again and have look at the controller board; I didn't see anything wrong with it's connections earlier, but I may have missed something.

My bet is still on the display itself going bad, but I'm hoping that's not the case, I just spent 500 on getting my car fixed

Well, sometimes when my laptop screen goes wacky and I go into safe mode, the screen "gets better" after the mode starts. Not entirely fixed, but the image is better (not better in terms of it being in a smaller, safe-mode resolution). I would venture to guess there is some sort of "screen correction" program or something. A guess though.

Doesn't hurt to try.

I just want to make sure that you understand that looking at the connections isn't all that's required. You can have a bad connection and it look perfectly fine. I would recommend re-seating all of the relevant cables. I'm still guessing that you have a bad LCD panel though...just don't want to see someone waste their money if it's not needed.

Yeah Mentat, that's what I meant when I said I checked the connections, sorry. I should learn to be more specific with my wording :/

I'll check everything again tomorrow: the connection to the motherboard, the connection of flex cable to the display, the controller board, and the inverter. If nothing fixes it I'll probably just get a new display.

Thanks for all the help.