Replacing a laptop LCD

A typical laptop LCD screen is frail and breaks easily when it drops to the ground. A laptop that fell on its weight may leave a crack or slight mark on the screen. The best solution to a structural LCD screen fault is to get it a new one. Repair work can be done to mend cracks or any other physical damage on your screen but this is only a temporary measure and can't take the place of a complete replacement. Fixing a new LCD screen yourself is easy and affordable.

There are a few other screen problems that may not require an LCD screen replacement. Depending on your brand and model of computer, a dark screen may be due to backlight failure or inverter problem. A screen may also fail to come up due to ailing LCD cable, which connects the motherboard to the screen. This usually leaves a white light display.

When a small part of your screen is not functioning, the problem is a pixel problem. This requires replacing the laptop screen with a new one. Check to see the type of screen that would fit on your laptop by locating the part number. Remember to shut down the laptop, and remove the battery before taking off the casing. Not all laptop problems require screen replacement i.e. backlight problem and flickering.

Having shut down the laptop and removed the battery from the computer, the next thing is to unscrew the laptop screws. The screws are covered by rubber cups, and come in handy as a bumper stop for the laptop when closed. Pry back the corner of the rubber cups and remove the screw with a small Philips screwdriver. Usually the rubbers are four or six in number. Check to see if you have removed all of the screws. Write down the part number of the LCD screen. This will assist you to get the right replacement.

Next, you have to pry the bezel away from the screen. The bezel is supposed to snap loose away from the screen. If it doesn't, apply a little bit of pressure to take off. Next, their should be some bracket screws that are holding the LCD in place. They are usually on the sides of the screen. Remove these. Now, you need to disconnect the video cable and the inverter cable. These two will connect the LCD screen to the laptop base and should snap off. You should now have the LCD screen completely disconnected and it should easily come off.

Replacing your LCD is, in principle, a reverse of undoing what you did to remove the faulty one. Take note of the cable networks: this would assist you make the right connection while assembling the parts back together.

Search for the label that bears the manufacturer's number. These digits ensure that you get the right replacement for your laptop. Now that you have gotten the part number of the LCD screen, you can opt to either buy the screen from your laptop manufacturer or search online in places like eBay for your part type. You can also comb online for the LCD screen by entering the LCD part number with keywords like 'replace LCD.' Before you snap back the bezel into position after installing the LCD screen, power the laptop to see if it's working. If it is not functioning, check the cable connections again and make sure the part numbers match up.

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-By Dominic

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