Screen Distortion

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Fred Mertz · #1 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:23 pm

I have an A20p that has suddenly lost the bottom inch of the screen to distortion.By moving the LCD back and forth I can usually correct the problem.The rest of the screen is unaffected at all times.Can someone diagnose the problem with any certainty?It is my favorite laptop with the perfect resolution for my eyes.Thanks.

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:15 pm

Just my opinion...

1) A bad connection inside the LCD panel
2) A bad connection in the ribbon cable from the motherboard to the panel
3) A bad connection where the ribbon cable plugs into either the motherboard or panel

The constant theme of course, is a bad connection. As you indicate that it suddenly appears and is correctable (to some extent) by simply moving the panel around, then that's my best guess. If you grab a copy of the Hardware Maintenance Manual from here:

A2*p HMM

you can follow the instructions to disassemble your laptop enough to remove the ribbon cable, inspect it carefully for small breaks or tears, and then re-seat both ends of the cable. Sometimes, with age, the connectors at either end of the cable can loosen up. Re-seating the connectors can be enough to fix a problem like this. If the bad connection is within the LCD panel itself, there's nothing you can do but replace the entire panel.

Fred Mertz · #3 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:07 pm

Thanks Ray for your astute and comprehensive analysis.Since I will probably pay someone to do this,if you were a betting man do you think its the ribbon cable?The screen is still fresh and bright-would hate to lose it.

luns · #4 Post by **luns** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:30 pm

Fred Mertz wrote:I have an A20p that has suddenly lost the bottom inch of the screen to distortion.By moving the LCD back and forth I can usually correct the problem.The rest of the screen is unaffected at all times.Can someone diagnose the problem with any certainty?It is my favorite laptop with the perfect resolution for my eyes.Thanks.

Bad panel. Cable problems affect the whole screen, not just the bottom inch.

Fred Mertz · #5 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:34 pm

Any possibility of a fix?

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:56 pm

Fred Mertz wrote:<snip>...if you were a betting man do you think its the ribbon cable?

My inclination is that it's the panel. If you can get the display to work correctly by applying slight pressure around the edges of the LCD and/or lid, without disturbing the angle that the lid sits at, then I would bet you have a problem with the panel itself. If the A20p has the same ribbon cable arrangement that the A31 I'm currently typing on (black ribbon cable comes up in the rear-center of the laptop into the lid), you may be able to gently press the lid from the back side where the cable enters into the lid to see if that "fixes" the distorted display (i.e. try to move the cable without moving the lid).

If either one of those things does not seem to isolate the problem, then I would still suggest that both the ends of the ribbon cable be removed and then re-inserted into their connectors. This assumes that you are doing the work since it wouldn't cost you anything. If you are going to have a repair shop do the work (and pay their labor costs), then you could ask them if they could re-seat the connectors first and if that doesn't work, then replace the cable and/or the display. If you can find a repair shop that charges a fixed rate labor fee to diagnose the problem, that's probably your best bet. My recommendation is always to spend the least amount of money to fix the problem. The cable can be had off of eBay for $25-$35. I would guess that an LCD panel is $100+ (depends on the size/resolution you have). Combine that with the labor cost and you may be approaching the price of a "new" system.

As far as fixing a bad ribbon cable, I'd say that it is usually not possible for the average consumer to do and definitely not something that is cost-effective unless you do the work yourself. If the panel is the problem, there's nothing you can do besides replacing it.

Fred Mertz · #7 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:40 am

Tried putting pressure on both the LCD and the backside of LCD to no avail. What come across very faintly on the distortion ia actually a duplicate of the top portion of screen-for example,thinkpads.com Support Community.Could this be a clue the diagnosis?

#8 Post by **rkawakami** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:39 pm

Fred Mertz wrote:What come across very faintly on the distortion ia actually a duplicate of the top portion of screen-for example, thinkpads.com Support Community.

Hhhmm.... even more data to complicate the diagnosis

I would say, based upon what little I know about how the LCD "draws" the image on the screen, that if you see a duplicate image then that would lead me to suspect several areas:

1) crosstalk or a short in the ribbon cable
2) connection problem along the cable path
3) a problem with the video display hardware on the motherboard
4) a defect within the panel itself

(order is in increasing cost to repair and not by likelyhood)

My approach to these kinds of problems would be to start with the cheapest fix and then proceed to the next one if that doesn't work. As it appears that physical pressure upon the surface of the display does not "fix" the problem, then I'm back to starting with the ribbon cable. I'm sorry, but that's the best advice I can give at the moment.

Fred Mertz · #9 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:43 pm

Ray,Thanks for devoting some of your time and brain cells to this one.What is amazing is that the rest of the !5 inch screen is unaffected.It just seems that there must be a loose connection because the flickerering includes glimpses of everthing displayed on the unaffected screen.

vlyne · #10 Post by **vlyne** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:22 pm

This is not going to help but I was playing around with an A21m with the dreaded "blink of death". I bought it minus the LCD screen. I cannabalised the screen from another A21m. To my surprise the machine fired up into BIOS setup (after I held F1 on start). The BIOS screen was OK at first but within a few seconds the screen was unstable and the first third of so of the screen was repeated about half way down and the bottom third or so was washed out. The machine then hung. I managed to get it going a number of times but each time, the screen was highly unstable. Eventually it went back to the "blink of death" mode

There it will stay till I have the courage and time to tackle it again. I'm very curious to see what works for you.
Cheers

Fred Mertz · #11 Post by **Fred Mertz** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:34 pm

Still have not addressed the problem since the machine is a back-up.Interestingly one has appeared on ebay with the exact same screen distortion.Listing # 160071954062.Still leaning towards a bad screen.

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