T23 SXGA Pink Screen

[newyorkpaulie]

My screen has a pink cast when turned on after having been blank for a while. This fades out after a few minutes though and it gets really bright with true colors. Anyone ever experience this?

[Robbyrobot]

Sounds like the beginning of an LCD backlight failure. When the CCFL backlight tube starts to go, the LCD has a reddish to pinkish color at startup. That generally disappears after everything gets warm, but will gradually become more severe and at some point the backlight will no longer light at all. Then you either have to replace the CCFL (cheap, but technically difficult) or the LCD panel (more expensive but simple to do).

However, there's no need to become active at this point - just to plan ahead. The situation you have can continue for many months before it gets so bad you have to do anything. You might contact jamiphar on this, as he might be able to help.

[flashstar]

Seeing that it's an SXGA screen, then you'll be better off replacing the CCFL. If it were XGA, it would be cheaper to get a new one off Ebay than to replace the backlight.

[newyorkpaulie]

Seeing that it's an SXGA screen, then you'll be better off replacing the CCFL. If it were XGA, it would be cheaper to get a new one off Ebay than to replace the backlight.

What's a CCFL?

[JaneL]

It's the light source.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ccfl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_cathode

[Kaervak]

Yeah it's definitely the backlight. My T23's backlight had the exact same symptoms before I replaced it. You can get the bulb from lcdpart.com for $20 shipped for one, I bought two for $30. It took me about an hour and a half to change the bulb out. Not hard, but not easy. And definitely do not change the bulb in a dusty or windy room. You have to take apart the panel to replace the bulb and it's ri-***-****-diculously easy for dust to get between the panel and diffusion layers. If you do decide to do it yourself, take your time. Don't rush anything. If you don't want to do it yourself, send it off to jamiphar. He's insane enough to offer CCFL replacement services.

Note from Admin: Profanity didn't really add any quality content to that message. Don't do it again.

[ajkula66]

Your backlight is definitely on its way out, and given that your machine is a fairly rare bird, with a VERY enjoyable SXGA+ resolution (my opinion), you really shouldn't wait long to replace it.

I've replaced backlight once in my life, and was successful, but would never do it again. One of my A31p machines just came back from jamiphar and whether I sell it (it's currently offered in the Marketplace) or keep it, it has been money very well spent. The peace of mind and lack of frustration that $100 buys you is the way to go in my opinion.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[fefrie]

I've had my thinkpad coming on three years. With the same symptoms. Been the same since day one, I wouldn't worry about it for a long, long time, based on mhy experience.

[jarkko]

I have a similar problem with my brother's T23 (SXGA+), the screen is a bit pinkish all the time (and also flickers when charging..). The lcd panel is brand new (was in a sealed box when I bought it) so I don't believe it's the backlight? Could it be the inverter board?

9/2/2010: Making an edit here as there may be a solution to this problem. See this post: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 86#p591186

[ajkula66]

Bad inverter doesn't give out pinkish light, only bad backlight does.

[jarkko]

Bad inverter doesn't give out pinkish light, only bad backlight does.

Ok, but then I'm wondering how is it possible, because the display is pinkish with the new panel, and it was the same with the old panel too (changed the panel because of several dead and stuck pixels). So I thought it might be the inverter, the display also seems a bit dim to me (was the same with the old panel too).

And not to forget the rapid changes in backlight brightness when charging.

[ajkula66]

Pinkish screen=bad backlight. Period.

Flickering, changes in brightness, dimness can be attributed to either backlight or inverter, and in certain cases, system board.

Your new panel might have been shipped with a defective backlight, remember that behind the fancy term we're discussing here is just a simple tube...pretty much the same as in neon lights.