Dell LCD backlight broken?

thomas49th

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Hi, I have recently purchased an LCD from an office clearout and it's been working wonderfully for the last 2 weeks. However, about half an hour ago it started going bright and dark on the screen and flickering on and off - the power button would go from green to off (not standby) and I couldn't turn it off by pressing that. When I shut down the computer and turned off the power the monitor then began working again, but when loading windows the problem happens again and again.

Now the screen just stays dark, but If i look closely, I can see the RGB test card move diagonally up-right the screen. When I load up windows now I can just about make out bright white objects like balloon tips.

So it looks like the LCD backlight is broken right? But I thought there are two back lights in a screen, and does this mean both are broken (or one broke a long time ago)?

How can this happen, usage, surge current etc
Could it be the inverter - bad power problems.
How does one fix such a problem. attempt a repair or easier to send it back?

Thanks
Thomas
 
Video drivers wouldn't do pot; it's the monitor. I removed the cable (and have tried it on a different pc), as I say I can see the test card when no VGA cable is connected to the monitor. I was just wondering if there is any other possibility and what the cause could be (ie inverter messing up or just lifetime of lamps)

Thanks :)
 
What confused me is the fact that it seemed to work again before the computer fully booted up, after switching it off and on. That may simply be because of the the different resolution Windows was sending to the monitor at that point however, and so confused it.

It does seem to be the backlight, but being an LCD, without a back light, there shouldn't be any display at all if I'm correct, so the light must be working, but very low.

I wouldn't attempt to open up a monitor though to be honest... there could be all sorts of capacitors in there that would store voltage for long periods of time.

You are best off getting it checked out by a professional, or trying to send it back (but seeing as its a clearout...)
If the lights have infact gone, replacing these would probably be more expensive than a new monitor.

I wouldn't have thought it would have been a lifetime issue. I doubt the light would have just suddenly lost its juice, unless its been dimming for quite a while and hasn't been noticed, which is possible I guess...

Have you tried moving the monitor about? Does this do anything? If it does, it could be a loose connection or anything like that.
 
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