M17x-R1 display issue

Hey guys, so I'm having an interesting issue with my M17x-R1 display. Earlier in the week I was getting some strange flickering pixels across much of the display. They would be organized in long horizontal lines and each pixel would flicker through several colors independently of those around it. I would also every few times I booted up have the screen flash a series of block colors (i.e. red, blue, green, gray, black, etc.). This problem has appeared to have gone away, and I think I was able to make that happen by opening and closing the screen quickly several times. I'm not entirely sure that that physical action did it, but it's likely based on what happened.

A new problem has cropped up though since then. My screen no longer shows the color black correctly. Anytime there is anything on my primary screen that is a pure black color, it shows up a very dark blue. If I look very closely at the screen, I can see alternating rows of blue and black pixels. It does however show all other shades of grey correctly, including very, very dark shades of grey. Only when I have what are supposed to be black pixels does this problem show up.

I have yet to call Dell, and I am under warranty, but I wanted to see if I could figure out the problem first before taking things that far. I don't think the issue is with either of my GPUs (I have dual GTX 260M cards in SLI). When I hook up an external monitor, the problem doesn't arise, and my SLI configuration runs both screens off of the primary card. This makes me think the GPU probably isn't at fault. Sometime over the next few days I'm going to open it up and try switching cards to see if that helps.

If it's not the card, I'm left thinking that it might be the screen, or maybe an issue with the PCI slot on the motherboard. These issues only started to appear after I had taken my laptop on a plane flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, so I'm wondering if maybe a cable or connection is just slightly loose? Being able to fix the first issue I had by adjusting the screen angle makes me think there's something loose with the monitor connection.

I'm also pretty sure it's not a driver issue, since I haven't changed any display drivers recently, and I haven't been doing anything that would have screwed those up. I suppose I should go ahead and try installing new drivers anyways, but I seriously doubt that's the issue here.

I have opened this laptop up before to clean it out, so I'm comfortable doing that again. I'm really just wondering if anyone else has encountered this problem, or if you guys have any suggestions on what to do or what the problem might be.

I've attached a picture that kind of shows the issue. You can clearly see the blue in the background where there should be black.

 

You can try reseatting the LCD cable, does it happen also in the Boot up screen? While the Alienhead is loading?

 

It does happen in the boot up screen while the alienhead is loading. So it's probably the screen then? I'm going to try and reseat some things later today.

 

After poking around inside my laptop, and reseating both GPUs and the connection to the LCD, the problem still persists. I wasn't able to completely disconnect the LCD screen, as I couldn't get the hinges to disengage from the body. I figured it wasn't worth trying to force the screen from the body. Also, as I was working, another, different problem cropped up. The flap that holds the ribbon cable that connects to the power button and media button strip broke off. I was able to fix it by taping it down with electrical tape, but I should probably just get the whole piece replaced.

I also went ahead and tried to see if I could duplicate the issue I've been having with the discrete GPU activated. While black is showing up fine with the discrete GPU, I am noticing some strange issues with the color blue on the windows login screen. Rather, I'm seeing large, pixelated blue arches across the screen where there should be smooth transitions between shades of blue. This makes me think that the issue is screen related, unless that's a normal thing with the integrated GPU?

Regardless, I should probably just call tech support at this point, and figure out what to do from there, right?

Edit: I should add that when I play any video games, I see a lot of what looks like artifacting. It still looks like blue is being substituted for black, but it really does look like artifacting. All my games run very smooth though, and the video cards are running at normal temps. I'm still partial to thinking that the screen is responsible.

 

can i ask what the problem turned out to be?
At first, my screen had the same problem depending on different angles but now its all messed up,
i see red/pink instead of white, some horizontal lines, bit of flickering, and some red on black images
and the blue arches on windows login
im not sure if its the cable or the whole screen??

 

Yeah, I ended up calling Dell, and we went ahead and replaced the entire screen. That fixed the problem. I can't say if it was the cable or the screen itself though, because the tech just replaced everything.

 

I have had the exact problem with artifacts and flickering on the screen on my M17X R1 about a year ago. Turns out for me, it was a GPU problem, I had dual 260m's in SLI just like you do, and after I replaced them with a single 5870M the problem went away and I got a bit of a gaming performance boost. Dell may have replaced your GPU as well if they said they replaced everything.

 

No, it was definitely just the screen this time. I watched everything the tech did (plus I did some work of my own before calling Dell - tried reseating both GPUs among a few other things). I actually had the same problem with an older M17X R1 a few years ago, and they ended up having to replace the laptop because they couldn't fix it in three tries (replaced the GPU, screen, and Mobo). But yeah, it's either the GPU or the screen. Either of those can cause that problem though.