defective/incompatible aftermarket screen?

I got a Dell Latitude E5510 with a defective screen, looking to upgrade to a 1600X900 display since the laptop was also shipped with one originally.

There are only two panels to choose from, LG's LP156WD1(TP)(B1) and Samsung's LTN156KT01-001/003. I got the LG one but I think there's something wrong- vertical bars blink before the Dell logo comes up during boot and you can see a smudge on black backgrounds

What's really bothering me is that the colors seem washed-out. Whereas folders look like this on my E5500, they look like this on the LG screen.

Is it defective or incompatible? Are the colors normal? Would the Samsung one be any better?

 

Make sure the cable connecting the display to the motherboard is in place properly. Perhaps try re-seating it on both ends. The LP156WD1 is a really nice display (I have it on my Alienware M15X) so either there is a bad connection, or perhaps the panel itself is defective.

 

I already did, tried another cable too just to be sure.

The one you have on your Alienware, is it the (TP)(B1) version? Have you ever experienced any of what I described, the vertical bars during boot, the odd-looking colors?

 

I don't see anywhere where it states the version, so I am not sure, but the panel is the LP156WD1. That panel should be compatible with that laptop so I don't think it's a question of compatibility.

You may have simply gotten a bad panel, but you may also have a bad motherboard and/or bad graphics adapter on the motherboard. Have you looked for any damage around the connector on the motherboard where the cable to the monitor attaches?

Also, try an external monitor and see how colors are displayed there.

 

Oh, the first thing I checked for when I bought the laptop was the video chip. The screen was defective and I wanted to be sure the problem wasn't the motherboard.

I hooked it up to an external monitor and didn't notice any discoloration or artifacts. It's an old CRT monitor, though.

The connector looks fine but I could be missing something, tried taking a picture of it.

I looked online and apparently Dell only shipped the Samsung panel with E5510s. Could it be a freaky compatibility issue?

 

It might be just that. The Samsung is known to work, use that screen.

 

While checking on an external monitor can help diagnose GPU problems, it still does not guarantee that the motherboard or GPU are functioning 100%. I'll give you an example. I bought an AMD 5850 MXM card for my laptop recently. My laptop's display only showed a white screen that occasionally flickered. I tried an external display and the card functioned fine. Turns out there is some damage to the card that prevents it from displaying to the laptop's display, but still functions with an external monitor.

If you can try another panel and it works, then it's a problem with that particular panel.

As far as the compatibility, I got my info from this:

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=9202