Vaio Z screen blotches (picture included)

PICTURE:

http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy149/syd430/screen-1.jpg

After opening my laptop yesterday (Z790DBB manufactured mid-2009 and out of warranty) i noticed blotches (large vertical areas of discoloration) in the lcd that appear slightly purple in color.

They are fairly vague but become far more noticeable, and are highly distracting when the screen is predominantly displaying white, as the picture shows.

Have not dropped or abused laptop in anyway. When i carry the laptop with me i place it in a pouch and do not apply excessive pressure on the screen. I never place it in a bag with items pushing against the screen.

Toggling the between the intel/nvidia graphics card makes no difference, nor does screen calibration or resolution changes.

Any idea what is causing the problem and if the only fix is a new lcd?

 

That looks like how my 3.5 year old x61t tablet touch-screen looks like, with a screen protector on it. You don't have a screen protector on there, do you?

 

I have the same problem with my SZ. Nothing you can do on your end other than replacing the screen or possibly the inverter.

It seems to be a common problem with thin and light notebook. My FW has been used for longer than my SZ but my FW screen is still perfect.

 

What makes you think its the inverter and not the screen? Also did yours get worse over time? and did you eventually get used to it without being a distraction? thanks

 

It's not really an issue of getting used to it. There is a problem but I don't really know whether getting used to it will give you some peace. Might get worse if you are unlucky...

Looking at your picture, the issue is near where the screen experiences 'pinching' (there is a thread regarding this for the VPC-Z, which also applies for the VGN-Z).

So, when you close the lid, you see the LCD liquid go funky-coloured near the hinge area as if you are pressing on the screen with your finger. That said, does the above blotches-problem exist on the right side of the screen?

And also, have you had a habit in the past of opening the screen by using the left-top side, and not near the webcam? Cause that will transfer undesirable amounts of force and flex, and hence resulting bruised pixels resembling something as you see there. A quick test I do to check for bruising:
- Make two 1600x900 image files in paint, one being completely black and the other completely white
- Put them in a folder, and run a slide show.
- Pause the slide show, and tilt your screen down (so that you are looking at the LCD from 'above')

You'll notice the colour changes (viewing angles increasing ain't a forte of the VGN-Z screen). From that position, you should be able to see iffy, discoloured areas if you do have bruising. Repeat and observe with the white colour image as well. That should give you an indication of your screen's 'health'. If your screen is fine, the colour should be relatively uniform. Which then points towards the invertor.

For comparison sake, I've got a VGN-Z2 that's just over 2 years old (warranty ran out last month). I had the screen changed a year ago under warranty, after I started seeing numerous clusters of dead pixels. A year later now, not a single issue; my last screen started crapping out at about 4 months of age and I let it get worse to see how 'bad' it got. And trust me, I too treat(ed) my Z like a goddess.

 

thanks 5ushiMonster, i tried your suggestion and my screen seemed to be normal and not exhibit the 'blotchiness' on the black screen from the extreme top-down angle or even from a normal viewing angle. Repeating the process with the white screen and although the blotches are still slightly visible from the top-down angle they are actually less visible in this viewing angle than when compared to the normal viewing angle.

So im guessing i dont have the bruising you mentioned but instead its likely to be a problem with the inverter?

To answer your other questions, the problem seems to only be on the left hand side of the screen and i usually open the screen from the middle not the corner.

 

I can't fully confirm that it is indeed the invertor.
- If the blotchiness is less visible from an angle than from head-on (as you say, with the white background), that does sound like the invertor not powering the backlight properly.
- Especially so as you said the screen looks fine pixel-wise with the black (or white) image while looking at it from an angle.

But again, I'm a mere enthusiast, not a laptop technician... Though if memory serves correct, the LCDs intended for the VGN-Z come with the invertor attached.

Original New LCD Display LTD131EQ2X For SONY VAIO VGN-Z - eBay (item 260688962436 end time Jan-05-11 18:17:55 PST)

It's that little 'board' at the bottom. And as you see, those two don't come cheap.

If you have confidence, I would suggest taking your Z apart and making sure the connections are fine, and going from there. If not, it might be a good investment to get a QUOTE from a Sony service centre as to what is wrong, and how much it would cost to fix the issue. Should you go down the latter path, I would strongly discourage Sony 'authorised' centres wherever possible; take it to an actual Sony Service Centre instead.

Regardless, good luck with your machine. You'll need it~

 

Just want to quickly check if anyone else had a similar problem and a fix to the problem shown in the picture? (before I pay someone to have a look at it tomorrow)

I will stress again that they only appear when the screen is white/very light colour and not at all when the screen is black/dark


thanks