vaio display problem - is it a backlight, inverter or screen issue?

i have a sony vaio c2z - nvidia geforce 7400; x-black lcd


i have had a lot of problems with my display since august. although i didn't notice at the time, it happened soon after i installed the Win 7 RC.

when i start the laptop up the screen looks all distorted and the colours arent correct:

http://i50.tinypic.com/1zvam0x.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/2zg55qa.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/34euej5.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/a4rd3r.jpg

but when i take screencaps and connect it to another monitor everything looks fine.

http://i50.tinypic.com/az79zl.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/o0ro15.jpg

i assumed the screen was knackered, but i installed a game a few weeks ago and it brought the display back to life, only for it to look crap again when i restarted. this also happened when i did a clean install of vista, only for the display to go bad when the updates installed.

i have tried many times, but have been unable to replicate this.

i have tried installing all the drivers i could find and last night i used askpcexperts.com who installed all my drivers again and checked everything. he couldnt see any problems and could only suggest that i have a backlight or invertor problem.


sony are supposed to be collecting the laptop today because it has an nvidia display card which they have indicated may be faulty and is entitled to free repairs if it is. i initially thought this was the cause of my problem, but now it is clear it is something else.

sony said that if the problem is not related to the nvidia then it will cost £150 to cover shipping costs both ways, on top of any repair costs if i want to pay them.


should i let sony take it and no doubt be charged £1000's?
should i take it to a pc repair shop and hope for a cheap repair?
should i buy a wee bedside monitor and use it on that?

or should i just bin it and buy a new one?

 

Backlight failure causes the screen to dim or not display at all, first signs are a red pink display at start-up
Inverter is used to power the backlight and failure is a total loss of screen brightness
It looks like LCD screen then, especially if it’s displayed correctly on an external monitor its not a video card issue
Be sure to check and adjust software settings for display


Alex

 

It may be the connection between LCD and video card.

If you still suspect of software problem (which I doubt), you can try booting it with a Linux liveCD, or something.

 

at first i thought it could be the connection, but the issues with the installations made me think it was a driver issue. i've given it a few shakes and opened & closed the display a few times but nothing has changed.

the screen definitely doesn't have the "sparkle" that it used to. and all the colours do look faded. and there are certain areas of the desktop wallpaper that flicker. and the display on screen seems limited to 8 or 16 bit.

when i look at colours in paint there are some that make the pixels really noticeable and there are others that have lines going through them - it looks similar to something that is being transmitted.

if u look at this picture: http://i50.tinypic.com/1zvam0x.jpg

you can see how all the shadows/colour depths are screwed. this is the problem

 

Its hard to say for sure but if it looks perfect on an external monitor it would exclude the video card and point to a lcd problem


Alex

 

yeah this is sounding better.

is there any way i can test the laptop display? i.e. plug something into it? or does it only go one way?

screen prices aren't too expensive i guess, but it is ebay.

what about the connection from the card to the display? does that have a special name? are they expensive?

 

No way to test to make sure
If it was mine I would take a chance that it is the display and replace it
This is a link to a screen-Not sure if its x-black?
Replacement looks cheap


Alex

 

all these hardware sellers seem to have great ratings, but can they be trusted?

are they easy to replace or is it better to get an electrician?

 

Keep away from an electrician laptops are more fragile than light switches and sockets

I suppose if you are confident with handling small screws you should be able to do it yourself - I haven't tried yet - no need - alternatively find a computer shop.
But a computer shop will want to order its own parts and that may cost more unless you can make them use Ebay...

Trust - I've never used it, I'm the wrong person to ask for that.

 

just to keep you guys updated:

i lost patience with the laptop. the cd drive seemed buggered too as it wouldn't let me install xp, so i bit the bullet and had someone take a look at it.

they installed xp installed easily, but it didn't fix the display problem. he agreed that it must be a screen or an inverter problem.

however, i have just ran my vista restore disks and the display is perfect now. i am not letting it update because i know that it will just mess with the display again.

i think it's safe to now assume that it is a windows issue, or a sony conspiracy, lol. i guess i just need to wait for a Windows 7 service pack.

 

how come sony UK doesn't list this product down in thier website, can't find it in US web too

 

Which product?

The SZ? Its been replaced by the Z.

 

thou it took some time just find your comp spec which Im basing from this site

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sony-vaio-vgn-c2z/1707-3121_7-32520846.html?tag=mncol;lst

and using the specs given with comparing to other realiable sources, finding your chip wasn't easy either but if Im not mistaken ur chip is http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=30787

So I when to the Win7 site to check Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5450 and the result as below

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/co...0ae Core%u21222 Duo Processor T5450&os=32-bit

I realise what was the mistake here look at the motherboard which I did a trace back just for curiousity sake http://www.intel.com/Products/Desktop/Motherboards/D945GCLF/D945GCLF-overview.htm

Is a desktop motherboard, and since product description does not have MOBILE when they identity it, that is when once problem leads to another and thank god you revert back to your orginal vista recovery disk

A search box having a picking up Intell and Intell Mobile makes a huge difference here and another good example of my comp lol



Anyway base on the chip model, I don't think you are able to install Win 7 cause I check on nvidia site your graphics card supports up to direct9x and they require direct10x and Win 7 XP-Mode requires VT enable which I believe is not enable on your chip but there is a T5500 chip which has VT enable which looks exactly like yours http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27253

btw out of curiousity what game did you install which you mention stablise your custom gothic screen?

hope this helps you out - cheers

 

VGN C2Z/B

 

http://www.sony.com.my/pressrelease/asset/239310/section/productpressreleases

The last place I least expect to find lol oh well

 

it was Football Manager 2010.

and thanks for looking out all that info, really appreciate it.

Is there any way I can use this to get a new laptop?