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This guide will help you to remove the LCD screen and inverter board from a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ645 laptop display. I think these instructions will work for many other Sony Vaio models.
Do not forget to remove the battery before you start.
Related articles: In my previous post you’ll find how to remove the keyboard and replace the hard drive.
OK, let’s take apart the display panel.
STEP 1.
Using a sharp object (or small screwdriver) remove four rubber plugs. There is on plug in each corner of the display bezel.
STEP 2.
Remove four screws found under rubber plugs.
STEP 3.
Start removing the screen bezel as it shown on the picture below.
STEP 4.
Continue removing the bezel. Be careful, do not apply to much force because the the screen bezel is made of thin plastic.
STEP 5.
Remove the screen bezel.
STEP 6.
In order to replace the screen inverter you don’t have to disassemble the laptop any further. Simply unplug two cables from both sides of the inverter board. I pointed these cables with two red arrows. Carefully remove the inverter board and replace it with a new one.
STEP 7.
Here’s how you can replace the LCD screen.
Carefully remove the LCD screen from the cover and place it face down on the keyboard.
STEP 8.
In order to remove the LCD screen you’ll have to:
1. Unplug the video cable from the connector on the back of the LCD screen.
2. Unpug the LCD backlight cable from the right side of the inverter board.
Now you can replace the LCD screen with a new one if needed. Search for the replacement LCD screen here.
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January 25th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
I have VGN-SZ75GN, it has no problem with inverter. But seeing your post, I have question regarding the LCD position. My SZ75GN LCD screen viewable area is not centered, a little bit to the right site. (only about 1mm I guess). But it annoys me each time I look the screen, espesially with light color wallpaper. Can I reposition the LCD panel a little to the left? What does hold the LCD panel from the body? Thanks.
January 5th, 2010 at 2:49 am
Thanks very much for your detailed reply.
I’ll try your recommendations.
Best wishes
Lorcán.
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Lorcán,
The backlight lamp is mounted INISIDE the LCD screen. It’s very hard to remove and replace.
I cannot tell if your problem is related to the inverter or backlight failure without testing it.
Here’s what you can do. Test your laptop with a known good backlight lamp as it explained here: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2009/05/04/how-test-lcd-screen-inverter-in-laptop/
If the test backligth lights up, you have a faulty backlight lamp inside your screen. If that’s the case, I would suggest replacing the entire LCD screen. Again, it’s very hard to replace the backlight. Just in case, here are instructions: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
January 2nd, 2010 at 4:19 am
Hi & Happy New Year
I have a Vaio VGN-SZ4XWN/C and it shows similar symptoms to many mentioned above…the screen is very dark but slightly visible (in a strong light) so I guess the inverter or backlight is dead. I opened the screen but didn’t notice the backlight. I assume this model carries a backlight as I see one for sale on ebay.
However I cannot find an inverter available for this model. Is there a generic inverter that would do the job ? Also, I see above that these problems could also be a faulty Motherboard….could the Motherboard be the problem ? I have the Laptop attached to an external monitor and it’s perfect…does this mean the Motherboard is OK ?
Thanks,
Lorcán.
December 28th, 2009 at 2:32 am
i hav VGN-SZ430N, there is a problem with my LCD, dead cells are appearing continuously. Can any body tell me how to prevent from dead cells on LCD????
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:17 pm
should I replace the sony VGN lcd with lcd from sony also? can I use other brand as long as they are same size?
if not, what are the differences between them?
thank you
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for your time on these LCD screens for all of us who need it. I am also having some difficulty removing the bezel from my VAIO SZ-370P. Unlike your SZ-645, I have plastic coverings (or could be stickers to the best of my knowledge) where your bottom rubber plugs are located. I have removed the plugs and screws at the top of the screen, however am reluctant to remove the bottom part since I am afraid of hidden screws. Are there any screws hidden under there? Thanks again for your time.
December 21st, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Mike,
It sounds like you damaged the LCD screen and it has to be replaced.
Replace just the screen, do not replace the cable. I don’t think it’s necessary.
Find our how much is a new replacement screen. This will answer your question.
December 16th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Hey, I have a sony vaoi thats sitting at my house been meaning to find a site like this. I used to treat the laptop really rough. One time I grabbed the screen from the top and a black line came down..then i touched more areas of the top and the whole screen went black from every area i touched. ( i grabbed it from the middle, solid black line in the middle, then from the side top (to see if anything else would happen) and the other half went black lol)
Should I replace the whole screen? if i do does it come with the video cable part and the connections (i’m scared that that might be the thing thats damaged)
This laptop is pretty old now, is it even worth replacing? It also makes intense fan noises, and when i tilt it to the side its u can hear the fan randomly cutting something lol
November 14th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Anthony,
I’ve never done it myself.
I guess you cannot replace the LED backlight LCD with a regular LCD screen. But it’s only a guess.
November 14th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Hi, i have a VGN-18Gp which has a LED backlight LCD, Can it be exchange with the VGN-55GN which has a LCD backlight model ? I plan to change the complete LCD housing….Just wonder LED and LCD connector are can be plug in ?
November 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Susan,
I’m not familiar with this model but if you cannot find any screw covers or screws, it’s possible that this model doesn’t have any.
It’s possible that the screen bezel is secured by plastic latches under the bezel.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I am trying to replace the screen on my Sony Vaio VGN FW450J/T but I can’t even find the
screws (or rubber plugs) on the four corners of the screen bezel. Could they be someplace
else and exactly what do those rubber plugs look like? Any help you can provide would be
greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
[...] one of the previous guides I explain how to remove the LCD screen and inverter board from a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ series [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 10:05 am
yan wong,
Shouldn’t be any difference. The webcam is a separate module mounted above the LCD screen.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:54 am
I saw your article on the Sony LCD screen replacement. Cool.
Question: any difference if the laptop has an inbuilt cam on top of the screen?
My model is the SZ43GN
thanks
October 5th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Hi guys,
I have VAIO VGN-FW140E. I was looking through your guide and it is really great, but it seems like my laptop is a little different from the one in the picture above. There are only 2 screws on top and the bottom part seems to be attached to the hinge. If you can provide me with any hint on how to remove the bezel from the hinge, I would really appreciate it.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Chris,
I’m not familiar with your model but it sounds like your new LCD has only one backlight lamp inside but the old one has two backlight lamps. Is my guess correct?
Do you have inverter with dual connector for the old screen?
If that’s the case, you’ll have to purchase the right screen.
September 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I busted the LCD on my VGN FE790. I bought a new LCD, and had no problem getting the old screen off. However, the new screen has ONE wire set that comes out to go to the inverter. The old one had two. When I plug in the new LCD, it’s dark. The screen works, I can read things, but it’s not lit up. What do I do? The old LCD is actually backlit just fine, it’s just smooshed up, which is why I replaced it.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Agata,
You can remove the faulty screen, find the LCD model number on the back and google it.
September 19th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Macdan,
Could be bad inverter or faulty backlight lamp inside the screen. Both have very similar failure symptoms.
I would definitely try replacing the inverter board first. If replacing the inverter doesn’t help, most likely you’ll need a new screen.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
This is a great site-thanks for the info. I have a friends Sony vgn-sz370p that seems to be working just fine, except that the screen is dark. I can barely see the Windows logo that comes on at boot up, but it is very dim. Am I right in thinking that the inverter needs to be replaced?
September 12th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Hi. I need to replace a screen in vaio VGN FE-31H. Does anyone know what other series can use for replacement? Thank you.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:44 am
hi,
I have a sony vaio VGN CS26S. all the function works well in the laptop, but when i connect the ac adapter to charge the battery the screen goes dark.
Dark screen (just went dark – and dark all the time, when you have light over / close to the screen you can see that screen is working but is totally dark)
i bought the laptop on 5th april this year and the problem started just after using it for a month.
what should i do? please help
August 24th, 2009 at 4:19 am
Hi,
Does anyone know where the inverter is located on a Vaio VGN-SZ4VWN. I thought it would be located near the screen but is not as I have the spare inverter ready to replace the duff one.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Erik,
If I understand correctly, the backlight is off all the time but if you look very closely you still can see the image. Most likely it’s either bad inverter board (power supply for the backlight lamp) or bad backlight lamp (mounted inside the LCD screen).
It’s hard to tell which one is causing the problem without testing the laptop with a known good inverter or backlight. Both have very similar failure symptoms.
I would definitely try replacing the inverter board first because they fail more often. It’s easier and cheaper to replace the inverter board than replace the LCD screen.
If replacing the inverter board doesn’t help, try replacing the LCD screen. The backlight lamp is a part of the screen, so you are getting a new lamp when replacing the screen.
In short, try a new inverter first. If it doesn’t help, move to the LCD.
There is a very slight chance that your backlight stopped working because of the motherboard, maybe it’s not putting out correct voltage for the inverter or something like this, but this is a rare failure.
August 8th, 2009 at 1:42 am
Melissa check guide at http://home.comcast.net/~nw_systems/vgnTX.pdf
I’m still waiting to response…
July 30th, 2009 at 6:52 am
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-TX770P, I need to remove the hard drive. I am guessing it is under the keyboard. Does anyone know where I can get instructions on how to get it it? What screws, etc. to remove?
July 20th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Still waiting for response… Sony Vaio VGN-SZ240P
Dark screen (just went dark – and dark all the time, when you have light over / close to the screen you can see that screen is working but is totally dark), and when connected to external monitor everything works fine
What should i try to replace first LED light, inverter or screen?
Thank you in advance and please reply.
Erik Says:
July 12th, 2009 at 8:18 am
Have vgn-sz240p and screen become realy dark. What should i do first. LED light, inverter or screen replacement? Thank you
July 19th, 2009 at 12:03 am
Brian,
I don’t think that your problem is related to the hard drive.
Test your laptop with an external monitor. If external video works fine, most likely it’s either bad LCD, bad video cable or poor connection between the cable and LCD.
If external video doesn’t work, there could be a problem with the video card.