Home
The following tutorial explains how you can replace the CCFL backlight bulb in a laptop LCD screen. As an example the author takes apart a HP Pavilion zt1000 laptop.
Listed below is a typical laptop disassembly. This is most likely not the exact model you will be servicing, however it is indicative of what you will find in most models. They are all relatively the same and we hope this tutorial will give you a basic idea on the scope of backlight replacement.
Step-by-step CCFL backlight replacement tutorial. Are you looking for a new CCFL bulb? You can find it here.
The disassembly and LCD screen removal steps will be the same for many different laptop models.
Before you attempt replacing the CCFL bulb, I would recommend testing your laptop with another working inverter board. It’s possible that your laptop backlight is not working because of failed inverter board.
UPDATE: Here’s another backlight lamp replacement guide that could be useful for all DIY-ers.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
July 6th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Hi there,
I have a Toshiba Satellite A75 notebook with the following problem. When I start my notebook the image on the screen has a reddish hue and later the screen light turns off. I can see that there is an image on the screen but it is very dark. When I reboot my notebook it stars with the same reddish screen and after a while it goes dark again. I still can use the notebook with my desktop monitor.
I took my laptop to a local computer shop for diagnostics and they said the LCD screen has to be replaced and this repair will cost me over $500. I think it’s too much for this older computer. Do you know what is wrong with my notebook? Do you think the LCD screen has to be replaced?
Thanks.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hi Visitor,
I think the image on the screen has a reddish hue because the backlight CCFL lamp is dying and it has to be replaced. If that’s the case you’ll have to replace the whole LCD screen or replace the CCFL bulb inside your screen and this is not easy.
If you’ve never done it before, I would suggest replacing the whole screen.
Most likely they quoted you a new screen because they do not replace backlights. Most laptop repair shops do not offer this service because it’s easy to damage the screen while replacing the backlight lamp.
You can try replacing the LCD screen yourself, it’s not very hard. Buy a new or used LCD screen here and use disassembly instructions for Toshiba notebooks at http://www.irisvista.com
July 7th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I have a Dell Latitude D620. I can turn it on but the screen never lights up. It’s very dark, almost invisible. As other people recommended, I tested my laptop with another monitor and it works just fine. Do I have to replace CCFL?
July 7th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Josh,
If the laptop start without backlight on the screen, I would try replacing the inverter first. The inverter board supplies high voltage AC power to the CCFL lamp. The inverter board can be found inside the display assembly, usually it’s mounted below the LCD screen. If your inverter is dead, the laptop will work fine with an external monitor but the laptop screen will stay very very dark. Inverters fail more often then backlight lamps.
July 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I have a Toshiba Satelite A135 when I turn it on the screen is very dark. If you look close or shine a light on the screen you can see and image. I replaced the inverter with a new inverter board and the first time I turned iot on the screen lit up for about 5 seconds then it went dark again and hasn’t worked again. I’ve hooked it to another monitor and it works fine. Do you think I should replace the CCFL. If so could you suggest a vendor.
July 12th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Steve Fowler,
First of all, it’s possible that you got a defective inverter. Did you buy it from a reliable source? Do you still have warranty? Try replacing inverter with another one if you can.
In most cases this problem is related either to the inverter board or backlight lamp (CCFL). If you replaced inverter with another good one but it didn’t fix the problem, probably you have bad backlight.
It’s not easy to replace the CCFL even for experienced technicians and I would try it only as a last resort. If I know that there is a problem with the CCFL, I usually replace the whole LCD screen.
Sorry Steve, there is no simple answer to your question.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I have a Compaq Evo n620c. The display goes on shortly after booting (Compaq splash screen), but then becomes black – whether one allows the booting to continue, or presses F10 for BIOS settings. Tried reformatting the hard drive, reinstalling the Windows and the drivers – no help. Tried BIOS reflashing, installing new CMOS batter and no luck.
From the discussions it sounds like it might be an inverter, not a backlight lamp?
The laptop works well on the external monitor.
Are there instructions available for n620c how to replace the inverter?
July 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Rick,
Could be either one. In order to find out witch one is causing the problem you’ll have to test the laptop with another working inverter or another working backlight lamp.
I would try replacing the inverter board first. In most cases that’s the culprit.
You’ll find display disassembly instructions in in this category: Compaq & HP Laptops.
September 11th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Hello,
my Pavilion ze5570us backlight is always dark.
I can see an image when i point a flashlight on the screen.
Is there any way to find out if its the inverter board, without buying a new one?
Greetings
September 11th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Termi,
Unfortunately, in order to find the culprit, you’ll have to test the laptop either with a known good inverter board or backlight lamp. If you don’t have test equipment you’ll have to guess. I would probably try replacing the inverter board first.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:15 am
I have a compaq presario whos backlight died on me a few days ago. So would the CCFL be compatible with my laptop if I were to purchase one and replace the backlight bulb myself? and are these bulbs sold in electronic stores such as best buy, circuit city, ect.?
September 12th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Thai,
Could be bad inverter board or bad CCFL (backlight) lamp inside the screen.
All backlight lamps are pretty standard but make sure to get the right size.
You will not find them in retail stores but you can purchase a new backlight lamp on ebay, you’ll find a link where to buy a new lamp in the post.
You can contact the seller and ask him witch lamp is compatible with your screen.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
what exactly is an inverter board? and how much would you estimate the cost to be in order to fix it?
September 12th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thai,
The inverter board is a power supply for the backlight lamp. When inverter board goes bad the backlight stops working but you still should see a very faint image on the screen. The external video should work fine.
In most cases you’ll find the inverter board attached below the LCD screen when you remove the display bezel.
How much would it cost? It depends on the laptop model and where you buy it. I would say somewhere between $20 and $60.
Check out the “Screen Inverter” category, you’ll find inverter replacement instructions for some HP/Compaq models in there.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I have an acer aspire 5610 15.4 in. screen. The screen briefly goes on at startup but only half the screen is lit. After that the screen is functioning, but totally dark. If I hold and release the button that tells the laptop it is closed, I can repeat the startup behavior. I am assuming its an inverter issue, but the fact that I can make the screen partially light up for a moment or two makes me doubt this a little. It works fine with external monitor. Do you have any ideas?
November 1st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Where can you buy a bulb for an LCD display? i have a Toshiba x205 and the bulb busted after a hard fall… any good places you know of?
November 8th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
how much does a light bulb cost
December 13th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I have a very strange symptoms on my Toshiba Qosmio G25 laptop. It all started about 2 weeks ago. A vertical bar of flickering appeared in the middle of the LCD. First it was just flashing lines for a minute or so, and then everything went fine. Then the flickering on startup was much longer, and even after that a vertical bar of “haziness” at the same place was staying. Then it became more and more severe, a color vertical stripes persisted appearing on the same spot, distorting the image. In a week the width of that bar doubled, and in doesn’t clear anymore, in changes colors, shades, sometimes it turns into lines, sometimes it becomes semi-transparent and blurry, but most of the time it’s the dead area with some color distortions. The external monitor works 100% Ok. Is it safe to assume that the problem is *ONLY* CCFL backlight bulb or I should replace the whole LCD? I took some pics of the damage, but I don’t know where to post them.
December 14th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Asher,
Sounds like a problem with the LCD screen.
No, it’s not. Your problem is not related to the CCFL backlight lamp.
When backlight lamp goes bad, your screen goes dark.
From your description I assume that there is a problem with the LCD controller board. It means you’ll have to replace the whole LCD screen.
December 26th, 2008 at 1:11 am
first off merry christmas Laptop Tech
acer aspire 5610 screen just not as bright any more no flickering ,think it might be back light ,do they go dim or just black .
thanks
bob
December 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
bob,
First of all, check the settings. Maybe you accidentally lowered the screen brightness.
Check the power settings, make sure the brightness is set to maximum for both AC and battery modes.
Check settings in the BIOS menu. On some laptops you can increase/decrease screen brightness through the setting in the BIOS menu.
Also, on some laptops you can increase/decrease screen brightness through the keyboard shortcut. For example on a ThinkPad you can use Fn+Home or Fn+End keys.
On Toshiba laptops Fn+F6 or Fn+F7 keys.
On HP laptops Fn+F7 or Fn+F8 keys.
It’s possible you have a similar shortcut on your laptop.
December 26th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Thanks for answering the questions diligently.
(obviously) I also have a problem.
My lcd monitor suddenly refuses to light up (at all). This has happened twice now (december 23 and december 25). Both times I can get my laptop to work again by turning it on and off until the monitor works. The monitor is absolutely dark. No lighting at all. But I know the laptop is booting because the led indicators are flashing.
Do you think I have a problem with the ccfl or the inverter board?
Is it a good idea to do that repeated booting or will it eventually cause more damage?
Thank you so much for answering our queries.
(PS: For people who are asking for THE PRICE ESTIMATE FOR INVERTER BOARDS – laptoptech said it’s $20-$60)
December 28th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Mary,
It’s really hard to tell without further investigation. If the screen is absolutely dark and there is no image at all, even a very faint one, it’s not related to the inverter or CCFL. But you have to make sure that there is no image at all or the problem will be misdiagnosed.
Are you sure the laptop is booting when the screen is off? It would be a good idea to test the laptop with an external monitor when the internal screen fails. Can you get the external monitor to work?
December 28th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
hey,
there is a problem for my laptop (dell xps m140).When I start this computer, the screen only flickers once (very short, maybe only 1/10 sec) then goes dim. I can see all these images eventhough very dim. I am sure the CPU and vidio card work well because I connected this laptop with a external LCD screen, everything is fine.
Inverter wrong or backlight bulb?
Thanks!
December 29th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
nelif,
Could be either one. I would try replacing the inverter board first.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I don’t have the resources to connect it to an external monitor… but I could ‘blindly’ move the arrow keys, press enter then I hear that Windows XP melody when you log on.
Here are a few more observations:
- the 1st time it blacked out, I opened my laptop and the LCD is ‘ON’ but is plain black
- the 2nd time, when I opened the laptop, it didn’t light up at all
- the 3rd time (yesterday) was when I had photoshop, media player, firefox (with 10+ tabs), all open at the same time; the screen went blue with a message dumping physical memory, etc. when I restarted it, the monitor won’t work.
Those 3 times I could ‘revive’ the LCD by toggling the laptop on/off (or maybe waiting around 20 minutes before trying again).
(Happy new year, by the way)
January 9th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
I have a dell 8600 and before the screen failed I noted that it was dimmer, even when set at max, than when it was new. But a month or two ago the screen failed for the first time. I could restart the computer and the screen would turn on for a few seconds, then go dark again. I replace the invert board and that made it work for a time, but I noticed the light would flicker then later it failed with the new inverter.
Do you think it’s the inverters or the ccfl? I replaced the inverter, now im thinking of replacing the whole screen.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Nick,
It’s possible that your new inverter wasn’t good. There is a chance that you bought a defective one.
It’s hard to tell without testing the laptop with a known good inverter board. You’ll have to guess.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hi,
I have an ibm x32 laptop with a dark screen. it stays lit on bootup for several second up to maybe 30 seconds, then goes out. i’ve swapped out the inverter with several known working others, and get the same several seconds of light and then back to dark. there’s no flickering or discoloration so i didn’t think it was the ccfl, but now i’m wondering if it is after all. any ideas? thanks!
January 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Hi,
I have aToshiba satellite A200-TR6.
just a few days ago my screen suddently stopped working..
any time i try to restart it it would light up on one corner for only a second and go off again.. i can still see the screen but the light will not work. and works fine connected to monitor.
I got it checked by my technician and he belives it is only the bulb that is failing and will try to replace it with another screen that “may” possibly fit the size of my laptop.
is it possible it could be a problem with the inverter? should i have him check that before trying to replace my screen?
also, my laptop screen has an integrated webcam that still works perfectly. the screen he planned to replace it with does not have one. is there a way i can find a screen with a webcam too? or would i have to loose my webcam.
thanks.
K.belair
January 20th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Jeff,
Sounds like a problem with the backlight lamp.
Even though the screen will not flicker and colors appear to be fine, it still could be related to the backlight lamp.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Kim,
This failure description fits both a bad backlight lamp or bad inverter board. The only way to find out which one is causing the problem is ether testing the laptop with a known good inverter board or good backlight lamp.
I guess your technician knows what he’s doing and already tested your laptop with another screen.
The web cam is not a part of the LCD screen. The web cam is a separate module which is mounted inside the display panel above the LCD screen. Do you know if he’s replacing just the LCD screen or he wants to replace the whole display assembly? If it’s only the LCD screen, you will not lose the web cam.
March 21st, 2009 at 11:20 am
My Toshiba Satellite P205-S6267 worked fine for 1.5 years. Last night I got Windows updates – Framework 3.5 and agreed to install. Upon restart, my screen was not working. I connected the laptop to an external monitor on which I see that the laptop works as normal. Just in case I did a system restore to get rid of the last update. That didn’t help. I strongly believe it was just a coincidence that the LCD stopped worked right after the windows update, since my Toshiba splash screen does not come up either. The LCD has ligth but no pictures appear. I can use Fn+F6 and Fn+F7 to make the “back light” on the LCD brighter or dimmer, but nothing else is visible on the LCD.
It’s almost like the LCD works but vido signal is not being transmitted to it. But if there is something wrong with the video board, how does the image get to my the external monitor?
March 21st, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I have a Lenovo T500 which has a CCFL screen with lot of flicker, so much that I get an eyestrain after just a few minutes, it is so uncomfortable to look at. At first I thought it was because the refresh rate could not be set higher than 60Hz, but that was CRT logic, I read up and learned my ABC of LCD technology. The perceived flicker is very similar to CRT interlace flicker around 70-75Hz, could it be caused by a defective backlight? Is there any software where I can check this?
Thanks.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hi, I have a toshiba qosmio g25 and about two days ago a third of my screen (on the right hand side) has gone totally black.. the other two thirds work fine.. is the LCD gone and needs replacement or is it something else? please help as I don’t want to buy a new LCD if the problem is something else. I tried prssing the Fn key + 4 which changes the format of the screen but still that third of the screen changes from black to vertical lines of various colors or black again but it doesn’t show anything.. as i said the rest of the screen is just fine. Please need some advice. thx
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Grn,
Yep, looks like it’s just a coincidence. Your description sounds like a hardware related problem, not software.
Could be just a connection related problem. Maybe the video cable is not making good connection with the motherboard. I fixed a similar problem two days ago by reconnecting the video cable on the motherboard.
If you feel confident, you can open up the laptop and try reseating the cable. You’ll find instructions at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
1. One end of the cable could be found under the keyboard. Try this one first, it’s easier.
2. The other end is inside the display panel, behind the LCD screen.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Ole Alstrup,
What if you reduce the LCD screen brightness to the minimum? Will it flicker the the brightness is reduced?
I’m not sure what the problem is, never seen it before. Find out if you have the latest BIOS installed. Update it to the latest version.
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Pete,
This description sounds like a bad screen. You cannot fix that, you’ll have to replace the screen.
April 11th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I have a different problem. My dell 810 Latitude, Boots up, stays lighted, but I do not see a picture, I do hear the windows logo sound. It does run to an independent monitor by doing the fn/f8 keys.Do you think it is just the CCfl bulb? If so; how do I change it? Is it very expensive? I can’t afford a new laptop. Thanks in advance.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Antiquesingomar,
You said the LCD screen lights up, right? It means the backlight is working properly.
There could be a problem with the video cable. You can try reconnecting the cable on the motherboard and LCD screen.
April 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I have a brand new acer aspire one netbook, it came with windows xp and i am a linux dude so I put ubuntu 9.04 RC on it, sometimes when I start firefox, the screen dims and comes back about five times. It is never dark, but it goes down a little, and is distracting. This does not occur in firefox for windows, as I still kept xp. I can turn down the contrast to battery level, which is not too far from my prference and it stops. I realize this is a software problem, but has anyone else had this happen? it stopped for the most part when I installed flash, but it still happens once in a great while. How do I fix this?
This is Humiliating as I am for the most part a linux guru.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
I’ve got an HP Pavilion dv9500 that periodically goes dim on the left side of
the screen. Then after a few days off, on boot, the screen appears to be somewhat
normal. Then the the dimness appears, it starts uniformly on the left border and
creeps like a gradient/shadow to the right until it stops in the middle of the
screen. A high pitch frequency sound is heard periodically (comes and goes).
Any thoughts? Loose cabling? Inverter? Backlight Bubl? Actual LCD display? Defective video chip/vram?
June 29th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Joe,
I don’t think that this problem is related to the video cable, inverter board or video card. To me your descripiton sounds like a failing backlight lamp.
July 27th, 2009 at 4:52 am
Hi, i recently spilled water on my laptop hp pavilion dv 9500 it completely fried the mother board and my inverter board. i did get those two things replaced but for soem reason my screen is still completely unlit. i can shine a light onto it and see the comptuer is working but there is no light comign form the laptop itself. do you specifically know what this is?
August 5th, 2009 at 4:28 am
HI,I am wondering if I am going to a backlight to replace, is the backlight lamp comes with the wire or not, I mean the white and pink wire shown in the last pic of your step by step tutorial, or just the lamp itself. Thank you
September 19th, 2009 at 3:29 am
my laptop screen is just completley black, the acual power still works, but the screen doesnt any help ? thanks
September 19th, 2009 at 11:01 am
holly,
Does it work with an external monitor attached to the VGA port? Can you hear normal noises from the hard drive and DVD drive when you turn on the laptop?
October 1st, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Hi, i’v got a similar problem that iv been spending a lot of time trying to fix. Well the backlight on my laptop doesnt work, so i bought a completely new screen, and that did nothing
i stil had to hold a flashlight up to see things. then i found out the inverter was what i needed to replace. i just got that in the mail and put it in, and its still not lighting up. what should i do? i know its not the brightness or contrast problem. its something else, but iv been blowing my money on this and i need someone who can tell me how to fix it. Thanks!
October 7th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Cooper,
Let’s assume that your new screen and inverter are good.
So, you’ve replaced both parts but still no backlight. What could it be? Here are some suggestions:
1. Check the lid close switch – a small button which turns off the backlight when the display is closed. If the button is broken, it might get stuck inside the case and the laptop “thinks” that the display is closed even when the display is open. As a result, the backlight stays off all the time.
I had some trouble with that while repairing an HP notebook. Replaced both without any luck. Finally, I found that the lid close was broken. I found the switch under the right hinge!!! The switch was located on a separate board and instead of replacing the switch, I simply unplugged it from the motherboard. The backlight came back right away!
2. Make sure the video cable is properly connected to the inverter and LCD. Reconnect the cable.
3. Could be motherboard failure.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
ok, i did that and got the screen showing again, so this is good. But now its just not lighting up, i can see it very faint and adjusting brightness controls arent doing anything. are there any other things you suggest i do?
November 1st, 2009 at 2:09 am
hi. i got problem with my lcd monitor. this occccurs 2-3 times a week. The screen just went totally blank. the power led is lit. when i restarted the whole system.it works fine again. could be the backlight or inverter board causing the problem? thank you in advance..
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
manny,
Are you sure that the screen is totally blank? Maybe the image is still on the screen. Take a closer look.
November 21st, 2009 at 10:20 am
I have this laptop and the screen went dark so I plugged in an external LCD and it worked just fine, so maybe not the video card, I got a new lcd and Inverter and then it worked! After 5 minutes i hear a high pitched “whine” and then the screen went dark again. Any ideas?
December 18th, 2009 at 3:13 am
Hi
Im having the same thing on my tosh satellite l350. Im on it now with the brightness screwed up full and can see images. The black and white are reversed (paper black, text white for eg.) and colors are not as they should be…reds are blue for eg (may not be correct but you see what I mean) have changed the invertor board to no avail but the screen now goes into hibernation every 20 mins or so. Gonna try the backlight if I can track a supplier in the UK, seems they are all in the US. Any body got a definative answer to this cause it looks like me going thru the whole array of solutions to get to the bottom of it.
al
December 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
BDP,
Sounds like a problem with the LCD screen. You’ll have to test video output on the external monitor. If external monitor works fine, I would say you have a problem with the LCD screen.
This problem is not related to the inverter board or backlight lamp, that’s for sure. If the screen is still bright, inverter and backlight work properly.
Test your laptop with the external monitor first.
December 21st, 2009 at 7:41 am
@ laptop tech 18/12 thanks for your reply
OK got an external monitor hooked up and working just fine. What does this tell me LT Tech? Does it mean my laptop screens duff or is it something else? Will search about again for the answers to the above but would be really thankful for an answer to this conundrum!!! as it’s doing my swede in.
Thanks in advance for anyone who knows what the hell is going on here,
Al
December 21st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
BDP,
Most likely you have a faulty LCD screen and it has to be replaced.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Hi there Laptop Tech i hope your still around.
My backlight is out completely on my laptop doesn’t come on at all but under a bright light i can see mostly it’s just faint it isn’t the inverter or backlight. I come across a diagnostic test by accident i went to start in safe mode but clicked f12 instead and got a choice to do a diagnostics test so did it and it tested everything on the laptop including an heading for the LCD and the tests for it were inverter it passed, backlight passed and graphics passed. In fact nothig failed at all. The light went out without warning never did it before just went out and hasn’t come back on! It happened after connecting a mouse to a back usb and after taking the keyboard out of the laptop the usb slot is directly behind the lcd connector that connects monitor to keyborad i’ve checked and it isn’t loose. Could something have shorted or would the monitor not work at all in that case?
Cheers for any help
January 20th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
mick,
Sounds like a bad inverter board or backlight. I don’t know if the internal diagnostic test is good for testing these parts.
The only way to find out which one is causing the problem is testing the laptop with another backlight or inverter, take a look at this post: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2009/05/04/how-test-lcd-screen-inverter-in-laptop/
February 19th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Hi there thanks for your reply. Do you think it could be something on the motherboard?
I have now tried a new inverter and that never worked and i have also tried a different laptop screen which never worked!
Could it be the graphics controller?
The problem didn’t come and go the light went off and has never been back on!
March 13th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
I have a question my friends laptop is a toshiba thats all i know but we will turn it on and around 20 minutes or so the screen will go black and we cant do anything and then half the time it turns off any ideas?
April 9th, 2010 at 5:58 am
I have a Gateway laptop. One day I turned it on and the screen was dark. If I shine a flashlight at an angle on the screen I can see what’s on the screen. It works fine when I hook it up to a monitor. Any clue what the problem might be?