Screen inverter board
Laptop inverter boards (also know as LCD inverter, FL inverter, screen inverter, backlight inverter) come in different shapes and sizes. On the picture above you see some typical looking inverter boards found in laptop computers.
The inverter board works as a power supply for the backlight lamp mounted inside the LCD screen. The inverter board converts low voltage DC power (few volts) supplied by the motherboard to high voltage AC power (few hundred volts) needed for the backlight lamp.
When the inverter board works properly, the backlight lamp gets power and the LCD screen lights up. As a result, the image on the screen is bright.
HOW INVERTER CONNECTED TO LDC SCREEN
On the picture below you can see a typical laptop display assembly which includes the LCD screen, video cable and inverter board.
One side of the inverter board connects to the backlight lamp and another side to the video cable (LCD screen cable).
HOW INVERTER MOUNTED INSIDE LAPTOP DISPLAY PANEL
In most laptops the inverter board is mounted below the LCD screen as it shown on the picture below. You can get an access to the inverter board when you remove the screen bezel – a plastic frame around the LCD screen.
TYPICAL INVERTER FAILURE SYMPTOMS
Usually inverters fail in one of the following ways:
1. When you turn on the laptop, the screen lights up for a short period of time and then goes dark. You still can see an image but it is very dark, almost invisible and definitely not usable. When you restart the laptop, the screen lights up and then goes dark again. The laptop works fine with an external monitor.
2. Your laptop turns on but the screen remains dark all the time. You still can see a very dim image outline. The laptop works fine with an external monitor.
3. The laptop screen works fine for hours or even days, but sometimes it goes very dark as it mentioned above. When you restart the laptop, the screen works fine again.
Inverter failure symptoms are very similar to backlight lamp failure symptoms and in most cases you cannot tell which one is causing the problem until you replace either the inverter board or the backlight lamp. From my personal experience, inverter boards fail more often than backlight lamps. If you have to guess, replace the inverter first.
Laptop parts | Repair Man | 
December 26, 2008 3:14 pm
443 Responses to “Screen inverter board”
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Pages: « 18 [17] 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 … 1 » Show All
December 12th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
@ SAF,
How the laptop screen fails? No light, no image, wrong image, etc???
December 12th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
@ monemvasios,
The description is not very clear. The external monitor is also very dark???
December 12th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
@ Dee,
Sounds like this is LCD screen failure. You cannot fix failed LCD screen, you’ll have to replace it with a new screen.
You’ll find some guide for Acer laptop disassembly here: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/category/1-acer-laptops/
December 12th, 2011 at 3:08 pm
@ yasser,
I think I know what happened.
Most likely your laptop has a magnetic lid close switch – a small magnet located under the screen bezel activates the switch located somewhere on the motherboard.
I think when you removed the old screen, you accidentally pulled the magnet from its place. Now you have a new screen but there is no magnet. That’s why when you close the display, nothing happens.
Take a look at the old screen, find the magnet and place it back into the proper place (somewhere under the screen bezel).
December 12th, 2011 at 10:25 am
I have a Polaroid FDM-1000A lcd tvd/dvd combo. I think it is my inverter board that has gone bad. Are there oem or other suppliers where I can get one? I tried looking for specs on tv, but cannot find them. Thanks.
December 10th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
I’m thinking…
I’ve got a laptop which consistently loses backlight after about a minute of running.
I put it into fridge, let it cool for an hour, and now it has been running fine for more than an hour! I’m thinking… If it’s somehow temperature dependent, it must be something at fault which produces no heat whatsoever, thus something on the inverter board and not the CCFL?
December 8th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
HI,I HAVE SAN AMILO 1718,SOMETIMES THE LCD SCREEN WORKS,SOMETIMES IT DOESN’T.THE EXTERNAL MONITOR,WHEN CONNECTED,IS FINE.WHAT IS TGE POSSIIBLE PROBLEM WITH MY COMPUTER,INVERTER OR MOTHERBOARD(ALL WIRE CONNECTIONS HAVE BEEN CHECKED!
November 29th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Fujitsu Amilo LI-1718 Laptop LCD screen is very dark, connected with an external computer monitor to the laptop the
external monitor image is the same as on the Laptop LCD, replacing the LCD inverter happens the same.
Any suggections.
November 29th, 2011 at 11:09 am
I have an aspire one acer – netbook – it has a split screen right down the middle, one side bright the other slightly dark and flickers..how do you fix? on an external monitor it’s fine…
November 21st, 2011 at 11:49 pm
i replace my notebook LCD with a new one then whats happening is when i close the screen the screen still working i check the power option and its ok i isntalled a new windows and the problem still
November 2nd, 2011 at 5:30 pm
@ Patrick,
Test your laptop with an external monitor. Do you see the same problem with external video or it’s working fine?
If external video works fine and the problem appears only on the laptop screen, it’s possible you got a defective LCD screen.
if same problem appears on the external video, most likely this it graphics card failure.
October 14th, 2011 at 1:10 am
I require an backlight inverter to suit a Sanyo-Torsian MXS121022010 screen, the existing Rexon RI-0120-02 is faulty.
Can I get a direct replacement for a Rexon RI-0120. Alternately can the existing unit be repaired.
Thank you.
Sean.
October 9th, 2011 at 10:26 am
I bought a new screen on Ebay and installed it with out any difficulty. However on starting it up the windows XP screen appears as normal and it seem like it is going to load the system. However after approx 25-30 secs it disappears and a bright, greyish white, screen slowly appears with a pattern of faded dots in the background and a few coloured vertical lines running down it. Would anybody please have the remotest idea as to what the problem would be? I have linked it to an external monitor and everything works fine. If it’s not the screen, what else could it be?. The graphics card? Your advice and help would be greatly appreciated.
September 6th, 2011 at 1:22 am
i have a acer extensa 4630z have a multi vertical lines and horizontal lines clolored can you help me what will do or how to repair T-Con board
September 1st, 2011 at 5:28 am
Hi,
Good to know this.
However, when i tried to extend my workspace to an external monitor, the working external monitor goes into black screen when laptop LCD opens at normal angle (around 90deg). The external monitor lit only when i close my LCD laptop around 45degree.
It has been working all this while. Any solution ?
August 30th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
I have a toshiba laptop and today i dropped an completly broke the screen. I have another montitor and a plugged one cable into the laptop and the other into an wall outlet. Everytime i power up the laptop, then monitor turns on but goes to a “A disk read error occurred press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart” when I restart it does the exact same thing. What do I do?
June 29th, 2011 at 8:59 am
put in brand new lcd to repair defective screen.
upon boot up the Entire screen shows up as updside down.
Any ideas and this starts upside during the bios bootup.
Baffled.
June 23rd, 2011 at 3:22 am
Hello
I have Faulty HP Laptop but LCD is working, i want to use it for watching Cable TV any one can help me in this task. I have Dany LCD TV Box also. if any possibility pl guide me. Regards
Zia
June 21st, 2011 at 4:05 am
i..have..a..dell..inspiron..and..for..a..while..it..was..turning..dark..once..in.a..while..and..also..keeps..overheating…last..night..i.closed.it..and..this..morning..it..wont.boot..i..ran..diagnostic..and..it.says..lcd..inverter..failed…but..it..also..keeps..saying..disk..read..error..is..that..because..of..the..inverter..also
June 9th, 2011 at 2:27 am
Hi repair man,
I have a Sony vaio ar31s which has of a 2 days ago has lost the ability to display the color black. Anything that was black is now green!
I’ve connected to different monitors and have not been able to extend or duplicate my display on either of them.
I can however using the hdmi port onto my flat screen TV.
I don’t think its the inverter as the display works but just shows black as green. I’m more drawn towards the Lcd cable or laptop monitor.
Is the only way to test lcd cable is to replace it?
Would you concur that it is more likely the cable or the monitor?
many thanks
May 3rd, 2011 at 4:42 pm
jose manuel,
Did you test your laptop with an external monitor? Can you get normal video on the external screen?
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:04 am
fernando T. Cortes,
I would suggest removing the inverter and searching for the part number. Usually the part number or model number printed somewhere on the inverter board. After that you can google the part/model number or search on eBay.
Searching by the part/model number is the best way to find a compatible inverter.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:58 am
Bjarne,
It’s possible the new screen is very bright because the old inverter board doesn’t match the backlight lamp.
In Dell laptops the inverter must match the LCD screen. Otherwise the backlight will not work properly.
When you buy a new screen for your Dell laptop you have to make sure the screen is designed for Dell and it comes with the inverter board attached.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:21 am
Heather,
I don’t think this is inverter related problem.
Most likely this is one of the following:
1. Bad connection between the video cable and motherboard. This connector located under the keyboard cover close to the left hinge. Try reconnecting the cable first.
2. If reconnecting the cable doesn’t help, probably the cable itself is bad. I’ve seem video cables going bad on DV9000 series. Try replacing the cable. Here’s how you can replace the cable: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-replace-broken-left-hinge-in-hp-pavilion-dv9000/
The guide explains how to disassemble the display panel and remove keyboard cover. You should be able to figure out how to replace the cable.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:14 am
vic m,
1. It’s possible the lid close switch located under one of the hinges.
2. It’s possible your laptop has a magnetic switch. A small magnet (located inside the display) activates a switch (located inside laptop base) when the display is closed.