Laptop Screen is Black and Not Visible

Try increasing the Brightness. Hold down the FN key and use the Up arrow key at the same time to increase the brightness. Does that help any?

stu

It would be great to have some more info regarding your laptop type etc. Is there any difference if you run on batteries instead of plugged in?

Basically it could be the lcd inverter, the backlight tubes possibly a loose cable etc. You'll have to supply us with more info.

/Harold

I need help on this one too.  My warranty has run out so I am stuck trying to figure this out.  By the way DELL customer service is horrible.  Everybody take 2-3 minutes to get your information before saying I am talking to the wrong department and transfers me.  I am on the fifth guy.  I am positive DELL's method to reduce service calls is to just wear you down enough so you give up.

Anyway, I turned off my computer one day.  The next time I turned it on the screen is nearly black.  I can see the items on the LCD screen (barely).  When I hook up to the external monitor, the system is okay.  So I am guessing it has nothing to do with the BIOS, Operating System, Video Card, or Driver (although the tech support made me go through it with him before he could get to the next screen of his help desk program).

When I do "Function+F5" couple of times.  The LCD gets a lighter shade of black.  So is this the backlight or the inverter - how can I tell?

This is troublesome because I am going on a business trip this coming Monday morning.  Even trying to call and get a list of DELL certified service centers in my area (SAN ANTONIO, TX) has been impossible.  I honestly believe these offshore sites do not understand that they have won - I am ready to take it somewhere to be fixed but they keep on torturing me - on hold right now while they try to figure out where the service centers are in the US. 

Eric,

What it sounds like is the backlight isn't blown on your monitor. Basically think of it like this, the way an lcd works is you have the film that is a few layers think that has gates(each pixel has 3 gates one for each of the 3 primary colors), the backlight is basically a floursent lightbulb producing white light. This backlight is on all the time even if your screen is black(but still on, if you turn the laptop off it obviously goes off), the gates allow the differen't light colors through to produce your colors and images on the screen. So if the backlight goes out it is possible to get something very vauge on the screen but not be clear because there isn't enough light to really display good colors. Not sure if the backlight is replaceable in dell laptops.. good luck

is there a petition you can sign to ask dell to bring ist service centers back to the US.  I keep getting sent to India where they are going through their recipe book of stock solutions without really thinking about what I am asking. 

Cking thanks for the reply.  I am going to try to open up the Dell after my trip.  I guess I will order a backlight.