HP Laptop starts up with "reddish color" then goes black screen

[Duane]

Hello and thanks for any advice. I have an HP Pavillion laptop (model ZV 5260
-- XP Pro). The problem is that my main monitor is going black after a few
minutes - but my external monitor is working fine. When I hibernate the
computer, I can log back on, but the screen looks a "reddish" color for about
20 seconds and then returns to a normal color. But then after a few minutes ,
my monitor will go COMPLETELY black (no backlight or anything) while my
external monitor is still working fine. I am running a NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go
64M 72.30

Any help is greatly appreciated as I am pretty strapped for $$ and I would
like some good direction before I get yanked by some repair shop etc..

Thanks again for any advice. Please feel free to e-mail me at
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Malke]

Hello and thanks for any advice. I have an HP Pavillion laptop (model ZV
5260 -- XP Pro). The problem is that my main monitor is going black after
a few minutes - but my external monitor is working fine. When I hibernate
the computer, I can log back on, but the screen looks a "reddish" color
for about 20 seconds and then returns to a normal color. But then after a
few minutes , my monitor will go COMPLETELY black (no backlight or
anything) while my external monitor is still working fine. I am running a
NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go 64M 72.30

Please do not multipost like this. You already got answers in the other
newsgroup to which you posted and you're not going to get answers you like
any better here. Your laptop screen has a hardware defect. Either live with
the external monitor or send the laptop back to HP for repair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting
http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm - multiposting

Malke

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hello and thanks for any advice. I have an HP Pavillion laptop
(model ZV 5260 -- XP Pro). The problem is that my main monitor is
going black after a few minutes - but my external monitor is
working fine. When I hibernate the computer, I can log back on, but
the screen looks a "reddish" color for about 20 seconds and then
returns to a normal color. But then after a few minutes , my
monitor will go COMPLETELY black (no backlight or anything) while
my external monitor is still working fine. I am running a NVIDIA
GeForce4 440 Go 64M 72.30

Any help is greatly appreciated as I am pretty strapped for $$ and
I would like some good direction before I get yanked by some repair
shop etc..

Thanks again for any advice. Please feel free to e-mail me at

Get the broken screen fixed.

 

[Paul]

Hello and thanks for any advice. I have an HP Pavillion laptop (model ZV 5260
-- XP Pro). The problem is that my main monitor is going black after a few
minutes - but my external monitor is working fine. When I hibernate the
computer, I can log back on, but the screen looks a "reddish" color for about
20 seconds and then returns to a normal color. But then after a few minutes ,
my monitor will go COMPLETELY black (no backlight or anything) while my
external monitor is still working fine. I am running a NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go
64M 72.30

Any help is greatly appreciated as I am pretty strapped for $$ and I would
like some good direction before I get yanked by some repair shop etc..

Thanks again for any advice. Please feel free to e-mail me at
(e-mail address removed)

The reddish color is a backlight problem. Or it could be an inverter,
but the thing is, it managed to start and run for a while, so that
means the inverter is less likely to be the problem.

The inverter applies a higher voltage to start (striking voltage) and
reduces the voltage a bit when running (burn voltage). That might be
about 1000V and 800V or so. If the inverter is not matched to the load
(say the tube ages or the inverter becomes weak), it can shut off its
output when in the burn state. That is often seen as "light for 2
seconds and then it stops". But in your case, it completes the strike
state, and runs in burn for a couple minutes.

The inverter and CCFL are matched to one another, and really, either
could be responsible for the problems.

CCFL tubes have lifetimes in the thousands of hours, like 15000 to
25000 hours. A lot of the time, the inverter fails, before the
CCFL tubes have a lot of hours on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ccfl

Some testing here.

http://www.landmarktek.com/pdf/TK801.pdf

If you can live with the external monitor, then use that instead.

If you must have a working screen (i.e. portable note taker, going
to meetings etc), then sooner or later it is going to cost you
$$. Some shops want $200 just to "look at it". They may attempt to
replace the whole panel, rather than fiddle with CCFL tubes and
inverters. On the other hand, you could try to find someone who
will disassemble the panel, but there are no guarantees they can
find a good match for the components used. And the parts are still
overpriced for what you get. I can assure you, the $70 they charge
for an inverter, is not the material cost to build one. It is a
matter of, being a laptop, they can charge what they like. Owning
a laptop, is an "invitation to robbery".

Good luck,
Paul

 

[Duane]

"Happy Holidays" to you too Malke. I was trying to be resourceful about
getting an answer so I can continue to make a living. I'll try not to offend
you any further at this point. Regards.

 

[Duane]

Thanks for your time Paul. Good advice and it gives me the direction I need.
Happy Hoidays to you.