This document pertains to HP Notebook PCs with LCD display screens.
If you have a cracked or broken LCD screen, please use one of the following options to repair or replace it. Self-repair is not recommended.LCD display screens on notebook computers are made of two thin layers of glass with dark liquid crystal material in between. The glass is covered on the outside by a layer of plastic. Customers often feel that there cannot be a broken LCD display because they cannot feel the break. However, cracks in the glass usually cannot be felt because the plastic covering rarely breaks or fractures.
When the LCD display glass is broken any of the following might happen:
- Lines or patterns might appear on the screen. There might be many lines or only a few lines.
- Black “spots” might also appear. This can be liquid crystal material spilling out of a crack. A crack might be present which causes lines to appear but no liquid crystal spots are apparent. The spots might be small or might appear later or grow larger in time. Customers often say that there was no black spot(s) when the unit was sent for repair, so it must have occurred during or after shipment.
-
The screen might be totally black; however, some sort of pattern can usually be seen if you look closely.
It is important to understand that lines on the LCD can also be caused by video driver issues or a problem with the media you are using. Video driver issues can normally be resolved by downloading and installing a new video driver. However, if the damage is due to a broken LCD, you should understand the following policies.
Accidental Damage Protection (ADP)
HP provides its customers the option to purchase an Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) plan. This plan must be purchased prior to any damage occurring. Customers may purchase the ADP plan through the retailer where they purchased the computer.
Customer Induced Damage to an LCD screen (CID)
Customer Induced Damage is not covered under standard warranty. It is included only in Accidental Damage Protection. Most damaged or broken LCDs will be considered as CID.
Occasionally there are exceptions. Therefore, you may wish to contact a service agent for additional information. Also, for customers who receive their unit from service with damage, the repair will be set up as an exception.
Examples of Customer Induced Damage to an LCD screen (CID)
The following table shows examples of damaged panels and common descriptions of the damage.
All of these examples are of damaged panels that would not be covered by standard warranty.
Example of damaged LCD PanelDiagonal
|
CID Defect
|
Description
|
|
|
or jagged lines and/or panel diagonal of both horizontal and vertical lines
|
Diagonal or jagged lines (white area in 1) and both horizontal and vertical lines indicate panel damage. One set of either horizontal or vertical lines might be a damaged panel, but can also be caused by graphics system failure or a loose internal video cable.
|
  |
|
Discolored, lightened, or darker area in screen
|
Liquid has entered inside the display panel.
|
 |
|
White spots or lightened localized areas
|
Lighter areas or white spots are visible on the screen. This typically happens when a sharp object or edge forcefully contacts the display screen.
|
 |
|
Dark spots in localized areas, an example of Mura defects
|
Dark spots are on the screen. These wide-area pixel defects are typically caused by a sharp object hitting the screen.
|
   |
|
Black “splotches” or “blotches” with bright white areas exposed
|
The internal glass has cracked allowing the liquid crystal to pool into areas (the black blotches). When this happens, the areas void of the liquid crystal is bright white.
|
    |
|
Black splotches cutting through the screen
|
The internal glass has cracked and liquid crystal is leaking (sometimes call bleeding) inside the display panel along the crack.
|
   |
|
Broken glass
|
In extreme cases, the broken glass might be visible, as well as black and white blotches.
|
  |
The damage to my LCD screen is not covered by standard warranty. What can I do now?
In most cases, this damage is considered customer induced and is not covered by any standard warranty. Therefore, it will be the owner’s responsibility to cover the cost of repair unless they have previously purchased Accidental Damage Protection (ADP). If the computer is out of warranty, a fee-based service may be initiated by contacting HP.
If you do not have an ADP policy and do not want to pay for the repair of a damaged LCD, you can connect an external monitor and use the notebook as-is. Or you could purchase a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and use the notebook as if it were a desktop tower. LCD screen damage usually doesn’t affect the operation of the notebook computer. You can also remove the hard drive and use it in an external enclosure on another computer.
