The backlight has gone out. Either the lamp has died or the drive electronics are dying. This problem is uneconomical to repair, as it would likely cost more to fix than the $300 or so it would cost to replace the whole unit--LCD disassembly is a bear on a laptop.

Check out http://home.comcast.net/~stonent/screenfix.htm

for info on how to replace the backlight yourself.

well they can be easy to fix, but do it your self. compaq dwanted to charge me over $1000 to repair a screen on a laptop. i paid 100 for the parts and did it my self.
chances are the inverter electronics are bad. those are rather easy to fix. remove the inverter and find its modle number. try to order it from the maker. if that is not possible try to find one with similar power specs, connectors, ect.

screens are just as easy and are more interchangable. example all modle of a laptop usally use the same modle screen. most of the makers will sell you a screen for a good price. ebay is a good place and ware houses are often better.

the only hard thing about it is searching

Hey,

It sounds to me that you have a bad inverter board. It is a common problem with that select model that you have. That would be the first thing i would check. I would doubt that the LCD back light is bad. I rarely ever see LCD's with bad back lights. I hope this helps you out.

Take care,
Raphael

After reading these posts, it sounded like someone here could help me. If so, I would be very appreciative. I have an IBM X20 laptop and the display has gone dark. I took it to a laptop repair specialist in my area who says that the inverter board is fine, and that the lamp (bulb) is the problem. The bulb needs to be replaced, but he says he can't unseal the display to do it and therefore I have to buy a new screen. Can he be right? I've done some research myself, and it seems that many people often do the work themselves, so I don't understand why it should be impossible to replace the lamp/bulb.

Can anyone give me some advice on this? Thank you ...

Regards.

Sir,

Can you help me with my question above about an IBM X20 lamp?

Thank you.

These can be repaired and replacement of the entire screen is NOT required. Backlights are accessible and not that complex to do.

This is a very old post but I thought I would answer it for future viewers. I just replaced the bulb in my x20 and it was delicate work but it functions once again as new. The bulb is located inside a brass enclosure at the top of the screen. Do not separate the layers of the screen. Simply remove enough screws to loosen the frame and work it off the top without putting pressure on the screen itself. There are 4 brass screws that are very small that hold the brass light enclosure on, so remove them. Carefully work the enclosure off, it will tear away from a screen layer it is glued to but no worries, it will slide back in by tapping it down carefully in place after you have freed up the light enclosure completely. Replace the bulb and reverse the process but don't worry about gluing it back, it will stay in place and function well just by replacing the screws. I used a 12.1" bulb from another model of IBM and it worked fine. The delicate part is carefully removing the bulb from the brass backbone and put it into the backbone from your unit. You have a relatively easy job ahead if you have a bulb and brass enclosure from the same screen! Cheers. GW

i have an acer laptop and its LCD is showing a light blue very thin vertical line on the screen all the time...what should i do????????