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From: John on 28 May 2010 10:25
The display on my 5630 is dim - not completely dark but probably only about
30 to 40% as bright as it used to be.

Having googled for what causes dim and dark displays in laptop screens
(after making sure it wasn't the lid close switch) I decided to go for the
cheapest things first, so I bought a brand new inverter board. Although it's
definitely the right one, it's actually worse than the existing inverter in
that it strobes a bit. Doesn't do anything for my problem - the screen is
neither brighter nor darker, just a bit stroboscopic. Hmm ...

So, I then buy a secondhand (but guaranteed tested and working) video cable
from Ebay and replace that. Still no change - the screen is still as dim,
whether used with new or old inverter. Hmm again ...

Oh, at this point I should say that I've checked the voltage between pin 1
of the inverter input and ground (which, I believe, should roughly be
between 10 and 20 volts) and got 19.36V - so we know that the inverter is
getting the correct feed from the mobo.

I then look at changing the CCFL backlight tube but (a) can't find one and
(b) even if I could, I've read many horror stories of breaking the LCD panel
whilst trying to change the tube, so I decide to bite the bullet and buy a
whole new LCD panel because they come with a new tube already in them - and
I might as well upgrade from the old matte screen to a new glossy one if I'm
going to do this :o)

Guess what? Yep, you guessed right - still fekkin' faulty!! Display is still
only at about 30 to 40% brightness - and that's with any combination of
new/old video cable and new/old inverter.

Any other ideas folks?

TIA
John


From: Ben Myers on 28 May 2010 12:05
On 5/28/2010 10:25 AM, John wrote:
> The display on my 5630 is dim - not completely dark but probably only about
> 30 to 40% as bright as it used to be.
>
> Having googled for what causes dim and dark displays in laptop screens
> (after making sure it wasn't the lid close switch) I decided to go for the
> cheapest things first, so I bought a brand new inverter board. Although it's
> definitely the right one, it's actually worse than the existing inverter in
> that it strobes a bit. Doesn't do anything for my problem - the screen is
> neither brighter nor darker, just a bit stroboscopic. Hmm ...
>
> So, I then buy a secondhand (but guaranteed tested and working) video cable
> from Ebay and replace that. Still no change - the screen is still as dim,
> whether used with new or old inverter. Hmm again ...
>
> Oh, at this point I should say that I've checked the voltage between pin 1
> of the inverter input and ground (which, I believe, should roughly be
> between 10 and 20 volts) and got 19.36V - so we know that the inverter is
> getting the correct feed from the mobo.
>
> I then look at changing the CCFL backlight tube but (a) can't find one and
> (b) even if I could, I've read many horror stories of breaking the LCD panel
> whilst trying to change the tube, so I decide to bite the bullet and buy a
> whole new LCD panel because they come with a new tube already in them - and
> I might as well upgrade from the old matte screen to a new glossy one if I'm
> going to do this :o)
>
> Guess what? Yep, you guessed right - still fekkin' faulty!! Display is still
> only at about 30 to 40% brightness - and that's with any combination of
> new/old video cable and new/old inverter.
>
> Any other ideas folks?
>
> TIA
> John
>
>

Some brands of laptops (IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads come to mind) have a pair
of key combinations to brighten or dim the display. With the Thinkpads,
fn-Home brightens the display and fn-End dims it.

Some brands of laptops, e.g. Dell, have LCD brightness controls in the
BIOS, one setting when on battery and another when on wall power.

Not sure what the Acers have built in to control LCD brightness, but
maybe the brightness is on a low setting? ... Ben Myers
From: BillW50 on 28 May 2010 18:52
On 5/28/2010 11:05 AM, Ben Myers wrote:
> On 5/28/2010 10:25 AM, John wrote:
>> The display on my 5630 is dim - not completely dark but probably only
>> about
>> 30 to 40% as bright as it used to be.
>>
>> Having googled for what causes dim and dark displays in laptop screens
>> (after making sure it wasn't the lid close switch) I decided to go for
>> the
>> cheapest things first, so I bought a brand new inverter board.
>> Although it's
>> definitely the right one, it's actually worse than the existing
>> inverter in
>> that it strobes a bit. Doesn't do anything for my problem - the screen is
>> neither brighter nor darker, just a bit stroboscopic. Hmm ...
>>
>> So, I then buy a secondhand (but guaranteed tested and working) video
>> cable
>> from Ebay and replace that. Still no change - the screen is still as dim,
>> whether used with new or old inverter. Hmm again ...
>>
>> Oh, at this point I should say that I've checked the voltage between
>> pin 1
>> of the inverter input and ground (which, I believe, should roughly be
>> between 10 and 20 volts) and got 19.36V - so we know that the inverter is
>> getting the correct feed from the mobo.
>>
>> I then look at changing the CCFL backlight tube but (a) can't find one
>> and
>> (b) even if I could, I've read many horror stories of breaking the LCD
>> panel
>> whilst trying to change the tube, so I decide to bite the bullet and
>> buy a
>> whole new LCD panel because they come with a new tube already in them
>> - and
>> I might as well upgrade from the old matte screen to a new glossy one
>> if I'm
>> going to do this :o)
>>
>> Guess what? Yep, you guessed right - still fekkin' faulty!! Display is
>> still
>> only at about 30 to 40% brightness - and that's with any combination of
>> new/old video cable and new/old inverter.
>>
>> Any other ideas folks?
>>
>> TIA
>> John
>>
>>
>
> Some brands of laptops (IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads come to mind) have a pair
> of key combinations to brighten or dim the display. With the Thinkpads,
> fn-Home brightens the display and fn-End dims it.
>
> Some brands of laptops, e.g. Dell, have LCD brightness controls in the
> BIOS, one setting when on battery and another when on wall power.
>
> Not sure what the Acers have built in to control LCD brightness, but
> maybe the brightness is on a low setting? ... Ben Myers

Hello John! While I was reading I kept saying no it is the lamp, the
lamp (well most low brightness is mostly because of the lamp)! Then you
got to the lamp and I thought oh no! Ben is right of course, I would
have checked that first before doing anything else though.

Gee John! The only thing left if everything else was okay is the
motherboard. The motherboard causing this problem is really rare.

Are you sure that was a new LCD panel? Or was it used? As the lamps gets
dimmer and dimmer overtime. Many will run for about 18 months if you run
them 24/7. Use them less and you can push them 5 years and more. They
are florescent tubes after all and if you use them 50/50 and get 5 years
out of them that is pretty good.

--
Bill
Thunderbird Portable 3.0 (20091130)
From: davy on 28 May 2010 18:15

Have a shufty here 'back light repair'
(http://www.dnd.utwente.nl/~grit/backlight/ccft.html) and this
navigating to 'Acer' (http://repair4laptop.org/notebook.html)

Backlights don't just go dim.... the whites in the display usually
suffers first by becoming tinted, this is usually followed by flickering
being the indication that the CCFLs have gone 'down hill'.... I've never
come across any that just goes dim and holds that 'white balance' or
colour temperature, they usually lose their whites and then start to
flicker...

.... but inverters just about anything can go wrong with them to give
these effects.

One idea may be too hook up an identical screen from another machine to
confirm it is the backlights... but thats easier said than done.

It's the same with these fancy LCDs TVs... you can never get the right
tubes for them and the manufacturers just love it telling you that you
have to buy a new display... and when you can you can't get at em'.

davy


From: John on 29 May 2010 06:39
BillW50 wrote:
> On 5/28/2010 11:05 AM, Ben Myers wrote:
>> On 5/28/2010 10:25 AM, John wrote:
>>> The display on my 5630 is dim - not completely dark but probably
>>> only about
>>> 30 to 40% as bright as it used to be.
>>>
>>> Having googled for what causes dim and dark displays in laptop
>>> screens (after making sure it wasn't the lid close switch) I
>>> decided to go for the
>>> cheapest things first, so I bought a brand new inverter board.
>>> Although it's
>>> definitely the right one, it's actually worse than the existing
>>> inverter in
>>> that it strobes a bit. Doesn't do anything for my problem - the
>>> screen is neither brighter nor darker, just a bit stroboscopic. Hmm
>>> ... So, I then buy a secondhand (but guaranteed tested and working)
>>> video cable
>>> from Ebay and replace that. Still no change - the screen is still
>>> as dim, whether used with new or old inverter. Hmm again ...
>>>
>>> Oh, at this point I should say that I've checked the voltage between
>>> pin 1
>>> of the inverter input and ground (which, I believe, should roughly
>>> be between 10 and 20 volts) and got 19.36V - so we know that the
>>> inverter is getting the correct feed from the mobo.
>>>
>>> I then look at changing the CCFL backlight tube but (a) can't find
>>> one and
>>> (b) even if I could, I've read many horror stories of breaking the
>>> LCD panel
>>> whilst trying to change the tube, so I decide to bite the bullet and
>>> buy a
>>> whole new LCD panel because they come with a new tube already in
>>> them - and
>>> I might as well upgrade from the old matte screen to a new glossy
>>> one if I'm
>>> going to do this :o)
>>>
>>> Guess what? Yep, you guessed right - still fekkin' faulty!! Display
>>> is still
>>> only at about 30 to 40% brightness - and that's with any
>>> combination of new/old video cable and new/old inverter.
>>>
>>> Any other ideas folks?
>>>
>>> TIA
>>> John
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Some brands of laptops (IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads come to mind) have a
>> pair of key combinations to brighten or dim the display. With the
>> Thinkpads, fn-Home brightens the display and fn-End dims it.
>>
>> Some brands of laptops, e.g. Dell, have LCD brightness controls in
>> the BIOS, one setting when on battery and another when on wall power.
>>
>> Not sure what the Acers have built in to control LCD brightness, but
>> maybe the brightness is on a low setting? ... Ben Myers
>
> Hello John! While I was reading I kept saying no it is the lamp, the
> lamp (well most low brightness is mostly because of the lamp)! Then
> you got to the lamp and I thought oh no! Ben is right of course, I
> would have checked that first before doing anything else though.
>
> Gee John! The only thing left if everything else was okay is the
> motherboard. The motherboard causing this problem is really rare.
>
> Are you sure that was a new LCD panel? Or was it used? As the lamps
> gets dimmer and dimmer overtime. Many will run for about 18 months if
> you run them 24/7. Use them less and you can push them 5 years and
> more. They are florescent tubes after all and if you use them 50/50
> and get 5 years out of them that is pretty good.

Hi guys,

I'm tagging this reply on to Bill's because his is the last in the thread at
the moment. First of all, let me say AARRGGHH!!! - because Ben was right! It
was just a matter of altering the brightness by the key combination of Fn
and right arrow key to increase it (left arrow to decrease). All that time,
money and effort spent and I needn't have done any of it.

Ah well, such is life. I've learned a good lesson today :o)

Now, to try and justify my position and recover a bit of self-esteem, I can
say in my defence, your honour, that (a) I had no idea about that key
combination (b) there's an Intel graphics utility installed and within that
there are sliders for brightness, contrast, colour and gamma - but altering
the brightness slider there does _not_ have the same effect at all as the
key combination, which is why I continued thinking something was faulty and
(c) I've never knowingly altered the brightness at all anyway. It's always
been perfect at the default setting and I've had it about 3 years.

It's a complete mystery as to how the brightness was turned down in the
first place and, like I said, I didn't know about the key combinations, but
it's all sorted now so a big 'thank you' to all you guys, especially Ben.

Cheers
John


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