MSI Laptop LCD Screen Replacement/Upgrade

Ive decided that its time i throw out a lcd replacement/upgrade thread for the
This guide is specifically meant for the MSI 1722 series but will work perfectly for the following laptops:

MSI:
GX720
MSI 1722-ID1
MSI 1722-ID2
MSI 1722-ID3
MSI GT725
MSI GT729
MSI GT735
MSI GT740
MSI GX740
MSI 1727 (MS-1727 Barebones)
Medion Akoya 7811x
ADVENT 6555
ADVENT 7555
ADVENT 8555
MSI Rebrands provided by various CTO companies.

These laptops are all specific variations of the same laptop chassis with minimal changes to video cards and motherboards, but nothing in terms of form factor.

WHY:
There are many people out there who have an MSI 1722 or similar system and want to get away from their standard low res screens and get some nice real estsate like a lucious 1900x1200 screen like myself.

Difficulty:
On a scale of 1-10 lcd replacemnt is probably a 7.5-8 in terms of complexity, theres a lot of screws involved and that goes for any system, msi's 700 series are especially complex since they use lots of clips, and poorly secured magnets. but if you pay attention and take your time its quite simple and easy to do.

Who Should do this:

Your moderate users should have no problem doing this though you must once again, execercise a degree of caution/patience, i havent seen a manufacturer yet that uses plastic clips that can withstand too many screen replacements since theyre usually made of a midgrade to low abs plastic that will break without too much force.

thankfully this laptop gives you a break with the screws since they are all the same size, unlike gateways/hp/toshiba etc they all use different size screws. and thus getting them mixed up becomes a fustration issue.

Parts Needed:
For this laptop i reccomend at least the following tools.

1 Medium to small size phillips screwdriver, to find the right size try it in one of the screws on the bottom of your laptop, if it fits and you can unscrew then itll get the job done.

1 Small screwdriver: this is for the actual lcd screen which needs one to remove it from the mounting bracket.

1 Sheet of 8.5x11 Paper: this is an optional yet innovative idea i came up with to make putting everything back together much easier. Set this sheet somewhere stable and either draw a diagram of your screen or make boxes on the sheet and label the box with a name from the area of the screen so you remember where the screws go that you will put inside the box.

1 Credit card or something of similar plastic stregnth. this item is a must for most modders, its strong yet bendable, and works great for any situation where you dont want to be too rough... They also work great for applying thermal paste to gpus, cpus, etc and in my opinion are easier to access than a razor blade, not to mention you dont have to worry about scratching the hell outa your precious CPU/GPU die. Plastic tools are actually used by technicians for the majority of disassembly tools because its malleable around sensitive metals and other plastics, and is capable of removing clips without permanently damaging or bending the metals used on a chassis, for example with iPods and other Mac products etc etc.

Selecting a Screen Replacement:

This can be done one of two ways, i usually just get the model number of the affected laptop and punch it into ebay search to find a similar model, many ebay sellers will list screens that work for a wide selection of laptops. There is no laptop screen that will work ONLY with your laptop, they are about 95% universal but ill cover that later.

this method will net you a screen with a good chance of matching what you need for your machine. As an alternate and probably the best way to do it, is to disassemble your machine and get to the halfway point to where the screen is physically removed from your machine, and then use the model number on the back of the laptop to find a new panel. Though that once again only gives you the same exact panel.

Many times what you will find either way is that its a screen from an entirely different manufacturer, for example, in my old gateway i replaced a samsung screen with a chi-mei screen, the screen worked beautifilly but had an entirely different model number etc, the only way i had a clue it worked was the manufacturer listed that it works with the old samsung i had in my screen.

Screen Selection:

Theres a few different things to consider for your laptop, when it comes to screen selection.

ARC or Aspect ratio: Theres a few out there that exist but i will list all the main ones. When looking for a screen this is probably second most important when compared to the actual screen size listed, and is more than likely used to lock in your purchase.

16:10 - this one is most common but is slowly being bumped out due to standardization of screen sizes so all screens represent the "HD" resolutions of hdtvs. Which is quite ridiculous but ill get into that later.

16:9 - The Standard thats being pushed for, and soon will be #1 in terms of circulation, i personally don't like it but thats the way it is. slight less vertical space than its bigger brother. This one is also more common in 15.4 inch screens. This size is also used by Netbooks if i'm not mistaken.

4:3 - The older of the three, this is what you'll find in your old crt screens and older IBM Thinkpads as well as old Compaqs etc.

The main thing that you're gonna look for is the actual screen size, which for this laptop is a solid 17.0 inches, and thus is what you will type alongside whatever size you want, 17.3 is a size thats also offered but i cannot confirm that it will fit your 1722, gx720, etc, as .3 is quite a bit bigger and its a pretty tight fit in there.

Screen Resolution: This is what people care about the most and is usually one of the harder things to figure out, but a quick jump to wikipedia or google will give you the answer, but for the sake of making a full guide ill post it.

View attachment 44204

"Compliments Steam 2009 hardware survey"

WUXGA is pretty much the key term we will use for searching for screens. In the best practice of getting the cheapest screen without sacrificing quality its best to use this term and then do another search with your laptop model number so you can cross reference price.

When reviewing the screen type check for quality, dead pixel count (if thats important to you) and returns. With that being said unfortunately about 50% ish of sellers will offer returns if theres a DOA, however they wont when it comes to getting a screen thats incompatible with your hardware. so beware and do your research!!

Lid Disassembly: Now that you have your screen and/or are ready to disassemble your computer we'll get this going.

Step One: Locate the rubber or plastic bumpers on the corner of the screen and using either a fingernail or small screwdriver remove these pieces. There will be 8 of them, with screws underneath each, this will remove whats called the bezel, which is the plastic frame that covers the screen and connects to the lid.
View attachment 44199

Step 2:after all 8 screws have been removed its time to remove the bezel, this is done with a screwdriver or something to get it just wide enough to get the credit card or other plastic something in there, when you get the card in there get one of the long sides and run it paralell down the side of the screen and you should hear clicks, which are the clips disengaging hopefully without breaking, take it easy since theyre easy to break.
View attachment 44200

Note: This will also have to be done on the bottom of the laptop, the wires in there are neatly tucked away so dont be too worried about that, run it along the side that is closest to the bottom of the screen it you can lift it out easily, then do the same at the bottom. The bottom of the screen will not move as freely till the bezel is freed from the retention clips on both hinges as displayed in the picture below.

I find it easier to remove the inner one first on both sides, this part is somewhat difficult and if not done correctly it can crack or break your bezel, as i did with mine, but thankfully its still in one piece and hard to notice.
View attachment 44201

Once the bezel is removed you will get to this point where you can actually see the screen and the actual brackets its mounted to. You'll also see your 3 wifi antenna at the top, your webcam, mic, and at the bottom your lcd inverter, this is what supplies the power for your screen.
View attachment 44202

Step 3: At this point you're ready to seperate the screen from the back panel, there are eight screws to remove, two at the top and six at the bottom, followed by four more retention clips which hold the lid onto the back of the lcd, these will be removed by our trusty credit card. The easiest way to do this is to push a corner of the card in and twist outwards at each corner of the clip, and start with the top one and move to the lower one on both sides of the screen, my pictures are kinda blurry when it comes to locating them, but if you place your finger in the middle on either of the metal rims of the screen on either side, they should be roughly two inches or 3 centimeters above and below.
View attachment 44203

At that point the back of the screen should fall off, if not then try prying the screen off at the top while the upper two clips have been disengaged. At this point its time to actually remove the screen. when the lid comes off try to support it on a table to keep it paralell to the lower half of the laptop, so it doesnt get in your way. Now youre ready for step 4.

Step 4: Now youre actually ready to remove the screen, First is to remove the power cable from the inverter, this cable you can see with a double red circle around it. That cable will have two wires, one a pinkish red or like in my laptop a green one, and a white one. The next cable to remove is on the backside of the screen, and is a large flat cable that goes up 3/4 of the screen to a circuit board and is similar to your monitor cable on a desktop, with a small amount of force pull the cable downwards. and it will pop out, there might be tape over it, just peel it back, but try to save it for later as you can use it to properly secure the cable with your new screen.

Looking at the backside of the screen you can see a label with manufacturer information including the model number, serial and other information, more than likely its a samsung screen with the model number starting off like LTNWXXXX

a picture with this information will be posted in a reply since the forum editor has limited me to 7 pictures. =( (mods, help please?)

Next is to make a metnal note of where the three magnets are located in the laptop as they WILL come loose since they are not secured in their place as well as they could be...

Now lets get that screen out, there are four screws holding the laptop in its bracket, these should be easy to locate and you can use the same rule for finding the last set of retention clips to locate the screws, though they are by no means hidden.

Congratulations! you have successfully removed your screen from your laptop, now you can use that model number to replace your screen or start your research on ebay towards getting a new screen.

Once you get your screens repeat the steps in reverse and you'll soon be enjoying your new screen.

Afterthoughts:

DEAD PIXELS: Everyone hates em right? in reality if the pixel is a color and not black, its only stuck and theres a good chance that it can be removed! Good news right? all you need to do is used the attached video and run it on your machine for the next 24 hours and you will have a good chance of removing at pixel. Or use it for raves

Either way if you're epileptic be careful I don't want anyone seizuring on my account.

An Important Note:

Not all screens are made equally, while the screen you are looking for may fit your laptop, additional mounting brackets will sometimes be attached for other brands of laptops, those brackets are connected with some weird reverse riveting an is quite annoying to remove, though a pocket knife will solve that problem, slide the knife in from one side and pry upwards gently, and it should pop off, repeat till its off, and Huzzah!

Have fun kiddies, please ask me if you intend to repost or reproduce this, however feel free to link it anywhere you want, remember it can be used for other laptops as well... though most normal laptops have a lot less clippy thingies and thats a good thing.

One other important thing to mention:

CCFL vs LED,

Everyone wants a LED screen right? I know i do, however my fears were confirmed by an article thanks to Genna's research, and it appears that the difference in assembly is just too much. Bottom line I guess ends with you the reader choosing between brightness and battery life, in the form of dual CCFL vs Single CCFL.

 

Okay apparently something got jacked up so i will repost the pictures with the corresponding step

mods please help, it seems like something got a bit jacked with the built in picture thing. =[
also if someone could assist me in adding guide to the title, i think this thread would circulate a bit

 

here is the stuck pixel fixer program, originally used for psp's it'll work for anything with stuck pixels. its a .m4v so its already encoded for mobile devices, ie ipods psps etc, if your program of choice doesn't work then grab VLC media player, it works great for any media, or the combined community codec pack, for viewing of anything, its got a fantastic program that is VERY efficient at decoding HD video, (efficient enough for smooth playback on my netbook, not to mention it will smooth the jaggies out of most subtitles!

View attachment 64055M4V56052.zip

 

Very Good job Automatikjack.
You have +1 rep from me.
I have disassemble guide for MS-1722 ID2 and it can be downloaded from here. It will be in good use of those of you who are going to replace your screen. It contains parts numbers of everything used inside. Disassembling the screen starts at page 59
Soon I'll try to find WUXGA and change mine ... Good luck to everyone before me.

 

Well I was searching about possibilities to change the current screen using CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) backlight with one with LED backlight. Unfortunately all screens with LED I found were with 40 pin connector, which makes me think that there is no screens with LED backlight with 30 pin connector (standart for ones with CCFL). Maybe they had to change the way that the matrix is controlled?!? This means that there is no possibility to change your screen with one using new more power efficient - LED technology.
Anyway I'm still willing to change my screen, because of the matrix - WSXGA. So I found that there are screens with 2 CCFLs, but they are only glossy models. And now I'm thinking is a glossy screen with 2 CCFLs better than a matte screen with 1 CCFL (there are NO matte screens with 2 CCFLs)? Or may be the second lamp is needed in glossy screen to improve outside performance? Also how will this affect to battery life? It's annoying how you can see everything that surrounds you on your screen except what is meant to show.
Since it clearly now that I don't like glossy screens, I'm going to make more research on matte screens and if there is any interest (because I see that there is luck of such about this thread ) I will post my findings.

Edit: Actually I found one model of Samsung which is matte and has 2 CCFLs. Also I think that if I can find inverter board that can fit in place of currently used one (part. No: S78-3300290-SG3) and is for LED screen it will be possible to swap it.

 

I actually really like glossy screens simply because the quality of the picture, as for battery performance you are correct that two lights will decrease battery performance and as for how much that second bulb is gonna tax the battery I have no clue. I'll have to look into it myself but it seems like my original thought was correct, LEDs pull a small enough current to be integrated into the monitor cable. I accidentally dropped my knife onto my laptop screen so there's a huge gash, i'm gonna look into it. The way it happened was actually quite suprising.

 

I actaully prefer matte screens contrary to most others. Where I work there is a window right behind me. And with the GT725 gloss screen I can see nothing.

What I'd like to look into though is how you dropped a kife into a laptop screen.

 

I have the glossy on my dell and it looks like a bloody mirror. Girls could do their make-up while browsing on it

This guide might come in handy , I got a weird feeling that my screen about to show me its middle finger .. there's some weird flickering going on at the mo

 

ill throw a picture up, but the way it happened was really strange, it took as little damage as possible to the chassis, theres a 1.5in scratch in the screen but its still fully functional, and theres just a little dent from the point of the knife in the laptop right above the touch panel. with the way it worked out i was actually just suprised, not even angry... Its just more a reason to get rid of that annoying 1440x900 screen and get something with some decent real estate.

 

Thats a great screen Auto! you get performance of hybrid gpu machines with that!! 1440x900 ftw, ofc a hdtv next to that ^^.

 

Thank you very much for this walk through, Jack.

I came across this site looking for info on replacing the screen for an MSI GT627.. My screen goes completely white upon boot up but can be hooked up to an external display and run without issue.. after verifying the cable was connected properly I concluded the LCD had failed. So I guess what I was really wondering is do you think this method will work for my GT627? Seems to match everything else just about exact except for the 8 screws on the display (The 627 only has six).

Thanks again.

 

Yes this guide is useful for all msi's that are configured in the same sense, even though the 627 is a 15.4 this guide can be used since that series also has a similarly designed lid, the screws may be in a different placement but the techniques and placement of the criical components are the same, ie the monitor cable and inverter, as well as the LCD mounting bracket is similarly constructed, just scaled down to a smaller form factor. You will also have the advantage of getting a better screen for a cheaper price since they're 15.4.

 

So we can confirm that there is no chance of LED displays for the GX720?

 

Too bad to say but yes. This article explains everything very well. Actually It does not exactly says that it's impossible, but since we need to replace the inverter board (don't needed at all for LED screens) with something called "LED driver board" I assume that finding one which will fit the exact place of current inverter board will be impossible.

So we have to choose between LCDs with CCFL. What I'm going to do is buy SHARP LCD, but some time later due to lack of money now I'll write my impressions of it. I have to say that I have big expectations for SHARP screens, but this may be due to that I'm keen on SHARP brand.

 

Thanks for putting this together! I've been thinking of upgrading my 1722's screen since I got it last spring. Much appreciated!

AJ f you still have your 4850 I'm interested but don't have PM abilities yet. Email my username at gmail . com of you still have it.

 

Sorry bud that 4850 has gone, however i'd suggest periodically taking a look at the forums or ebay, since those cards seem to reappear in bursts and are dropping in price considering everyones going for the new 5870s in the 1727 barebones and such.

 

Thanks for the guide, pretty interesting read.

Could you tell more about how we will know if the screen we found on ebay is a good quality one or just average ?
I don't think I'll go through the hassle of replacing the screen if it's only for an "average quality" WUXGA, so if there's a way to know beforehand, it would be very much appreciated if you shared it !

 

Hi, i was wondering if this screen:

LG Philips LP154WU1(A1)(K2) Laptop LCD Screen 15.4 WUXGA Glossy

would work for a MSI GX-640?

The site also says to never upgrade resolution because it may cause the inverter to burn out. I was wondering if any of you guys have opinions on this. Isnt the inverter just to power CCFL? Do different resolution screens use different inverters?

Also in the link below:

http://www.screenaid.com/lg-philips-laptop-lcd-screens-lp154wu1-series-c-2455_16576.html

There seems to be multiple versions of the same LCD screen, but slight differences in model numbers. As long as its CCFL 1-bulb, 30 pin video connector, and 2 pin backlight i should be fine right?

 

People here have used 17" version of LG Philips (LP171WU1) and it works great. I don't think that between your screen (15") and the bigger one have any other differences except the size. So I think it will work with no issues.

This is just another thing to limit their warranty.

Correct!
Good luck

 

Hi Genna, thank you for your reply. I was wondering if i could use the same inverter already in place. The sites that i linked above dont come with an inverter for their LG screens.


Thanks

 

Pardon me if this has been asked before, but is there a matte screen that fits the GX640?

 

Yes there is, there are plenty of cheap matte WUXGA screens on ebay starting around $60. Or you can go to the links i posted above but the matte option is a little pricier. Make sure its 15.4 inches however and of course WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution.

This is a quick cheap WUXGA screen on ebay that should work in the gx-640:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-15-4-WUXGA...ltDomain_0&hash=item19bda7f156#ht_1079wt_1137

$69 shipped

 

Dakins,
Better not buy Refurbished items.
You can check these screens:
One - seller didn't specify the type of this, but it looks matte. You can ask.
Two or Three. If it was me I would choose between two and three.

 

Noone can tell ?

 

You choose the brand of the screen.
Samsung's ones are used in current MSI's notebooks. They are not bad, but also not good enough. People who bought LG/Philips are pleased with them, comparing to the Samsung's one they've had.
From beginning of LCDs Sharp (invented by Sharp 22 years ago) is the name for a screen. So if you want the best, go for it!

 

I'm not sure I understood the part with Sharp, what are you talking about ?

 

Yeah, and Steve Jobs invented touch screens.

[citation needed]

 

It seems when it comes to laptop screens LG-Phillips tends to have better quality in brightness, contrast, and backlight bleed over Samsung. Sharp, i have no clue, they are kind of rare.

I found this:

http://www.screenaid.com/lg-philips...screen-154-wuxga1920x1200-glossy-p-32662.html

Its basically an LG-Phillips WUXGA brand new for $125. Its not from ebay and i dont have any clue how good this company is, but their website seems pretty legit and they do have a pretty established tech support system.

Anyone have any experience with screenaid.com?

 

Apparently, they're crooks. Avoid.

ScreenAid - screenaid.com - Reviews, Ratings and Prices at ResellerRatings

 

Yeah, even their ebay ratings are "ok" at best. I think it would be wise to not deal with them then.

Heres another place:

LP154WU1 (TL)(A2) LG Philips 15.4" WUXGA (Glossy) (1 CCFL backlight) LCD Screens, brand-new for $265 Retail ($225 Wholesale)

Kind of pricey though $265 shipped, but they are based in US and from what i've been reading, they seem extremely legitimate.

Also this one:

http://www.blisscomputers.net/lg-philips-lp154wu1-laptop-lcd-screen-15-4-wuxga-glossy.aspx

Its a little cheaper, ~$150 shipped, their ratings are good if you google them.

 

The two and three options are pricey but he does guarantee a zero dead pixel policy. It seems that for a high resolution screen such as WUXGA, manufactures can get away with selling 1-11 dead pixels; dont know about you guys but that seems dumb in all regards.

Also if you plan on buying from ebay, use bing cashback for an easy 8% back, hurry though, Microsoft is ending the cashback program july 30th, thats in less than 3 weeks!!

 

Steve Jobs did invented nothing! All the screens used in I-Phone, and all other I-stuff are Sharp screens.

I'm talking about that Sharp is the inventor of the LCD screen as we know it now. And that Sharp has sold the patent to all companies we see on the market now - Sansung, LG, Toshiba and so on ...
As citation now I can provide this picture. You can see the date on it also.

Most probably the screens are without any dead pixels. The seller has quoted an ISO standart for insurance only. This standart applies to all the manufactures, before they place their goods (LCDs) on the market.

 

Sharp may have commercialized the first LCD TV and LCD projectors a long time ago, but the actual inventors of the technology remain unknown. I don't like how Sharp is taking all the credit for themselves in their new ad campaign. They're just exploiting the ignorance of the masses.

 

Sharp screens tend to be of pretty good quality, however yes LG phillips seems to be the best when it comes to screen quality.

Ebay is safe to get your screens from, Just beware of some of the sellers, you need to make sure that they provide adequate time for returns, and replacements, instead of a "no returns" seller thats maybe $10 less...

My screen cost me about $130, you need to search by different keywords to finagle the price to your liking, but usually cutting off the extra -numbers at the end and just getting the base model number will give you the most results.

As for dead pixels, if I haven't already explained this, what most people thing as "dead" pixels are actually stuck pixels and can be removed, In fact you cant really see dead pixels, unless theres a cluster of them which is highly unlikely.

Look into the seller and ask them about the warranty they have, most will give a replacement after a certain number of stuck pixels appear on the screen.

Strangely enough I've found that even swiping your finger over the spot on the screen or applying light pressure for a second or two (enough to cause discoloration around your finger can usually influence the screen to correct itself.

I find ebay a little more trustworthy than websites alone, and a lot less pricey.

I guess realistically each transaction on ebay is a crapshoot, I've replaced more screens than I can count and have only had one seller that was less irritating, since they turned a priority box inside out to reduce shipping costs and included only one strip of bubble wrap resulting the screen being crushed.

Most sellers have provided heavily reinforced cardboard boxes with foam lining, actually designed for screens.

Another good solution for screens that are quality is to buy dell/alienware lid assemblies on ebay, often their higher end series have exceptional quality screens, and the lid assembly, provides the screen and and inverter as an added bonus. Sure you have do gut it to get your new screen out, but sometimes the price can be better that buying a screen by itself.


@Dante
How are you liking your Akoya, I love the body style and the colors for that laptop, I'd really like to get one myself, even if some of the models have lesser quality screens and processors... Do you know of any retailers or online sellers that ship to the UK? Also what about the OC button?

 

Hi Automatikjack, thank you for making the post. Alot of the LCD screens on ebay don't come with the inverter. I was wondering if i can simply reuse the inverter that is already installed in the MSI GX-640 which uses a 1680x1050 resolution screen and most likely to be Samsung. And the screen i want to upgrade to is an LG-Phillips LP154WU1 WUXGA (1920x1200).

Thanks

 

Heh, I don't want any of you to believe me. I'm a fan of the brand for a long time now and I've followed their way all along. They are not using the ignorance of the masses, that's for sure.
The fact that I used an adverb to show you what I mean was because it was the easiest way for me, than to search pages and pages through internet.
Any how it's up to any of you what to buy, it's your money and the way you spend it is not of my concern.

 

Yes you can reuse your inverter, I dont see any reason why your stock inverter would not be able to power a screen of a higher resolution, since the electronics themselves and the panel consume trivial amounts of power, the main thing that is the energy guzzler is the CCFL bulbs that are in the screen for backlighting.

My machine originally came with a 1680x1050 and I'm successfully using the LG phillips screen at a beautiful 1920x1200...

In short, yes you can keep your inverter that comes with your laptop and use it. No modifications needed for the inverter, its a simple as plugging the new screen in.

 

Maybe i can answer your questions too.
I own the german version of the X7811, which comes with the same screen as the GT725 or GX740. Simply a Samsung SEC4A47.

The french X7811 has a different (smaller, but brigther?) panel, exactly a Samsung 170BT08-G01. The resolution is 1440x900 (WSXGA) instead of the known 1680x1050 (WSXGA+). I've found, that this panel was used in some HPs DV7 notebooks.

Danteleet also wrote a nice review here.

I'm happy with my X7811. I got it for ~900€!
It was sold out fast at this price. Maybe in mid july there will be some new X7811 available at medion shop. But idk, if they ship to UK.
The french one you can get with 840QM for 1128€. Am I right, Danteleet?

The last news says, that Medion will get in the gaming market more. They announced a X6811 for september. There will be a GTX460m. But only with HD screen
Link (german only)

 

Completely right ! And the customized version of this X7811 with the modded backplate goes for 1337€

Anyways, there's no OC button AutomatickJack, so I can't tell you about it. If you've got more questions about the akoya though, I suggest reading my review (@tilla gave the link) and/or asking me more questions about it there

 

Hello, am hoping someone can help me in pulling some voltages from a working system.

I have a MSI VR420, that the screens backlight is not being lit.

I have measured the voltages from cable that come from the mainboard which go to the inverter.

These are as follows

Green = 0V (Ground)
Yellow = 0V (Ground)
Orange = 1V
Red = 0V (I suspect this should have a value)
Brown = 19V
Black = 19V

Now from what I have been reading, Orange would be the dimmer voltage control.

I suspect that the Red cable should be getting voltage in the 3v range, can anyone measure these points for me as this would tell me what is wrong.

Hope to hear back from some

Thanks

 

OK, for reference.....

Pulling 3.3v straight to RED, gets the backlight working, however.....

The backlight works when the screen is in bios, while booting and safe mode.

Once the driver initialises it the screen stays lit, but with no picture.

If anybody has any experience with something like this, would be great to hear from you.....

 

I'm not too sure what the deal is, these power measurements, were they from the side of the inverter leading to the board, or from the inverter to the lcd screen?

 

those are the voltages before the connector. CFL bulbs run on near 500v AC voltage so DONT try and measure those.

I believe an LED screen can be implemented in a laptop made for CFL. I want to do a serious investigation into this. I think a good place to start would be looking at LCD models, inverters and cables for laptops that support both LED and CCFL screens such as the xps m1530.

I think i'll order a cable or inverter today for the LED backlit model and get this going... its certainly not impossible...

 

apparently the main issue there is the circuit board called the driver, that supplies the correct voltages to the leds, and communicates with the mobo, if you can overcome, then let us in.

 

Hi

I have the uk MSI gx660 and was wondering if it's possible to replace the screen with a lower resolution panel, hd is good but i'd rather faster performance at native resolution.

I have thoughts about sending this back for a refund and getting the gx740 but if i can change the screen in the 660 i would do that, i know in the u.s there is 2 660's one with 1920 x 1080 and one with 1366 x 768 but everywhere i look i can only find the full hd screens for sale separately.

Advice please?

 

Thanks for posting this info Automatikjack!

I recently had my screen shattered on my GT735 and want to repair it myself. I find the pictures are informative and am a little lost as I read step 4... can you please post the pictures that might be helpful in that process?

Again, thank you for the helpful information.

 

Oops, looks like I forgot to post that last picture. I should have it around here somewhere. But basically looking at front side of the screen, look down at the bottom of the screen towards the right side, you should see a red and white cable coming out, that one will run to a long, skinny circuit board, thats the inverter.

remove the cable leading from the lcd to the inverter. It should just pop out with a light bit of prying of your finger. The other cable is the long flat cable that runs up the backside of the laptop to the flat circuit board on the upper backside of the screen, with those two removed the screen is ready to come out.

The screws to get the screen off the brackets are on the sides, and should be easy to find. Theres four of them.

@Welsh,
It's possible, you just have to look for them on ebay. Since the 16:9 ratio is a little newer, they might not be as plentiful as 16:10, and the like. I don't have the screen size code handy for that size, but searching by resolution should yield the code easily enough. Use that as one of your search terms when looking, for example. "LED WSXGA" along with the size of your screen respectively. That should get you the 1366x768 screen size you're wanting.

I understand wanting the smaller screen for performance, but I could never bring myself to downgrade for performance lol. I love my 1920x1200.

 

Hasn't anyone brought up the buzzing?

I've been using a lot of different LCDs on all my MSI 15.4" laptops and they ALL cause either the inverter or backlight to buzz.
Recently with an AUO screen and one of the newer inverters it isn't as loud, but everything else is pretty noticeable.

Also, I believe I may have further insights onto the CCFL>LED problem. What we need is a laptop schematic.
This will certainly give us a lot of voltage values and necessary info for powering the LED backlight driver.
My guess would be that the input voltage is essentially the same ~20v used on all inverters.

As for the 40 pin, I really don't think all of those pins are necessary.
They haven't changed the interface.

There will likely be BIOS issues like how certain LCD brands are whitelisted on Dell and HP machines, or 17" panels on 15" laptops (whitelising taking a more literal meaning here). I've seen some workarounds too, one diagnostic method being to swap the LCD during standby, I doubt anyone has tried this with LED panels.
I have a few of these schematics saved somewhere, I'll take a look once I get the time.