lenovo laptop screen problem

[realquick]

I have a lenovo T400, for the past month or so my screen has been acting up. I've found a video on youtube showing what it has been doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MOv_NsFqpQ

Unlike in the video, it doesn't only happen to me during start up, it is almost constant. I managed to find my screens model number: LP141WX5-TLP2

Apparently its a 14.1 in 1280x800 LED LCD (FRU: 42T0701).

My question is: Does the behavior shown in the youtube video definitely indicate a problem with the LCD? The replacement screens look pretty expensive (~120) so I don't want to buy one if the LCD isn't the problem.

Also, for the replacement screen, can I get a higher resolution screen as long as it is the same physical size and has a LED backlight?

Any help/users with simillar issues in the past, would be very much appreciated.

[GeorgeH]

It looks like the LCD to me, but it could also be the wiring coming loose or failing (and that's what I would check first.) You could check that it's not a GPU issue by plugging in an external monitor, but it really doesn't look like a typical GPU failure mode. A higher resolution screen might be a problem; your screen almost certainly uses LVDS, and different resolutions can have different numbers of signal pair wires. There is some overlap (i.e. 1280x800 and 1440x900 might use the same number of wires, while 1680x1050 might use more) but it's best to try to find the datasheets for your current LCD and whatever you would want to replace it with unless you also want to replace your video cabling. LCD pinout is fairly standardized at this point, but if you do get a different kind of screen you'd also do well to make sure you aren't connecting backlight power to a signal pin.

Finally, keep in mind that many of the ~$100 laptop "replacement" screens aren't real replacements and might be dimmer and/or have poorer color reproduction than you're used to. Good luck, and sorry about your screen - that's a great laptop when it's working properly.

[realquick]

You're right, it looks like my screen has 30 pins and the higher resolution version has 40 pins. So I guess I'll stick with the same resolution. This might be to specific to my type of laptop for you guys to answer easily but here goes anyway. When I'm replacing the screen I was hoping that I could just take the front and rear covers off the LCD lid and then unscrew the tray to get the LCD panel out, and then unplug whatever its connected to and replug the new one in. However, the manual has me taking apart everything I mentioned and also a whole bunch of stuff under the keypad/hand rest.

Do any of you know off hand whether I can unplug the wires where they connect to the LCD panel or are they connected permanently so that I need to disconnect the other end (the end that plugs into the GPU or whatever else)?

[arbyd]

All of the LCD's I've worked on (not that many) have the cable permanently attached to the LCD panel.

Two resources I've found very helpful for Thinkpad support are:
http://www.thinkwiki.org and http://forum.thinkpads.com/

[GeorgeH]

That's weird, I've never seen a laptop LCD with a permanently attached cable. The trickiest part of swapping out an LCD is figuring out how to remove the screen bezel, which depending on the laptop can range from "piece of cake" to "just kill me now". I can't recall ever having to disassemble the bottom part of a laptop to swap out a screen.

Do be careful handling the new LCD - the bits behind the screen (especially the cable connection area) can be much more fragile than the display surface.

[realquick]

I was able to remove the front bezel yesterday, fairly easy, because I was hoping to see some ID numbers on the screen. Haven't tried the rear cover yet. Once I get my screen in I'll probably just try to remove the front and rear covers and see if I can replace the LCD without opening up the rest of the computer. Probably bite the bullet and order this
http://www.amazon.com/LENOVO-42T0701-LAPTOP-SUBSTITUTE-REPLACEMENT/dp/B003Z6XX5K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313339830&sr=8-1
later today.