Laptop computers have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially with the increase in available Internet connections. They are small, portable, and powerful, using an liquid crystal display (LCD) screen attached to a compact computer body. To get the LCD screen functioning in a laptop while minimizing hardware and weight, a screen inverter is used to power the screen from the body of the computer.

Powering a laptop LCD is the primary function of the screen inverter and as laptop technology improves, the inverter boards become smaller and of better quality. The screen inverter is a circuit board that passes the power current from the body of the laptop computer to the LCD, powering the backlight and allowing you to see the images on the screen.

While a seemingly simple task, the screen inverter can be one of the most common items to fail in a laptop computer. When this happens, it is sometimes difficult to determine if the backlight is burned out in the LCD itself or if the screen inverter has gone bad because the symptoms are very similar.

Usually when a screen inverter has gone bad, the screen will have some power and appear to be lit, but the light will be very dim and difficult to use. Some problems with screen inverters may not allow the LCD to display any images, but appear lighted, similar to the moment the laptop has been powered on while waiting for the computer to start.

There are many websites available to assist laptop owners in replacing defective screen inverters and the cost of performing this repair without taking the laptop to a shop could be well worth the work. The sites walk through the process of replacing the inverter board to correct problems with laptop screens.

While this repair seems straightforward, it is always a good idea to know what warranty is available for the laptop before beginning. If the laptop still has a warranty, the manufacturer will usually take care of the repair at no cost and the laptop warranty will likely remain intact following the repair. Many manufacturers will void the warranty on a computer system if the owner makes modifications or repairs without talking to the company’s support staff or sending the computer in for repair.

If attempting to repair a defective screen inverter, check the video card in the system with an external monitor — this can save quite a few headaches if the problem is not something a user can repair.