Sony Vaio Laptop Repair- Display Problem
Fault Symptom: Negative Color like Display on Screen of laptop.
Customer walks into my workshop with SONY laptop stating problem with the laptop display is not proper and it is showing miss color combinations on the display screen.
SONY Laptop Model: VAIO E series VPCEG3AEN
So for fault confirmation I turned ON the Laptop and see – what color combination it shows.
Screen shows Negative Color effect. After producing token of receipt the material to the customer I have started my Fault finding. Probable causes are as follows.
1) Screen shows color changes: may be user have changed some color scheme or theme in display setting. Some other setting may be changed by the user.
2) LVDS Cable – Logic board to LCD Panel Cable May be loose or Damaged.
3) LCD Panel itself BAD.
4) Graphic Chip BAD or require BGA Soldering.
5) Motherboard is BAD.
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So I have started step by step.
1) Checked Display setting under Operating System no changes were made and it seems setting are OK.
2) For further testing just blinked my mind to check whether Display color is OK in the BIOS setting. (Because if BIOS setting screen shows Colors are OK then probable cause is your Operating system or Display Driver related Issue). So I have rebooted the Laptop and entered into the BIOS setting Mode; I found colors are mismatched here also. So this is confirmed this is something related to hardware only and not a software issue.
3) Now further before opening the laptop (this step is should have been my first Option for fault finding. I may have directly approached and jumped on to point 4. Instead of wasting time in fault finding on point 1 and 2.) I have decided to connect external Monitor and see. hence I have connected external monitor to the laptop VGA output port. Here I got confirmed that this problem is with Hardware because monitor screen is showing perfect color combination that means motherboard area and Graphic chip area is seems to be ok so probable culprit is either LVDS Cable or LCD Panel itself.
4) So I have opened the Laptop display panel for visual inspection whether LVDS Cable is proper or not. Checked cable found OK there were no physical damage burning marks or loose connection.
5) Now what? Now the only thing is left that is LCD Panel.
Hence I have ordered the new Display Panel with our supplier and we got the delivery within 2 hour.
After arrival of Panel we have seen old and new panel are having different marking on them so we called up back to our supplier for this wrong delivery. What he has replied – just Match the LVDS FFC (FLEXIBLE FLAT CABLE) Connector back side on the panel if it is identical same in both the Panel then you can connect and see, if it is not working then send it back to us and we will provide you another one.
After conversation with our supplier, we have checked on both the Panel backside LVDS FFC (FLEXIBLE FLAT CABLE) Connectors and found both of them were identical.
So we have just connected the new panel and turned ON the laptop and found Laptop screen is worked fine.
So now it is confirmed the main culprit is LCD Panel it self. So we have removed old panel from the Hinge Frame.
And replaced Bad Panel with the new panel
And Laptop is ready with Final Fittings.
Note: For any type of Display problem in laptop, connect an external Monitor on VGA Output port on Laptop and test.
This is fastest way to catch culprit between Laptop Panel and Motherboard.
This article was prepared for you by Yogesh Panchal who works as a Computer Hardware Engineer in Mumbai India.
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Note: You can check his previous repair articles on LCD Monitor in the link below:
https://jestineyong.com/lg-lcd-monitor-repair/
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Parasuraman S
August 19, 2016 at 11:34 pm
Excellent! Very practical, professional and experienced approach!
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 8:37 pm
Thank you sir.
jeremiah lawson
August 19, 2016 at 11:41 pm
Thank you for your article. I have a negative screen on my acer iconia b1 tablet. Maybe through your article i will try to repair it also.
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 8:41 pm
Jeremiah,
Thank you,
you can try if your vendor is ready to support you.
Kiko Pasinecki
September 15, 2016 at 8:36 pm
You should change the gamma ic( maybe as15-f) on the panel t-con board.IT is very common problem on Sony and Samsung lcd tv,and i think the writer of the artickle should do that in the first place before bying new display..
Gary Gemmell
August 20, 2016 at 12:12 am
Perfect diagnostics procedure stepwise refinement.
Good repair skills!
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 8:41 pm
Gary,
Thank you.
beh
August 20, 2016 at 11:30 am
HI
thanks for your article . i have just this question how much
was the cost of this repair for customer ?i mean totally with your service fee?
&thanks
be
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 8:55 pm
Beh,
Thank you for comment.
Cost to the Customer 145 USD.
while MOP in India for this Laptop is around 600 USD.
Lad
August 20, 2016 at 1:55 pm
Very good article but how about going one more step further and trying to repair the faulty LCD panel itself?
Do you think it was flex cable problem or driver chip fault on the LCD panel? I know it is a challenge but such repairs could be another niche market where small companies could prosper.Or am I wrong? What do you think?
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 9:19 pm
Lad,
Thanks for your comment.
As far as panel is concerned it depends on parts availability and it required more investment and equipment which is not advisable in current market of fast moving technology in terms of economy.
If you are ready to spend the time in another fault finding and if you find the fault there is another challenge is waiting for you that is part availability.
Panel type and Cable type in each Brand vary model to model ,So investment in this type of process is not advisable.
Kiko Pasinecki
September 16, 2016 at 5:24 am
You can read my reply ,five post uper is the posible solution for repairing without changing lcd display.
suranga bandara, Suranga Electronics
August 20, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Hi Mr,Yogesh Panchal
Very professiona and very well presented
Repair Aticle. Thanks!
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 9:21 pm
Hi Suranga,
Thank you.
Gerald Millward
August 20, 2016 at 3:56 pm
Nice article Yogesh & good repair. A couple of questions: in colour fault cases, I always first suspect the video cable and test it by giving it slight movement. Did you do this? It usually shows up by the colours changing as you move it. Such faulty cables rarely show any physical sign of fault. It can even be the video socket on the motherboard - I am at present considering whether to attempt a socket change in a Dell 1750. Also, did you download the datasheets for the 2 LCD panels? They are available on the web. From these you can ascertain the 2 main characteristics - panel connector pinout and resolution (WXGA etc) which make 2 different panels compatible. Checking the pinout will at least confirm you won't be doing any damage to try a particular panel.
Yogesh Panchal
August 20, 2016 at 9:45 pm
Sir,
Thanks for your Comment.
I have checked the FFC cable as described by you and even with Continuity test method sir. i have made spacial Multimeter probe with use of sewing needle for this type of tiny work.
On another hand about panel, i have found the Panel resolution type in laptop models technical detail in the manual. and ordered accordingly. i have googled some of the sites for datasheet but they all are in Chinese language and they are difficult to navigate.
As far as LVDS Socket is concern;I have not found a single problem of LVDS socket for this type of failure yet . yes if some one damaged it physically while attempt repair in lack of knowledge of cable removing method.
On assurance of our reliable vendor we replaced the panel.
Bulent NUR
August 20, 2016 at 7:16 pm
Thanks for sharing
Albert van Bemmelen
August 21, 2016 at 12:21 am
Well done repair Yogesh! I am not really fond of those Sony Laptops myself. If any owner lost their password, logging into it was afterwards impossible.(only easily possible afterwards by asking an unlock code from Sony by showing them you are the rightful owner and pay for their unlock service). Because after that all Boot System operations fail. The only thing one can do then - and I once did with a deserted locked up Sony Vaio- is hack the Boot Eprom. One of the 2 or 3 serial Flashable Eprom on the Mainboard (which means overwriting the first 7 bytes of the serial programmable/flashable 24C02 Boot Eprom after soldering it from the mainboard and placing it back after which the Laptop will be unlocked again). And apparently Sony is no longer selling these Sony Vaio laptops.
Yogesh Panchal
August 21, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Bulent,
You are welcome.
Dayawansa Kumarawadu
August 21, 2016 at 12:34 pm
Useful article
Yogesh Panchal
August 22, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Dayawansa,
Thanks for Comment.
Andre Gopee
August 22, 2016 at 12:31 am
Thank you for that excellent point of checking the external screen first. Great work
Yogesh Panchal
August 22, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Andre,
Thank you for your comment.
Robert Calk
August 24, 2016 at 5:43 am
Good job, Yogesh. Thanks for sharing the repair with us.
Yogesh Panchal
August 24, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Thank you Sir.
Humberto
August 25, 2016 at 10:31 pm
Hi Yogesh, you have done a good diagnosis and finally the solution to the problem was 100% satisfactory.
Yogesh Panchal
August 27, 2016 at 2:31 pm
Humberto,
Thanks for the comment.
euvignomos
November 8, 2021 at 6:41 am
muito bom.
saudações do brasil
=====================
very good.
greetings from Brazil