HP HDX 16 Display Not Working

[HaggisCat]

Unless the seller specifically says that the cable and inverter (where applicable) are included, then screens are not usually sold with other items. the screens are always sold are on their own.

 "Native resolution" refers to the fixed amount of pixels on a given screen and this can not be changed. In the case of the HDX series most were sent out with a fixed resolution of 1920 x 1080. That's 1920 pixels across the screen or one row of pixels and each row containing 1980 pixels.

 If your native resolution is 1366 x 768 you may upgrade to a new screen that contains 1920 x 1080 because the NVIDIA cards in the HDX will accept the higher resolution. The cards will either be GT9600M or GT130M in the later models.

 You can change the resolution in the NVIDIA control panel not to match the native resolution, but what will happen is the image will become stretched or distorted depending on what you choose.

 Your NVIDIA card will always pick the fixed resolution or rather recommend it, but it will be set there by default.

 When you connect up a Blu-ray player that outputs in 1366 x 768 and this is the max resolution for the player, what the video card will do is scale it to work with the the native resolution of the laptop screen (1920 x 1080).

 In this case it will look normal because you're dividing up the laptop resolution to make the lower one work that's being fed from the player. Keep in  mind I am using this as an example, I don't believe there is a Blu-ray player that out-puts 1366 x 768, that would defeat the whole purpose of a Blu-ray player.

[JakeInc]

@ HaggisCat,

My HDX 16 display is back to normal (for now)!  So, this tells me that there is nothing wrong with the LCD panel, the inverter or the backlight lamps.  It must be a bad video cable?  I'm not going to touch or close the display lid for fear the display will once again go black.

What do you think?  If it's working now, I must have a bad cable?  Thanks. J.

[HaggisCat · Accepted solution]

OK, leave it open and don't move the lid and see if it continues to work, if so you probably can assume it's the cable.

 Don't forget my comparison earlier in the thread about it's behavior to a florescent tube and ballast arrangement. It may function normally for days or weeks and then suddenly quit.

 But for now, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 @ everyone

 Personally I would find all this intermittent behavior so annoying and frustrating I would just go in and replace all three and be done with it. Spending around 200.00$ on a machine that cost over a grand is not a bad deal.

 It's not so much the cost of the parts, but the task of having to dismantle and reassemble the laptop trying to determine which part is faulty.

[JakeInc]

Here is an update!  After having replaced BOTH the inverter AND the display cable, the display still did not work properly.  Interestingly though, I was able to get the display to work at full brightness by using my wife's BLOW DRYER to heat both sides of the display panel.  As long as I kept the display active, it would continue working.  If I let the display fade to black and cool for 10 minutes, I then could not get it to work again without 'blow drying' the display panel until it was very warm to the touch.  After replacing the display panel with a new one, all is working and I am back in business.  HaggisCat was right to begin with.  Just replace all three parts and be DONE with it! 

[HaggisCat]

I am glad it worked out for you, I hope the repair sticks.

 There is another poster here that went through the same thing as well as replacing many parts unrelated to the screen problem and most problems returned months later.

 I attribute this to bad batches of new parts or vendors claiming to sell new parts which are obviously not.

[oneshotjim]

Hi there,

recently i have had an issue with my lcd screen of my hp hdx 16 laptop

when i boot the screen comes on and flickers from full brightness to no brightness. when i log into windows, it sometimes stays on at normal brightness. then after a few seconds it starts flickering - this can go on for sometime and then just goes black.

if i close the lid and open again it comes back on with the same diagnose i mentioned above. Connecting the laptop to another screen via hdmi cable works perfectly.

I have removed the panel to check the video cable connection to the laptop - i unplugged it and plugged it in again - but with the same thing happened.

could this be a video cable? should i attempt to change this myself? Can you guide me how to change this cable if it is the problem?

thanks

oneshotjim

[HaggisCat]

Doesn't sound like the video cable, unless moving the lid back and forth affects the problem.

 I would be looking at the inverter and/or back light(s).

 This is a big job and it's very difficult to get the screen out of one of these, I would recommend a trusted repair shop.

 If you can find a NEW entire screen assembly, then that's the way to go.

 If you want to attempt to do it your self, post again and I can help you with that.

[oneshotjim]

well i was thinking that it was a cable issue as at the time that this happened i would open the screen very slowly and it would not flicker. now i just dont have the patience and just have it hooked up to a screen. 

i also want to point out that the laptop battery seems to need replacing as it was mentioned in the BIOS boot up process. At first i thought that there wasnt enough power being supplied to the screen itself.

i have to get into buying a battery soon i guess but could this in any way be affecting the screen as well?

[HaggisCat]

Unlikely a weak battery is causing your screen problems _ a weak battery would be affecting the whole system and not just the screen.

 You may try and replace the cable to start with and if that does not fix things, replace the inverter and then the screen _ in that order.

 Sometimes it's best to replace all three and be done with it.

 Post again of you need help getting it apart.