A viewer on my Anet Computers Youtube channel is having a problem where his laptop turns on but screen is blankd or black. This ose one of those most common computer problems that occur. He wants to know if it is indeed a problem with this laptop’s video or his computer monitor.
“I have a Dell studio 1558 the LCD display when not connected to an external monitor is totally black but when connected it shows weird lines and squares of colours and flickers like anything. Is it my monitor or the video card? Please help…..”
Agnivo Mxxxxxxxx
He may have answered his own question. The fact that this laptop exhibits same symptoms with or without an external monitor, may be a clue. He could try connecting this Dell studio 1558 laptop to another external monitor.
However, that would be quite the coincidence of both Liquid Crystal Display and an external monitor failing. Here are some quick tips. Disconnect power cable from both laptop and wall outlet.
Take out the laptop battery. Press the power button for thirty seconds to one minute to clear and potential Electro Static Discharge. Connect power cable to laptop and wall outlet.
Install the battery again. Now try to power on this laptop computer and see if this laptop turns on but screen is black. Obviously, if the laptop’s display works then issue is resolved. However, if you are still receiving a blank or black screen, then try to hook up a known good working external computer monitor.
If neither displays work then most likely a video issue. Laptop computers are shipped with Graphics Processing Units that are integrated meaning soldered onto the motherboard. Another tip is try to make certain that this is not an operating system problem.
Make certain whether or not you can see the Basic Input Output System splash screen as soon as you power on this laptop. If you still see a blank screen on both laptop and external monitor then chances are likely that there is a major problem with the integrated video. If you can some how get the BIOS screen to display then perhaps it is a problem with the operating system.
If you are running Microsoft windows then try to boot into advanced boot options menu by pressing the F8 key before windows tries to boot. If your display works when booting into any of the safe mode options but your display does NOT work when booting windows into normal mode, then there is a problem with your Windows installation. This will require further troubleshooting.
Perhaps a driver issue is causing your blank or black screen. These are some quick laptop turns on but screen is black troubleshooting steps.