The problem started with a dark spot in the bottom

The problem started with a dark spot in the bottom left corner. It grew so that it started to touch the "Start" of the Windows taskbar. The spot was too hot to keep my finger on it while the rest of the screen was cool.

I powered off the monitor and let it sit a while. When I powered up the screen remains dark.

I connected an external monitor and when I power up I get the initial Windows logo and the chkdsk routine (since I had to power down by holding the power button). After the chkdst routine the external monitor stops displaying and the laptop monitor display works for about a second and then goes dark.

I suspect that the monitor not displaying is due to the display output being set to a mode that it not compatible with the monitor and that the initial screens are in VGA mode. Any explanation for why the laptop screen should work momentarily but not all of the time?

thanks, Danny