Hi, I have a PowerBook G4 17" laptop and the monitor has gone dim, to where it appears black. I can barely see images on the screen, but the backlight is not working. Could this be a video inverter problem? If so, where can I find one and how to I replace it? Thanks.

The display on this laptop is backlit. What that means, in a nutshell, is that the image on the display prevents the output from a constant light source (the back light) from showing through, thus giving a usable image on the screen. From your description, the backlight is no longer operating. This can be an issue with the LCD display panel, the backlight power module, our (less likely) a power trace on the motherboard. Repair would likely cost as much or more than replacing with a used laptop and just transferring your hard drive. If you choose to replace and swap hard drives make certain that the interface on the new laptop is the same as your Gateway's.

There are also another reason , the Back light lamp might be damaged also!

You may have a faulty CCFL lamp. A faulty CCFL lamp may have the following symptom: Screen flashes on and off or displays reddish pink hue. Picture stays on in red and slowly be come normal. Picture flickering and/or with dim display or appear black. Picture flickers on and off. All these symptoms indicate that the LCD backlight lamp (CCFL Lamp) has reached the end of the life and all you need to do is replace the CCFL lamp.
To determine if the video card or the LCD is faulty, connect an external monitor to your laptop and power the monitor up first then the laptop, if you see the normal Windows images then the video card and laptop is OK and the problem is definitely the backlight. Dim image and/or dark display on the laptop's LCD screen indicates a faulty LCD backlight or a faulty inverter that supplies high voltage to the CCFL lamp. Usually the CCFL lamp fails before the inverter.
The inverter can be replaced easily but the CCLF lamp is more time consuming and requires soldering skills.
Check out LCD Parts for service, parts, and DIY info Use this link to their WEB site: -
www.lcdparts.net

I have gateway mx7118 and my screen went dim when power on. I connected to a external monitor and no pic on the monitor.
Could the problem be I need to replace the LCD invertor?

You may have a defective CCFL backlight, it may have the following symptom: Screen flashes on and off or displays reddish pink hue. Picture stays on in red and slowly be come normal. Picture flickering with dim display or appear black. Picture flickers on and off. All these symptoms indicate that the LCD backlight lamp (CCFL Lamp) has reached the end of the life and all you need to do is replace the CCFL lamp.
To determine if the video card or the LCD is faulty, connect an external monitor to your laptop and power the monitor up first then the laptop, if you see the normal Windows images then the video card and laptop is OK and the problem is definitely the backlight. Dim image and/or dark display on the laptop's LCD screen indicates a faulty LCD backlight. It could be a faulty inverter that supplies high voltage to the CCFL lamp or it is the CCLF lamp is nearly burnt out; usually the CCFL lamp fails before the inverter.
The inverter can be replaced easily but the CCLF lamp is more time consuming and requires soldering skills.
Check out LCD Parts for service, parts, and DIY info Use this link to their WEB site: -
www.ladparts.net

You may have a defective CCFL backlight, it may have the following symptom: Screen flashes on and off or displays reddish pink hue. Picture stays on in red and slowly be come normal. Picture flickering with dim display or appear black. Picture flickers on and off. All these symptoms indicate that the LCD backlight lamp (CCFL Lamp) has reached the end of the life and all you need to do is replace the CCFL lamp.
To determine if the video card or the LCD is faulty, connect an external monitor to your laptop and power the monitor up first then the laptop, if you see the normal Windows images then the video card and laptop is OK and the problem is definitely the backlight. Dim image and/or dark display on the laptop's LCD screen indicates a faulty LCD backlight. It could be a faulty inverter that supplies high voltage to the CCFL lamp or it is the CCLF lamp is nearly burnt out; usually the CCFL lamp fails before the inverter.
The inverter can be replaced easily but the CCLF lamp is more time consuming and requires soldering skills.
Check out LCD Parts for service, parts, and DIY info Use this link to their WEB site: -
www.ladparts.net

Usually this is a problem with the backlight, or inverter. Most of the time the inverter is the problem which is a pretty cheap fix. If its the backlight, then you will have to replace the lcd, which is much more expensive.

Normally this is caused by the power inverter for the lcd. It is a small circuit board right below the lcd, that powers the backlight. If you take off the front bezel of the laptop you should be able to see it, it will have a 2 wire power cord coming out the one end, and another plug in on the other end with several wires.

Check ebay for a replacment but make sure you get an identical model as the one you have, as they are very specific to each laptop. The inverter will have the part number written on it.

Hi, your LCD screen's backlight has gone out. This is a hardware failure, and you'll need to have it replaced or repaired. THe LCD screen consists of two parts, the LCD screen which creates images for you to see, and the backlight which forces light through the LCD so you can see it. Your backlight has gone out, so your screen still has images, but no light.

Connect an external monitor to the laptop and power it up, if you see a clear image on an external monitor, this means your video card is OK.

If you see a dim image or flicking image on the LCD screen it means you have a backlight problem.

Dim image and/or dark display on the laptop's LCD screen indicates a faulty LCD backlight and it could be the inverter that supplies high voltage to the CCFL lamp or it is the CCLF lamp is nearly burnt out or burnt out, most likely this is the case.
The inverter can be replaced easily but the CCLF lamp is more time consuming and requires soldering skills.
Check out www.lcdparts.net for parts, repair service and DIY info.

try to boot in last good known configuration.issue might be with video card check it.