My Asus VivoBook laptop (been using it for about two years) has had its screen getting much dimmer over the past month, and sometimes horizontal lines appear on it. Is this a broken display panel or can I fix it at home? Should I take it to a service center?
Stripes on the screen usually indicate a problem with the cable or contacts between the display panel and motherboard, not with the panel itself. The dimming might be a result of the same issue - a loose connection weakens both the image and the backlight. That's good news, because you can try reconnecting the cable yourself if you're a bit handy.
First, try a really simple test: press your finger gently on different parts of the laptop screen (around the edges of the panel, not in the center). If the stripes disappear for a second or change - it's almost certainly the cable or a contact. If nothing changes - it's probably the panel itself, and there's not much you can do about it at home. Second thing: have the brightness adjustment controls stopped working? Try Fn+up arrow, and make sure the brightness didn't just drop to minimum for some reason.
If the brightness is fine and the stripes don't disappear when you press on it, then yeah, better take it to a service center. It only makes sense to take apart the laptop yourself if you're confident in what you're doing - if you reconnect the ribbon cable wrong, you could damage the contacts permanently. Is it still under warranty?
Log into answer.
