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Grex Micros Item 143: Dim LCD displany on AT&T "Safari" Notebook
Entered by raven on Fri Jan 26 02:19:28 UTC 1996:

        I traded my Dell Notebook and now have a new problem a very dim
display on my AT & T "Safari" 386 Notebook.  It drives a VGA CRT fine,
so it's not the video card, the LCD display however is very dim and
hard to read.  Any ideas how to fix this would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

17 responses total.

#1 of 17 by raven on Fri Jan 26 13:49:55 1996:

        I think it's probably just the LCD backlight, the question is
how do you get into these LCD panels???

#2 of 17 by n8nxf on Sat Jan 27 16:09:00 1996:

That is a very good bet.  The backlights have a maximum of 10KHrs. Life
expectancy.  They use special fluorescent tubes driven by a small high
voltage inverter.  Good luck.  (Are the brightness and contrast controls
working?)

#3 of 17 by raven on Sun Jan 28 02:19:08 1996:

        The contrast controls work, the brightness control does not. Klaus
you are an electronics genuis as is seen in fixing my friends monitor.  Any
chance you could fix this thing??

#4 of 17 by raven on Sun Jan 28 02:19:47 1996:

        Any chance it could just be the volatage inverter????

#5 of 17 by scg on Mon Jan 29 05:06:59 1996:

The AT&T Safari I worked on for a client also struck me as having a really
dim screen.  Maybe it's just how they're made?

#6 of 17 by n8nxf on Mon Jan 29 14:55:47 1996:

I don't think they are made that way.  Since the brightness controll
doesn't work it means the back-lighting is dead.  Since you'r not the
only one with a dim Safari, I'd suggest putting a call in to AT&T and
seeing what they have to say about it. I suspect there could be some 
sort of design / manufacturing flaw.
 
No I do not want to look at it.  The back-lights for these things are
very specific to the display model used.  The models have very short
manufacturing runs (Due to a rappid growth of the technology in this
area.) and replacement parts could be a &it6h to get.

#7 of 17 by arthurp on Mon Jan 29 18:44:56 1996:

On a slightly related note.  The image on my monitor has been jiggling
the last couple days.  It looks like when the power is not clean.
I used to see it when the computer was on the same circuit as a
dehumidifier.  I don't hear anything big running around here, and it
is winter.  I don't have any reason my power might have gotten less
clean.  The jiggles are like tiny tiny ripples running up and down the
verticle lines on the screen.  Is there a failure mode for CRTs that
looks something like this?  The ripples are non-existent in text mode,
but in 1024x768x256 They are there just a bit.  Anyone?  Thanks.

#8 of 17 by scott on Mon Jan 29 23:32:47 1996:

Did you just install any kind of RF equipment, or just get a new radio station
in your neighborhood?

#9 of 17 by rcurl on Tue Jan 30 07:47:01 1996:

I have an XT next to a Mac IIci. Things on the IIci are pretty jiggly
when the XT is running.

#10 of 17 by scott on Tue Jan 30 12:16:02 1996:

I've seen monitors interact, too.  Usually a horizontal line going up on one,
down on the other.

#11 of 17 by n8nxf on Tue Jan 30 14:53:23 1996:

It could also be a capacitor going bad in monitors power supply.  First,
however, try moving things away from the monitor that are plugged in, as
per Rane's suggestion.  Unplugging from the outlet would do too.  Simply
turning things OFF will not do.

#12 of 17 by arthurp on Wed Jan 31 02:07:10 1996:

Well, it's rock steady right now.  There is nothing new next to my 
monitor unless there is something in the neighbors apt.  That would
put the hypothetical 'it' about 4 feet away at the closest.  The
failing cap. thing wouldn't be intermitant would it?  I don't see
how it could be.  Could it be power interplay with two surge
suppressors in series?  I have a regular one, and there is one built
into my 6-strip.  Or could it just be dirty power for whatever reason?

#13 of 17 by scg on Wed Jan 31 05:08:03 1996:

In my server room at work I have a FreeBSD machine and an NT server sitting
right next to eachother, and the monitors do weird things when they're both
turned on (although they rarely are, since I usually telnet into the FreeBSD
box from the NT server when I'm working on it).  With one monitor turned off,
the other works just fine, so turning it off must have some effect.

#14 of 17 by n8nxf on Wed Jan 31 18:34:42 1996:

Naw, it's not going to be caused by two surge suppressors in series.  Those
are passive devices and don't do anything unless a surge comes along.
 
Could be flakey power / poor wiring.

#15 of 17 by raven on Wed Jan 31 18:55:58 1996:

        So nothing can be done about my notebook short of sending to
the factory??

#16 of 17 by n8nxf on Thu Feb 1 15:20:33 1996:

That's it in a nut-shell.  A local shop my be willing to take it on.  Call
around.

#17 of 17 by raven on Fri Feb 2 00:06:44 1996:

        OK thanks for the advice.

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