Vertical red lines across LCD display

[dc2000]

Does anyone know if there's a way to fix this LCD screen? It's a 28" screen that is out of warranty. Sometimes it shows 3, sometimes 2 vertical red lines.

Here's a picture I just took (sorry for the dust):
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s99/dc2000_bucket/IMG_1925_zpskqxt89vz.jpg

 

[Solandri]

Trying to fix it will probably destroy the monitor. The problem is most likely in a part of the monitor which isn't meant to be serviceable.

But if you're still willing to try it (i.e. you'd throw away the monitor otherwise), you need to completely disassemble it. Enough that you have access to the LCD panel itself. Not the "panel" (which refers to the combination of LCD, reflector, diffusers, and backlight), but the actual LCD part of the panel. The white rear reflector sheet, prism film, LCD, and diffusers are usually screwed together with foil tape around the edges. Removing the tape will likely destroy it, so you will need new foil tape to reassemble it. Wear a grounding strap - it's easy to fry parts in here with static.

Once you get this far, you should see the LCD panel itself. In the first pic on this site, it's the part that's shifted to the left of the polarizers, diffusers, etc.
http://informationdisplay.org/IDArchive/2011/January/DisplayMarketplaceGettingtheLightThroughTF.aspx

It will have a PCB and/or ribbon cables along two edges - one vertical, one horizontal. These are what are used to address each pixel on the screen. By signaling one horizontal wire and one vertical wire at a time, the monitor can send a signal to an individual subpixel. The vertical lines are most likely caused by a poor connection on the horizontal PCB/ribbon cable, causing the wrong signal to be sent to every pixel in that column. If you're lucky, it's just a weak or poor solder joint, and you can fix the problem by just pushing or squishing the connection. Some panels use a conductive foam pad instead of solder, which is easier to fix by pushing it (but also easy to destroy). If your LCD uses ribbon cable, it may be a bit loose and you can try reseating it.

But more likely, getting this far will destroy the monitor. Even if you do manage to fix the lines, imperfect reassembly will cause other issues like uneven lighting, backlight bleed, bright or dark spots (caused by bumps in the diffusers or reflectors), dust trapped in the screen, etc. It's a lot of effort for something that mostly likely won't work.

Edit: You can try pressing on these parts of the "panel" without disassembling it. The pressure may be enough to restore the bad solder joints.

 

[dc2000]

Thanks. Appreciate it. Although this is way above my pay grade. But like you said, since I'm going to throw it out anyway, I'll try to see if maybe opening it and then "pressing on things" will temporarily solve it.