MacBook Air (Late 2010) screen died — help?

(I posted this in Apple Discussions, but it's better to cast a wide net for help!)

Just now, my circa-Nov 2010 MBA screen crapped out. I had unplugged it from charging, then opened the screen from wake; I think it flashed a grey background with a darker grey stripe running down the middle for a split second, before it turned pitch black. I had Chrome open earlier, before I had closed the screen; VLC and iTunes weren't playing.

The Apple logo does not light up anymore. I can still use the function buttons, like volume control, iTunes, and to turn it off and on; the issue is the display only (screen brightness keys don't do anything).

On MacBooks, there is "dead black screen" when the machine is off, and then there is "screen-brightness-set-to-zero black screen", right? Here's the weird thing: holding the power button to shut off the machine changed the "black screen" to "dead", and when I restart it (and the chime plays), the screen goes from "dead black" to "brightness-off black". It is as if my screen is perpetually stuck in brightness set to zero.

Edit: Just took a pic of the screen with flash, and there is evidently a two-inch vertical stripe of dead pixels. Looks like the LCD is kaput...

I'm not sure what to do at the moment (other than taking my unit to Genius Bar ASAP...no AppleCare to save me, though ), but I'd appreciate answers on the following:

1) Is it just the backlight that crapped out? Or do I need to replace my entire LCD unit?

2) Has anyone had a similar issue?

3) How much does a replacement LCD cost from Apple out of warranty?

This is especially frustrating given that I was one of the first to have LCD problems when the second-gen MBA came out in October 2010 (although that was a video card manufacturing defect)...

I've always babied my MBA, never dropped it once. I have a fitted bag for it, and when I use a regular bag, it's always wrapped in a suede sleeve (not sure if it bounces around, but I've never felt it moving around).

However, about a month ago, I was putting my MBA into my fitted bag when I accidentally brought it down on my knuckle instead of into the slit. It wasn't a hard hit, but the point of impact just so happened to be the weak corner of the plastic hinge so it cracked a bit. It's pretty far-fetched to blame that as the cause of my LCD dying, though.

@ericDylan Thanks, I've also seen a $700 figure thrown around, so $300 is much easier to swallow.

PS. Will my Mac get wiped if I get the screen replaced? I don't have an external display so I haven't had a chance to back anything up.