Black Screen

[free-faller]

I have an old 2006 24" iMac that I had given to my mother a while ago. Unfortunately, a month or so into using it, the screen decided to black out. The computer itself is still functional, but the screen is completely black; the only thing illuminated is the sleep light. Is there a possibility this could be a software issue? If the screen is fried (hardware problem), it's not worth the investment to fix it; I just wanted to make sure I tried every other possible avenue before I shelved the computer or dissected it for parts…