White marks on dark screen

[theapplehead]

Hello,

I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 and I recently noticed that there are white marks on my display when I am on a dark screen. It’s almost like a wide/long mark in the center of the display. A few days ago, I disassembled my display and cleaned it, and now I’m noticing the marks. Unfortunately there is no way to know if the marks are a result of what I did or if they were done by the previous owner since there were smudges all over the outer screen. I’m wondering if the white marks are a result of the lcd being damaged or if the panels in the back of the display behind the lcd are damaged. What do y’all think and is there anything I can do to remedy this problem? Thanks

 

[Audit13]

If the top glass is fine, it sounds like a problem with the backlight or LCD.

Would it be possible to post a picture?

 

[theapplehead]

If the top glass is fine, it sounds like a problem with the backlight or LCD.

Would it be possible to post a picture?

Sure. Here’s one:

Also, I just checked the actual lcd, and I’m certain I did not see any scratches or hair or anything on it. Positive. Maybe there’s an imperceptible crack, but I can’t be for sure. Anyways, let me know what you think. (By the way, that’s the center of my screen, it’s just really zoomed in with the camera)

 

[Audit13]

Based on the picture, it looks like there are blotches of white or is that from the camera? The marks are always on the same place regardless of what's being displayed?

 

[theapplehead]

Based on the picture, it looks like there are blotches of white or is that from the camera? The marks are always on the same place regardless of what's being displayed?

Those marks are on the display, not the camera. Yes they are always in the same place. Do you think it’s maybe the backlight or something else. Cause they go away when the display is off. What do you think?

 

[Audit13]

Try this: turn off the MacBook and shine a very bright light against the area where you see the marks at different angles and look for any sort of damage. Also, shine a bright light from the top case through the Apple logo. If you don't see an damage, I would conclude that it's a backlight issue.

 

[Painter2002]

Try this: turn off the MacBook and shine a very bright light against the area where you see the marks at different angles and look for any sort of damage. Also, shine a bright light from the top case through the Apple logo. If you don't see an damage, I would conclude that it's a backlight issue.

Either way, it looks like unfortunately the solution will require a replacement monitor. It could be moisture/water damage inside the panel itself. At first it looked like a coating issue, but OP says it goes away when the computer is off, which means something internal is wrong.

Best of luck OP, but unfortunately you are looking at replacing the monitor, or trying to live with it until it becomes unbearable (I couldn't do that, my OCD would be kicking in every time I saw that).

 

[theapplehead]

Try this: turn off the MacBook and shine a very bright light against the area where you see the marks at different angles and look for any sort of damage. Also, shine a bright light from the top case through the Apple logo. If you don't see an damage, I would conclude that it's a backlight issue.

Just did your test and no damage or marks or anything is visible. If it is a backlight issue, is there anything easy I can do to fix it? Preferably not a new display

 

[Audit13]

The backlight can be replaced but taking the screen apart is a tough job because of the prying and heating involved.

If you can live with the marks, it may be better to leave it as is.

 

[theapplehead]

Either way, it looks like unfortunately the solution will require a replacement monitor. It could be moisture/water damage inside the panel itself. At first it looked like a coating issue, but OP says it goes away when the computer is off, which means something internal is wrong.

Best of luck OP, but unfortunately you are looking at replacing the monitor, or trying to live with it until it becomes unbearable (I couldn't do that, my OCD would be kicking in every time I saw that).

Hmm....I really wanted to avoid replacing the entire display. Is there a way I can only replace the backlight panels or whatever they’re called? Assuming that that is the problem
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The backlight can be replaced but taking the screen apart is a tough job because of the prying and heating involved.

Well I do have an older MBP so I was thinking I could maybe steal one of the things (backlight panels) from it and swap it. And I actually have to take it’s display apart anyways (damaged lvds cable) so it may be worth it. What do you think?

 

[Painter2002]

The backlight can be replaced but taking the screen apart is a tough job because of the prying and heating involved.

If you can live with the marks, it may be better to leave it as is.

I second this, I'd only attempt this if you are very technically inclined. It is very easy to damage the monitor and panels during a repair, as the apple monitors are more or less like pressed fiber board... lol. If you start taking layers apart you can easily damage one of the other layers. It can be done, just requires more expert level repair skills and patience.

If you want to give that a shot before replacing the monitor you can give that a shot, or just go on eBay and buy a parted monitor that you can just swap out. You can find reasonably priced replacement monitors for not much more than the cost of replacing the actual backlights and all that jazz. And it saves you a lot of stress... lol.

 

[theapplehead]

I second this, I'd only attempt this if you are very technically inclined. It is very easy to damage the monitor and panels during a repair, as the apple monitors are more or less like pressed fiber board... lol. If you start taking layers apart you can easily damage one of the other layers. It can be done, just requires more expert level repair skills and patience.

If you want to give that a shot before replacing the monitor you can give that a shot, or just go on eBay and buy a parted monitor that you can just swap out. You can find reasonably priced replacement monitors for not much more than the cost of replacing the actual backlights and all that jazz. And it saves you a lot of stress... lol.

I hear what you’re saying but part of me still wants to at least try. I don’t want to just throw it out when I might have the chance of fixing it. I’ve already taken the display off a few times to tighten it so this shouldn’t be too much worse.....I hope. Honestly though, you’d be right to say that I have no clue what I’m getting into to. Like I was telling @Audit13 i have to take apart another MBP screen to replace the lvds cable so I might as well see if I can swap out the backlight panels while I’m at it. Do they have to be unplugged? What is the proper way to remove them if I try to do this?

 

[pshufd]

You might be able to find a shop that could do the swap. I have a local shop and spoke to a guy there and he said that anything can be repaired - it just might fail again though, because the replacement parts aren't new and there's no way to tell how used they are. I think that 2012 was a good MBP year so probably worth trying to repair it. If you don't need portability, then you could just hook it up to an external monitor.