I ordered a screen for my laptop - specifically it's an HP Pavilion 17-g161us.

Was just curious of you guys/gals opinion on whether it's usually the actual screen that goes bad or something hardware related - on the motherboard or some type of video card.

The dog actually knocked it off the bed & onto the hardwood floor a week or two before the screen went down.

Here are some photos of what it looks like.

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In the case of displays just dying, it's usually the backlight that I've seen. By far the #1 failure point.

In the case of failures due to physical stress, it's usually a connector either on the board or the display in my experience. They have little to no play, and the sockets are INCREDIBLY fragile nowadays.

Well, I guess it's not the back light - as it still lights up, just has horizontal lines all over the place.

Maybe it is a connector that went loose when it hit the ground. Perhaps I'll get lucky and just tighten the connector, either connected to the display or the board. If so, I can send this one back. If it is a loose connector, I hope it's the one connected to the display screen - it's easy to get to. The other end of the connector requires a gazillion screws to be taken off to get to it. I don't think the new one comes with any connectors & I have to re-use what I have...

Interesting that it lights up and has the lines on it. Kinda made me think maybe it was a hardware issue on the mother board. Who knows....

Thanks again for your reply!

Update.

I am able to connect the laptop to a smart tv via an HDMI cable and the laptop does work.

So it has to be either the screen or the screen cable, eh?

I think this is good news, eh?

Pretty much.

Thanks.

Well I've ordered the replacement display screen. I just wonder if I should go ahead and order the cable connector, hmmmm

Thanks again....

Your screenshots indeed suggest that some cable/connector got loose, or broken somehow.
The backlight is obviously OK, and a physically broken screen looks more like this.

The conductive rubber strip between the LCD panel and driver electronics has been damaged. This is not a serviceable item due to tight tolerances. The LCD unit must be replaced.
Ed

I replaced the screen with the exact HP screen - it's a non touch display/screen.

It puzzles me. When I first installed it, everything worked great. Then, the same day, the screen mostly stayed black and would not show the HP logo or operating system desktop. So, I disassembled it and unconnected then reconnected the cable. It immediately started working properly again. Then, upon assembling (the enclosure and screws), then immediately the screen went black again with no logo or desktop showing up. I came to the conclusion that the pressure I was putting on the plastic, that surrounded the lcd screen, was both causing the screen to go black and also causing the screen to come on and work properly. Especially putting pressure on the bottom plastic enclosure was causing both. I placed added pressure on the bottom plastic enclosure and it started working fine again. I kept putting pressure on the bottom, both on the front and back, and it conctinued to work properly.

I wish I had fiddled with the cable when the old screen was installed - perhaps it would have came on and signified it wasn't a screen problem.

Not quite sure what the conductive rubber strip is - seems like a contradiction for a strip to be rubber and conductive (at the same time)...

Look up Zebra strip.

The laptop may have more than one thing broken. The horizontal lines indicate the Zebra strip was damaged. The LCD connector/cable/main board may have been damaged too resulting in the blank screen.
Ed

Hmm. I dunno. I've been running it, with the new screen on it, for the past 24 hours & thus far no problems at all.

I wish I had wiggled the connector wire around more and tried to get it to work with the old screen. The old screen may be in good condition and the only thing fixed by me putting the new screen on, and taping the wire on better, is that the connecting wire is just connected more securely and working. Regardless, since it is working fine now, then as they say, if it's not broke then don't fix it. So as long as it's working fine presently, Ima just keep on computing. I may, however, decide to purchase the connecting cord & have it standing by. I googled the zebra strip but couldn't figure out much about it - and I have the service manual for this laptop and can't find that part in it either....

If you want to read about the zebra connectors and what they are...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastomeric_connector

Thanks. I did read the article. I suppose, since the LCD has been performing flawlessly in the past 24 hours, there is a chance that the zebra strip on the actual old LCD itself could have been bad ?

Yes. I have seen this kind of failure in a calculator.
Ed