What is a Backlight?
A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). As LCDs do not produce light by themselves, they need illumination to produce a visible image. Backlights illuminate the LCD from the side or back of the display panel. All LCD screens use backlights. There are two main types of backlights: CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) which look like miniature fluorescent light bulbs, and LEDs (light emitting diodes) which appear as small (usually yellow) dots or squares of glass along a strip.
What is a CCFL?
CCFL stands for cold cathode fluorescent lamp. CCFLs are long thin glass tubes (appear like miniature fluorescent light bulbs). They are the most common type of backlighting in LCD screens. A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). As LCDs do not produce light by themselves, they need illumination to produce a visible image. CCFL backlights illuminate the LCD from the side or back of the display panel. All LCD screens use backlights.
Where in my screen is my backlight?
In most displays the backlight will run along the length of the bottom of the screen, or you may have 2 backlights one running along the top, and one along the bottom of your screen. Often an LCD screen will need to be disassembled before the backlight can be accessed. One way to find out where your backlight is before disassembling the LCD is to look at the back of your LCD for the power inverter (this will look like a small rectangle board or box). The inverter will have wires coming out of each end of it. One wire is connected to the LCD, the other (usually 2-4 wires) are connected to the backlight. Follow these wires back into the LCD, this will give you the location of the backlights. In a few displays (mostly TVs, and some medical monitors), there will be several backlights sitting horizontally in the screen and spaced evenly from the top to the bottom of the screen. They will be situated in a tray or frame that will become accessible as you disassemble the LCD screen.
What is the difference between a CCFL and a backlight assembly?
A CCFL is a component of a backlight assembly. The CCFL is the fluorescent light that lights up and illuminates an LCD. A backlight assembly is a CCFL plus its wires, connectors, and end caps. Typically, a CCFL’s wires, connectors, and end caps will be re-usable. They can be switched-over from a burned-out CCFL to a new CCFL. Some customers prefer a backlight assembly to save the work of switching over their wires, connectors, and caps, or in the rare occasion that their CCFL’s wires, end caps, or connectors have been damaged and need replacement.
Are your backlights original parts?
They are not. The original makers of LCDs do not make extra or spare backlights for their screens. Once they are done manufacturing a particular model LCD, the backlight for that LCD will never be manufactured by the original maker again. Our replacement backlights are manufactured from original samples from the backlight maker. They are exact duplicates of the original parts.
My screen is dark, do I need a new backlight?
Power on your screen and shine a bright light on it (hold it up to a bright window, or shine a flashlight into it). If you can see the image on the screen, that means the screen is working, but simply not being lit up; this would be a backlight issue, meaning that a new backlight is needed.
Can you also provide an inverter for my LCD screen?
We focus on the backlights for LCD screens, and do not carry any inverters. However, we can source large quantities of inverters for custom projects of 100+ units. Please contact us for more information.
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