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An HP Pavilion 17 laptop was dropped from a low height onto a carpet. It mostly still works, but the display resolution is very bad, almost as though the text is pixelated. It's readable, but with difficulty. (It's fine if I use an external monitor through HDMI.)

I've tried to change the Windows 10 display resolution settings, but this just changes the size of the text without actually improving the pixelated look. And curiously there are no options between 1280x768 and 1600x900. I'm sure there used to be more options.

Would it be worth trying to open this thing up and seeing if it's a matter of a loose connection somewhere? Or does this sound like something not repairable?

Thanks

EDIT: As per Tetsujin's suggestion, I have added two images of text from the machine. One is a screenshot, the other is a photograph of what it looks like on the display.

screenshot
photograph

EDIT2: I have the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI and it has not turned up any issues. There was no designated Display diagnostic, but the System Test included a Video Memory component, during which what looked like a scanning line moved down the screen.

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    Photo might help, also a screenshot of the same screen. See how they compare to be able to advise next step...
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 18:08
  • Best to get it serviced as the display could be damaged.
    – anon
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 18:10
  • If the screenshot is clean, but the photo is degraded, then it's more than likely a hardware issue, not software. I'd take it to a repair shop, unless you want to check the ribbon connector yourself first.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Mar 19, 2022 at 7:17
  • @John There's no way to service a laptop with damaged hardware, as the servicing would be replacing the damaged component(s). If hardware is damaged, the built-in hardware diagnostics in the BIOS/UEFI firmware will show that and it's much cheaper to replace the parts yourself than take it to someone to have them do so. Some OEMs offer the repair manual on their support site, else YouTube will likely have a video showing how to disassemble the laptop
    – JW0914
    Commented Mar 19, 2022 at 11:45
  • @Rob Photographing a display will generally not come out as intended due to the camera catching the refresh rate [Hz] or the plastic filters the display uses below the display's glass (these are what's causing the horizontal lines). To determine if hardware has been damaged, please run the built-in hardware diagnostics that are accessible either via the BIOS/UEFI firmware settings or from the BIOS/UEFI firmware boot screen. While it's possible a loose connection occurred, it's unlikely since the display cable has a heavy-duty metal connector and a discrete graphics card is held in by screws.
    – JW0914
    Commented Mar 19, 2022 at 11:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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First, check if this is an OS (software) issue. There's a chance that a HDD was jarred, perhaps losing some driver.

Create a bootable USB that allows resolution to be optimized, e.g., Live Ubuntu. There's no need to install it at all; just boot from the USB to test the OS. If that works, then just repair the current OS on HDD, e.g., using SFC and DISM on Windows, or reinstall the OS from MS ISO, keeping files.

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  • Thanks for the suggestions. I have run SFC (which did make some repairs). I then ran DISM, which found no corruption. I have updated the display driver. Nothing seems to have helped. Resolution is still bad and the resolution options between 1280x768 and 1600x900 are still missing.
    – Rob
    Commented Mar 19, 2022 at 0:12

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