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I don't know where to ask this. Actually my Sony laptop (e-series) started having problems with the display. Most part of the display won't show properly. Bad colors.

While starting the screen looks fine. But after a few seconds nearly the whole screen starts showing distorted colors.

So I gave my laptop for repairing at a local shop. What they told me was that my display screen is damaged along with the graphics controller which is integrated in the motherboard. They said that the damaged graphics controller damaged the display screen Is it possible.

I read at a few places that if I connect the laptop to some other display and it works fine then there is no issue with the graphics controller and only the laptop screen is damaged.

I checked it. I connected my laptop with an external display and it was showing fine. But the people at the repair shop are saying that both the things are damaged. Is it possible?? Are they cheating me??

Is it possible that only the display is damaged and they are charging me extra for repairing the the graphics controller which is not damaged. Please help me. Tell me what is right.

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Sounds to me like you're being cheated. If you plugged up an external monitor to the VGA or HDMI port and it displayed without any distortion then yes, the GPU (graphics controller) is good. If it displayed crazy colors and distortion like your screen then it would be bad. Best bet for you is to have the screen replaced. A GPU fix/replacement or whatever that shop is telling you requires a brand new motherboard since the GPU's are soldered onto the board.

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N.b. it is difficult to answer based on the information you provided; that said I will try to answer as best I can.

Connecting an external monitor to a laptop may not test what you are trying to test, since the external connection is a separate one from the the connection to the integrated screen. There could be something wrong with the internal connection that you wouldn't be able see it on the external connection.

However since the same graphics chip is driving both connections, it is unlikely to be damaged, since if it were you should see problems on both connections.

If you had a spare screen that was known to be good, something a computer repair shop might have, you could swap it as a trouble shooting step to see if the problem exists on a known good display. Alternatively you could drive your screen with a known good driver or diagnostic equipment, and see what happens.

There are many possibilities, some of them are:

  • the built-in display could be damaged.
  • The circuitry connecting the display could be damaged.
  • The graphics chip could be damaged in a way that only affects the integrated display.

It is possible, but less likely that there are multiple problems.

If you are worried about them cheating you, there are a few options:

  • ask them how they diagnosed the problem; does it make sense? can they demonstrate how they know the chip is busted?
  • bring in something you know is good, or that you know what is wrong with it already, and see if they add any spurious diagnoses.
  • take it to another repair shop, see what they say; one that is recommended, or known to be trustworthy would be best.
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