Digital Camera Basic Repair and Preventative Maintenance - Day 2

Yesterday on MyDigiHelp I discussed the importance of protecting your battery door, and how to avoid breaking the little buggers.
Today we will cover probably the most frustrating and, sometimes, costly mistakes one could make - Breaking an LCD screen.
The basic part of the digital camera LCD assembly is 2 parts- the LCD and the backlight.
The LCD is the Liquid Crystal Display that the camera uses to display saved images (both basic digital cameras and SLR type cameras display this) and live view (oftentimes in place of a viewfinder[this is only on point and shoot digital cameras and very high end SLR bodies])
The back light is the little part on the back side of the LCD that illuminates and is how we see a lighted image on the LCD screen. If the backlight goes out, the LCD usually will still work, but it will display the image naturally and be very dark.
It is fairly obvious when an LCD goes bad, usually it has the actual crystal leaking into the housing, and the display is not shown, with rainbow colored blotches all over the LCD. The LCD could also have nothing but a white screen shown. Generally this is either a bad LCD, or sometimes, the ribbon cable that connects the LCD to the camera mainboard has dislodged slightly (this is a good thing because this can a lot of times be fixed!)

Now, some preventative steps towards LCD protection -
Buy a screen protector. Not a little scratch pad that prevents scratches on the LCD. Those are mostly cosmetic and will do nothing against impact damage to the LCD or camera.
We at DarnToothySam.com sell a variety of 1/8" thick acrylic glass LCD screen protectors. These are very sturdy, and we've never had one break or shatter on us. They are also very cheap, about $10 from our store. Whenever we do an LCD replacement, we always offer to sell an LCD protector with our repair.
Do NOT throw your camera without a case into your purse, or jacket. Pressure on the front or back of a camera can cause a cracked screen. Slim body Kodak cameras are very notorious for this, and their LCDs are almost prohibitive in price. Always have a case, and protect the camera.

If you have broken your LCD, there are several services available for you. DarnToothySam.com offers both a part and/or replacement service for an LCD.
You can find the repair service here - http://www.darntoothysam.com/servlet/the-Digital-Camera-Repair-Service-cln-Canon/Categories?sfs=bb6c8ef0 and the
parts service here - http://www.darntoothysam.com/servlet/the-Digital-Camera-Parts-cln-Canon/Categories?sfs=bb6c8ef0.
Self install of an LCD is fairly easy, and we will cover that in later sessions. Our repair services usually are a quick turn around and we can get your camera back to you in due time!

Keep on protecting those digital cameras, and taking great pictures!
Eric @ MyDigiHelp.com and DarnToothySam.com