Thin, lone horizontal stripe across mid-2010 MacBook Pro

[Todd's keyboard]

One thin, horizontal stripe appeared for the first time yesterday afternoon across a mid-2010 MacBook Pro. (operating system is High Sierra, 10.13.6) The line also does not appear on an external monitor. The line does not appear on a screen grab of the area.

This laptop was given to me about eighteen months ago. At that time, a well-known problem with the screen was fixed by replacing a specific diode with a larger one. I've also increased the RAM and installed a 1TB SSD. Everything has been fine until now.

Any ideas on if this might as easy as replacing another diode, or is a new screen required?

The computer is still usable with the line, and it would be nice to fix. Less convenient would be to only use this with an external monitor.

While this can also be seen as good excuse to upgrade to a much-newer laptop, this laptop lets me continue to use iTunes (instead of Music), as well as legacy copies of MS Office and Adobe Creative Suite.

thanks, Todd's keyboard

[pRICE cUBE]

What you describe is the beginning of how my 2011 MBP 17” video card went bad.

[JPK]

Depending on your body type, vertical stripes may be more flattering.

Just sayin.

JPK

[Todd's keyboard]

My suggestion for dealing with a growing obesity problem in the US is to hang flags at right angles.

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[pdq]

Did a quick Google search expecting a video cable issue or video card, but came across two other things (that I have to say I’m skeptical of). One is a single horizontal line due to overheating in use; the other calls for an SMC reset.

Like I said, skeptical. But here’s a YouTube video.

[hal]

It could also be a defective screen...

if it's the video card, you might be able to save it by shutting down the video card and running the Intel graphics only. There is no way to do this on the 13" models.

[Todd's keyboard]

Thanks for the tips. Update:

Zapping pram and resetting SMC didn't help. The stripe appears to be one-pixel high. The stripe is not just dead pixel. The color of the stripe changes depending on the background colours. Placing the cursor over a part of the stripe can get that pixel to change. It changes back, though.

thanks again, T's kb

[gadje]

bad cable or contact, I guess.

What if you turn the display to monochrome mode (in accessibility)? Does it go away?

[Todd's keyboard]

Thanks for the idea. Switching to grayscale in Accessibility did not get rid of the line.

I contacted the person who soldered the new cap on the video card or motherboard last year. He quoted a price of $110 to replace the screen plus $40 for installation.

He also suggested the line is due to a drop. While it's true that the computer has been dropped—there was a dent in the right corner of the case when I got it last year—there hasn't been any damage since then. The line appeared after waking up from sitting on a table.

Heat doesn't seem to be a factor. The line appears on Start Up.

$150 doesn't seem bad for a new screen. I assume it will be a used-but-new-to-me screen. It's not my main computer, so I'll live with it as it is for now.

thanks again, Todd's slightly-impaired keyboard

[Gareth]

A used (glossy) screen should be $40-50 and it's an easy(ish) DIY if you ever feel like tackling it yourself. But if the person providing the $150 option also provides some sort of warranty, that could be worth it too, since wading through the various used options yourself can be potentially time consuming and overwhelming.