Flickering monitor the screen is dark without any signs of working other than a small faint flickering that can only be seen at a certain angle while power cord is in. I have carefully taken the monitor apart down to the circuit board in which the the power port is located. I have no clue what to do next and it would help to know if theres anything else I should try.

Failing Inverter An inverter, typically found inside a laptop computer, consists of a small board, which has impregnated electronic circuits stamped on it. Inverters look like thin boards about the of two sticks of chewing gum. The inverter and its bulb control the intensity of the liquid crystal display, which lights the screen monitor. The computer can control the output voltage of the inverter and either lighten or darken the screen. A special type of inverter can adjust the brightness of the screen by using an internal sensor to judge the room brightness, and then adjust the screen accordingly. Failing inverters give off some specific warning signs, which can be recognized by observing different screen characteristics.

Short Intermittent Display Upon turning on the laptop, the screen flashes on in the normal mode for a short period and then blinks to black. A very faint image appears in a dark background, which will be very hard to see almost invisible. After shutting off the laptop and restarting, the same mode occurs, where the screen appears normal for a few seconds then fades to black. This condition points to a failed inverter. To confirm this, plug in an operational external monitor; if the external monitor functions, the inverter has failed. b> Total Blackout with Ghost image b> The laptop turns on, as indicated by the power supply button, but the screen comes up black. The screen comes up black after restart. You might be able to detect a very dim or ghost-like image on the monitor. When you plug in a known functioning external monitor, the external monitor operates normally. This mode of display indicates a failed inverter. b> Long Term Periodic Operation b> With this failure mode, the laptop screen illuminates normally upon start-up and remains that way after several minutes, hours or even days, until it goes very dark again. Brightness controls or restoration attempts do not work. Most often, the screen will function normally with a computer restart, but will eventually return to black. Faint ghost images might appear, as seen in the total blackout mode. b> Dark With Color Variation b> Upon computer start-up, the monitor shows black or dark gray, accompanied by very faint images. The screen might have an intermittent color change, or remain on with a non-standard color variation, like pink or red. b> Auto Control Switch b> If the screen appears black, with no faint or ghost images, look for the lid switch near the back hinge. The switch, when depressed with a closed lid, shuts off the computer and monitor functions. Sometimes the switch becomes stuck in the closed position, disallowing the computer and monitor to turn on when opened. Pushing the switch manually several times can often free it up. If the switch tab has broken or jammed inside the case, it needs replacing. b> Loose Connection In this mode, the display looks normal upon start-up, but tapping the side case of the computer turns the screen black. More tapping results in the screen functioning normally then cutting out again. This condition points to a loose wire connection from the inverter to the LCD backlight lamp, or the video cable. The connectors can be accessed by removing the monitor bezel screws and pulling the plastic retainer off. Both connectors can be cleaned and refitted.

he Dell I'm using also has an adaptive brightness, regardless of the fact it does not have a light sensor. It just changes brightness of the screen depending on how much white/black is shown at that moment. Whenever I switch from a very dark to a very bright website I notice and increase/decrease in screen brightness. I'm running Windows 7 by the way.
Good Luck

When it flickers, can you still see the text when the screen goes dark?
May have to use a bright flashlight set right on the display to see
the text on the screen beside where the light sits.
That will tell you if it's the backlight.

You can also look at a grazing angle into one of the edges to see if the
backlight is flickering when the display does.
When it's cold, does it start with a slight pinkish color? That can be
a sign of backlight going bad.
Anything interesting happen when you flex the cable by moving the screen?

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I've never seen software cause
consistent screen flicker. And if the vga port doesn't flicker, sw is
even less likely the problem.

If you bet the odds, you'd bet on a bad display cable.
Won't hurt to try replugging it.

If that doesn't help, then your monitor may be dying....

It appears you may have a bad backlight. If you can see the picture content with a strong light shining at an angle to the screen while it is dark, then it is definitely the backlight. Most sets shut down shortly after getting a failure signal from the backlight inverter although you do not mention that happening.

The backlight uses two or more Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) tubes, and they'll have the same flickering as a failing standard fluorescent tube. If the light has a pinkish cast to it, this is a common sign that one or both of the tubes is bad. You may see the flashing on the top or the bottom and the other half of the screen will be dark; this means one tube is dead and the other is dying.

The problem
1 The LCD screen is out or
2 The invertor board behind the LCD screen is out or
3 The backlite is out

You have 2 options
1 To use an external monitor for the time or
2 get the laptop fixed by a tech shop

If you can still view screen if you view it in an angle or spot a flashlight on screen. Then, definitely it is a problem on backlighting, might be loose connection, inverter giving up or cfl giving up.

Hope this helps

Internally it has a inverter board which go bad sometimes or due to heat sometimes get unpluged.So you will have to open it make sure when you do there is no power going to it.Look at the wires make sure they are snug and try again.
good Luck

most likely inverter issue, or somewhere in between inverter and LCD, illumination bets thing to do is to take aprt the LCD frame and disconnect and reconnect all wires leading from the inverter. If that doesn't work, the replace the LCD wires and or inverter.

plasma42 color flickers in and out and now its just snow,now its black screen. still have sound.please help me.. what board should i replace??

Try looking at the LCD screen at a sharp angle to see if ghost-like video can be seen during the 'off' time of the flicker.  If video is still present even though not that visible, then either the backlight or its power supply are failing. The color problem could also be caused by a backlight lamp that is not ionizing completely.