Question

Difficulty: Very hardLaptop Hardware Components and Upgrades

A field support technician is servicing an enterprise thin-and-light laptop. The user reports that the built-in screen periodically flickers and goes completely dark, though an external monitor connected via DisplayPort functions normally. During internal disassembly, the technician observes that the laptop utilizes an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) display assembly. The technician plans to order and replace a fluorescent backlight inverter board to solve the dark screen issue. Additionally, the user wants to expand the system memory from 8 GB to 16 GB. Hardware documentation confirms that 8 GB of RAM is soldered directly to the motherboard and that one unpopulated memory slot is available. Which of the following statements correctly evaluates the technician's proposed repair and upgrade plan?

  1. The display repair plan is flawed because OLED screens produce light on a per-pixel basis and do not use a backlight inverter; memory can be upgraded by inserting a single 8 GB SO-DIMM module into the available expansion slot.Answer
  2. B
    The display repair plan is correct because intermittent screen blackouts on mobile displays stem from inverter failure; memory expansion requires removing the soldered RAM and installing two matching 8 GB SO-DIMM modules.
  3. C
    The display repair plan is flawed because OLED displays require LED driver boards instead of inverters; memory expansion requires installing a standard 8 GB dual in-line memory module (DIMM) into the expansion slot.
  4. D
    The display repair plan is correct because all laptop displays require high-voltage inverters; memory expansion cannot be completed because M.2 storage controllers disable secondary RAM expansion slots.

Answer

The display repair plan is flawed because OLED screens produce light on a per-pixel basis and do not use a backlight inverter; memory can be upgraded by inserting a single 8 GB SO-DIMM module into the available expansion slot.
OLED displays consist of self-illuminating pixels and do not feature a backlight assembly or fluorescent inverter board. To upgrade the RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB on a system with 8 GB of soldered memory and one open slot, the technician needs to populate the open expansion slot with a single 8 GB SO-DIMM module.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the display assembly technology and diagnostic plan.
OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays utilize self-emissive pixels. Unlike older CCFL-backlit LCDs (which require high-voltage inverter boards to convert DC to AC) or LED-backlit LCDs, OLED displays do not use a separate backlight or inverter board.
Replacing an inverter board on an OLED laptop is impossible because the component does not exist in an OLED display system.
2
Evaluate the laptop memory upgrade requirements and motherboard layout.
The laptop has 8 GB of onboard (soldered) RAM and one empty expansion slot designed for Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Modules (SO-DIMMs).
Adding a single 8 GB SO-DIMM module to the open slot combines with the 8 GB soldered RAM to reach the target total of 16 GB RAM.
3
Synthesize the findings to select the correct evaluation statement.
The technician must reject the inverter replacement order and purchase a single 8 GB SO-DIMM memory module.
This correctly addresses both the display architecture characteristics and the laptop form-factor RAM constraints.

Key Concept

Laptop OLED Display Architecture & SO-DIMM Memory Upgrades
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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