Thanks Peter for your comments--I'm no hardware expert either, but I'm convinced that the display & connector are fine. It's whatever drives the display that is having trouble, and it's doing so in a consistent way.

I suppose I could prove it to myself simply by swapping the LCD with my working Rio Receiver. But after searching the 'net on the memory chips I've lost enthusiasm for trying to fix the thing (can't find a supplier).

My Rio Receiver had a backlight problem when I got it, which I (amazingly) was able to fix by fabricating a clip for it (another thread here). Someday when it gives-out I'll use the nice Dell display to replace it.