LCD appears to be broken - what can I do?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1721

Note the potential causes of screen breaking:

1. Touch an LCD screen with a certain pressure, it will break.
Correlary, any moving object that does the same thing may cause it to break if it, or they come too close. That includes pets and kids who don't know how fragile it is.

2. Latches that are broken for any reason will allow the machine when travelling to cause the screen to jam into the keyboard.

3. Any sort of repair or internal installation which requires unscrewing the case, could potentially go wrong, and the hinge can end up being put on too tight, thus causing one of the cables to fray.

4. Door jams, falls, collisions, when not properly shielded with a foam case can cause a problem.

5. Power inverter board can fail because of power issues in home, or power issues with the adapter, or battery.

6. Reports of machines staying on with their screen turned on when the lid is closed have trickled in here. My advice is shut down your computer if you plan to travel with it. If the machine LCD is on, when the machine's lid is closed, it could potentially overheat the screen and its component parts.

Check the exchange program here to see if your notebook model is covered by a repair program:

http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/

If it isn't, call AppleCare and let them know you are having an issue with it:

http://www.apple.com/contact/phone_contacts.html

In the U.S. if your machine is out of warranty, these particular places have had good service noted by many of the people here:

http://www.dttservice.com/
http://www.powerbookresq.com/
http://www.microdocusa.com/
http://www.techrestore.com

If you can recommend other vendors worldwide, please post here. Note hardware is covered under AppleCare for 1 year, and during that first year, you can purchase an extended AppleCare plan to 3 years from date of computer's purchase. However, typically accidents are not covered. Therefore make sure the above possible causes do not apply to you. Also note if you purchase by credit card, you may be eligible for coverage not under AppleCare, and some home owners insurance cover this type of damage. However, many insurance companies will either cut your coverage, or increase your premiums if you make what they consider too many frivolous claims, so be sure to ask your coverage provider if there is a risk of that. Another option is computer insurance such as that offered by:

http://www.safeware.com/

As a temporary solution you can add an external display to many different models. Many have mini-VGA or mini-DVI ports, as well as standard VGA and standard DVI ports. Check the specs above to see if your model has that:

Apple - Support - Technical Specifications

Blank screens can often be fixed by zapping the PRAM:

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

or resetting the SMU:

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
If your Mac won't turn on - Apple Support

Names of third parties here are for your reference only, and not all have been used by the author of this article.