iPad 1st Gen screen displaying horizontal gray band

I have an iPad which is displaying a gray horizontal band across 1/3 of the screen near the bottom. I was told that upon switching the ipad on one morning this band just appeared. After reading a few posts looks like it is a common occurrence with a batch of iPads brought in December 2009 which is about the time we brought ours.

It appears to be a display problem as when taking a screenshot everthing appears fine.

As it is out of warranty and applecare i have the option to repair myself. I found this helpful guide of how to replace the screen and glass. And hear is the price of a new LCD with glass (about £80). Here's one with just the LCD screen.

I shall update.

I've decided to test the theory by swapping the display assembly with another working iPad, as it involves little invasive action.

MacBook Pro with dull screen (no back light)

Just looking at a MacBook Pro 17" which, when booted up, seems to display a very dull image. I can only assume that the back light was not on. On rebooting the backlight turned on again. On switching it off and back on again, the backlight appeared to be on, but when it got to the login screen turned off again.

I assumed it was down to the sensor which detects how much ambient light there is, and turns brightness up or down accordingly. I decided it was probably best if it did not use this sensor. I went into system preferences and display and un-ticked the use sensor box.

Seems to have resolved the problem.