No video, BIOS reports "Unknown Panel".

I have an Inspiron 8600 with ATI Radeon 9600, and the LCD appears to have gone out. However, this problem appears to be a little different than the standard LCD backlight out issue --

 

When powering on the unit, the LCD display with "flash" briefly, and then go dark. Shining a direct light at the display reveals nothing; the display appears to be off. An external monitor works fine, however, any attempts to switch between internal/external display using Fn-F8 fails. When checking the BIOS, the "Display Type" field reports "Unknown Panel".

 

The system has the latest BIOS, and I have forced a firmware update to the video card using the latest available for download (just in case the existing load became corrupt). I have also attempted to "backrev" the BIOS just to see if the most recent build had a problem.

 

My thinking is that the machine is not able to recognize the LCD correctly for some reason, so it can't turn it on. The system is out of warranty, and I am somewhat familiar with disassembly of this machine. I have replaced both the LCD inverter and internal video cable to no avail. I'm thinking the next step would be to replace the display itself. I thought I would ask around to see if anyone has had a similar problem (and resolution) before I start spending the "big bucks".

 

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!