possible hardware display problem

I have a c. 2.5 year-old Gazelle Value (GAZ-V2) which has been working like a champ. A few months ago, I opened the laptop and the right hinge of the lid suddenly had a bit of extra play to it (just didn't hold the angle of the screen in place
as tightly). That didn't seem to affect performance, until the last day or so the screen just seems to go blank. The hinge seems a bit looser as well. At first I thought it was a problem with the screen sleep settings, but they're set to allow at least 10-15 minutes, and this not only goes much faster than that, but has repeatedly happened on boot-up (can't even get to the log-in screen). The problem's intermittent, so far, and I have found that the screen comes back when I close and reopen the lid. I can make things run for now, but the trajectory's a bit troubling. What are my options? No recent software updates would account for this - just going through the normal update cycles for Hardy. Thanks.