Washed out LCD?

[wotan]

I've seen cracked LCDs and dead LCDs and even LCDs that don't power up.... but.... I've got a Samsung 213t that hasn't been used in a couple of years. I plugged it in and it is really washed out but also has high contrast -- you can see all of the artifacts in JPGs. I've fiddled with the brightness/contrast settings and can't make it any better, really.

How does this happen?

Is it the LCD panel itself or can I try to replace the power/controller board, etc? Any thoughts?