DiMAGE S404 top LCD problems.

[lightfusegetaway]

Hello -

I've searched the internet and the forums on here for information on this problem, but have not found any info, so I am hoping someone can shed some light on this problem, and possibly tell me if this will be worth fixing.

I have an S404 that suddenly decided parts of the top LCD display weren't really necessary. At this point, the only parts that display are some parts of the numbers, part of the battery indicator, two parts of the photo quality and size indicators, and the flash indicator. The arrow that shows what mode the camera is in does not appear, and other aprts tend to appear and disappear. The flash indicator tends to appear and disappear. It all started when I took a trip a few months ago. I am not really sure whether the change in climate would have done it, or maybe I put the batteries in wrong, but the problem started when I got there.

Would putting the batteries in wrong cause this to happen? Putting in fresh batteries does not change the problem. Would fixing it be so expensive that buying a new camera would be a better choice?

The camera will still take pictures and everything else works just fine, but it's annoying that I have to use the big LCD to see what my settings are. I'd rather preserve battery life.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance...

Owen