Laptop LCD killed by high vertical Frequency?

Hello,

I have an Acer Travel Mate Pentium III 850MHz notebook that came with a 14" LCD panel and ATi Rage Mobility 8Mb graphics adapter. Recently the LCD died (not completely dead but it's showing flickering criss cross lines all over the screen and the whole display just went "pale." It is out of warranty and would cost a lot to get it replaced so I got myself a 17" ViewSonic VE170b instead.

While I am not entirely sure how the LCD got "damaged" i suspect it's due to my forcing it to run at 100Hz every day. I really had not clue why I'd done that though and I'm hoping someone could confirm that running too high a vFrequency can in fact damage the LCD. Another possibility is perhaps the rather soft plastic LCD top cover sustained damage from an overloaded bag putting excessive pressure against the lid.

Jan