Vinegar syndrome is a fault on vintage LCD displays in all kinds of technology, however this page will focus on its presense on vintage laptops.
Not all LCDs with vinegar syndrome will display all symptoms!
The adhesive used on the display polarizing film breaks down over time, causing this effect. Theoretically, every single LCD that uses the type of adheasive that does this will have this problem at some point, however that is not yet the case. The breaking down of this film adhesive is mainly accelerated by humidity and heat as far as we know, as such, vinegar syndrome is more common on displays stored in humid environments, such as those from Japan. If you browse Japanese auction sites for 90s laptops, you'll find more with vinegar syndrome than those without. If you've ever heard about removing CRT "Cataract" safety glass, vinegar syndrome has the same root cause.
You can replace the polarizer film. You will need to find a film of the same angle, but repairs have been done sucessfully. Once you've sourced the correct replacement, the hardest part will be removing the old film, which can be difficult due to the strong, hard to remove, adhesive. You can test the degree of the screen by turning a piece of polarizer film of a known degree until the picture appears. Then, purchase film of the correct angle and install it.
Very likely not. The failed glue's patterning can give the appearance of a cracked LCD, but it more than likely isn't. If you JUST see cracks with no discoloration or other visible signs of vinegar syndrome, then yes, it's probably a busted screen, but it's probably just the glue.
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