With LCDs, vinegar syndrome is a condition in which the PVA adhesive used to glue the display's polarizer film layers to the LCD breaks down into acetic acid. This causes bubbling, cracking, warping, and other forms of visible deterioration to the polarizer film, affecting the LCD's image. Affected LCDs will also give off a smell similar to that of vinegar, thus the name. With enough time, every single LCD panel will become affected by vinegar syndrome, but heat and humidity are known to accelerate the onset of it. You can see this in effect in Japan, where laptop computers from the 1990s are more likely to have vinegar syndrome then they are to not have it.
In the vast majority of cases, vinegar syndrome affects LCDs that are over 20 years old. The newest case I've currently seen online was a circa 2011 MacBook Pro, which must have been stored in very hot and humid conditions, perhaps combined with some bad luck.
Vinegar Syndrome is not exclusive to LCDs. Certain CRTs with built-in safety glass develop it (the vintage TV community refers to this as CRT cataracts), and certain types old old film can also become affected by it.
This section will focus on laptop LCDs.
Vinegar syndrome appearance can vary based on the type of LCD your laptop has (passive matrix vs. active matrix). On active matrix displays, it will usually present as one or more diagonal scrapes across the screen, which will grow as the condition advances. This can also happen on passive matrix displays, however, it is more common to see visible green/brown/orange discoloration (often in the form of one or more bubbles). Depending on whether the condition starts on the front or rear polarizer films, the bubble may only be visible when the LCD is powered on. On passive matrix displays, you'll often also see spiderweb-like cracking appearing in the film.
In very severe cases, the vinegar syndrome will have reached the point in which it will start to corrode metals on and around the display. This can eventually cause the death of the display once it gets to the display's PCB.
Acetic acid will cause eye and noise irritation with prolonged exposure. Don't go huffing the fumes and you should be fine. If you're concerned about exposure, remove the film, dispose of it, and then clean off all residual adhesive.
The main risk with vinegar syndrome isn't to you - it's to other LCDs nearby. I can't 100% confirm this, but it's likely that vinegar syndrome is able to spread to LCDs stored very close-by to an affected screen. I'd recommend keeping an affected screen in quarantine away from others, or just remove the film.
Luckily, it is possible to repair an LCD that's developed vinegar syndrome, as long as it hasn't caused too much corrosion yet.
Any LCD will have two layers of film - one on the front, and one at the back. You should be able to peel up the film without much difficulty. If you have an active matrix display, you will only need to clean up the residual adhesive, which isn't especially difficult. On the other hand, passive matrix displays are far more annoying to deal with. They require an extra retarder layer, which is left behind after the main film is removed. This layer is tough to get off, and will take a good amount of effort to remove. You can't leave it, as vinegar syndrome will damage it.
If you have an active matrix display, you can buy ordinary polarizer film and it will work. There are both glossy and matte films available, so you can choose which you prefer. There are multiple film "angles" available as well - that's what angle it polarizes the light at. Different LCDs will use different angles, so I'd recommend keeping a small test piece around to test what angle an LCD needs. Of course, if you have 90 degree film but your LCD needs 45 degree film, you can just rotate the 90 degree film to use it. The main important factor is whether your strip of film is large enough to be able to do this. You can get film with pre-applied adhesive, or without. I'd recommend pre-applied in order to get the best image.
If you have a passive matrix display, you will need special FSTN film, which has that retarder layer included. FSTN film is unfortunately a bit harder to find, and more expensive compared to regular film. If you use regular film on a passive matrix display, it WILL work, but the colors and contrast will be all messed up (especially on a color display).
This is the hardest part, no doubt. Assuming you bought film with pre-applied adhesive, this is just like installing a screen protector on a phone, only larger and less forgiving. If you don't get it on straight, that messes up the angle, which messes with the image. The only tip I have for this (aside from "be careful"), is to use an applicator fluid in order to avoid any air bubbles.
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