Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys. I'm building a frankenpad and I'd love the 2048*1536 IPS panel to go on my 42W7648 mobo.

If anyone has one, or possibly the UXGA, I'd be willing to buy.

Thanks.

T61/T61p are widescreen 15.4", with optional WUXGA.
QXGA will set you back anywhere from $400 and up, IF you can even find one!
Those QXGA screens are rather dim, even when new, NOT recommended!
AFAIK the QXGA screen was only ever sold on an R50p.
It needs an additional EDID chip to make it work on a T60, beware!

I think sourcing the panel is the "easy" part, but finding the LCD cable is well much more difficult... Like finding a Ferrari 250 GTO on sale.

Saucey wrote:I think sourcing the panel is the "easy" part, but finding the LCD cable is well much more difficult... Like finding a Ferrari 250 GTO on sale.

On a T6x it works with the standard cable.

On R5x/T4x...no.

So a T60 SXGA+ or UXGA cable will work or will the QXGA cable work from the R50p?
I'm confused sorry.

Coz if it works I'm gambling on another LED mod!

Saucey wrote:So a T60 SXGA+ or UXGA cable will work

Yes. It's the same cable for all 15" T60/p models.

or will the QXGA cable work from the R50p?

Not on a T6x

I'm confused sorry.

I can see that. It's OK

Coz if it works I'm gambling on another LED mod!

Now I'm confused...

Just so it's clear:

The T4x and R5x use different LCD cables for different screen resolutions. And because the 14" and 15" cables aren't the same, you have to hunt for the one specific to your need.

The T6x uses the same cable for all resolutions, because all resolutions can work through the same cable. The laptop works out the different resolutions differently, through a flash memory chip called the EDID chip. There- all information for all the different LCDs the T60 or T61 can take is stored. Like a BIOS or motherboard revision, having an earlier T6x laptop means your EDID might not have information on a screen you want to add.

In the case of the QXGA, I think what these guys are saying is that NO T60 or T61 has the information to run a QXGA panel, because the T60 was never equipped with it. So if you wanted to make, say... a T60/61 Frankie with a QXGA panel, you'd have to flash the EDID so it can run a QXGA panel. Whereas if you wanted to run a QXGA on a T42/T43, or R5x, you'd have to get the QXGA cable... which is as rare as rare gets.

On topic- I do have a UXGA panel with a ruined polarizer... dunno if that's replaceable. Isn't it just one of the films in panel?

ajkula66 wrote:Now I'm confused...

I might tackle another LED backlight if the QXGA panel has a poor CCFL, then again it could be the panel display itself is just darker with lighting.

Thanks for all your replies, I'll think i'll get a UXGA anyway. Would it plug straight into a 14.1" T61p Motherboard 42W7648 considering its 15" panel?

As this says:

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installin ... /T60_or_61

All you need is a program called powerstrip to re-program the lcd with the given EDID bytes, and it'll work, no?

Also another useful link:

http://theboardroom.info/led_mod.htm

also a quote from another user on the forum who made a franken pad with the QXGA

Note about installing QXGA LCD:
I tried to reprogram the LCD with registered version of the PowerStrip as it was suggested in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=77733.
However it did not work (tried 2 different systems (T60p and T61)), it could not even detect EDID.
So I bought the LCD cable on eBay ($7) and built simple I2C programmer (http://www.lancos.com/e2p/easyI2Cbus.gif).
You don't need the part to the right of the I2CBus box (http://d00m.net/projects/t61-qxga/easyI2Cbus_qxga.gif). I used +5V from USB port.
Here is the LCD connector pin-out: http://users.cybercity.dk/~dsl35822/edidconnection.jpg.
Then I was able to reprogram the LCD with PonyProg v2.07c BETA (http://www.lancos.com/ppwin95.html).
Here is the binary version of the EDID (the PonyProg does not accept the PowerStrip formatted files): http://d00m.net/projects/t61-qxga/qxga.bin.
Most of the LCD programming related info I found in these threads:
- viewtopic.php?f=29&t=66257;
- viewtopic.php?f=29&t=76519.

T60 and T61 have the same LCD connectors, so any screen from a T60 will fit (and work) in a T61 (mobo), or v.v.

RealBlackStuff wrote:T60 and T61 have the same LCD connectors, so any screen from a T60 will fit (and work) in a T61 (mobo), or v.v.

I get it, sorry for making you repeat yourself! I was just confused about the different 14.1" T61p and 15" T61p mobo, but I'm glad to hear they have the same connector.

Wouldn't the BIOS launch the QXGA panel in VGA mode initially? The EDID chip can be reprogrammed from the laptop itself by booting to Linux and using a program IIRC.

Or would the QXGA panel display nothing at all?

Would the UXGA look better than the QXGA anyway?

Marmalade wrote:Wouldn't the BIOS launch the QXGA panel in VGA mode initially?

No.

Or would the QXGA panel display nothing at all?

Exactly.

Would the UXGA look better than the QXGA anyway?

QXGA does look nice, but requires really good eyesight, especially for the fact that none of them are too bright.

I'd probably like to try a QXGA at some point, due to my eyesight being pretty solid. But most UXGAs found in T43s are outstandingly pretty, and have beautiful color reproduction. It's really hard for me to imagine a QXGA being that much better, added with the dimmer screen brightness... it's not worth blowing $300-$400 on a QXGA when you can find a whole T43p with a nice UXGA for $100-$150.

Wouldn't the BIOS launch the QXGA panel in VGA mode initially?

The screens in T60s don't interface like that. The motherboard needs to know what screen it is, what the screen is capable of, etc. So that it can output the correct resolutions. That's the EDID chip's job, and because the EDID has no data on the QXGA, the motherboard just doesn't output any video, because it wasn't told what video it's able to put out. It's just the way Lenovo designed it. It is better than the T4x, because you don't have to worry about buying a whole new part when swapping screens(particularly in upgrading to a higher res screen), but like many things nowadays, the integral bits are done on the software level.

Nice project.