Hoping for new IPS Thinkpads

[lophiomys]

I'm surprised that Apple is able to offer their new iMacs with 100ppi S-IPS LCDs.
Unfortunately not the the new MacBooks. I'm hoping that there will be a new
Thinkpad with an IPS screen. I'd think of a T403s or an X303 with 4:3 screen...

In any case it proves that those IPS-LCDs are available on the market, even
for a reasonable price.

[osamede]

Dream on. Clearly Lenovo is not interested. They dont even offer it in the W series which in theory is the product they are competing with MacBook Pro on.

[ZaZ]

I don't know the ins and outs of notebook manufacturing, but it's sad they won't make the effort to produce great products that people want. People want this, but I suspect were a very small slice of the pie. It's probably not in their interest to do any better since they competition from Dell and HP aren't really offering anything better. They must know what they're doing.

[ajkula66]

It is what it is...and won't get any better.

Gives us incentive to build FrankenPads, if nothing else...I'm in the middle of collecting parts for the final one...

[dr_st]

Desktop and laptop LCDs are different ballgames.

IPS LCDs, though not common in the desktop world, have certainly always been available. In every generation there are at least a couple of models.

[beeblebrox]

IPS screens are just not useful for today's notebooks.
The customer wants light weight, cheap (!) and long battery life.
That all ist diametrically on the opposite side of IPS.
TN is the way to go for now.

However, as I have now seen the new Sony AMOLED TV (11") I am sure that in 2 years high-end Thinkpads will all move to AMOLEDs, and blow away Flexview by a wide margin.

OLED is the future and will appear soon on the main market (yeah, I heard that phrase for years now). They are just so much better than any screen I have ever seen, including PVA, MVA and IPS. Did I mention, that the Sony display was just 4 mm thick including the bezel?

[Puppy]

IThe customer wants light weight, cheap (!) and long battery life.
That all ist diametrically on the opposite side of IPS.

That's why LG.Philips introduced E-IPS panels. The same price as TN, less energy consuming, a bit worse quality than H-IPS but still far better than horrible todays notebook TN with no contrast.

However, as I have now seen the new Sony AMOLED TV (11") I am sure that in 2 years high-end Thinkpads will all move to AMOLEDs, and blow away Flexview by a wide margin.

So I have to wait at least another two years to hope to get the quality I could get five years ago ? That's impressive.

[dr_st]

That's why LG.Philips introduced E-IPS panels. The same price as TN, less energy consuming, a bit worse quality than H-IPS but still far better than horrible todays notebook TN with no contrast.

Apparently there is a dark side to eIPS, that we are unaware of. My gut feeling - it is probably not as cheap as you would like to think. If it really was the same price to produce as conventional TN, the entire industry would switch in a heart beat, TN would be gone, and LG.Philips would make a few billions. Reality shows that the industry is slow to adapt eIPS. There are very few desktop monitors using it at this point. Maybe a bit down the road there will be a big boom, but at this point I doubt it.

[jayk]

The new iMacs are definitely a step forward in terms of bringing better screens to mainstream PCs in general. Apple knows as well as everyone else that most laptop screens are bad, and if anyone has the clout to move better quality screens into laptops it's them. An IPS Macbook might finally make me say goodbye to PCs (since I won't be able to find used IPS T60's forever).

[ajkula66]

dr_st wrote:

If it really was the same price to produce as conventional TN, the entire industry would switch in a heart beat, TN would be gone, and LG.Philips would make a few billions.

That's assuming LG Phillips could cover the entire market, which I very much doubt. My thoughts would go along the "no one cares" lines...

Back to square one: the number of users who actually know enough to care about the quality of LCD on their laptop is marginal when compared to the entire market...

Could someone make money on this segment of the population? Absolutely. But that's where you enter the aspect of building a custom unit, which no manufacturer that I know of has any interest in...

[dr_st]

Maybe not the entire market, but surely LG-P have customers that buy TN panels from them. You really think that if they offered these customers something which is clearly better at the same price, the customers would say "no"?

[Troels]

However, as I have now seen the new Sony AMOLED TV (11") I am sure that in 2 years high-end Thinkpads will all move to AMOLEDs, and blow away Flexview by a wide margin.

In the desired size and resolution i think it's still far away - unfortunately. The price is still too high, and if the manufacturers want to do something, it's saving money. Here, TMOS LCDs have a very great chance of taking over the market instead. The problem with the XEL-1 and all demonstrations of OLED is that it's nothing but expensive toys which attracts potential customers who like flashy and incorrect colors (sorry!). Most LCDs have better calibration. See the measurements at: http://www.flatpanels.dk/test.php?subac ... 1245917286 . Even they couldn't find enough settings to save the color fidelity.

Many want their displays as neutral as possible, and if this is the trend that becomes standard, then they won't get my business at least.
What i fear will happen is that we end up with a lot of un-calibrated stuff, as long as the color gamuts continue to increase - just like TV sets and like we see with higher gamut laptop displays .

The new iMacs are definitely a step forward in terms of bringing better screens to mainstream PCs in general. Apple knows as well as everyone else that most laptop screens are bad, and if anyone has the clout to move better quality screens into laptops it's them. An IPS Macbook might finally make me say goodbye to PCs (since I won't be able to find used IPS T60's forever).

Completely agree. The displays Apple are using in their MacBook Pro series are pretty decent for TN panels (high contrast, and good gamut - but needs calibration). It's really getting rarer to see manufacturers put decent displays in their notebooks these days - compared to what is technically possible

[ajkula66]

Does anyone have info on who the manufacturer for LCDs used in Panasonic ToughBooks is?

[Puppy]

Does anyone have info on who the manufacturer for LCDs used in Panasonic ToughBooks is?

Probably Panasonic itself.

[mattbiernat]

The customer wants light weight, cheap (!) and long battery life.

if lenovo is going for cheapness would you explain to me why they offer touchscreen for a premium of $400 USD on a T series?

[osamede]

Does anyone have info on who the manufacturer for LCDs used in Panasonic ToughBooks is?

Actually I dont think it it is Pansonic who makes them. I vaguely remember checking the ID on the panel on my old Panasonic Y5 and I dont thin it was an in house panel. Was better than most of what I've seen on Thinkpads of late, yes - but was not not great either compared to a Macbook or even the XPS M1330 CCFL screen.