Thoughts on choice between IPS SXGA+ vs UXGA ?

[cacophony]

Is there a difference in the quality of these two displays?

IPS 15" SXGA+ (1440x1050)
IPS 15" UXGA (1600x1200)

Or is the only difference the resolution?

I'm trying to decide between these two options for the T60p (or less likely the T43p). Photography is a big interest of mine so quality of display is important, but I'm not sure whether the extra resolution of UXGA would make web browsing, etc a bit too small and straining. I'm used to 14" 1024x768

[goofyGAguy]

Just my $.03 (adjusted for inflation), but I think the Hydis UXGA is a bit brighter with whiter whites than the LG or IDTech SXGA+ FlexViews, maybe at the expense of a tiny bit less wide viewing angle. Given the choice, I would take the UXGA any day.

[lukee]

I've 2668G1U T43p and I bought 15" shell with SXGA+ IPS LCD and performed transplantation. I can say that my eyes loves this LCD more that UXGA.

[dr_st]

LG-Philips supplied 99% of the SXGA+ IPS panels for T60 series and the majority of the panels for late edition T4x series.

Unfortunately, it seems that their LCDs, despite the excellent characteristics of the panel itself, have problematic backlights, which tend to get dim/yellow over time. It seems that the issue is inherent to the panel and present in all of them, although the degree may vary. Some people have seen such screens become too dim for comfortable use after ~2 years, in other cases they can still be plenty bright enough, although dimmer than a new screen of the same kind.

I recommend to read the following thread where Norway Pad and myself posted pictures comparing these SXGA+ IPS screens to some others, or to themselves of different age:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=90382

Look at the pictures, read the comments and decide how bad this issue seems to you.

[ajkula66]

If you want cold precision, Hydis is the way to go. Beware of the dust specs, though.

In my experience, ID Tech screens are the best ones when it comes to holding brightness over the course of years. They also offer a little more "warmth" than Hydis. The screen on my T43p is still insanely bright, almost six years later - but that one seems to be exceptional in most respects, that's why I'm holding on to it for dear life...

Generally, the "best overall" title would go to ID Tech in my book, given what I've seen over the past decade or thereabouts.

LG Phillips are the least favourite IPS LCDs of mine, for reasons dr_st has very eloquently pointed out. One really doesn't see the yellowness and loss of brightness properly until they are compared with another screen, but then the issue becomes stunningly obvious.

My experiences only.

[cacophony]

I assume there's no way to identify that you're buying a thinkpad with an ID Tech SVGA+ without either doing comparisons or taking it apart?

[ajkula66]

You could run the parts loookup by serial number, but that only works if the screen wasn't swapped at some point in the game...

[cacophony]

You could run the parts loookup by serial number, but that only works if the screen wasn't swapped at some point in the game...

Assuming I got the serial numbers, where do I do the parts lookup?

[sarbin]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ook-warnty
enter the machine type and serial # and a bit down the page, you'll see a link to the configured parts listing.

hth.

[cacophony]

Ok, (using the above link ^^^) assuming I get the Mfg part # or FRU part #, how do I determine whether it's IDTECH or LG?

[ajkula66]

Throw the FRU number in the "search" box on Lenovo's site, it will likely link to a HMM (or two or seven) and then look up the manufacturer there..

[cacophony]

Thanks, that works.

Not sure if I'll be able to find one with the ID Tech panel, but it's worth a try.