Thinkpads Forum

I really like my LG Phillips WUXGA screen but whenever I use it outside, in a car ... the brightness is not strong enough for the sun reflections.

Is there a way to modify the screen to increase the nits ratings of the screen?

CCFL upgrade?

I know that replacing the same CCFL is not going to increase the overall brightness than stock.

I see some thinkpad panels capable doing 300 to 600 nits... they have a super CCFL tube or quadruple row leds?

Your only real option is to replace the CCFL of the screen with an LED strip to make it brighter. There is a guide for X61 models https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... ight.shtml, but it can still serve as a general guide for others. Doing this mod has a high risk of screwing up the screen, so I would not recommend it unless you are very careful and know what you are doing.

The Thinkpad with the brightest display is the T400 with a high-nit LED 680 nit display, which is quite rare. Even the next brightest thinkpads haven't exceeded ~300 nits.

You can find laptops with truly sunlight readable displays (up to about 6000) from Panasonic's Toughbook, Getac, or Dell's rugged line. But the screen resolution, contrast, and colors are low, and be prepared to pay $3200+ for anything new.

brchan wrote:
You can find laptops with truly sunlight readable displays (up to about 6000) from Panasonic's Toughbook, Getac, or Dell's rugged line. But the screen resolution, contrast, and colors are low, and be prepared to pay $3200+ for anything new.

Recent CF-52 (Sandy or Ivy Bridge) series were still available with 1920x1080 LED panel which - although as not as bright as the one found in CF-31 - is still perfectly usable outside. As for the image quality, I vastly prefer the LG WUXGA panel found in 60/61 generation.

brchan wrote:Your only real option is to replace the CCFL of the screen with an LED strip to make it brighter. There is a guide for X61 models https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... ight.shtml, but it can still serve as a general guide for others. Doing this mod has a high risk of screwing up the screen, so I would not recommend it unless you are very careful and know what you are doing.

The Thinkpad with the brightest display is the T400 with a high-nit LED 680 nit display, which is quite rare. Even the next brightest thinkpads haven't exceeded ~300 nits.

You can find laptops with truly sunlight readable displays (up to about 6000) from Panasonic's Toughbook, Getac, or Dell's rugged line. But the screen resolution, contrast, and colors are low, and be prepared to pay $3200+ for anything new.

Took your advice and bought a CF-31 MK1!

The only thing I dislike is the XGA and the touchpad (resistive hard to press) otherwise everything else is brutal!!

1024x768 ain't that bad but eh you can't have everything!

Thanks!

ELCouz wrote:


Took your advice and bought a CF-31 MK1!

Great machines.

The only thing I dislike is the XGA and the touchpad (resistive hard to press) otherwise everything else is brutal!!

The touchpad was designed to be used with the gloves on if so required, that's why it's the exact opposite of what you'd find on a Mac...

1024x768 ain't that bad but eh you can't have everything!

At least it's 13.3" and not 15"...

Enjoy that beast. I loved mine...