Thinkpads Forum

When I turn the screen brightness to the lowest level and watching some pure white background, I can see a dark shadow at the lower right corner of the screen. When the brightness goes higher, the dark shadow becomes smaller, almost disappears at highest brightness level. I do not know if this is normal.

normal. I've seen it on my T40, T41, T42, and now my T60

danda821 wrote:When I turn the screen brightness to the lowest level and watching some pure white background, I can see a dark shadow at the lower right corner of the screen. When the brightness goes higher, the dark shadow becomes smaller, almost disappears at highest brightness level. I do not know if this is normal.

I had a T43p which I was evaluating, and this exact same phenomenon (problem?) was present in many units (mine included).

Whether it is a "natural" byproduct of the engineering (which would be hard to believe, and counter-intuitive to the word "engineering" anyway ) process, or just a flawed process altogether, I just don't know.

-CupOfJoe

danda821 wrote:When I turn the screen brightness to the lowest level and watching some pure white background, I can see a dark shadow at the lower right corner of the screen. When the brightness goes higher, the dark shadow becomes smaller, almost disappears at highest brightness level. I do not know if this is normal.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 244#144244

I've returned mine for them to check it out. It was annoying the hell out of me. I was more prominent in the lower left corner than the lower right corner, but I couldn't stand it. It is not a big deal, but I was not able to get any work done as I was obsessing over it.

I just got another T60. There is no such kind of problem. This LCD is samsung, the previous one is hydis. Looks like samsung is little brighter (not like most guys here found on T43/T42). But it looks a little redish.

Should I keep the samsung or hydis?

danda821 wrote:But it looks a little redish.

Should I keep the samsung or hydis?

Since you can easily fix the the fact that 'it looks reddish' with appropriate colour managment in the OS, and you cannot fix that annoying dark shadow in the other monitor, is it really even a question which screen you should keep?

Anyway, thanks for letting me know of this. I was almost ready to 'put up' with it. Now I will let them know I need a screen which doesn't have this issue.

do you know how to change the color management? In Display Properties -> Advanced -> Color Management, I saw color profile currently associated with the device is TPLCD. Should I change this to other file, or there is other way to change it. thanks.

danda821 wrote:do you know how to change the color management? In Display Properties -> Advanced -> Color Management, I saw color profile currently associated with the device is TPLCD. Should I change this to other file, or there is other way to change it. thanks.

I don't remember off-hand, but there must be "colour curves" somewhere in the colour properties. Just lower the red channel until you're happy.

danda821 wrote:do you know how to change the color management? In Display Properties -> Advanced -> Color Management, I saw color profile currently associated with the device is TPLCD. Should I change this to other file, or there is other way to change it. thanks.

Assuming you're running Windows XP, you might want to try Microsoft's "Color Control Panel Applet for Windows XP".

See the following link for information and where to download:

Microsoft's Color Control Applet


-CupOfJoe

I can not find any "color curve" in color property. Thanks.

Thanks for the applet. Using the tool I can see what profiles I have and apply different profile. But still I can not change edit the profile and change the hue.

RaysMD wrote:normal. I've seen it on my T40, T41, T42, and now my T60

Didn't it bother you enough to try to have it sorted out? I found myself (unfortunately) spending too much time staring/tilting my head and so on to watch it show up and disappear.

It's so not a problem - my advice is not to turn the brightness right down with a white background!

Its a side effect of the light guide pipe used to direct screen brightness on the brighter panels.

snife wrote:It's so not a problem - my advice is not to turn the brightness right down with a white background!

Its a side effect of the light guide pipe used to direct screen brightness on the brighter panels.

I understand it's a minor issue, but once I noticed it, I was unable to stop obsessing over it. I haven't used a screen before that had this sort of problem, and I presume I can buy a ThinkPad that doesn't have this issue either.

It's in their service center now, and I'll see if they deem it enough of an issue to warrant correcting.

pundit wrote:It's in their service center now, and I'll see if they deem it enough of an issue to warrant correcting.

Cool... I'm glad you're addressing this, lest I may have to once I receive my T60p.

Please please please let us know here on this board what the outcome is!


-CupOfJoe

I have a 200762U with the 14" Hydis LCD. I've noticed, at full brightness, with a blank (blue) desktop, that there's something uneven about the color or brightness.

In the middle of the screen there appears to be a band where the image gets lighter, darker, then lighter again. It's subtle but not that subtle. And definitely there.

At first I thought it was just an artifact of the low viewing angles on this screen. The image shimmers and shifts so much, just from moving around, that I thought it was a polarization effect. But now I can tell it's definitely there.

The desktop is fairly dark. It's the blue you get if you select no desktop image in the display settings. With brighter backgrounds, such as when running just about any application, I don't notice this. I can also see this effect with an all black background (using a dead pixel tester). In fact I can see several slightly lighter bands.

I'm not really sure if the effect is due to uneven back lighting or anomolies in the polarizing layer of the screen or something else. It's definitely subtle enough that with any kind of varied (not all one solid dark color) background I can't see it.

Generally, I'm satisfied with the quality of the LCD. The resolution is good and the color quality is very good. I don't really consider this effect I'm noticing to be a defect in the screen as just a reflection of the general lower quality of this LCD compared to something like the FlexView or a high quality desktop monitor.

I would have expected more from a ThinkPad though. In terms of brightness and viewing angles, it doesn't seem like much of a step up from the LCD on my five year old VAIO.

They are beginning to tell me they can't reproduce the problem (as in it is normal, i suppose). I have given them more specific instructions to reproduce it, and if they still claim all is well, I will return the computer and buy something else.

donking! wrote:I have a 200762U with the 14" Hydis LCD. I've noticed, at full brightness, with a blank (blue) desktop, that there's something uneven about the color or brightness.

In the middle of the screen there appears to be a band where the image gets lighter, darker, then lighter again. It's subtle but not that subtle. And definitely there.

At first I thought it was just an artifact of the low viewing angles on this screen. The image shimmers and shifts so much, just from moving around, that I thought it was a polarization effect. But now I can tell it's definitely there.

The desktop is fairly dark. It's the blue you get if you select no desktop image in the display settings. With brighter backgrounds, such as when running just about any application, I don't notice this. I can also see this effect with an all black background (using a dead pixel tester). In fact I can see several slightly lighter bands.

I'm not really sure if the effect is due to uneven back lighting or anomolies in the polarizing layer of the screen or something else. It's definitely subtle enough that with any kind of varied (not all one solid dark color) background I can't see it.

Generally, I'm satisfied with the quality of the LCD. The resolution is good and the color quality is very good. I don't really consider this effect I'm noticing to be a defect in the screen as just a reflection of the general lower quality of this LCD compared to something like the FlexView or a high quality desktop monitor.

I would have expected more from a ThinkPad though. In terms of brightness and viewing angles, it doesn't seem like much of a step up from the LCD on my five year old VAIO.

I have the same when looking at an all white display with the display wide open and looking at an angle way below 90°.
Than I see a lot of lines with different colors(mostly grey colors). When I have a almost white picture with something else on it I can't see these bandings.
I have the hydis screen. I don't know if this is normal but at the moment I don't mind because you don't notice this in normal use.

pundit wrote:They are beginning to tell me they can't reproduce the problem (as in it is normal, i suppose). I have given them more specific instructions to reproduce it, and if they still claim all is well, I will return the computer and buy something else.

Dang it. I can sympathize with your situation.

Sometimes, anything short of actually being there in person to point out what the problem is, just will not suffice. Thing is, as you stated, what you perceive to be a problem, they perceive it as working A.O.K.

Frustrating.

They may very well see exactly what you are telling them you see, but to make things simple (because they have no "fix" for this engineering flaw), they simply come back with "there's nothing wrong w/your unit" (that's not meant to sound phallic, by the way )

So have you thought of what you may buy to replace this computer? Another T60p perhaps? Another Lenovo model? Another manufacturer altogether? ... etc?

-CupOfJoe

I'm sorry to tell you this, but they are right. It's a common "problem" or unfixable artifact. I honestly think it's normal. I have noticed this on all of the thinkpads that I've come in contact with. At least 10 over the past 3 years. if you do a search on the T4x forums, then you'll find out that this "problem," was picked up then also.


If I were in your shoes and was not happy with something, then just return it. It'll make you happy in the long run. However, this backlight issue is ok with me.

CupOfJoe wrote:Sometimes, anything short of actually being there in person to point out what the problem is, just will not suffice. Thing is, as you stated, what you perceive to be a problem, they perceive it as working A.O.K.

Frustrating.

They may very well see exactly what you are telling them you see, but to make things simple (because they have no "fix" for this engineering flaw), they simply come back with "there's nothing wrong w/your unit" (that's not meant to sound phallic, by the way )

So have you thought of what you may buy to replace this computer? Another T60p perhaps? Another Lenovo model? Another manufacturer altogether? ... etc?

Exactly. I spoke to them a few times telling them exactly what to do (what sort of screen background, brightness, angles, where to stare...) and every time I would get some sweet lady calling me back to tell me they can't see it. (I say sweet because the way she sounded, I just couldn't possibly get annoyed or raise my voice).

It is a clear issue. I will photograph it, document it, point, jeer and return the machine.

I have thought about alternatives, but I plan to wait until this is sorted out, and all my money is returned before I make the jump. I am looking for a 14" T60p (just to avoid this FlexView[1] business altogether), and am now beginning to consider other brands---ones with Nvidia cards in them, rather than ATI.

Life is too short to muck around pleading with ATI for Linux drivers.

[1] Though it clearly does look gorgeous, most reported "shadowing" issues in the T4x forums seem to be on FlexView screens.

RaysMD wrote:I'm sorry to tell you this, but they are right. It's a common "problem" or unfixable artifact. I honestly think it's normal. I have noticed this on all of the thinkpads that I've come in contact with. At least 10 over the past 3 years. if you do a search on the T4x forums, then you'll find out that this "problem," was picked up then also.

If I were in your shoes and was not happy with something, then just return it. It'll make you happy in the long run. However, this backlight issue is ok with me.

Unfixable artifact doesn't mean the problem doesn't exist. I pointed the region out to other people in my lab (just to make sure it wasn't something I was imagining), and everyone I asked acknowledged its presence.[1]

I have used numerous other laptops, but never seen this before. Either way, whether the problem is real or perceived, it is a problem for me (as in I stare at it, obsess over it, and can't get myself to regard what should be my beloved computer as "perfect"). And I will give it back, and that'll be that.

I cannot be happy with something that has an issue (perceived or not) that hits me every time I see it.

[1] They also did say it wouldn't bother them enough to return it.

CupOfJoe wrote:I had a T43p which I was evaluating, and this exact same phenomenon (problem?) was present in many units (mine included).

It didn't occur to me to ask this earlier, but:
- by "I was evaluating," do you mean you ended up returning it or buying it?, and
- by "and this exact same phenomenon was present in many units," do you mean you saw others that didn't show the same problem?

And did its presence annoy you?

pundit wrote:

CupOfJoe wrote:I had a T43p which I was evaluating, and this exact same phenomenon (problem?) was present in many units (mine included).

It didn't occur to me to ask this earlier, but:
- by "I was evaluating," do you mean you ended up returning it or buying it?, ...

Actually, I was evaluating it (a T43p -- 15" FlexView model) -- which I still have on hand, and am due to return within the next week or so (I'm keeping it as long as possible -- no penalty for doing so.)

I am returning it for a couple of reasons -- one of them being that dark little area in the lower right corner of the screen. The other reason I'm returning it is because I've decided to go with a T60p 14" non-FlexView model. Hopefully, the 14" non-FlexView T60p won't suffer from this artifact, flaw, design phenom, or whatever we want to specifically term this distraction.

pundit wrote: - by "and this exact same phenomenon was present in many units," do you mean you saw others that didn't show the same problem?

And did its presence annoy you?

Good question(s) -- let me be a bit more clear.

In addition to a T43p 15" FlexView model, I also evaluated a T43 (14" non-FlexView) model for a while which didn't exhibit this problem. And as I said, I've currently got on hand a T43p (15" FlexView) which does exhibit the problem. Also inferred (but not necessarily clear) in my statement above is that I've read in the T4x section of this forum about many other units exhibiting the same type of problem (RaysMD alludes to this fact, too).

Anyway -- I'm with you on this one. The artifact in itself is not a real big problem, doesn't necessarily get in the way of doing any work, and is, in fact, probably just an inherent byproduct of the manufacturing process. But it distracts me nonetheless, and I tend to focus on it. So my goal is to obtain a machine free of this problem.


Hope this clears things up (at least a bit).

-CupOfJoe

Yes, your reply did clear things up.

CupOfJoe wrote:In addition to a T43p 15" FlexView model, I also evaluated a T43 (14" non-FlexView) model for a while which didn't exhibit this problem. And as I said, I've currently got on hand a T43p (15" FlexView) which does exhibit the problem. Also inferred (but not necessarily clear) in my statement above is that I've read in the T4x section of this forum about many other units exhibiting the same type of problem (RaysMD alludes to this fact, too).

So, is it general consensus that this issue is much more prominent on the much-famed FlexView screen? That's what I could gather from minimal research and experience.

CupOfJoe wrote:Anyway -- I'm with you on this one. The artifact in itself is not a real big problem, doesn't necessarily get in the way of doing any work, and is, in fact, probably just an inherent byproduct of the manufacturing process. But it distracts me nonetheless, and I tend to focus on it. So my goal is to obtain a machine free of this problem.

Exactly. How serious it is, isn't an issue. It's how serious or distracting it is to *me* (or you, or any customer) that is the issue.

I have a BOE hydis panel and I just noticed the "uneven" brightness issue being discussed here. My home setup has changed a bit, with my table away from the window (moved due to too much glare). I previously kept the display at brightness level 3 or 4, but now since I sit in a corner without any window glare, I keep the display at minimum or at 1.

While I did not notice the "banding" in the display on a white backround previously, now it is apparent that my Hydis panel has this issue. Its beginning to bother me and I have no idea what I am going to do. I don't want to increase the brightness as my eyes are slightly weak and hurt if I look at even slightly bright lights.

To be specific, my display seems to be normal near the center, but becomes darker towards the corners. This is very visible while reading webpages and pds, to my chagrin. The display become much better after 30-40 mins or so after the backglight warms up I think - either that or my eyes get used to the display.

Does any one have any suggestions to overcome this? Also, does anyone with a UXGA T60 notice the same issue (uneen lighting at min brightness)?