Thinkpads Forum

other threads have discussed this quality of the Flexview screens--i.e. a granular/'dirty'/sparkly aspect of the anti-glare surface finish--but I'm curious if anyone has actually attempted an exchange/replacement, and if so, if there was any improvement?

to a certain extent, this seems to be a characteristic of most--if not all--IPS screens; my NEC monitor at work has it a bit less than my T60p; and, I'm uncertain as to the type of panel used in MacBook pro's, but that used in the 15" model has this issue to a much more severe extent than any other screen I've seen (as has been documented in many a Mac forum);

and placing this screen next to a non-IPS variant--as I did the other day at a Lenovo-partner service center--makes this surface "texture" quite apparent; the service guy agreed with me about this peculiar surface quality, but did not have any other FV-outfitted systems on hand to compare against;

my ultimate question is whether or not this quality is more or less consistent across ALL "Flexview" 15" panels (?) OR, does it, in fact, vary in degree among different panels? If the latter, then I will likely request a replacement panel to see if I can get one with less "noise," so to speak; otherwise, I'll just learn to live with it....

ps. I realize that this can be a rather subjective issue; I have rather keen eyesight, so this surface texture is quite apparent to me; however, others may not even notice it----whatever the case, I'll (hopefully) never go back to a normal LCD, b/c the color reproduction is just so phenomenal (pardon the length of this post; ok, done )

The conclusion that I came to after reading lots of posts on this board (regarding Flexview and other IPS screens), plus looking at my own T42 Flexview, is that the sparkle effect is present on every IPS panel. Its amount may vary between panels, as users report, but I can't attest to that, because I haven't seen any other IPS panel except my own.

At first I didn't understand what the complainers were complaining about, because the effect was described to be very horrible, making it very hard to read text and causing headaches. I have _never_ experienced such issues with mine.

However, the texture is there, and it is definitely more sparkly than other TN screens. It has never bothered me, nor anyone else that looked at my screen, so it could be that the amount varies a lot between panels.

In a few weeks I might go get the panel exchanged under warranty (it developed a minor backlighting problem). Truth be told, I am a bit worried, with the latest shortage in IPS panels and the stories about the varied quality, that I might get something that just looks worse.

It is pretty sad to see how IPS screens are getting phased out. There are no IPS LCDs below 19", very few at 19", and now it seems like it will stop existing in the laptop sector too.

I'd say that it varies a lot, though from time to time there have been a few complaints about sparkle on all panels.
The amount of complaints with the LG/Philips on the T60 seems to be a good deal higher though - i'm not sure if there really is anything wrong.

I have seen a few IPS panels on laptops, but i must say that the idtech on the t42/t43 doesn't suffer from graininess compared to the few i have seen in Asus' notebooks.
Breathe for a moment on your lcd - this was basically what they looked like. I'm not sure who made them though, but it was really mind boggling that IPS differs so greatly.

Dr_st,
I believe that IBM still stocks the IDtech screens of the T42/some T43, but i'm sure they don't have many left as they ceased production about 1½ years ago by now. Can't the backlighting be re-adjusted?

thanks for the responses, guys; I wish that I had access to other panels against which to compare, because it is the degree of variation that is my concern;

I'm thinking I might attempt a service request to replace the panel, but I'm hoping they could just ship the replacement to this service center in SF, so that I could actually look at it with the option of sliding in the existing panel if the new one is worse...do you think they would be willing to accommodate such a request? I don't think it should be too much to ask for a $2000+ laptop......

and yes, it's truly a shame that IPS panels are so difficult to come by; I'm assuming with most of these glossy screens, they're just using [censored] underlying panels with the coating to create the illusion of deeper saturation & contrast, no?

Troels wrote:Dr_st,
I believe that IBM still stocks the IDtech screens of the T42/some T43, but i'm sure they don't have many left as they ceased production about 1½ years ago by now. Can't the backlighting be re-adjusted?

It's not a problem of adjusting the backlighting. It's a very weird thing. There's a spot on the screen, where it looks like a white dot, brighter than anything else, deep from inside the panel. It's only noticeable from certain angles and in certain lighting conditions, but I think it's worth a checkup.

If indeed they determine that it's a defect which calls for replacement, I want to get the LG screen (the same I current have). From info I gathered it seems that it provides better colors and a bit faster response time than the original IDTech panels.

npish wrote:I'm thinking I might attempt a service request to replace the panel, but I'm hoping they could just ship the replacement to this service center in SF, so that I could actually look at it with the option of sliding in the existing panel if the new one is worse...do you think they would be willing to accommodate such a request? I don't think it should be too much to ask for a $2000+ laptop......

They have to. I will have the same request when I'm gonna be fixing my screen problem.

npish wrote:I'm assuming with most of these glossy screens, they're just using [censored] underlying panels with the coating to create the illusion of deeper saturation & contrast, no?

You nailed it.

does anyone have a recommendation as to the simplest approach to requesting a replacement LCD? Perhaps even a specific contact at IBM/Lenovo?

Given the subjective nature of this issue, I would very much like to avoid the process of sending in the machine only to receive it back as is, with a "we-can't-see-the-problem" response; this guy I spoke with mentioned elevating the issue to "customer relations," which I guess I'd do by first calling tech support and going from there?

any suggestions are greatly appreciated.