Thinkpads Forum

http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachm ... 1188928170
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachm ... 1188928170

It seems WUXGA screens are not immune to bad quality

samsung or LG?

No idea, I picked up the pics from here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165343

This fellow was quite happy with the screen :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=155973
so maybe there is still some hope ?

It's a tossup. Samsung can definitely make great screens, albeit sometimes it looks like their QA department is on vacation or lost their mind and vision completely.
This also happens with LG and any other manufacturer, it's just not as often such cases are seen.

I have seen many of the Samsung 226BW with S panel and some really looked as if this was a huge mistake with the backlight uniformity. If it was me i'd demand a refund, while some people decide to live with it.

Maybe this was a smart move by Samsung suddenly to make displays with bad uniformity to help sales of LED backlit displays?

The 226BWs i have seen with S panel and backlight leakage in top and bottom was not due to the viewing angles. Wether viewed from the top or bottom, to the sides or straight on - the same lack of uniformity was visible. I can't say if the problem is the same with some T61ps, as i've never seen one. It's probably due to back alignment of the CCFL compared to a slightly dented reflecting "mirror" though.

Another thing you have to take into accound is the camera settings used for that photo. The whites are bleeding, thus you can expect that the aperture is set too high compared to the light sources. Thus the screen would look worse than it actually is.

it sounds like this guy just isn't happy period since he complained about text size on websites, overall brightness, a delayed order, and other problems.   someone like that will be itching to find more problems, even if they're from some sort of reverse-placebo effect.

fwiw, my T61p has a samsung WUXGA with light leakage at the bottom and i'm pretty darned happy with it.   it's only noticeable if you're looking for it.   brightness is fine.   there isn't a dead pixel to be found.   viewing angles can be limited compared to IPS displays but there is no other option outside of getting a used/leftover/refurb T60p with lesser overall specs for close to the same money.

sure an IPS display would be better but at this point i don't think i'd want to lose the extra 320 pixels that WUXGA just gave me.   for prolonged use i have a dell 30" so any issues with the panel are only when traveling.   but, i could probably survive with this as my only screen -- it's really not that bad.

i would, however, like to see an LG WUXGA panel for comparison.   everyone keeps saying that it's better but i still haven't seen the samsung and LG WUXGA panels compared side-by-side in terms of brightness and color.   i find it funny that the 14.1" SXGA+ and 12.1" XGA panels are only 150 nits and you rarely hear their owners complain about brightness.   if my T61p's panel were any brighter, it would hurt my eyes after 30 minutes of use.

erik wrote:it sounds like this guy just isn't happy period since he complained about text size on websites, overall brightness, a delayed order, and other problems.   someone like that will be itching to find more problems, even if they're from some sort of reverse-placebo effect.

fwiw, my T61p has a samsung WUXGA with light leakage at the bottom and i'm pretty darned happy with it.   it's only noticeable if you're looking for it.   brightness is fine.   there isn't a dead pixel to be found.   viewing angles can be limited compared to IPS displays but there is no other option outside of getting a used/leftover/refurb T60p with lesser overall specs for close to the same money.

sure an IPS display would be better but at this point i don't think i'd want to lose the extra 320 pixels that WUXGA just gave me.   for prolonged use i have a dell 30" so any issues with the panel are only when traveling.   but, i could probably survive with this as my only screen -- it's really not that bad.

i would, however, like to see an LG WUXGA panel for comparison.   everyone keeps saying that it's better but i still haven't seen the samsung and LG WUXGA panels compared side-by-side in terms of brightness and color.   i find it funny that the 14.1" SXGA+ and 12.1" XGA panels are only 150 nits and you rarely hear their owners complain about brightness.   if my T61p's panel were any brighter, it would hurt my eyes after 30 minutes of use.

Does the WUXGA have the so called Sparkle Effect that a lot of people talked about especially when the WUXGA first came out on the 17" Dell 9300.

crashnburn wrote:Does the WUXGA have the so called Sparkle Effect that a lot of people talked about especially when the WUXGA first came out on the 17" Dell 9300.

nope.   i have perfect vision (for now ) and have never noticed any sparkle, ghosting, or other weird characteristics like that.

Erik, how does the WUXGA screen compare to the T4x SXGA+ screens ?
With respect to light leakage, contrast ratio and viewing angles ? Are the blacks blacker ?

assuming you're asking about the 14.1" SXGA+ and not the 15" IPS SXGA+, there's no comparison.   black is much closer to black on the WUXGA where i could never calibrate a friend's 14.1" SXGA+ T60 to show good black.   there's no way i could ever use a 14.1" SXGA+ T4x/T6x for photo/design work because the screen would be too much of a handicap.   an external display would be absolutely mandatory with the 14.1" SXGA+ where i could live with the WUXGA panel as my only display -- although that would still be a compromise.

Hmmm, it seems the 15.4" WUXGA screens are quite good, but still a notch below the 17" WUXGA ones. But still good enough that I would enjoy them

How are the blacks on a 15.4 WUXGA vs IPS screens ?

blacks are better on the IPS.   even though everyone says the samsung panels are dim, making them brighter tends to wash out the blacks so brightness and contrast become a fine line to walk.   right now there is nothing that compares to IPS except the LED WXGA+ panel in the 15.4" macbook pro.   i'd buy that panel in a heartbeat if the resolution were higher.

my standpoint is that we're in a transition period.   LED panels as standard are around the corner.   8GB memory support with 2x 4GB DDR2-6400 (or faster) SODIMMS will happen with the intel penryn chipsets.   64-bit software development and driver support will inherently follow and hopefully provide a stable vista x64 implementation with 64-bit native apps like photoshop, illustrator, autocad, etc.   maybe even SSD sizes will increase and prices will decrease enough to become standard equipment.   so, given what's on the horizon, i don't see current notebook displays as being a permanent "issue".   it's just a matter of dealing with what we're given in the interim.

erik wrote:blacks are better on the IPS.   even though everyone says the samsung panels are dim, making them brighter tends to wash out the blacks so brightness and contrast become a fine line to walk.   right now there is nothing that compares to IPS except the LED WXGA+ panel in the 15.4" macbook pro.   i'd buy that panel in a heartbeat if the resolution were higher.

my standpoint is that we're in a transition period.   LED panels as standard are around the corner.   8GB memory support with 2x 4GB DDR2-6400 (or faster) SODIMMS will happen with the intel penryn chipsets.   64-bit software development and driver support will inherently follow and hopefully provide a stable vista x64 implementation with 64-bit native apps like photoshop, illustrator, autocad, etc.   maybe even SSD sizes will increase and prices will decrease enough to become standard equipment.   so, given what's on the horizon, i don't see current notebook displays as being a permanent "issue".   it's just a matter of dealing with what we're given in the interim.

Now only if Apple got to Higher Resolutions sooner. I think since the cater to the NO FUSS - KISS (Keep it..) crowd who want things to work simply they might avoid High Res.. since that may cause people to come with complaints.. Oh.. its too small.. I cant see anything.

Now, how soon do you think we will see LED displays in Thinkpads?

How about 4G SODIMMs?

anyone's guess is as good as mine right now.   mainstream LED panels are probably a few years away unless apple somehow pushes the industry.   improved battery life and color fidelity will likely be the biggest catalysts in LED development.   both LG and samsung have LED panels produced but i haven't seen them listed for public consumption in notebook or desktop displays.

i wish i knew if 4GB sticks were going to be backward compatible with current thinkpad motherboards.   memory is a huge factor in why i bought a T61p only to be disappointed in vista x64 driver support and the frustrations with only getting 3GB total in server 2003, XPP, and vista x32.