Are all 14.1" SXGA+ TFT panels that bad?

[Eudoxus]

Recently I upgraded from R61 with 15.4 WSXGA to T61 with SXGA+. I like every aspect of the new machine except the LCD panel it got. And the most annoying thing about the panel is almost non-existent vertical viewing angles. It is so poor that it is impossible to find an optimal viewing angle of the panel to get the same colour to appear at the top and at the bottom of the screen. If I get acceptable black on the top, then I have gerysh black at the bottom. According to everest the panel is porduced by Samsung (LTN141P4-L02) in 2005 (In fact I was shocked to learn that there is that old LCD panel in a laptop that is made just some months ago). I had no such problems with my R61 15.4 inch panel which had more acceptable viewing angles and the image quality was a bit sharper and more clear.

So the question is, whether all 14.1" SXGA+ panels are of that poor quality and if not, whether it is possible to replace the panel I have on my machine wiht a better one?

[ajkula66]

Well, Samsung is usually as bad as it gets, but the only other option was TMD which I've never dealt with that I can recall, not on T61/p anyway...I guess it can't be worse than Samsung...

On another note, larger TN panels usually look better than smaller ones, at least to my imperfect eyes...

I doubt that you'll get any help from Lenovo, but if you choose to replace the panel yourself, FRU for TMD LCD with SXGA+ resolution is 42T0373.

Good luck.

[TTY]

The Hardware Maintenance Manual lists four different FRU numbers for T61 SXGA+ panels.

Hydis 42T0433
Samsung 42X4582
Samsung 42X4687
TMD 13N7063

One member of this board has the Hydis, and he/she says it's just fine. With Lenovo Parts Lookup you can check which panel you have.

[Eudoxus]

Weird. Neither of thoes numbers are mentioned there.
I got 42T0430 as mfg par# and 0000000 as fru part#
Can anybody tell what is that supposed to mean?

[RealBlackStuff]

MFG or P/N 42T0430 has FRU 42T0431
It's still a Samsung

That is an old part, which is no longer available.
The replacement No. for it is: 42T0369 (which from the number sounds even older!).
It's used in T60, R60 and R60e.
Couldn't find the mfg. company

[Eudoxus]

Sounds awful! How can it be that on the machine manufactured on 26.07.2008 one gets a part that is manufactured back in 2005, which in terms of technology is almost ancient? It seems that the only reason Lenovo produced T61 with standart 14.1" panels was that they have full storehous of anceint screens that they were happy to use in the supposedly new model.
I am really disappinted with Lenovo as if one buys a premium product one naturally suppose that it has premium parts in it not some old and barely usable garbage.

[TTY]

The result that you cited from parts lookup is from a line called "14.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY:FLAT PANEL DISPLAY". There might be a second line in the parts lookup results which refers to the display panel, it might be called "14.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY ASSEMBLY FRU". Check what Mfg part # and FRU part # you get there and compare that FRU part # to the recent Hardware Maintenance Manual for T61 14.1" SXGA+ ThinkPads or post it here.

[Eudoxus]

Well, in the line 14.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY ASSEMBLY FRU I got
42X4687
So it turns out that it is Samsung. Now I really do not know what to do and what (managable) options there are? Is TMD screen worht the trouble to replace this Samsung crap I got on my machine?

[bento]

I have a TMD 14.1 standard display, and it is also quite bad, although I personally don't know how it compares with Hydis or Samsung. Contrast and viewing angles are poor, and blue dominates. Other than replacing the panel, you could try manually tweaking color profiles, gamma, contrast, etc, through NVIDIA desktop color settings. Alternatively, there are color meters that you can use to calibrate the screen. For me the first method works well enough to be an acceptable fix, but I agree that the overall poor quality of this very important component is disappointing.

[Troels]

Sounds awful! How can it be that on the machine manufactured on 26.07.2008 one gets a part that is manufactured back in 2005, which in terms of technology is almost ancient? It seems that the only reason Lenovo produced T61 with standart 14.1" panels was that they have full storehous of anceint screens that they were happy to use in the supposedly new model.
I am really disappinted with Lenovo as if one buys a premium product one naturally suppose that it has premium parts in it not some old and barely usable garbage.

The 14.1" size was an extremely popular screen size in Thinkpads. Production of this size in 4:3 and with something as exotic as SXGA+ stopped years ago. No-one will manufacture a 14.1" 4:3 panel with SXGA+ today at any reasonable price, and even then the supply would be unstable, since it is of lowest priority. Improvement of the 14.1" LCD technology stopped many years before 2005. Nothing more than 150:1 contrast is really promised, however some manufacturers claim a 200:1 as typical.
But yes, Lenovo pretty much reached the end of their stock of 14.1"
The only reasonable attempt at keeping alive the 14.1" was the HV141P01, which were supposed to be SXGA+, wide-viewing angle, 200 nits, using AFFS and there fore above 450:1 CR, but alas it never reached production.

[TTY]

The 14.1" size was an extremely popular screen size in Thinkpads. Production of this size in 4:3 and with something as exotic as SXGA+ stopped years ago.

Samsung seems to have 14.1" XGA and SGXA+ panels in their present offering.

Nothing more than 150:1 contrast is really promised, however some manufacturers claim a 200:1 as typical.

Samsung specifies their 14.1 SXGA+ and XGA panels to have a contrast of 500:1. Tabook specifies 14.1" XGA and SXGA+ panels in T61 models to have a contrast ratio of 200:1. c't magazin reviewed a T61 with a 14.1" XGA panel a little more than a year ago, they measured a contrast ratio of 379:1.

But yes, Lenovo pretty much reached the end of their stock of 14.1"

Two years ago, Lenovo made a poll, in which they asked users whether they would prefer wide aspect ratio or standard aspect ratio screens. 45% of those who expressed a preference wanted standard aspect ratio screens. In Europe, T61 models with 14.1" SXGA+ and XGA panels are today part of Lenovo's offering.

[Eudoxus]

Thanks everybody for the input. It seems that there is nothing I can do about this short of buying a ThinkPad with widescreen aspect ratio or somehow to get used to the screen I have.