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Is the 1440x900 TN's viewing angle as bad as the 1280x800 ones in an X201?

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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wyatt8740
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Is the 1440x900 TN's viewing angle as bad as the 1280x800 ones in an X201?

#1 Post by wyatt8740 » Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:32 pm

Hi, sorry for yet another LCD upgrade thread. I did try searching first for some kind of "megathread" and didn't find one.

I got my X201 about two years ago now, and it's pretty nice, except that even when I got it the screen was crummy. Additionally, my particular specimen has light spots on the screen in places. I mostly got used to it, but then I obtained an old PowerBook G4 (which I put Debian on) and I was blown away by just how much better its 2004-era TN panel was than the 2010 panel in my X201 (which is by far the better peformance machine).

So I got thinking about upgrading the LCD again. I know that the AFFS and PVA panels are pretty good, but I'd love higher resolution so I'm wondering if anyone here has used both 1280x800 TN and 1440x900 TN panels in X200's/X201s and can tell me how they compare. I'd be OK with inferior viewing angles if the colors of the 1440x900 panel are better than what I have now.

If it's worse, I'll probably go with the AFFS/PVA route. Are the X200 AFFS/PVA screens interchangeable with the X201 ones, if you also swap out the stuff for driving the CCFL?

(BTW, if anyone has one (AFFS/PVA or 1440x900, I'm not picky) and wants a brand new LCD for a Dell Latitude D620, I'd love to trade for it - I don't need the LCD I bought for mine anymore, since the motherboard failed while it was in the mail.)

X20055
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Re: Is the 1440x900 TN's viewing angle as bad as the 1280x800 ones in an X201?

#2 Post by X20055 » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:27 am

I am unable to answer directly but I do have x200s and x201s with 1440 screen and for some reason x200s image is much better. In every sense - viewing angles, color, brightness, contrast, light reflection, etc. It could be different integrated video card making the difference but I would rather guess that those screens are not exactly same.

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Re: Is the 1440x900 TN's viewing angle as bad as the 1280x800 ones in an X201?

#3 Post by ZaZ » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:24 pm

If I recall correctly, the X201 used LED LCDs(they switched to LED midway through the X200 run), so if you plan to do the more popular AFFS mod, you'll need to swap in a cable and inverter from the X200 that used the CFFL screen being that AFFS Hydis screen uses a CFFL bulb for backlighting.

I have occasionally seen a decent TN panel like the MacBook Air or 1st gen X1 Carbon, though they're still not near as good as an IPS screen, but in my experience, they're the exception to the rule. You might be able to find a newer old ThinkPad like the X240 that offered a FHD option. Most programs where you'd want more screen real estate like a browser, office document or PDF, have the option to make text smaller, which would have the same effective as more resolution.
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Re: Is the 1440x900 TN's viewing angle as bad as the 1280x800 ones in an X201?

#4 Post by shawross » Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:37 pm

Have you tried to calibrate the display? Altering your gamma setting can make it more bearable.
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