Thinkpads Forum

beaker wrote:Assuming the X301 is flickering because it has a TN screen, what IPS/PVA alternatives in the 13.3" screen form factor do we have? What company is using something other than a TN in a non-tablet laptop?

I don't think there are any sadly. Hopefully in the future a company will make an oem screen that we can buy and swap with the current x30x LCDs.

I don't think the x301 screen flickers just because it is TN. Flickering should not be there, in any case. It may be that the PWM frequency of the LED backlight is low enough for some people to see, but that's just my speculation based on some complaints I've heard about a few other LED-backlit models. The narrow viewing angle and poor contrast, though, are due to it being a cheap TN screen. PVA, IPS, AFFS--all would do a much better job. In fact, most cheap TN screens used by other manufacturers would do a better job. I really can't understand why Lenovo wants to put a cheap screen in an otherwise top-of-the-line machine.

beaker wrote:What company is using something other than a TN in a non-tablet laptop?

None. IBM was the only one offering useable display in notebooks.

curious wrote: I really can't understand why Lenovo wants to put a cheap screen in an otherwise top-of-the-line machine.

Because TMD were the only ones willing to do a low volume fab for an ultra-thin panel in an uncommon resolution/size pairing?

The 13.3"/WXGA+ combo alone probably narrowed Lenovo's choices a bit since c. 2008 there wasn't exactly much precedent for that, and the need for a very, very thin panel almost certainly necessitated a custom part. Add in the fact that the X30x was never intended to be a volume seller, and you wind up with a situation where Lenovo pretty much had to take whatever the suppliers were selling. In this case, "suppliers" became "supplier", and what they were selling was a narrow-aperture TN panel... so that's what they got.