Thinkpads Forum

I recently bought a mint-condition T500 shell with little indication of use but the 1680 resolution screen is really dull compared to my two T61's with the same resolution. I have a few questions in this regard:

1. I think the dullness is beyond normal limits. Has anyone got any experience with this problem in T500s?
2. Has anyone tried unbranded new replacement screens from eBay and AliExpress? Are they factory seconds from the big makers, as a rule?
3. I think I'll forget WUXGA, it just makes things too tiny.

TIA, David

Several of my screens were dull and I replaced the CCFL backlight (and inverter) with a LED backlight/inverter.

Here is a before and after photo of my x61:
http://www.jesseo.com/kites/x61-vs-x61-led-mod.jpg

Also, calibrating the screen helps.

jaspen-meyer wrote:Several of my screens were dull and I replaced the CCFL backlight (and inverter) with a LED backlight/inverter.

Here is a before and after photo of my x61:
http://www.jesseo.com/kites/x61-vs-x61-led-mod.jpg

Also, calibrating the screen helps.

Very nice mod! And, yes, calibrating the screen would at least help with the yellowishness.

In any case, I've ordered a new Samsung screen, as they're cheaper than I thought they would be. Dull screens drive me crazy!

jaspen-meyer wrote:Several of my screens were dull and I replaced the CCFL backlight (and inverter) with a LED backlight/inverter.

Here is a before and after photo of my x61:
http://www.jesseo.com/kites/x61-vs-x61-led-mod.jpg

Also, calibrating the screen helps.

what was your supplier for the LED backlight ? Can you post a link to them?

He's in Massachusetts and supplies many in this forum:
https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... -kit.shtml

Nice to know about this. I have a W500 with a dull WUXGA screen. It doesn't show any symptoms of a failing backlight like reddishness, uneven lighting or flickering but it isn't bright at all. At maximum, it is about half as bright as the displays on my other Thinkpads. It looks like there are some WUXGA display panels that have a weak backlight.

The guy making the boards had this to say, "It's easy to make any screen brighter. Feed the backlight more power When the backlight can't take more power, get a bigger backlight..."

Feeding the backlight more power can be as easy as replacing one or two resistors on the inverter board - from what I've read.

WUXGA is a lot of pixels and the more pixels there are, the less backlight shines through. So on a small screen it will be less bright than WXGA, and even less bright than WSXGA+. Apparently the Thinkpad's WUXGA are rated at just 175 nits.

jaspen-meyer wrote:The guy making the boards had this to say, "It's easy to make any screen brighter. Feed the backlight more power When the backlight can't take more power, get a bigger backlight..."

Feeding the backlight more power can be as easy as replacing one or two resistors on the inverter board - from what I've read.

I'd like to see info on modifying inverters for higher output.

TPFanatic wrote: Apparently the Thinkpad's WUXGA are rated at just 175 nits.

This is incorrect. LG WUXGA panels were rated at 200 and 210 nits.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display

My view of the T500 panels. Bad viewing angles, not very bright to begin with. Very good picture quality.

Mindfulness Quebec wrote:I'd like to see info on modifying inverters for higher output.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=114881
https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... ight.shtml

For what it's worth, the screen I'm using now was 150 nits from the factory. I replaced the backlight, from ccfl to led, and intertor got 340 nits. The invertor got damaged by an electrical short. It still worked through a range of brightnesses - with the damaged invertor, using the same led, it output 500 nits!

For the record, we got the dull panel out of the T500 and it was an LP154W02,FRU 42T8423 by LG-Philips. This is supposed to be rated at 200 nits and 500:1 contrast. It has been replaced with a much brighter Samsung LTN154P3-L02, FRU 42T0488. I'm wondering now if this might be the same issue as with the LG-Philips SXVGA+ Flexviews fading and yellowing quickly.

Jaspen-Meyer: Sorry, I thought you meant information on modding inverters for CCFL use.