Thinkpads Forum

I'm seeking a good/best T400 display for outdoor/direct-sunlight viewing.

Looks like I've found a reasonably-priced T400 with a LG-Philips LP141WP1-TLB8, FRU=42T0579 (not quite a LP141WP2-TLB1, but still an LG...for whatever that's worth...and I've been told by another source that LG-Philips tend to offer better-quality displays...alas, this may be personal preference?). 220 nit according to http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display .

Any comments on this (LP141WP1-TLB8) display? Would this be my best T400 option (aside from upgrading any T400 to a LP141WP2-TLB1)?

I'm not sure, but I'm reading that the LP141WP1-TLB8 might be a CCFL/backlit system, instead of LED backlit. Is one technology necessarily "better" than the other for this application? And/or does the CCFL present a potential problem for my outdoor/sunlight viewing, battery drain, or anything else? (Battery is also quite important for me, but secondary to the sunlight viewing...)

For more details: check out some of my outdoor/direct-sunlight display-search saga details at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-no ... ost6568026

The biggest factor for well a screen works outdoors is the brightness of the screen, the brighter the better. The T400 was offered with a high brightness LCD, about 3x brighter than the typical notebook screen. It's a Samsung screen, part number LTN141AT09. If you can find one of those or do the swap yourself, that's your best option to use a T400 outdoors.

FredGarvin wrote:The biggest factor for well a screen works outdoors is the brightness of the screen, the brighter the better. The T400 was offered with a high brightness LCD, about 3x brighter than the typical notebook screen. It's a Samsung screen, part number LTN141AT09. If you can find one of those or do the swap yourself, that's your best option to use a T400 outdoors.

Yeah, great point. I see this LTN141AT09 listed as a 680-nit screen on http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display . 2 problems I have with this display: 1) it's a 1280x800, and I'm concerned that resolution would be too small, and 2) I can't find this display sold anywhere (everyone's out of stock that I've seen), although I haven't looked that hard. I'm wondering if the aforementioned 1440x900 screens are good enough for a bright display, eg: http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-no ... ost6569712 .

I'm still wondering about the following display, if anyone has any comments?

hydrostarr wrote:Looks like I've found a reasonably-priced T400 with a LG-Philips LP141WP1-TLB8, FRU=42T0579 (not quite a LP141WP2-TLB1, but still an LG...for whatever that's worth...and I've been told by another source that LG-Philips tend to offer better-quality displays...alas, this may be personal preference?). 220 nit according to http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display .

Any comments on this (LP141WP1-TLB8) display? Would this be my best T400 option (aside from upgrading any T400 to a LP141WP2-TLB1)?

I'm not sure, but I'm reading that the LP141WP1-TLB8 might be a CCFL/backlit system, instead of LED backlit. Is one technology necessarily "better" than the other for this application? And/or does the CCFL present a potential problem for my outdoor/sunlight viewing, battery drain, or anything else? (Battery is also quite important for me, but secondary to the sunlight viewing...)

My X200 is about 200 nits and doesn't do real well outdoors. Is an extra 100 nit enough? I don't know as I've never seen one. I did see one of 680 nit disaplys on ebay last month. I think it was running about $125. Perhaps you just got to wait it out. As for the resolution, I guess you can't have it all. Scrolling works well on the point stick. I don't mind the WXGA on my X200.

FredGarvin wrote:My X200 is about 200 nits and doesn't do real well outdoors. Is an extra 100 nit enough? I don't know as I've never seen one. I did see one of 680 nit disaplys on ebay last month. I think it was running about $125. Perhaps you just got to wait it out. As for the resolution, I guess you can't have it all. Scrolling works well on the point stick. I don't mind the WXGA on my X200.

Hmm, good to know.

I'm specifically seeking thoughts on the pic found here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-no ... ost6569712

The T410 is just so much more bright than the R52 next to it (which is same brightness as my "new" T60p). I'm not trying to buy said T410. But I think the question might boil down to: if the T400 I'm looking to buy (all the details above or at the aforementioned link) has a similar brightness as the T410 in the above pic, then I think I'm gonna be good.

Thoughts?

A lot of the dimness could be attributed to the fact that the R52's backlight is five years old, perhaps not. My R60 was about a year and a half old when I got my X200. Both were rated at 200 nit, but the X200 is significantly brighter and I don't think the R650's display was ever that bright when new.

FredGarvin wrote:A lot of the dimness could be attributed to the fact that the R52's backlight is five years old, perhaps not. My R60 was about a year and a half old when I got my X200. Both were rated at 200 nit, but the X200 is significantly brighter and I don't think the R650's display was ever that bright when new.

Another good point to know.

Also, if the T400 model I seek is CCFL backlit (vs LED backlit), could that present any particular problem/challenge for brightness, battery drain, life of display, etc?

Another point: a used 220-nit display (LP141WP1-TLB8, with its supposed CCFL backlight that wears out sooner than LED backlights?) may or may not be as bright as a new 200-nit display (FRU=42T0597, an AUO B141PW03 according to http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display ), the latter is another option I have to buy.

Thoughts?