Thinkpads Forum

Hello thinkpaders fans.
I ask for your help in finding a solution to fix "the beast".
The machine is W520 4284-FL1, with a FHD display - 1920 x 1080 - B156HW01 V4 . The overall performance is great, except for the LCD screen that looks oversaturated, the red color kills my eyes .
For the last 2 years I'm been using a W500 that had the screen changed to WXGA, 1280x800, the difference is huge, the FHD screen of the W520 is killing the pleasure of using the laptop. I've googled the problem, installed different color profiles but still I have the oversaturation problem.
Do I have a bad screen? Should I change the screen to a HD+ 1600x900? How is the low resolution screen?

You may have got an unusually red tinted display panel. In this case, different color profiles probably won't have this kind of compensation (most displays are overly blue tinted) and you will have to manually calibrate the display yourself. Red tinted CCFL displays (not LED) is a symptom of a dying screen, but should not apply to LED screens.

I strongly vote against downgrading the panel to 1600x900 or lower. These panels are at best average, and often dissapointing in contrast/color.

Have you tried this profile?
http://tobby.eu/downloads/thinkpad-wiki ... 5-cuco.icm

You are complaining about one of the best screens ever in a Thinkpad.
What hurts your eyes is the color red as it should be, not that broken pastel tint in most Thinkpad screens.

brchan wrote:You may have got an unusually red tinted display panel. In this case, different color profiles probably won't have this kind of compensation (most displays are overly blue tinted) and you will have to manually calibrate the display yourself. Red tinted CCFL displays (not LED) is a symptom of a dying screen, but should not apply to LED screens.

I strongly vote against downgrading the panel to 1600x900 or lower. These panels are at best average, and often dissapointing in contrast/color.

Blue tinted is because of the LED backlight?

wileE wrote:Have you tried this profile?
http://tobby.eu/downloads/thinkpad-wiki ... 5-cuco.icm

You are complaining about one of the best screens ever in a Thinkpad.
What hurts your eyes is the color red as it should be, not that broken pastel tint in most Thinkpad screens.

That profile makes the screen blueish. I spend 7-10h a day in front of the laptop, I really need something that will not hurt my eyes. The laptop is very powerful but the screen is killing the pleasure of using it.

Should I buy a new palmrest with a color calibration? Another LCD screen?

Buy a pair of sunglasses, if all else fails...

RealBlackStuff wrote:Buy a pair of sunglasses, if all else fails...

Having a pair of yellow "HD" glasses I use for running, I can say that they are suitable for gaming and PC work as well.

What you experiencing is the joy of a wide color Gamut and thus good colors. (95% of AdobeRGB) However, the color Gamut is actually so wide that some colors get out of control and pop out too much. That is why you need to calibrate the screen to a sensible standard, such as sRGB.

600X wrote:What you experiencing is the joy of a wide color Gamut and thus good colors. (95% of AdobeRGB) However, the color Gamut is actually so wide that some colors get out of control and pop out too much. That is why you need to calibrate the screen to a sensible standard, such as sRGB.

Should I buy a the palmrest that has the built in color calibrator? or should I buy a stand alone color calibrator?

I'd get a proper color calibration device because then you can also use it on other devices, which can be very handy.

Small update. I got a palmrest that has the color calibrator. After some calibration using different profiles: D50/65/75 and gamma settings, I'm still not happy. I might be too picky or the screen is bad.
I was thinking about changing the screen to a low gamut type with a lower resolution, 1600x900... How is that screen vs the FHD.

You could always decrease saturation in the Intel driver settings if that's all you are after. The HD+ panel is mediocre in terms of viewing angles and contrast and covers sRGB as far as Colors are concerned.

According to notebookcheck, the HD+ has better viewing angles, and contrast then the FHD display, while the FHD has higher brightness ans color resolution.

HD+
Maximum: 222 cd/m²
Average: 202.6 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 79 %
Black: 0.39 cd/m²
Contrast: 569:1

FHD
Maximum: 257 cd/m²
Average: 231.1 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Black: 0.5 cd/m²
Contrast: 514:1

T510 with HD+
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 722.0.html

W510 with FHD
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 594.0.html

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131349257594
will this screen assembly work as "plug and play" in my W520?

Last year I bought an X-Rite i1 Display Pro and I calibrated all screens on all my computers and it cleared up the whole mess. Now everything looks the same.

My W520 was way too green.

Planning of changing the LCD with a glossy version, what should I choose HD, HD+ or FHD and also any recommendations on what to try? p/n?