T460 black-level problem

[ajatteluttaja]

I purchased a 20FN004CMS a year ago. Some months ago I noticed normal black text to appear rather gray, not only on increasingly ill-behaving web-pages, but also with my daily applications (Evernote, MindManager, LibreOffice, e-mail, etc.). Tried every conceivable adjustment, including Intel HD graphics-panels color-adjustments and Windows screen calibration, to no avail. The ClearType adjustment with the latter ceased to show noticeable difference between options. Brightness is fine, but contrast awful.

Contacted the Finnish Lenovo Support, and had a technician change the LCD-panel a month ago. No improvement. I cannot measure the contrast-ratio (like they did in Notebookcheck 05/03/2016 - 885:1 on a 20FN003LGE), nor do I have access to an external monitor or a comparable machine, but maybe YOU could help me to pinpoint the problem (and request a solution)?

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ has some interesting test-images. http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.php is a black-level test. Could you, with a normal FHD T460 at your service, TRY THE TEST, please. Which is the first square your screen discerns? I need this data, and cannot find a better place to search for it than this forum. My T460 shows barely the 9th square at night, lights off, the 10-11th under normal (quite optimal) working conditions. That cannot be right! On a ThinkPad! The other three laptops in my household reach to 3-5th square easily, and in my 30 years with portables I cannot recall a contrast-problem like this.

Thanks in advance!

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.
Just for fun, I checked that black-level webpage on my nearly 10 year old CCFL-monitor (1280x1024), every square from 1-255 is visible.
Let's hope for you someone here has a T460 with FHD to compare notes with.

[ajatteluttaja]

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. Interesting to see what kind of results will surface among laptoppers.

[ajatteluttaja]

Could it be that I'm the only T460 user on a corresponding ThinkPad enthusiasts' forum? Strange... How about T440-470 users? Or users of comparable machines with an IPS FHD screen? Take the black-level test, please: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.php. What is the number of the first square your screen discerns in a (decently) dark environment? Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

[RealBlackStuff]

X230 with brand new FHD LP125WF2-SPB4, HD4000 Intel graphics.
Afternoon, 3pm, normal daylight: at highest brightness level:
I can see all the numbers 1-255, but only dark squares 9-255.

Guess laptop LCDs aren't all THAT great...

[ajatteluttaja]

Thanks, RBS, a most welcome start. It's a rainy day here in Finland, so I can discern the 9th square in (heavily shaded) daylight indoors with an eye-blinding brightness-setting. Hope it doesn't stop raining, so I can see what I am typing! In normal daylight I'm down to 11th square or worse, and it is really painful for text work. The x230, at least one version of it, and my T460 got excellent black-level evaluations in respective Notebookcheck-tests, and the measured contrast-ratios were reasonably high. For me, that, along with the famous keyboard, was the reason for ending up with a ThinkPad as my very personal assistant, after various HP:s and Dells. At the moment, I'm not able even to entertain the thought that my T460 screen might be "normal". Hope we get some more data.

[RealBlackStuff]

Same X230, slight improvement(?):
Morning, 6am, still a bit darkish outside: at highest brightness level (15):
I can see all the numbers 1-255, but now 2 more dark squares 7-255.

For my personal use, I normally run that X230 at brightness level 9 (out of 1-15).
This is a travel machine with W7-Pro/SP1 for reading email and browsing the web, nothing else.
It also does have Office 2010, Irfanview and Foxit PDF, just in case.

FYI: the X230 normally comes with HD screens (1366 x 768) in TN or IPS (I have both)
My above machine got a special FHD mod (1920x1080), but I run it at 1600x900 since FHD on 12.5" is too much for my eyes.

[ajatteluttaja]

Thanks again. Initially, my T460 was OK, I think; at least I didn't suffer from the poor contrast. May 20th I wrote in my diary (translated), "what on earth has happened to normal text - it isn't black anymore". The lagom black-level test I didn't find until recently, after I had tried to have the probable malfunction fixed. My T460 is my principal computer, and I work with (scientific, etc.) texts full-time. I chose the ThinkPad for this kind of work, after considerable study. Presently, it contain dozens of important programs and over 200 Gt of invaluable files.

A bright day here (outside my home-office/study), and over HALF of the squares utterly undiscernable (with normal brightness the 15th is the first I can see), and ordinary text a pain to read! I'm trying to research this issue also on Lenovo Support Forum, thus far to no avail.

[RealBlackStuff]

Maybe you should start looking for a Frankenpad?
It's a 15" T60 with a T61 motherboard and non-widescreen UXGA screen (1600x1200).
Several LCD versions are available, CCFL (BoeHydis HV150UX1-100 or -101 and Sharp LQ150U1LW22 or -W22N) and the very best of them all:
LED (BoeHydis HV150UX2-100) which requires some modding (see my website: http://theboardroom.info/led_mods2.html ).
You'll get more screen-height to work with than with anything else currently on the market!
And they are all IPS (BoeHydis) or ASV (Sharp https://www.sharpsma.com/advanced-super-view-asv- )

It's not the latest or greatest generation of laptop, but you'll be astounded at its capabilities!
A MUST for programmers and text writers!