Thinkpads Forum

I bought a couple of FHD screens here for my W/T-520/530 collection, which I really enjoyed until ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_vision_syndrome

I understand IPS screens are easier on the eyes. Does anyone know about the options that might be available? 1080p is fine for me, but as it stands, I'll consider anything.

From reading here it appears this screen is supposed to be IPS and work with a cable extender. Do I have that right? Can someone tell me their experience of this screen, and also where I might obtain the exender?

LG-Philips 15.6" FullHD laptop LED screen LP156WF4-SLB1

Are there other possibilities?

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W530-2436-CTO
T530-2359-1L9
W520-4284-A94
T520-4239-CTO

Typing this to you on my IPS equipped W520... maybe the only one in existence (by all means, change that! ). No cable extender necessary, just route the factory LCD cable through the other hinge.

viewtopic.php?t=118789

You will need to do some cutting to make room for the panel. The factory LCD has the electronics behind the display, the LG IPS panel that I used has the electronics below, and the center screw has to go, along with thinning the supports as much as possible to keep the microphone/LED card.

@theterminator93 - I just finished your thread. WoW!

Ok, so that's some work, but the main problem I see ... It LL those panels are now impossible to find, huh? Or do you know of a source?

One post on that thread asked the question regarding removing the metal frame from the original LCD and moving it to the LG-IPS panel. Is that idea totally crazy?

And I hope/suppose the W530 would be the same as the W520.

/D

For anyone else who comes this way in the future, this relevant threads are in the W520 forum. Besides @theterminator93's the others are:
viewtopic.php?p=754903
viewtopic.php?t=117137

They were pretty scarce 5 years ago too, but I got lucky and found a source on ebay who had a cache of brand new ones, from whom I eventually bought 3 (busted 2 in the process of making it work though... ). When you search, avoid "compatible" panels, and you can also try some permutations of the model number string (e.g. LP156WF4 (SL) (B5), SLB5, SL B5 etc.

B5 is the preferred panel due to the higher brightness but the earlier ones will work too.

I'm pretty sure the W530 uses LVDS like the W520 so if you can get your hands on one, and feel like slaving through the fitting process, you should be able to make it work.

I'm 95% satisfied with mine after 4-1/2 years. I have yet to "properly" fix the bottom of the screen not being completely seam sealed. If I cared more I would, but ... I'm too lazy relative to the effort required and gains.

@jursky is telling me that this panel is an IPS drop-in replacement for the W530?

LG-Philips LP156WF1(TL)(B1)

Being the expert, I thought you might be able to confirm?

Hm, it may be a much easier install than what I went through. My main obstacles were that the screen needed to be mounted off-center, requiring careful clearancing, the large circuit card protruding from the bottom needing to be accommodated, and the mounts were face mounts, not side mounts, requiring me to devise some way to keep the panel in place using old standoffs, metal scraps and epoxy.

I don't see face mount tabs on the model you found, and the panel is centered. The 40 pin connector is LVDS, which I am 99% certain the 30 series uses (didn't switch to eDP yet), it should be an electrical drop in.

The only question would be if it is indeed side mounted, and if the mount points are the same as the factory panels. If so, this would be WAY easier than what I went through.

@theterminator93 - Sorry, but that's a false alarm. Apparently @jursky was wrong about those being IPS. At least, according to "Bob" at LaptopScreen.com, who I just had an online chat with, those are TFT's.

:/

I would like to apologize. I never actually had that screen so I cannot tell whether it is IPS or not, I just thought that I read it here once in some topic - sorry about that. Nevertheless, that does not mean you cannot get an IPS screen in W520/W530, if you really want one, buy an LVDS-to-eDP LCD converter board and that should allow you to install most eDP (2 lane) IPS screens in W520/W530 - but again, I never done that myself, just read... I always loved original V.4 screen on W530 so I never considered switching to an IPS screen. To this day I consider it best display I ever seen, and I also have X1C7 with 500 nit 100% AdobeRGB panel, that V.4 panel has still slightly better gamut (95% NTSC > 100% AdobeRGB). But if you're using your laptop for work, then prefer rather an IPS screen, I loved V.4 mostly because movies and games looked fantastic on it. Having to write code for a long period of time was pretty stressful on eyes.

Panelook says the LP156WF1(TL)(B1) is TN.

From what I've seen in LG LCDs is that the TL in the model name means it's TN, while SL is IPS. The IPS screen list in http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/resources/ seems to point that way.

I once compared an IPS that a friend installed next to my old T530's. We did a pretty quick test, nothing too extensive, but the biggie was that the IPS was a notch brighter than the other screen, which unfortunately I don't have the details on. But it was as if my screen was the IPS screen dimmed one notch using Function-F8.

Which definitely makes me want an IPS screen.

At some point the eDP IPS adapter board sellers for T420,T430,T420s,T430s were also selling adapter boards to use eDP IPS in T520, etc.. 15.6" LVDS ThinkPads. So that's another option.