UXGA vs. Flexview vs. IPS?

[ipso]

So I've acquired 2 very clean T42p 15” UXGA machines. (Couldn't find T43p. Is there a better machine with that same exact keyboard?)

2373HVU
2373KXU

Good enough for me. But how do you know if your TFT is “Flexview” and/or “IPS”? It's 1600, but does that mean for sure...

What is Flexview? IPS is the company right? – vs. Philips?

I have no idea. Love the machines though. I'm kind of “done”; just curious what I have. One is really clean, with a super “white” screen. I don't know if they ever even used it.

Found this - http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display

But how can one tell for sure? Who knows who's swapped what for what? If I want to sell the second one, how do I confirm it's Flexview/IPS?

Its' expensive, but two of these is about optimal – right?
http://www.amazon.com/DDR-333-PC2700-Up ... B009OT34LA

Thanks.

[ajkula66]

It's pretty unlikely that the screens have been swapped. There were not too many 15" UXGA panels available. "FlexView" was IBM-speak for an IPS LCD.

IPS = In Plane Switching.

Viewing angles tell the story better than anything else, really.

LCDs in these machines were most likely produced by ID Tech.

As for the RAM, you can likely do better if you post a WTB (want to buy) ad in the forum's marketplace.

Enjoy your "new" FlexView-equipped ThinkPads.

[ipso]

Humm.

So if my T42p screens are both booting up 1600x1200 – does that [categorically] mean they are “Flexview” & “IPS”?

Thanks for WTB suggestion. I have to figure out what I have first... but none are 333. (For another thread.)

[ajkula66]

If there's an IBM version of XP on these machines, the display should be recognized as "Wide-Viewing blah blah 1600x1200 FlexView" under display properties, I think...

While not every IPS screen is a FlexView, every FlexView is an IPS LCD.

[ipso]

So I have an older T42 with a pristine OEM partition/install. I put that in the first T42p machine:

- Bluetooth - auto
- ATi Mobility FIRE GL T2 – auto (must restart)
- Ethernet Controller – search & found – 11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter – (must restart)

All drivers good to go.

But: Start | Control Panel | System | Device Manager | Display Adapters (ATI Mobility FIRE GL T2) | Properties - shows nothing about “Flexview/IPS”

???

(I'm feeling nostalgic. Somehow this catches the mood of working on old T42s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb-SVPJM4L4 )

[ajkula66]

Try under monitor and not display adapter...might not show up there...unless the proper LCD profile is loaded

[ipso]

Sweet! “Wide viewing angle & High density FlexView Display 1600x1200”

Both machines.

And since you wrote: “While not every IPS screen is a FlexView, every FlexView is an IPS LCD.” – I may be good to go.

My only concern is that even if I delete the drivers, all four of these are reinstalled, so the one actually used may or may not be the “....FlexView...” one.
http://imageshack.com/a/img443/3940/s79a.jpg

[ilakast]

Although you've confirmed it's IPS already, here's another way to double check :

Install moninfo http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

When I run it on my T60 sporting a T42p UXGA screen, the first three lines read

Code: Select all

Monitor
  Manufacturer............. IDT
  Plug and Play ID......... IDT0011
  Data string.............. N150U3

Searching for the data string in http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/TFT_display confirms the LCD type.

[RealBlackStuff]

And get your (Qimondo) RAM cheaper, e.g. here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1GB-SODIMM-DDR- ... 1342746127

[ipso]

Well... I don't know. Looks like it reads the info from an updated MS driver? (As I do Microsoft updates over-and-over until it's done.)

The date on the bottom of both machines is "05/05" - or I think that's the manufacture date, just after the model number.

Your app shows this for both machines (but I used the same HDD for both machines):
http://imageshack.com/a/img34/5601/zs95.png

"Non-RGB multicolor" ??

[EDIT - wait - I may have run that on a Win7 HDD. I'll have to do it again with the IBM-OEM install to make sure, I guess]

Yeah – the IBM-OEM build shows this!!
http://imageshack.com/a/img812/5615/90ev.jpg

But then... what I'm reading is thus proven to be only what the driver data shows – not the actual screen.

–---end Edit

...

@RealBlackStuff
Thank you for the RAM link. I have to use CPU-Z and try and figure out what I have first ... (probably best reserved for another thread.)

.

[ajkula66]

Well... I don't know. Looks like it reads the info from an updated MS driver? (As I do Microsoft updates over-and-over until it's done.)

The date on the bottom of both machines is "05/05" - or I think that's the manufacture date, just after the model number.

Good. This puts is in the "safe(r) date category".

Your app shows this for both machines (but I used the same HDD for both machines):
http://imageshack.com/a/img34/5601/zs95.png

"Non-RGB multicolor" ??

There's no EDID chip on that screen, so there's nothing to be read from. Don't sweat it.

[ilakast]

Your app shows this for both machines (but I used the same HDD for both machines):
http://imageshack.com/a/img34/5601/zs95.png

"Non-RGB multicolor" ??

[EDIT - wait - I may have run that on a Win7 HDD. I'll have to do it again with the IBM-OEM install to make sure, I guess]

Yeah – the IBM-OEM build shows this!!
http://imageshack.com/a/img812/5615/90ev.jpg

Select the "Real-time" entry from the left hand-size list. Apparently, you are reporting the registry ones.

[RealBlackStuff]

The only way to be absolutely certain is to take the lid apart and look on the back of the LCD-panel for brand/model/type/etc.

[ipso]

The only way to be absolutely certain is to take the lid apart and look on the back of the LCD-panel for brand/model/type/etc.

No. I won't do it. You can't make me.

Because this kind of things happens. - http://imageshack.com/a/img15/5446/qrkn.png

The “good one” too. It showed up in great shape except a bunch of screws were missing. The guy sent them to me separately (in the VHS-tape sized $6 flat-rate box; filled with popcorn – I kid you not.) Nice enough guy, but he included a couple that obviously weren't from a T42, but just close enough to fool me. (..The 2+ size. ..Something about spaceships blowing up.)

[Kentucky: if you're reading this – show yourself!]

And yeah – I drilled through the right hand side too - a matching set.

The good news is that I pilfered the correct screws from an older machine, and with the round end of a ball-peen hammer I smushed the plastic flat, and it's surprisingly better. But I am emotionally wounded. I can swap palm rests around, but that was definitely the mint one.

Select the "Real-time" entry from the left hand-size list. Apparently, you are reporting the registry ones.

I don't have that. http://imageshack.com/a/img818/4435/1ltv.jpg

Maybe you have a corporate licensed version or something. (~I'm not connecting the machine to a network either to get that function – so the app can communicate with the mothership – and now that you tricked me out of the secret “register” codes that unlock secret things.~ I jest.)

[ilakast]

Right. If you still want to double check your panel make without opening it up, there's still another way.
Here's the guide from ziemeck http://akson.sgh.waw.pl/aci/EDIDguide/ (you don't have to go beyond step 5)
Since the links are dead, here are the two pieces of software
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252 ... Xwrite.zip
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/252 ... ix_1_3.zip

[ipso]

Great info, but me: I've already called "uncle" on this particular issue.

The thing that really sucks is that I'm old. I've turned these beautiful UXGA screens down from 1600 to 1280 so I can see what the hell I'm doing. I stuck in there, but I was getting a headache.

Pearls to swine.

And 1280 is the next lowest. There is no 1400 option with Win7, which is baffling. I think my dead older T42 may have been 1400, and that is why it seems like it was "better" - 2373CXU - and it ran Mint 13 Cinnamon. In my painful experience the XGA T42s do not do the 'Cinnamon' desktop - have to go with 'Mate'.

It's all about the keyboard though. (F2, Delete, Ctrl-PgUp/Dn – all no-look, and as immediate as “T”. I imprinted on a 600 back in the day.)