Bright spot on screen from Trackpoint contact

[pgoelz]

The only flaw on my nice "new" $30 Ebay X61S is the screen has a moderate diffuse bright spot on the screen over where the trackpoint is with the lid closed. Interestingly, there is absolutely NO physical damage to the screen surface, even when viewed obliquely under strong light. I have been massaging the area with a finger and it seems to be getting slightly less visible. Not sure if it is the massaging or just time passing with the screen either open or closed gently.

I am not 100% sure but I don't think the trackpoint contacts the screen if the lid is closed without additional pressure so this may have happened in long therm storage before I got it.

Does anyone have any insight as to what actually causes the bright spot? And/or the prospects for it recovering over time. Does the liquid crystal material migrate out of the area with maintained pressure? And if so, can it migrate back in over time?

And yes, I did search. I didn't find any hits that discussed the root cause or potential recovery.

Paul

[RealBlackStuff]

Searching on Google with "remove trackpoint pressure mark on lcd" gave me About 3,940,000 results.
These pressure spots are usually caused by soft-rim caps, which gather dirt and your body's skin-oil.
If caught early enough, you can try and remove the spot with Isopropyl alcohol.
For permanent protection: put a thin cloth between keyboard and screen when you close the lid.

[pgoelz]

Yes, I found those hits also during my research. They all seem to be concerned with removing surface marks on the screen. In my case, though, the spot is 100% NOT surface damage or grease/dirt on the surface of the display. As I said in my first post, the matte surface of the screen is absolutely pristine, so there is nothing to remove on the surface. That said, there WAS a mark at that location when I first received the laptop but that mark was just dirt and grease and was easily removed.

Something (assumed it is pressure from the trackpoint, although I don't think it is touching now) has affected the LCD itself..... a medium white background shows a brighter area where the trackpoint would touch it if it felt like it.

It does seem like it is very slowly improving. It also seems temporarily improved after I "massage" it. I was just wondering if anyone had any insight on the actual mechanism involved and/or the prognosis.

Paul

[vavet]

there is a better solution...
What you need to do is to keep the screen a little bit further from the keyboard when it's closed. You may notice also that when the screen is closed and the locks have clicked into their places there is a little play allowing the screen to come closer to the keys or further. Between these locks (on top of the screen bezel) there is a plastic piece that goes into a corresponding space on the center - edge of the palm rest. If you just put a thin piece of elastic material into this space on the palm rest to push the screen away from the keys when closed the problem will be resolved.
I have done it several times, it work perfect. as a soft material you can use the rubber gaskets that are for chair feet.

I guess this advice was not in the google search results (up until now)

[pgoelz]

Thanks. That indeed is a really easy solution for future trackpoint pressure issues. It would also improve the "feel" of the display snapping closed.

Once I HAVE a bright area, though, is it your experience that it will eventually go away if I prevent the trackpoint from touching the screen?

I ask because in my case, I don't think the trackpoint is touching the screen unless I force the cover closed against the stops. But could be wrong. The laptop is open and on for most of the day but I do close it at night. I'll try a couple days of putting it to sleep leaving the cover open and see what happens.

Paul

[dr_st]

If I understand you correctly, based on your description, what you have is frequently referred to as 'pressure mark', although in reality they are probably not always pressure marks, but often wear marks, caused by the panel moving inside the lid and rubbing on it.

It may be that it is a coincidence that it happens to be in the same location where the trackpoint would touch the screen. However, it's also possible that I am wrong and it is a different phenomenon, which is caused by the trackpoint. But your description really fits well the pressure/wear marks phenomenon which I witnessed on many laptops, many times.

I don't think it will go away, sorry. But it may take it a very long time to get worse, especially if it's diffuse as you describe.

[pgoelz]

I'm pretty sure it is what you are calling a pressure mark. When I got the laptop, it was exactly coincident with the mark on the screen the trackpoint made with the cover closed. However, after cleaning that mark off (it was just dirt and finger grease), there is no physical damage to the screen or the matte surface so the spot would appear to be a function of damage to the underlying layers.

I'll report back after leaving the lid open for a couple days to a week. If it never goes away, I may swap the display with my older X61S. At the end of the day, spot or not, at $30 (shipped) it is still the best laptop I EVER bought.

Paul

[vavet]

There is a white thin layer of plastic at the back of the screen. The pressure marks appear when that layer gets uneven. The unevenness can be fixed if it is permanently pressurized by something. Once i managed to fix it simply by moving the source of the pressure (it was cable). But if the pressure was strong enough to permanently bend the plastic layer then the only way to fix it is to disassemble the screen and replace the whole sheet of plastic ( if you have a replacement of course). I have done this too, so can confirm that it will work. Nevertheless, it is not so easy to do.

[pgoelz]

FWIW, the spot seems to be (very) slowly going away. Not sure if it will ever totally disappear but it is to the point where I can live with it. After careful examination, it seems to have been caused by the fact that the machine came with the large cupped trackpoint tip. It sits a good mm higher than the traditional eraser point and it well above the level of the tops of the keys when viewed from the side. I tried the large rounded cap style but while it does sit lower, it still extends above the keys when viewed sideways. I ended up installing the eraser tip from my old TP600 for now, and have ordered some new replacements.

Paul