Screen brightness.. just curious... OSD now working

[brucehe]

Hello all,

I have installed a X200s 1440 X 900 lid and lcd assembly into a X201. I like the combination and surprised at how bright the screen is at max setting. I have another X200S and set it next to the hybrid (they both were running W7) and brought up similar screens. The hybrid is significantly brighter. I checked that the screens were the same by using PC Wizard to get screen model numbers, they were the same. Is it because of the different video chip? Any thoughts why so different. Just curious.

I really like the hybrid machine, although the X200s does give you some extra battery life and a little less weight than the X201.

Thanks,

Bruce

[dr_st]

Is it a fluorescent or LED-backlit screen? Are they of the same age? Fluorescent-backlit screens generally lose some brightness over time.

[brucehe]

The screen is a TMD-Toshiba LTD121EQ3B 42T0480 1440X900 250 nit LED 300:1 contrast according to the wiki display info after getting the model # from PC Wizard. Both units have the same display.

First I thought it was W7 settings or BIOS setting but you can definitely see a color and brightness difference when looking at the BIOS set up screen. The X201 is whiter and brighter.

Does the LED inverter weaken? I would not expect the LED backlight to change color but maybe this is manufacturing difference of the screens. Just curious about the difference.

Bruce

[FryPpy]

Does the LED inverter weaken?

LED inverter (controller) is part of LCD. Maybe one LCD is older than other. Maybe inverter or LEDs have weaken. Some color shift can occur when LEDs become older.
Other thing - when you place both ThinkPads side by side did they both been connected to AC? I don't remember have X200 "Lower Display brightness when on battery" option in BIOS. X201 haven't such option but some display become some point brighter when on AC.

[Morten]

LED backlight does not need an inverter. They run on low voltage DC, and their driver circuits control the forward current by an analog control voltage input - One might wonder if this maximum control voltage differs between the two thinkpads or perhaps there is simply some panel-to-panel variation?

[brucehe]

I am traveling in SoCal and it is really cool how well you can see the display on the X201 with the X200s LCD in the California sunlight, better than any other Thinkpad I have owned. The X200s just does not have the extra brightness.

BTW it does not make any difference on battery or AC, the brightness does not change when you go to max brightness.

One thing that is curious though is that I cannot get the onscreen display to work in W7 for the volume or brightness on the X200s while it works fine on the X201. I have tried reinstalling power manager software and the on screen display software and searched the archives for ideas. I must be missing something. I am wonder if this could be related to the brightness issue?

Bruce

[Morten]

I have had similar OSD problems with a T61, in my case it affected both the OSD and the ability to turn up/down the screen brightness. There is an older version of the hotkey features installer that is recommended for older thinkpads. Google for it, the internet is littered with people experiencing similar problems, for example https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500- ... -p/1676217

I think the version I use is even older, though. In any case, Whenever you do get those features working, never accept any updates from system update, unless you are trying to fix an actual problem and the release notes indicate a fix for it.

[brucehe]

Well the OSD now works. I made sure I had the same versions of software as my X200 where the OSD works.

In case someone has the same issue:

OS W7 64bit
Power Management Driver 1.67.09.03
On Screen Display 6.73.01

I am unclear if these other applications are necessary for the OSD

Power Manger 6.67.4
Lenovo Patch Utility 64 bit 1.3.0.9

Bruce