X60s dim screen

[dandreye]

Hi All,

Even at full brightness my X60s screen is unusually dim compared to those in a couple of X61s in my household.
Would that usually mean CCFL alone needs replacing, or rather entire LCD screen?

Many thanks in advance!

[rkawakami]

Barring any degradation of the glass in front of the screen or the polarizing films inside the panel, the brightness of the display depends upon how much light the backlight (aka, CCFL) is emitting. If your X60s is being powered via an AC adapter, the Power Manager settings are set to maximum brightness and the BIOS display setting to Normal (?), then the display should be as bright as it can get.

It's normally easier to replace the entire panel than to swap out the CCFL. However, if you intend to go that route, then it may be possible to replace the CCFL with an LED strip. My understanding is that people have done this before. One such resource found by Google is:

https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... ight.shtml

ref: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=114881

[dandreye]

rkawakami:

Thanks for your reply. I saw that thread on LED backlight mod some time ago. Since this X60s is being used virtually every day I was initially thinking of swapping out entire LCD panel to minimize the downtime and then trying LED mod on the bad one but didn't find any affordable panels on Ebay: a whole used X61s laptop costs less. At that point I thought perhaps CCFL swap would suffice.

Update:

> and the BIOS display setting to Normal (?)

That helped: it turned out to have been set to Normal. Switching to High (the only other option available) made a big difference: now it's as bright as my X61s are (which are set to High already). I feel it could have switched to Normal when I flashed it to lift WiFi card restrictions several months ago.

[jaspen-meyer]

The LED replacement for an x60s is straightforward and simple. I've done the mod to six x60's using kits from the site rkawakami linked to (run by a member of this forum). Typically the screens measure 70-120 nits before modification. When new it was 150 nits (some screens 180 nits). After modification they're 330-380 nits.

Process to modify is:
- remove about 15 screws
- remove invertor
- disconnect screen
- remove a few pieces of adhesive tape
- remove silicone spacers which hold ccfl in place. (needle and plyers work)
- pull ccfl out
- connect new invertor and led
- test they're working
- put led in with supplied teflon shims to keep it snug and facing the correct direction
- put screws back in
- done

Here is a picture of the CCFL (100 nits) and LED (330 nits) side-by-side, both with LTN121XJ-L07 screens:
http://www.jesseo.com/kites/x61-vs-x61-led-mod.jpg

[dandreye]

jaspen-meyer:

Thank you: the difference is quite impressive indeed. Is it Original or Daylight kit the screen on the right is modded with? The screens in all my X6x are XGA (1024x768), so wondering if it's worth going for the more expensive daylight kit, which seems to be a higher quality option. Is any reliability data on these mods available by now? I'd hate to see a modded screen die all of a sudden in say just a couple of years after the mod (hearing about various LED-based products like bulbs dying well before promised LED life of ~50k hours).

[jaspen-meyer]

The image shows the 335mA kit in a TN screen. I use a daylight kit in an AFFS display for an x60T.

It's unclear how long the led's will last but, at $5/strip, there's no reason not to keep a small stockpile of them.

https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/think ... ight.shtml
"Expected LED life

I measured the 3.5 year old backlight in my X61T against a brand new panel; it was down to only 22% of its original maximum brightness! LEDs should last considerably longer-- I guess we'll find out in a few years if that's actually true. Panels designed for CCFLs don't dissipate heat efficiently, and heat is the primary enemy of an LED's longevity."

[dandreye]

Looks like CCFL's longevity is significantly higher then... $5 a strip is certainly not a problem - it's time and effort that are: I was hoping for a "do-and-forget-it" type of mod as if I just swapped CCFL for a brand-new one. The "Expected LED life" section admitting the drawback is much appreciated as it'd be a frustration to discover it a couple of years later. Still wouldn't mind trying this mod one day for the sake of a learning exercise.

Have any LED 12.1" XGA panels, or in fact any panels "better" than standard TN ones (maybe IPS?) suitable for X6x laptops been made available at all meanwhile? (along with their respective "drivers" obviously) I'd expect LED heat dissipation issue to be solved in one way or another, making them at least as durable as CCFL-based ones are.

[jaspen-meyer]

Looks like CCFL's longevity is significantly higher then... $5 a strip is certainly not a problem - it's time and effort that are: I was hoping for a "do-and-forget-it" type of mod as if I just swapped CCFL for a brand-new one. The "Expected LED life" section admitting the drawback is much appreciated as it'd be a frustration to discover it a couple of years later. Still wouldn't mind trying this mod one day for the sake of a learning exercise.

I see nothing saying the CCFL will outlast the LED. Try running the LED at just 150 nits, equal to a new CCFL, and see what happens.

If the LED were to die, replacing the led is a 10 minuets of your life.

[dandreye]

I must have interpreted the beginning of "Expected LED life" section the other way round: I thought he's referring to LED modded screen brightness going down to 22% in 3.5 years. Re-reading it suggests he's likely referring to the original panel with CCFL instead. Meanwhile "Panels designed for CCFLs don't dissipate heat efficiently, and heat is the primary enemy of an LED's longevity" tells me these LED strips may not be that happy in the CCFL socket, likely needing a replacement now and then. Wrt the job complexity, perhaps X6x screen is different but I had a really hard time assembling a T4x screen back and never managed to seat the bezel as nicely as it had been before. Worth noting that 4 out of 5 X6x laptops in my household still have bright enough screen (CCFL), which is quite impressive for at least 3-5 years of extensive use out of their 8-9 year life so far. Put it this way: knowing that the LED strips would last that long would definitely help me decide in their favour as a long term replacement.