T42p Screen Brightness

[losmeme]

I just received my refurbed T42p (2373-C96) from IBM the other day. (Had to experience FlexView!) I know this question has been answered before, I have searched and searched but can't find the original thread. If someone can direct me to it I would appreciate it.

The machine is a refurb, no doubt about it. Small scratch on the lid, used battery (710 cycles with less than half design capacity left! ) , DVD player that has had the region reset several times already. But the screen is what concerns me. It's just not as bright as any of the other TPs I own. Is this normal for FlexViews? The ghost shadows at the lower corners are almost an inch in height as well, much more so than any other of my TPs.

This is highly subjective I understand, but is this normal for a FlexView?

[goofyGAguy]

I was very disappointed when I bought my R51 and found out how dim the screen is compared to every T2x i've ever seen.

[pianowizard]

but is this normal for a FlexView?

All five Flexview screens I've owned (two QXGA and three UXGA) are slightly dimmer than the average TN screen, but they're still bright enough so that I usually use them at 5/7 or 6/7 brightness in my office and at home. Both of my QXGA screens have a darker bottom right corner, due to the backlight getting old -- many older TN screens have the same problem so it's not unique for FV screens.

[ajkula66]

I'm not quite certain what you're referring to when you talk about "ghost shadows", but if I understand it properly that part does not sound right...

What people fail to understand when it comes to FlexViews is that they were not meant to be "bright" in the conventional sense of normal lousy TN panels used on bread&butter ThinkPads, and that they take some adjusting to...

You can't have a 400:1 or 500:1 contrast ratio on a screen that will "jump" on you the way "normal" LCDs do, and look at it for hours. Therefore, IPS screens are meant to be deep, and easy on one's eyes...so the perception changes dramatically...

Just my $0.02

[mattbiernat]

I was very disappointed when I bought my R51 and found out how dim the screen is compared to every T2x i've ever seen.

same goes for my T60. The screen is so much dimmer than my T23.

[Johan]

@ losmeme: I have a T42p practically identical to yours (mine is a 2373-Q1U), and from reading your post I would guess that what is "wrong" with your new T42p is that the LCD backlight is becoming old, and that this is what makes your display look so "dim". Comparing this, mine (approx. 3 years old) 15" UXGA FlexView LCD to a friends 15" SXGA+ FlexView display on a T42 ("non-p"), also being approx. 3 years old, there is no difference seen by the eye between the intensity or colours of these two. I should say that SXGA+ T42 I am comparing against has not been used daily, so its display is certainly not one having been "on" for 24/7/365 for 3 years! The T42p of mine was bought as "re-manufactured" (I have only owned it for approx. 7 months), so I have no idea of how much it has actually been used before I received it. Judging however from its cosmetic condition when I received it, I would say it has most not been used! (there was/is one, and almost invisible scuff on the lid - that's all!).

If your "new" T42p has on the contrary been used a whole lot (which its cosmetic condition could seem to indicate?), then its CCFL LCD backlight is of course much more "worn" than mine... and its "dim" behaviour you describe calls to mind many reports posted in this forum - about ageing LCD backlight CCFL's. FlexView displays are known to develop a slightly grey area in the lower, right corner (also due to the fading backlight, I believe), and this slightly grey area is also visible on both T42's I have seen. If replacing the CCFL it is my understanding that these grey areas will disappear - for a few years until they show up again. To read more about this, try search here (T4x forum) for "flexview backlight".

About the "ghost shadows" you describe it is a bit unclear (to me!) what is exactly meant by this? Before I bought my first FlexView T42 (the SXGA+ one now used by a friend), I did a lot of research and one of the things I was concerned about before actually receiving it was the phenomena of "ghosting", which has been reported for some displays... you know if e.g. watching a movie, and a white object is moving fast on a black background, will this white object then leave a "tail" after it (a ghost track!), of not? This is what I understand by "ghosting". I should add here, that neither the SXGA+ T42 nor this UXGA T42p FlexView shows any ghosting (at least not when e.g. watching movies; I never played any games on either). Try for you to search this (T4x) forum for "flexview ghosting" (and use "Search for all terms").

What to do? Well, since you bought a refurb IBM T42p, you are entitled to a 7-day full refund (if you purchased it from IBM); see e.g. the thread Certified Used T42p - Very disappointed and the links pointed to therein. If deciding to keep it, have it sent for repair; specify that the backlight is dying and needs to be replaced. If EZServ won't do this for some reason (?), you have another opportunity, although it will need you to get your wallet out of the pocket; see how in the thread LCD CCFL Backlight Repair/Replacement - I'll fix it for you! (and kindly note the outstandingly fine feedback James is continuously receiving!). Recently I bought another T42p (via this forum), and I had James have a look at it, and he replaced the LCD cover and the palm rest w/fingerprint reader... he got the parts (new!) at eBay, and then swapped them... as I wanted an as-new-as-possible (in a cosmetic sense) T42p. Of course this will cost you a bit of money, but if you otherwise like the T42p (and know that these are NO MORE being made and will be harder and harder to find!), then... you might want to invest a bit of money in shining up your new baby - this was at least how I thought.

Please post back about the specific problems you are having... I would be happy to be of help with comparisons etc. against my practically-identical-to-yours T42p.

Best regards,

Johan

[losmeme]

Thank you all for your replies, they have been most helpful. (As they ALWAYS are on this board)

ajkula66 wrote:

Therefore, IPS screens are meant to be deep,

This is the "brightness" factor I was referring too. It really is noticeable, and as a print designer who notices minute changes in color, it was a most striking difference. I've compared like photos on this and a T43, but the images just don't "pop" like they do on the T43.

As for the ghosting, I used the wrong term.

Johan wrote:

FlexView displays are known to develop a slightly grey area in the lower, right corner

This is actually what I was trying to describe. It appears in both corners, but is noticeably larger on the right hand side.

This machine was purchased this past Sunday online. It has a build date of 05/04 (April, 2005), oddly, the original three year warranty ends April 2008, which syncs with the end of my 3 month refurb warranty. Warranty lookup provides this:

In warranty / 2008-04-23 / UNITED STATES
Warranty description:
This product has a special bid three year limited warranty and is entitled to parts, labor and on-site repair service. Service is available Monday-Friday, except holidays, with a 2nd business day response objective. Thinkpad batteries have a one year warranty.

This is like the cream of the crop of IBM warranties, isn't it? (I can never make sense of the various levels, this is the first TP I have that actually still had a warranty left on it.)

If they agree to the repairs (I need a new keyboard as well, the left mouse button is not always responsive) can I ask the parts be sent to me, as opposed to sending the unit back in? Will they actually honor the on-site service for a refurbed machine? Raleigh must be crawling with techs, it would be totally cool to have them show up here at home to repair this, as I have already started a major project on this machine, and would hate to transfer mid-stream.

Again, thanks for all the responses, yous guys (and gals!) are the greatest

[Padhead]

Isn't there is also a bright line all the way at the bottom of the screen, which stretchs from about a 1/3 of an inch on the left, goes all the way across the bottom of the screen, and then stops about 1/3 of an inch before the right screen ends, when the CCFL is beginning to wear out?

If so, wouldn't it be covered under warranty? Are worn out CCFL's covered under warranty?

[ajkula66]

Ok, here's how I would go about it:

Since it doesn't seem that your machine's original warranty has been updated by IBM, you can call in the repair on the terms of it...and you should also be able to extend it, which is something I would most certainly do on a ThinkPad within that price range. And no, you won't have to send the machine in, the tech will visit you on-site. Or, you can request for the keyboard to be sent to you as well.

The one "stronger" warranty option would be the ThinkPlus upgrade, which in most cases covers accidents...

Now that I understand what you were referring to, with Johan's help, I can tell you that there's a good chance that your backlight is reaching the end of its life. What you're seeing is basically the end of a small neon light, and we all know what happens when the end portions start getting dark...if my assumption is correct, this would also affect the overall brightness of the whole LCD. This is another issue that I would be addressing with IBM.

Good luck.

[losmeme]

I called IBM Warranty Sales today, this machine was sold prior to May 1, 2005 so is not covered by Lenovo. My only option is to extend the current warranty that I have. Accidental coverage must be purchased within the first year of the warranty, so isn't available.

A 1-year extension is $199.00, 2-years for $329.00.

Then I called IBM Repair in Atlanta. They are sending me out a new keyboard to arrive Monday. He couldn't find the LCD in stock, but split the ticket and said they would call when one is located. So it looks like getting it switched out on-site won't be a problem.

Question: I'm pretty sure the keyboard will be new stock (judging from comments on this board.) But are they allowed to substitute used parts for the LCD, or do I have the right to expect a new LCD panel?

The CSRs were very efficient and knew their stuff. Gotta love IBM.

[Johan]

I called IBM Warranty Sales today, this machine was sold prior to May 1, 2005 so is not covered by Lenovo. My only option is to extend the current warranty that I have. Accidental coverage must be purchased within the first year of the warranty, so isn't available.

A 1-year extension is $199.00, 2-years for $329.00.

The extended warranty prices you giving here are quite expensive, and it is not clear if they cover the normal IBM EZServ service, or whether you are talking about extended warranty with both on-site service and accidental protection coverage. If IBM however claim that the $329 is the cheapest option you have on an extended warranty, you are most likely being misinformed. If you look in todays thread Report on IBM Certified Used T42p, and especially see the post of Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:44 am (and follow the links therein), you will see that a 2-year EZServ extended warranty can be purchased for e.g. $175,- Such warranties are also sold to ThinkPad's manufactured prior to May 1, 2005 (= date of the Lenovo takeover of the IBM PC division).

Best regards,

Johan

[losmeme]

Johan;

Mange tak! I thought it very expensive as well. I guess my fault was not asking which warranty they were trying to sell me.

I did ask specifically if there was an extension available to me that included accidental coverage, and was told no, that that had to be purchased within the first year of warranty coverage. (Build date of computer was April, 2005 so I would have had to purchase the accidental coverage by April 2006)

The CSR said the only available option was an extension of the on-site warranty that I have in place already at the prices mentioned. I haven't purchased any extension yet, I knew I had to bring that info back here and discuss before making a decision. Thanks for the feedback.

I am going to call IBM Monday again, and get more detailed info on what she was taling about. As I mentioned earlier, my eyes gloss over when I start hearing about "Mack" warranties, EZServ, ThinkPlus, etc. It's time to educate myself about all of this!

I did look at Lenovos site for warranties, but there it stated specifically that if my machine was sold before May 1, 2005, then my only option for warranty extensions was to call IBM. I did see something there that excluded "Special Bid" machines, which it looks like mine is from IBM's warranty lookup. IBM must also be excluding special bid machines, and is quite possibly the reason I can't get accidental coverage.

Will update later in the week.

[irondukes]

hi, normally you can try going to control panel, display, advanced, color correction

lower red and green gamma to .90, bright - 18, contrast +18
raise blue to gamme 1.1, bright -18, contrast +18

does that help cool the screen down a little bit and get rid of the worn out look? the screen should look deep and colorful at this point.