New M6500 Discussion Thread

On my M6400 with Edge2Edge RGB it had the LG panel and that was produced less than 2 months ago. It has to be either supply problem or just the fact Dell is getting the Samsung panel cheaper now.

But this is also a major disappointment.

 

While the Dell website does not include many specifications on the RGBLED display, the service manual is a little more informative. From the service manual, the following specifications are published for the M6500 display:


Display
Type
(active-matrix TFT) 17 inch, WXGA+ LED
17 inch, WUXGA, LED or RGB LED
RGB LED Edge 2-edge glass

Active area (X/Y) 367.3 x 229.5 mm

Dimensions
Height
WXGA+/WUXGA (CCFL) 245 mm (9.64 inches)
WUXGA (LED) 248 mm (9.76 inches)

Width (WXGA+/WUXGA) 383 mm (15.08 inches)

Diagonal 432 mm (17.0 inches)

Maximum resolutions and brightness
WXGA+ (LED) 1440 x 900 at 262 K colors, 220 nits
WUXGA (LED) 1920 x 1200 at 262 K colors, 300 nits
WUXGA RGB (LED) 1920 x 1200 at 16.7 M colors, 300 nits
Operating angle 0° (closed) to 152°
Refresh rate 60 Hz

We can now do a little reverse sleuthing and compare the specifications published by Dell for their RGBLED display versus the specifications for the panels from Samsung and LG. This reveals some interesting facts, specifically, the specifications published by Samsung for their RGBLED panel do not match the specifications published by Dell, however, the specifications published by LG do match. I point to the specifications for brightness (300 versus 200 nit), color depth, and the dimensions of the panel itself at 248mm in height.

This leads me to one of several possible conclusions:

1) Samsung has a panel they ship to Dell which is not available to other customers and therefore its specifications are not available in their catalog.

OR

2) Dell is shipping systems (specifically the Covet) that have panels that don’t meet the specifications listed in the service manual.

OR

3) All Covet systems have the LG panel because Samsung doesn’t make a panel with these specifications.


Opinions?

 

Just off an hour long conference call with several Dell managers and engineers.

The Samsung LTN170CT08-D01 is made to Dell's specs. It is the only panel being shipped. It is a native 8 bit panel. There is no dithering, HiFRC, or magic sauce to get to 8 bits.

The issues I am seeing are most likely coming from the software side.

In fact, you could tell that the people involved put a lot of thought and effort into the hardware that makes up the M6500. You can also hear how much pride they put into their work.

I just talked to 5 people from Dell that are committed to helping me (and others that have purchased the machine) out in any way that they can to get the most out of the M6500. They were patient and answered all of my questions. They were not condescending when filling me in on things that I did not already know or understand completely. They restored a lot of my faith in Dell as a company.

You know, we pull all of the data that we can from a lot of sources online, and sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong. I thought that just because the basic Samsung LTN170CT was a 6 bit panel, that the variant in the M6500 must also be 6 bits, but I was wrong. I am glad that Dell gave me the correct information and I want to pass it on so that others don't make the same mistake in the future when they are looking for info on this Samsung panel.

 

The panels in the M6500 all have the same specifications, no matter who the vendor is. That is the only way that Dell is able to have the same part number for the same panel provided by multiple vendors. The resolutions and brightness spec's are the same for each vendor. The RGB LED panels are 8 bit panels and the other 2 panels are 6 bit panels.

 

Thanks for the update Bokeh.

 

@Bokeh: Thank you for sharing this really important information with the rest of us. To be honest, I started being skeptic about the M6500, but now it seems to become clear what the situation is.

 

I apologize if I fueled any of your skepticism. I am going back through my old posts about the display and editing them to include a note telling people to jump ahead and read the correct information.

 

This is great information and feedback. Thank you for publishing.

 

Yes indeed...I was thinking it would be suicide for Dell to send out 6 bit panels to pros....that's nuts....lol

 

Just a quick picture for those with the M6500.

Its a pic of a hummingbird that I took. The background is mostly neutral greens that are very much thrown into bokeh by the shallow depth of field. Look at the red flowers in front. You should be able to see the difference between the red in the shade and the red in the sun.

The flowers in the sun seem to me to get too bright and lose their detail. This is the detail that I can see on my other displays and want to also see on the M6500.

Here is the pic...