Alienware M11x. Weird graphics problem.

Hi,

Look at all screens in their full resolution. Zoom them until 100%, do not use “fit in screen” function, you won’t see what I’m talking about.

I know that we have “Troubleshooting Thread” but I can’t say that there are a lot of people answering, so I’m trying to get attention creating special one, about my problem.

First, let’s distinguish some things, we have 2 official hybrid drivers for our laptop, R253896.exe and NVIDIA_NOTEBOOK-BETA-DRIVER-_P03_R264266.exe. One was released in February, and another in April. And I’ve got driver from nvidia.com 197.16_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe ( nvidia.com driver)

Ok.

My problem is that I have some vertical lines in Nvidia mode. Here is a photo of my screen:


Think all is clear to you. If you want to test your one, here is a screenshot, look at the same spot as I made, dropbox logo.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/Crap/Q.png

So I see this lines on both official drivers. Even if I disable intel gpu in bios, I still see it. But, if I uninstall official driver, enable discrete gpu in bios, and install nvidia.com driver, all is perfect. Screen is clear.

Also, if I install latest official driver (dunno about feb one cause didn’t test it) and then install on top of it nvidia.com driver, laptop won’t ask me to reboot, but will fix the issue, there will be no lines in nvidia mode and intel/nvidia switch will be working. But after reboot intel driver dies and I have 800x600 resolution and so on.

If I unpack latest official driver, and override files in display folder with files from nvidia.com driver I still will have lines. I'm talking about this method - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6138260&postcount=40


Old part. Not a problem, just a way of how intel shows image...
---------------------
But that’s not all. I also have some weird problem with Intel graphics. Here is a test image:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/Crap/Untitled.png
And that’s how it looks like on my laptop:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/Crap/dot_Lines_dem.png
So on intel, there are some kind of dots. And on nvidia side all is clear, but lines
Dots are hardly noticeable, only is you look carefully and close to the screen. Lines are better visible, but also not disturbing. I’m just trying to understand all this.
So, please, can you check your intel graphics with this image
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/Crap/Untitled.png
---------------------

 

Its normal dude, both my m11x's do it and my asus ul30vt used to do it too...

Another thing you'll notice is that if you have a black background, and open a white window like note pad, the black tone on the back will change.

At first I thought it was odd but i'm thinking its some powersaving feature from intel... Like I said, after seeing it in 3 different systems, its just the intel graphics card not having the superior image quality of the nvidia one.

 

So you have absolutely same "dots"? And what about lines?)

 

I really can't wait for you to stop cluttering every thread with this.

It's not going to be a perfect display in every way. If i squint and look rreeeeeeallly close to the screen i notice each pixel! i can actually identify them! Colors aren't perfect, the display overall is fine for me so i'm keeping the product.

There are pictures you posted look completely fine. This is within specifications and you're going to just breed paranoia. You said it yourself,

Dots are hardly noticeable, only is you look carefully and close to the screen. Lines are better visible, but also not disturbing. I’m just trying to understand all this.

This is an ultraportable tiny computer, not meant for professional graphics editing. If that's what you need return the product and get something else.

However, everything seems fine. Just go enjoy your machine.

 

Well if all of you have this things, i wont bother. But if i'm the only one with it i'll ask for replacement. No paranoia.

Dots are hardly noticeable, only is you look carefully and close to the screen. Lines are better visible, but also not disturbing.

This is an opinion on my photos, or you also have lines and dots on your laptop?

 

Maybe I am just not looking close enough or under the right conditions but I definitely have never seen lines on my M11X. The ones in your shot are pretty noticeable, I don't see how that can really be normal.

 

And what about dots on intel?

 

I see neither lines or dots in either mode vorob. I do see individual pixels when I get close enough, but no anomalies.

 

well..

I see "lines" and "dots" sort of as described.. however - I normally don't get *that* close to the screen to notice them... If I view at normal angles, etc. I really don't notice any difference at all .. sorta like I don't notice my single dead pixel down in the bottom left of the screen - unless I look for it that is.....

 

That's what i wanted to hear, that i'm not a lonely dude with some broken lappy Now i can rest in peace.

But still, thats strange that some of us have it, and some don't.

 

For all we know, some of us just have terrible eyesight, or that it's not severe enough that we would even ask about it.

 

I think its normal for anyone that has paid a good amount of hard earned money to question every bit of detail of a new gadget they just got, especially something that you really really want to like.

I go through this stage everytime I get something new lol

But yeah, at least in THIS case, its normal.....


Cheers

 

But yeah, at least in THIS case, its normal.....

Sorry? You mean your laptop is normal, or you also have lines and dots?

 

I already told you that both my m11x's have the same "lines and dots". And my ul30vt with the same crappy integrated intel card did it too.

Here:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk245/andrewe1/2010-04-24155904.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk245/andrewe1/2010-04-24155930.jpg

Put the issue to rest...

Thats on the nvidia card, I forgot to take the "dots" on the intel but I take it you'll believe me that it happens too...

 

I really don't have any artifacts like that on my screen. Its as smooth as butter here! Perhaps they use several different panels based on supply?

 

I had an lcd replacement recently, so i think its software issue. But you must have dots on intel, thats for sure. My friend with absolutely different laptop on intel have them.

 

The only problem you have. I see no broken points or lines. All I see is the glass front of the matrix. Glass is easy to get dirty. With this you can only measure

 

What vorob is referring to - you have to *really* get up close to the screen (i.e. press your nose against the glass close) to see/identify. From a "normal" viewing angle - you don't really see/notice the issue (if it's really to be considered an issue at all..)

I just had my LCD panel replaced (dead pixels) - and I can confirm that the "problem" (I don't view it as a problem - it's just the way the adapter renders the image output IMHO) exhibited on both screens now (the AUO screen - not the SEC - which would further confirm that this is software related if the SEC screen exhibits the same behavior).

 

Well, if we speak about intel dot's, then its truth, its hard to notice them. But nvidia's lines i see pretty clear without putting my nose against lass.

 

i have them, it doesn't affect gaming, work, browsing, or anything for that matter, and you can't see them during normal use.

All you're doing is using a grid designed to enhance a quirk of how images are rendered through the GPU and its really paranoid to keep beating a dead horse.

You can't see them unless you use that image, so who cares?

 

I can perfectly see lines here
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/Morrowind 2010-05-02 20-07-21-41.png

on sky... you don't?

 

I'm not saying that this laptop is crap and so on. Just trying to understand it. If i connect m11x to my external monitor, no such thing is there, no lines or dots.

 

Yes - I can - but as I've stated before.. only by looking up *very* close to the screen - from a "normal" viewing angle - no..

 

Another wierd problem, i notice some "teeth" on the edges of windows when i move them.

This is "static" window:


Moving window:


Do you notice something similar? You can even open this screen in paint, select window part and move it. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/436745745.png

I can't say that it blows my mind, but i've never seen such crap before. I had over 6 laptops, no such thing there...

 

Ok, nobody interested... Though i found few people from steam community who confirmed to have "teethy" edges on theirs m11x.

In another news, can see lines even on windows score

and, of course, the disappear when i switch to intel

 

This would bug the crap out of me. I've returned laptops for this very reason. No reason it should be on some displays and not others.

 

I just signed off on a brand new video driver for the R1. It should be posted later today on support.dell.com. Please try and let me know if there is any improvement or change.

 

Yay for support for the R1! Now if I could just convince you guys to release an unlocked bios so I could OC the C2D to the moon life would be perfect.

 

Will do....

/waits

 

Yeah, would be nice, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sorry.

 

If we can't do the Moon, how about just to the Exosphere. I could be happy with that.

Waiting..... This is up there with waiting for a good Guinness to be poured. ... waiting......

 

It is great to see that you guys are keeping up to date with drivers and are so in tune with your customers. It is an extremely refreshing thing to see. Even though I do not have a Dell/Alienware machine anymore I just wanted to tell you and the team there thanks for setting such a prime example.

Anxiously waiting to see what is in your latest release.

 

Looking forward for new driver, thx for your attention!

 

@vorob:
I had a similiar experience a while back with my old (now dead) xps m1210 which had a 12" SEC screen. By default it looks great, smooth and no dots. But once I color calibrated the screen it would have these horizontal lines that only appeared against certain backgrounds like the gray behind the window dialog boxes.

As you would imagine this bugged the crap out of me. So I requested a LCD replacement. When I got the new screen it was exactly the same thing. No calibration looks find, with calibration it had nasty horizontal lines. Then I was convinced it was the graphic card, so I had that replaced that too. And it was the same thing.

So my conclusion is that the color calibration drives the LCD with a different color space/profile and this would bring out the structure of the LCD. For the dual graphic cards, they each have some difference in settings (like vividness, etc) that will change the color slightly and likely bring out that issue. I also notice that in your pictures that the colors shift slightly, so this may well be the case.

On my m11xR2 the first thing I did was color calibrate and check for the nasty lines. But I didn't look again during card switching. Oh well, now I can't tell on my machine since the A2G screen protector adds graininess to the screen (i.e. lots and lots of dots!!)

 

+1

Is this an issue with the dither algorithm being used? (nvidia setting)

edit: actually, would the dither algo setting even apply since only the intel gpu is physically connected to the screen... hmmm

 

Anyone have a link to this driver? I don't see it on Dell's web site.

 

Maybe you should wait until it will be published?

 

My point exactly. It was supposed to be "published" on the 24th.

 

Hey, wondered if this driver has been pulled, or still going through the process of being uploaded? I know these things can take time, our IT department once quoted me 15 man days to remove a full stop from a webpage!

 

Hmmmmmmmmm. Weird. Let me check what happened. I expected this to go live last week.

 

Cheers, be nice to give it a whirl.

 

Looks like people got busy and this slipped through... Should be out later today...

Sorry for the delays.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...dia-197-72-whql-dell-driver-discuss-here.html

 

Posted - please uninstall the previous version, install the new one, and let me know if it resolves your issue.

Thanks.

 

I have done this. Issue is not resolved I still see lines on nvidia gpu and clean image on intel.

Will try to make clean install of windows and this new driver, but i doubt it would change anything.

 

So the Dell driver doesn't fix it, but the driver from nVidia does? Which specific nVidia version?

 

Like i said here, http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...et-touch-alienware-engineers.html#post6355795

Really, it’s any non hybrid driver for example this one
NVIDIA DRIVERS 197.16 WHQL

 

The Alienware engineers have seen your screenshots and don't see an issue. I'm trying to help you out here..........................

 

So from their point of view these lines are not an issue? Especially their absences on intel and presence on nvidia?

And more over, their absences on nvidia driver?

 

Or another example, twitter start page:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5020311/m11x/lines.png

make it 1:1 if your resolution is lower then pictures one...