Project : M11x LCD upgrade

Hi All,

First of all long time reader first time poster,

I've been following all the past threads on screen mod's ect and it seems everything hits a dead end. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has followed through.

So why the interest for me, well my M11x R1 has finally succumbed to the hinge issue and has caused a spilt in the bezel, Plus i am also due for an upgrade in the next few months, However i love my MX and wanted a project to experiment on purely for self interest. I want to prototype a small form factor thin device with a decent discrete card (if my MX redesign works I might try a similar thing with a new higher spec system who knows)

So my plans are to rebuild the case in a thinner form factor using carbon fibre as the main material, keeping the components as stock (with the exception of the screen) I figure its going to be a difficult project and a good one to learn on, I'll expect it'll take a fair amount of time.

As i can't be without a machine it will be several month before I start the project but i was going to start putting the components together.

I relation to screens ( the first component i will order soon) I found the following site panelook.com which gives the various specs of lcd panels, based on the original screen I have AOU B116XW01 I have found the pin configuration to be LVDS-40P1C6B-060A (if the site is accurate ) I did search for other models with the same pin config and found a 13.3 that is still in production a LP133WH2-TLM4 (which i think was used in a number of Toshiba ultra books) judging by the images the socket is the same.

Being a total newb on panels and before i pull the trigger on the purchase , if anyone with knowledge wants to look at the specs and advise if it will be a good screen I’d be open to any feedback.

 

Send us an email at [email protected] with your service tag, phone number and a link to this thread. We'll review your case and replace them if it's the first time it happened.

 

Thanks for the response Luis, I have already started taking the M11x apart so no need to worry about it.

Well i pulled the trigger on the LP133WH2-TLM4 which arrived today, plugged it in and it all works fine, matte finish looks a little grainy but the color and brightness and viewing angles feel better. hard to tell for sure as i can't do a side to side comparison. So next step is to see what i can trim out of the body and top cover, and build a foam patten for the CF mold.

 

Interested to see some pictures.

A slightly larger screen would be great for me.

 

Very interested too!
finally a real breakthrough with this mod.

 

Yes! please some pictures if possible

 

the best of the best would be to come out with a bezel modification to make this clean and sexy.

 

here are some pics of the panel,Please excuse my rubbish photography



@bouddha : 13.3" has a big overhang as you'll see from the panel working image, I'm going to be rebuilding my case / lid and bezel. There was a hannstar 12.5" screen that had the same pin config as our panels but it was out of production which could have been an easier mod

 

What kind of resolution do you run on this screen? Is the native resolution the same?
Fitting the new screen in the original bezel would be a stretch but having a new bezel designed? That would be impressive.

 

It's the same resolution as the original : 1366x768, All the panels i found with the same Pin Configuration code are all 1366x768 so i assume that's the best resolution LCD we can get with out changing or modding the cable and pin outs

I was doing some surfing and came across LP125WH2-SLB3 which is a 12.5" IPS 1366x768 panel with the same pin config as our M11x screens , Wish i had seen it earlier would have been an easier mod

 

Dont worry, I just ordered that screen to try out.

I used rewards points so I got it for free.

I will let you know how that one works out.

 

sweet!!! post some pics when you get it

 

Will do. thinking next week some time I should get it.

Reading up on the specs of the ips panel, It may actually fit in the stock lid... its going to be close, very very close.

 

I've been lurking for what seems like years, but I had to hop in to say how thrilled I am to see there is still interest in modding and upgrading the m11x series, specifically the screen. I never could find a definitive answer on whether or not the macbook air lcd would work, otherwise i would have already upgraded to that. Here's hoping you succeed in your upgrade!

 

agreed with that.

 

I have looked into the macbook screen. From what I can tell from the documents on it. the screen is actually multiple layers that are not actually bound together. They are placed into the macbooks lcd frame, that is what holds it together.

On our computers, the lcd is held together by a metal frame that goes around the edges.

 

IPS panel should be here tomorrow afternoon.

Hope it shows up before my lunch break so I can install it.

EDIT: might not be showing up today... says it will be here on the 31st, but last known location was still a few states away reported on the 31st.

 

Time to give that F5 key a good workout.

Edit:
xkcd: Online Package Tracking

 

Yeah pretty much...

Still in Boise.... Now I see why USPS is bankrupt.

Shipped on the 26th, usps tracking said it would be here the 29th. The 29th came and went, they updated to the 31st, still in another state, now on the 1st and still in Boise and still says it will be here on the 31st.

9405510200883657001028 if you guys want to track along with me


ooo as of 630 am the package is now in my state... also they updated the delivery time to today... not holding my breath on this showing up on time though.

OH MY GOD ITS GLORIOUS!



Photo taken with my cell phone... so not the best quality, but the screen is a matte finish, crisp, amazing blacks...

 

Gorgeous! Now the ultimate question...will it fit in the stock lid?

 

Kinda....

I will mod a spare lid this weekend to fit.

But the lcd part of the screen fits just perfect with in the housing. But the metal frame on the left and right sides sticks out.

So best case is I will need to remove a small amount of the metal frame from the lcd. Worst case I will have to cut up the lcd housing and deal with the ugly.

OK, so one thing I have found with the new panel... dimming doesnt really work so well. there are only 2 levels. Bright or dimmer, but thats fine, I either have it all the way bright or all the way dim any how.

 

Here are a few side by side shots of a stock screen and the IPS screen.. stock right, ips left.




As you can see, the colors are amazing.

 

Dude that is awesome I wish i had found that screen earlier!!!!,m Nice Work I'll keep plodding along with the 13.3 , on aside note I have purchased the the supplies and tools to make my bezel mold plug.

 

Here is something, not sure on the complete specs, but CHIMEI INNOLUX N116HSG-WJ1 Overview - Panelook.com
Its a 1080p IPS lcd in 11.6 inch form.

 

I was looking into that panel also, amazing specs and nice price, but if I remember correctly it's 30 PIN and it's eDP (most of the higher res displays are now). The M11x is 40 PIN LVDS, I'm no expert on LCD interfaces but I'm ~90% sure these are incompatible.

All the 1920x1080 11.6 inch panels are eDP.

Out of the remaining 11.6 inch displays, all are 1366x768, and this is the only IPS (actually AHVA, AUO's IPS equivalent) LCD that I could find that uses LVDS...

http://www.panelook.com/B116XAN03.0_AUO_11.6_LCM_overview_16795.html

Good luck finding one though.

 

Keep on keepin' on! I've bookmarked this thread for further progress. The only think that makes me really want to replace my M11X R2 is the washed out screen (compared to pretty much every display out there). IPS is on its way in, and I'm definitely excited about it. I'd really like to transplant this screen into mine if there's a way you can get it to fit. Your little experiment could really help me out here.

 

So after taking apart most of the IPS screen, I think I can make it fit... but its going to be so so very close.

The glass part of the lcd fits. But the back light white plastic part with not. So, I need to remove some of the backlight side parts, then put it back together to get it to fit.

You will loose your webcam, and it is possible that you may loose your wifi antenna too. I will keep everyone posted as I get the screen cut up to fit.


One other option we have, the sager 11.6 laptop is 1.5 mm wider than the m11x, so that me just be enough for the swap to be perfect on that computer.

Im going to go check with the sager guys and see if anyone wants to give it a shot.

 

There are companies out there that will custom build a cable to make these connect properly, but I don't think the m11x is capable of supplying what the display needs to work.

In order to achieve the high resolutions the IPS display requires a 2-channel signal. As far as I can tell, LVDS is 1-channel only.I know the graphics card itself is more than capable, but that's really beside the point if the interface to the lcd is limited. There's probably some difference in voltage as well, but I can't verify that. So yeah I think you can bump up that 90% probability up to 99%.

Any idea if the B116XAN3.0 is an improvement over the stock display?

Edit: I don't know if the M11x has dual lvds or not. If it does there may be a slim chance it will work.

 

Thanks for the update. Very interesting.

 

Thanks for the info. I would love a 1080p 11.6 inch display but I haven't found one that is a direct swap, may have to save it for my next laptop. At 11.6 inches, this is the only size that 1366x768 is actually tolerable for me, but an upgrade (at least 900p) would have been nice.

The B116XAN03.0 should be a very nice improvement over the stock LCD besides resolution and size. As I said, it's AHVA (Advanced Hyper-Viewing Angle), aka IPS, 800:1 contrast ratio, and 400 nits of brightness. Should see a similar improvement as ejohnson's photos above.

 

Great work.

 

I'm looking into the B116XAN03.0 and have sent a few inquiries out to some Chinese suppliers. With luck they can track down a supply of these. My only concern with this is that even though it is listed as LVDS I can't find any info on the pin configuration. It needs to be LVDS-40P1C6B-060A in order to work.

 

This thread is awesome, I'm tempted to upgrade mine too - I really don't like the standard glossy look.

I assume you guys are going to remove the glossy cover from the standard lid, once you have transplanted the panels ?

 

I will have to as I dont think I can fit a glossy cover over this screen.

I am just going to cut the stock bezel to make a strip at the top and one at the bottom to cover the insides of the screen.

The actaul lcd goes right up to the edges of the lcd cover.

 

Yes, no glossy cover for my bezel rebuild for a couple of reasons
a. I don't like it
b. it means more work

 

Most of the suppliers for that 11.6 IPS 1366x768 IPS screens want a minimum order of 5. Thats a bit steep for me to test if it will work on my W110er. I think my laptop has the same pinout as the M11x

 

Whats the stock panel in your computer?

 

Some of the suppliers will do a "sample test" order of 1 in hopes that you will order a large quantity at a later date. This is how my company tested out a number of tablets and mini-pc's for branding their own ebook reader. Unfortunately the ones I have contacted do not have them in stock.

 

Count me in for one of them - I'm willing to take a chance - what price did they quote? I bet we can get 3 more people from one of the W110ER threads as well. Want to start a new thread about it?

 

Hope you can track one down, would be great to hear how this works out if someone can get a hold of one. If we need 5 people to go in on a batch, then I might be in depending on price.

I managed to find another IPS display that is 11.6 inch LVDS. The specs aren't as detailed so not sure about contrast ratio/brightness etc.

LG Display LP116WH4-SLN1 Overview - Panelook.com

I will say that this one and the B116XAN3.0 are not listed as having an antiglare (matte) surface where it is specifically listed on other LCDs, so I'd expect them to be glossy. I used the advanced search on panelook, but I can't find a way to weed out all the TN panels, or look for only the panels with LVDS-40P1C6B-060A pin configuration.

 

The way i did it was with google : "LVDS-40P1C6B-060A" site: panelook.com , not sure if there is an easier way. maybe drop the site and email and see if they can add pin config to the search function?

 

Thats what I did when I was looking on there to find something slightly smaller than 12.5 inch. I came up with a few 10 inch ips panels, but nothing we could use.

 

Couple places selling the LP116WH4-SLN1 - but yowza! $618 and $494

 

I have to say this thread is seriously interesting.. my R2 just went past its warranty so now im thinking to try some small mods.. first i got rid of my wifi card and replaced it with a full size card that works so much nicer for me... now im thinking about the screen mods... so i had one idea and wondered what other thought about this... Im thinking to buy a 15inch screen, and making a moded frame to keep the edges safe... but mainly im just wondering if its possible to connect a 15inch screen to start with, I dont know much about connectors but i pick things up quickly when i need them... any thoughts?

 

Yeah, I found out that the LP116WH4-SLN1 is an upgraded (IPS) version of the LP116WH4-TPA1, one of the panels used in the 11.6 inch MacBook Air, and for the price of a genuine replacement LCD for the MacBook Air you might as well buy a new one.

 

Just to let you know, the mac book lcd is a cell, not a panel. So it requires allot more work to get running

 

So no progress with the mod yet? Last I knew the OP was modding the panel housing and excluding the glossy cover.

 

2 Mods going on in this thread, I'm completely rebuilding the panel housing for my 13.3" panel, Normal life stuff getting in the way. where am i up to I have made a pattern and cut out some foam to use as a "plug" for to create a negitive mold, I am at the sanding for design part of the foam plug. once i have the mold then I can wet lay the carbon fibre to create the final panel housing.

rough Work Plan looks a little like this:
Source components
Print Pattern
Cut out foam to pattern
Sand / Detail ( beveled edges ect)
Fine sand
Sealing prep
Mold creation
Wet lay Carbon fibre
finish sand / dremel carbon shell
work out mount points material / wiring requirements
affix mount points
mount LCD
work out frount cover frame.

then start again with m11x Chasis

ejohnson had a smaller panel to work with and was trying to fit it with in the current housing

 

FYI, according to the posted pin-outs in this thread, if the 40pin connector in the PC is physically capable of retaining the 30pin connector, a 30pin screen might work.



Just throwing it out there, as there appears to be some listings for 11.6" IPS 1920 displays in LVDS (instead of embedded Display Port) that use the 30pin connector.

I've been looking at the Clevo W1110ER, and this could provide a path forward for it as well, as eDP seems to be the future (leaving LVDS machines in the dust).

 

Interesting. I did a little bit of looking and came across this screen: 11.6" Full-hd 1920*1080 Led Ips Laptop Screen N116hsg Wj1 - Buy High Quality Laptop Screen,Lcd Led Screen,Laptop Panel Product on Alibaba.com

Now if that diagram is correct this screen should theoretically work. Kind of tempted to test it out.