ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

for all the people living in Germany/Austria: the i5 Version ending LN is available at Amazon.de

 

As promised, I've aimed to calibrate the LCD post-patch with an i1 Display 2 colorimeter; the brightness at about 65% of max, closest to the target 90 cd/m2, 6500k and gamma 2.0. The attached reference file achieved an all time low average deltaE of 4.60 using the color checker in i1 Match Pro sotware (previously high 8s, low 9's)



ICC file can be downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_xpqpmzVwdtOTBQNWpxbzY0Wnc/view?usp=sharing

 

Hi does this bring the vividness down at all?

 

unfortunately no. Saturation remains rather high for all colors, but again I stand by my observation that everything is saturated to scale, rather than apparent drops in some part so of the color curve.

I'm sure here are many experts who can enlighten my findings to the next step. I have a small feeling I may need to upgrade my colorimeter to be compatible with the 3k display. Or somehow I think the RGBW pentile display sub white pixel throws off the readings

 

Really thx. I have a question. Its good for fhd display too?

 

I don't believe so. The qualities of FHD vs. QHD+ display are so different that I think it may cause more problems than it would help.
Honestly although this yellow patch stops me from wanting to sell the QHD+ immediately, I still wish I had a FHD version!

 

Hi to all.
After some problems finally I have do a fresh installation.
Now I need some help. What kind of tools I need to install.
I have read that, for example, touch gesture software drain the battery. Its true??
I think to have installed all drivers but, in system, I have found some devices not installed.
There are more unknowed devices, one 3d video controller and one bus system managment
Suggestions?

 

Ahh ok. Thx so much

Nobody have a good profile for a fhd ??

 

You need to go to properties of each unknown device, switch to Details tab, and select Hardware Ids in the drop-down box. Then Google (or Bing) what device it is by hardware ID.

I assume you'll need to install Intel Management Engine (IME), NVIDIA, Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework (DPTF). But also, prior to all that, install Intel Chipset Software. You may also need Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) driver.

 

Thx for reply.
Thx for reply.
Well, most of ur softwares that u have suggest to me are installed.
Only Chipset Intel I have forget.
Now there are only 3d video controller and unknowed device.
I haven't installed Smart gesture. Is important?
And... what it do "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework" ???
At startup I have an alert that ask me to run it.

PS. bout hardware ID I can't find nothing. What appare to me are only a long numbers and letters sequence

EDIT: All is ok

 

Thanks for this, that was exactly the detail I was looking for. I have applied the patch as well and am pretty happy with the difference. I'm going to play around with a colorimeter tonight and see if I can dial in the profile at all. If I have any results that are different from yours I will post them back. Your .icc looks pretty good on my screen. Definitely a little saturated compared to before, but not too bad.

 

For UX303LN

I have installed the patch BIN file for the yellow and it did help. However it created a problem, where there is drag when I move windows around.

Anyone knows how to revert BIN install or anyone knows where original BIN file might be?

 

what kind of drag??? so far no one knows where to find the original BIN file

 

Here is the best I could do with my colorimeter.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B25YCsXvMb1hWWFnSkRfamFackk/view?usp=sharing

It's slightly warmer than yours, but on my screen the contrast is a little better and the color saturation is a bit lower. Primary colors still have a bit of pop to them, but my screen shows it as more mild than with your icc and way lower than uncalibrated. For me, this is a winner. The yellows are about 90% fixed and the saturation of the other colors is under control.

Your software is way better than mine since you're using an i1 vs a ColorMunki...although I'm pretty sure the hardware is nearly identical. But I can't give you a deltaE value with my profile

 

This might be a silly question, but does these color patches change battery consumption?

 

i have even sillier question... how to use them and how to go to previous settings if you don't like it

 

Drag is when I take a window, for example Internet Explorer, and I resize window so it is not full screen, then I move window around to place somewhere different, then along the edges of the window, when I move it, I can see very clearly some distortion, which I never noticed before installing the patch. One way or the other, my question remains, how can we revert back from the patch? Is there an original bin file somewhere?

 

Really? can you compare your "dragging" to any other laptop? is it really there or it just seems to you. because now i am wondering if i have it as well

 

I have compared my "dragging", to the dragging on by gf Sony. its the same. so i doubt the color patch has done something to it.

 

After 1 work day of use, I didn't see any difference in the battery life. It would take a few days to give you a better answer...

Asus support might have the original .bin, but it's not available to us at this point. Eclipse_lite was really persistent with support to get the patched .bin in the first place. I looked for a way to backup the original settings before updating, but I wasn't able to find a way to dump them. Analogix may have software that can do it, but it doesn't seem to be openly available.

I don't think I'm seeing the same distortion you are. Is it only while the window is moving? I get a little bit of judder if I move it quickly (just like any LCD) but that's all...

 

I have actually emailed them again with comments about the fix and here is what i received back

ASUS HONG KONG

Dear valued customer,
Sorry for causing any inconvenient.
Your comments regarding the service you received at our repair center are very important to us.
We want customers may have the best service,so your report of a disturbing experience with our service is a serious concern for us.
Please let us express our apologies. To serve you better and faster,we are busy expanding our staff, in our effort to improve the overall quality of our service.
Again,we are sorry for any inconvenient we might have caused.
Should you have any question, please don’t hesitate to contact.

Yours Sincerely,
ASUS Hong Kong Royal Club
RCHT-HL

ASUS USA

Dear,
Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Lily and it's my pleasure to help you with your problem.
I have passed this to the related department.
Now please keep using your laptop with current color aberration.
Our engineers will do their best to improve colors problem in this QHD screen panel. Thank you for understanding!

so i hope at the end they will perfectly calibrate the screen.

 

I actually live in Hong Kong and decided that since I don't need the laptop over the next few days,to drop off my UX303LN with Asus Hong Kong Royal Club (Strange name) to "officially" apply the patch or look at the problem. The patch has already been applied but happy to see what they can do with it (I didn't mention it was already done).

Eclipse must have been very persistent as I have to leave my laptop for 3-5 business days. Let's see what comes back

 

Thank you everyone for posting the exe and the bin file for fixing the color issue of the UX303. I understand we have to just run the exe file, but what to do with the .bin file. Can someone please explain how to install these files. Thank you

 

haha, thats interesting, cant wait to see the result.
well, actually i was not thaaaat persistent. when i came to the service center, there were two customers only and after 10 minutes of waiting in the line, some ASUS guy has applied the patch right in front of me.

 

when you run the exe file, it will ask you for the bin file. so you just choose the bin from its location on your laptop.

 

Thanks a lot

 

Since it hasn't been said, EEPROM/FIRMWARE flashing in Windows is very risky. Please enable the "VERIFY" option and please make sure power is plugged in and that your power profile doesn't allow the PC to sleep/snooze/suspend during this process!!!!. I can't imagine what would happen if the laptop went to sleep mode mid way during the flash. It takes a good 10-15 minutes if not more.

 

could you please give an instruction on how to use i1 Display 2 colorimeter? its a software.. right?

 

Eclipse_lite, thanks for following up. I solved my issue of drag!

I was about to make a video of my screen so I could post a link and show you guys, so since I was using my laptop in dual screen mode with a monitor connected to laptop via miniDisplayport, in order to capture screen just right without interference then I disconnected additional monitor before starting video. Then while making the video with only laptop screen on (at 1920 x 1080) , I realized that the drag was totally gone... So the issue has nothing to do with the patch, so other users that intend to use the patch rest assured, all is good (hehe). Anyway, plugging the additional monitor on and off would recreate the problem on and off.

For this reason, I am 100% sure that drag problem is created by graphics card, not patch.

In conclusion, I can now say that I am 100% satisfied with the patch (however yellow problem is only 90% solved, but still is a huge improvement), as I did take before and after snapshots of the best buy logo, the "yellow" images when googling yellow and other tests and is much better after patch.


Finding the final fix from ASUS would be best solution (so anyone feel free to remind us which is the best email address straight at Taiwan HQ so we can flood Asus with fix requests) , but getting access to original BIN file would still be a good tool to have in the toolbox.

Once again, thank you Eclipse_lite for following through.

I want to also thank Deepen03 who is the one who generously let me know about patch by contacting me via a comment on my Amazon review of the UX303LN. Without your help Deepen03, I would have never known about the patch. The only thing is, I did a full act of faith by installing the exe file on my laptop and running BIN file (I have a cloned disk, so was a calculated risk), however, evidencing that the patch is official from Asus, or having Asus post the patch on their website would probably get thousands of users to go ahead and do it, as the average Joe would not run and EXE file from an unknown source from internet, you know what I mean, right?

 

Always happy to help! I posted on a bunch of people's disappointed reviews..I hope they all apply the fix and understand that this is not as serious of a problem as we made it out to be initially!

Now if we can get a forum user to tinker with the bin file to further improve the yellow, that would be great

 

Is it safe to manually install NVIDIA driver updates? A new 344.75 driver is out as of Nov. 18th. Is the color patch standalone? I mean I could always just run the patch again.. just wondering.

 

The color patch (bin file) is written to the EEPROM of the LCD on a hardware level and unrelated to the graphics card drivers (software).

 

Replied in PM. A colorimeter is a hardware device that plugs into USB. When paired with software acts like a precise digital eye to tell the computer exactly what shades/tones/color it sees.

I have an older device which I have had for many years.
Details here.
Eye One Display 2 monitor profiling review

 

anyone noticed the cooling pipes on this ux303ln is different from ux32ln. notebookcheck says with the same core i7 model the temp was good on ux32ln rather than this model.

 

Hi, I received my replacement UX303LN-R4141H with the mate FHD display. I used it for some time now and I noticed that it also has a dark smudge/spot at the lower middle part of the LCD screen. This is slightly noticeable when looking at white backrounds such as word texts or websites. I guess the lighting of the LCD screen is not evently distributed. I also noticed light bleeding at the edges but this is not a major factor in every day use.

The shop I bought it from offers an extended 30 days return policy. Now I don't know if I should keep the unit because I always see the slightly darker part of the screen when reading. It will probably not be noticed right away when the service person of the shop would examine it but the return policy does not require to give a reason for the return.

So, what do you suggest, guys?

 

Is it just me, or does my ux303ln seem to have a loose hinge on the display? It definitely doesn't feel as rigid as I think it should. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevB0Ifz9Ew&feature=youtu.be

 

I thinkit is not normal, mine is sturdy

 

i think thats normal as mine also a little bit shake when you flip it.

 

Looks like there's a new model in Germany that is supplanting the others. Its the R4095H

 

I thought I was alone! wow! Same exact issue here! and also something rattling inside when I move it side to side.. I posted a few weeks back. I opened up the bottom lid and tried to check what was going on. But the whole area around the hinge is locked down and I can't access the center part without voiding the warranty.

 

guys... looks like i messed up my buttery by calibrating it.
After I have discharged the buttery to 3% and fully charged it 3 times(3 cycles) the wear level was 2.3%. however then i had to use laptop away from a socket and after the battery was discharged to 5% and recharged one more time, the wear level jumped to 6%!...
Is such battery behavior normal?
The laptop has been in use for around 2 month and 80% of the time is plugged.

 

If you have something loose inside that rattles when you move it side to side, you should send it to Asus for repair.

Jim

 

There are long threads on Yoga 2 Pro and Samsung ATIV 9+ sites about the poor yellow color with the QHD screen. Bottom line is that this issue will never be 100 % "fixed" because of the hardware design. If you are a graphic designer, look for an alternative to the QHD screen. There is no yellow color issue with the FHD screen.

Good luck, Jim

 

Hey guys, what's the best driver for the GT 840m?

Thanks!

 

it's only in the center part of the hinge under the ASUS logo.. Nothing mechanically wrong, just a cosmetic issue. I'll probably send it in during Christmas break when I don't need it for school.

 

Anyone managed to find the drivers for the Focaltech Touchpad? I really want to get rid of Asus Smart Gesture but I don't want to lose multitouch support.
Also, did anyone try this http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...power-consumption-due-asus-smart-gesture.html
It is a script that basically lowers power consumption due to the increase of the processor usage while scrolling or zooming.

 

344.75 WHQL

NVIDIA DRIVERS GeForce Game Ready Driver WHQL

 

Wrong link.

You want this: Drivers | GeForce

Or 344.80: GeForce Hotfix driver 344.80

 

no difference ... it's the same link with the same file...

 

now its even 6.9%! in couple days.. whats going on?