All Asus W3J Owners DO THIS NOW PLEASE! (screen test)

Okay...right click on the desktop and go to properties. Load the Windows Classic theme. Click OK and go back to the desktop. Look very closely at the blue background. Bring your head closer to the screen. Can you tell that it is not as "sharp" as it should be? If you can't, then I guess theres a problem with my screen? It looks kind of...fuzzy/grainy. This doesn't happen on all colors. I've noticed this on AIM as well when you have open an IM box with the backround of the box set to all black. You can see little white dashes all over the box. This however does NOT happen when I set my desktop background to all black. I don't understand what the problem is. The screen can't be messed up because if it was, this would happen on all the different colors. Does this happen because of the XGA resolution? Can it be fixed with the Asus Splendid Video Technology Program (which by the way if such a stupid/pointless program)? Please do let me know if you guys have this problem. Is it even a problem? Thanks in advance.

 

do you mean that the solid blue doesn't look very...solid?

I also tried filling my AIM box to a black background, looks pure black to me =/

 

Sounds like you are talking about the sparkle effect. if thats what it is they are all like that nothing you can do. its most noticable on green and blue.

 

So is this normal right?

 

jesus christos help us all!

 

Haha...seriously though, is this normal on all W3Js?

 

the world is coming to an end!!! (if you call ASUS support)

Seriously though, you have to consider the degree of the internal reflection caused by the glass panel. The LCD doesn't transmit all of the light rays to you.

 

It's not normal, but then again, giving yourself a solid blue background is not classified as normal use either... and obviously I don't know how close you are to your screen, but normal viewing position is at least 18-20" from the screen. So, could you just be seeing this or using it incorrectly... most likely. If you saw this effect with a normal photo background, from normal viewing distance.... then you'd have a problem and that was one that a lot of people saw on the Z71v's last year and their "cheaper" screen.

... I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen screens on at least 50 Asus models and haver refference displays for all of them and never really found more than a handful of screens that weren't basically perfect over the last few years that I can remember. That and the W3's screen is one I looked at more than any over the last year and half.... How's it look under those normal conditions?

 

I have this same problem. And it's definitely noticeable from a distance. It's probably an isolated hardware defect, and I'm currently in communications with Asus about it. I'm currently in another discussion thread about this problem, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link.

 

Look at the s96 or z96 or any other unit with an ati x1600 video card. This is not an inherent defect this is how the ati x1600 displays certain solid colors that appear to be grainy. Use the laptop as it is designed. From normal viewing distance looking at movies, pics, videos or whatever else and the screem will "appear" as it should

 

I do not believe that this is how it's intended. I first noticed this problem while playing a game. I thought it was just the way the game was rendered, but then I started noticing it elsewhere, like on the welcome screen. Now as I pay more attention, I can see the grain in my taskbar, on my desktop (which is an image, not a solid color). So this isn't just an "unrealistic" problem. It's liveable, but there shouldn't be complacency if there is a defect. It actually does impede on enjoyment of a lot of activities (why do you think people like higher definition videos, 16/24 bit sound, etc).

 

Move your head away from the screen about 1.5-2 feet like it is intended and stop looking for defects and you should notice exactly what i do, a great screen with no defects. Its exactly how the s96j and z96j look and i am willing to bet any other laptop with the x1600 in it. If you are into creating solid color textures particularly in blue then perhaps you should look elsewhere. Nothing wrong with the screen. The same screen on any other radeon looks the same xept the one color textures at close inspection looks "solid" instead of "grainy". Perhaps nvidia which has its own flaws would be a better solution for you.

 

Like I said, I am looking at my screen from a normal distance as intended. I noticed it during normal use. And perhaps noticing the problem has amplified the effects for me because now I see it in other aspects of my daily use. I'm not looking for defects. And I have done some fact checking. Indeed this problem does occur on other computers with X1600 Mobility as well from a number of manufacturers. And there are similarly reports by people who have compared monitors and noticed panels without this problem. As a spokesperson for a company that sells these laptops, I think you should take better care to not accuse others of misusing the product and to acknowledge the existence of defects.

 

First of all i am not a spokesman.
Second of all when did i accuse you of anything?
third Get over it. If you cant then return it wherever you bought it , asus will not help you simply becuase this is not a warrantable issue however it can be helped by ati if they release a driver the either decreases the hue or has a better algorithm to deal with this.
i am simply stating the obvious try not to leap out and bash my day job and the place i work for. Asus cant help you. call ati if you need help. Thast my take on it

 

My apologies. I was trying to sound as civil as I could. The Internet doesn't do a very good job of it. But it did come off as kind of hostile when you said " Move your head away from the screen about 1.5-2 feet like it is intended and stop looking for defect." That was the accusation I was referring to. And sorry for mistaking you as a spokesperson, considering your screenname and all references on your account seem to reference a reseller of these laptops, which is highly misleading. I'm looking at the display on my Dell external monitor, and there seems to be no grain to it. Then again, perhaps it is an inconsistency between the laptop display and the graphics card. I just love this laptop very much, and any defects detract from the overall appeal.

 

Nothing hostile about it. Its a common trend among people who hate their screens. They find something thats not perfect and hate it. Somewhat like a dead pixel or light leekage (however silly the term is), or too ,much reflection or not enough of something or too much of something else. Seen it with every single screen we ever sold with a few exception (which frankly deserved the nay sayers). I am first a person then a reseller. If i tell someome on the forums to shove it i hope they dont bash the place i work for but some people are not always very open minded and think that i owe something to the readers here. I owe nothing to the readers the only people that i feel indebted to are the forum owners who let the few resellers here post their sigs and not charge a dime for it. The privilege of being an active poster and reseller is that we like anyone else can post what we wish the drawback is that people sometimes mistake us for always on the job. I may work alot of hours but certainly the majority of my posts here come from my home pc or my weekend off hours (wherever they may be). Now that i have stated this yet again i will let it rest. Without the resellers this forum would be.........

 

... finish the sentence. What would the forum be? LOL I'm planning to buy a W3J, I'm just waiting for it to be in stock at Geared2play.com

 

Nice of you to change your post only after i get the email notify. I ll remember that when you order. Just kidding i take no offense to that. Everyone knows i am a nerd. Bill gates is not a pimp for no reason. He is my idol

 

Dude, that was not me I swear. My lil cousin came in and just sent it while I left the computer. That is why I edited and changed it. I really hope you dont become offended, especially how your all helping me out on my purchase. Any news on when your getting more W3J's?

 

H aha no offense taken. Early august is eta. This time i belive them.....

 

Do you think you could PM me as soon as you recieve them. Thank you.

PS
What is it with you and doing this"..."

Many Thanks...

 

Another reason I don't think this is the X1600's fault is that all the Mac notebooks use them (granted, probably a bit tweaked), and I've read a Dell review running the X1600 mentioning how their monitor was not grainy, unlike a few others they've seen.

 

I really don't see it as a big deal. If the others say you notice it from normal viewing distance then it's ok. Of course, everything seems different from up close, or at least once you spot a problem you can't keep your eye off it. You can't compare the Asus W3J screen to others like Dell because every manufacturer has their own style and are different. And anyways you will find at least one flaw on every notebook. Unless someone knows of one that is 100% perfect in every way. Do you? Please tell me, before I end up buying a Asus W3J. A perfect notebook is always :hardfind:

 

just for the record, the "problem" is definitely there. i can see it on my screen too, and i'm 99% sure it's not a graphics card issue. when i'm playing a game and i move around the grains stay in the same place rather than moving with the image, it looks VERY much like a coating on the screen. i'm not looking at the screen from 1 or 2 inches away either. i can also say with reasonable confidence that it is not an asus "splendid" problem either since i disabled that. it doesn't bother me at all, but it is definitely present on my screen.

that being said i don't really care. i like the screen just fine.

 

I would recommend the W3J even with the grainyness. I never said it was perfect or had to be. There are other little quirks I don't like about the laptop, but I still love it. This one problem however is a big defect for me because it's so blatant in some of the things I like to do (it detracts from the immersion in a game while it looks like there is some kind of murky film over it, it impedes on photo editing / graphic design, that kind of stuff). And I meant that they had seen grainy Dell panels, but the one they reviewed was not grainy. So it seems to be an intermittent issue for most manufacturers.

I only posted to see if there is a possibility of having this laptop without having to live with the grainy images. I was wondering if anyone has success stories with fixing this (via Asus support or some personal tweaking) or if anyone doesn't have this problem.

 

hey i would recommend this laptop to ANYONE. it is the coolest machine ever. as i said, this issue has no bearing on how good it is, the only people who should ever even consider this issue is people interested in photo editing, and even then only if you're very very picky.

 

Concluded the grainyness thing you guys were complaining abotu had nothing to do with the screen at all. Swapped the screens on the z96j and z70va (known not to have this) and problem remained on the z96j while the z70va with z96j screen was fine. Problem is caused by the driver. How does this relate to the w3j or any other ati x1600 driven machine. Well the w3j has the same exact complaint the z96j and the s96j has. I guess i can say i found the cause but not the solution. I belive the solution would be with a different driver

 

Different Driver huh? And where would one get his driver?

I dont really mind about the screen "defect", now I'm thinking about the paint coming off like described in the other post topic. I dont want my W3J (when it comes in stock at GEARED2PLAY), to have the paint fading off or peeling throughout the years.

 

What paint?

 

Take a look here. Beats me. Is the W3J really painted on.

 

The posters were not talking about the w3j specifically. Pretty sure if that was true people would have posted about it so far i have seen no such complaints

 

Paint peels off?? WTF!

 

don't freak out, i'm sure the paint is fine.

on the current subject, i'm a little confused here. i installed the new mobility catalyst, but in between uninstalling the old and installing the new the graininess was still there. i can't see this being a problem with the default windows drivers too. maybe its the gpu itself?

 

Like he said, the driver could be a possible solution. He does not know. I have heard of many people trying all kinds of drivers to no avail. I guess we'll have to keep looking.

As far as the W3J paint is concerned... I don't see any part of this laptop that seems "painted" on. The palm rest / keyboard area is this really nice piece of black... I'm not sure what material this is (I may have read that it was magnesium, but regardless, I love this material), but it's definitely not something that I can imagine as having a layer of "paint" on it. It's probably dyed, and no such peeling could occur. The cover is brushed aluminum, no paint to speak of. The only possible paint that could peel might be from the sides, but that, too, looks impervious to peeling. I've only had the laptop for a week or so, so maybe I've not experienced it. However, the W3J has impeccable build quality... absolutely impeccable (except for this darned screen! =P).

On a sidenote, people having this problem might find this Apple thread... interesting:
http://forum.osx86project.org/lofiversion/index.php/t14188.html

 

I can see it but its only visible because I use windows classic (the flat grey is slightly textured)

Saying that... when I display images and play DVD's it is perfect and not visible, the screen looks great and when other people at work see this laptop they always comment about how fantastic the screen looks!!

Even when I point it out they dont really notice... so do I care now.... no im over it, and it looks great when you have images and DVDs full screen, I am happy with it.

and the paint thing, the paint will never peel, the only ware will be from exessive rubbing over time but will happen on anything that is painted, like mouse, cell phone etc, its just the way it is.

 

anyone signed up for that apple forum? i suppose it would be polite to tell them that it likely isn't a bootcamp problem, or an apple problem.