Do you find your XPS M1530 1920 x 1200 monitor is a little grainy?

Sorry to bring up the grainy monitor topic again but I feel I have to do it. I ordered my M1530 on Aug 7, 2008, and received it on Aug 11. My understanding is that all WUXGA (1920 x 1200) monitors are from Samsung (SEC3255).

I'm not an expert on what exactly grainyness is but I think I've recently gotten a better idea. At Best Buy and Fry's Electronics, some of those crap laptops have REALLY BAD grainyness and it's very obvious. When I went home and compared my M1530's monitor, then I could tell that there was some slight grainyness on my M1530, notably on white and light blue backgrounds. My take on grainyness at this point is, in my own words, like some of the light coming from the backlight is refracted off the screen and creates tiny dark spots (either darker blue on a light blue background or grayish on a white background) juxtaposed against the "correct" color pixels, thus creating a grainy crystalline or granular look.

The final insult was when I compared it to my XPS M1210 that I got 2 years ago, which has an absolutely beautiful 1280 x 800 12.1" monitor with the whitest whites and absolutely no grainyness. That screen is an AUO 3214.

It's pretty clear now to me that, especially next to my XPS M1210's screen, the M1530's 1920 x 1200 monitor is just a little bit grainy.

I'd appreciate hearing other owner's observations.

 

i had the same thoughts when i received my m1530. i actually called dell and complained to them about it. they sent me a replacement m1530 with the same quality screen.

i found that if u play with the nvidia settings, u could reduce the grainyness affect. the grainyness is only evident on white pages (this forum's layout would be the perfect example). there is no real grainyness during gameplay and while i'm watchin movies tho.

picture quality, sharpness, and vividness is very nice tho. u just have to take the time out and adjust yur settings, just like any hi-res LCD screen.

 

For me, No.. I don't see any grainyness on my screen... its been perfect.

 

How are your eyes with 1920x1200 in 15"?

 

Well, I can see the tiny text great BECAUSE I wear glasses.

 

No problems for me... I just increased the DPI one notch higher and its been perfect.

 

Why did you shout the "because"?

Yeah I guess that would work alrite. Must be nice to have that high a high-def screen!

 

I wanted to emphasize that glasses can make your vision super good, sometimes even better than 20/20, which can help with the 1920 x 1200 resolution.

 

Hmm, too bad Dell hasn't switched all its screen to be made by LG. My LG screen, although lower resolution, rocks.

 

shouldn't be a problem for anyone, really. all settings are fully customizable like fondue mentioned.

my current firefox settings:

 

Dell technician just spent a ton of time with me playiing around with settings. We did the portal thing where she could see and control my computer. Based on what you said, she played around with the Nvidia desktop color settings but it didn't affect the grainyness.

I'm beginning to think the grainyness is a product of some physical aspect of the monitor, possibly the outermost screen layer. Just a guess, considering I know nothing about the design of monitors.

 

Thats a nice color scheme / theme there @ Houstoned

And yes, as houstoned said, you can customize in many ways the viewing settings.... As I mentioned before, for me I have not done anything, except increasing the DPI in windows settings and its been fine... some times, some things are small in firefox, but I just either increase the font or even better, just do control + mouse wheel scale up!! So there..

 

Don't know if that's true. Visual acuity in the fovea is determined by the density of rods. (Fovea is the area of the retina that "sees" what you're looking at). Although it might appear that your vision is "super good" is actually just a binocular-isk effect.

Sorry that's completely OT!

 

the samsung screens, in other resolutions, for the m1530 have been havin some grainy complaints from some people. what i did was just tested different settings myself. i popped in a few different movies that had different kinds of light/dark scenes. checked how each setting looked and chose the one i liked the best.

like fondue said, he has no grainyness at all. if u'r not 100% happy with yur product then its best to just call dell and let them deal with it. in my case, i got a replacement notebook to compare my original screen with. i found a few things i didn't like on the replacement (small cosmetics), so i just kept my original.

thanks and i got tired of havin to use ctrl + mouse wheel all the time. i just went into the settings and changed my font size permanently.

 

I'm inclined to keep the monitor I have because the grainyness is minor. The Dell technician will call me back today but I doubt she'll have found out anything new. So I figure she'll then offer me a new monitor, which I think I'll decline.

Ideally, I wish I could see other people's monitors, just like I was able to compare to my old XPS M1210's monitor, which is perfect. When Fondue says his has no grainyness at all, I wonder if it's true or if it's just a statement relative to what else he's actually seen and compared to. I wonder if Fondue were to see my M1210's monitor, would he then conclude that his monitor does have slight grainyness?

Houstoned, did the technician install the new monitor and then let you check it out and then reinstalled the original immediately during the same visit? If so, maybe that would be the practical thing for me to do.

 

Did I read that wrong? Or did you say you got an M1530 in 4 days?

 

Yep, 4 days is right.

 

i called them right after i did the initial boot up cuz i noticed some grainyness. they sent me a "new" (not sure if it was really new or not) m1530, while i was still usin my current one. i was then able to compared the 2 and the picture quality was about the same. there were a few cosmetic things i didn't like about the replacement, so i just kept my original one and sent the replacement back.

 

you wont notice the graniness of the screen unless you open a white page ( such as this one) and you concentrate on noticing the oily effect, its really nothing that could bother me, i love my super big screen!

 

nice choice on the Bun.

 

Dell technician called me back tonight and suggested the exact same thing that Houstoned did. They will send me a new computer (technician said it will be brand new and not refurbished because I notified them within 21 days) in 3-5 days and I will decide which one I like better (10 days to do so) and send the other one back to Dell.

It's a good practical and efficient thing to do, I think, and will allow me to move forward and feel good about it and focus on enjoying my XPS M1530.

 

glad to hear things worked out. u paid for a premium system, so don't hesitate to get yur moneys worth.

i've owned about 7 dell laptops (4-5 xps laptops) and their customer service has been top notch so far.

make sure to check for a shipping label when u get yur replacement. if, for whatever reason, it didn't come with one. just give them a call and they can email u a printable shippin label or send u one in the mail.