Inside the L702x FHD 3D 1080p Display Panel Assembly

Since there are many questions being asked about the L702x FHD display, I thought I would share with you what makes this beautiful new Dell display tick. I will add more pictures as I edit them, but for now I submit the following for your review.

I hope this helps you become more aware of the technology within the L702x.



The panel itself is a LP173WF2 (TP)(A1) [see basic specs below], which performance wise in 2D is on par with the AU Optronics B173HW01 v.4. In other words, it is a very nice panel that is sharp and bright and offers above average viewing angles. I cannot test 3D performance yet as I am still waiting on the 3D glasses like many others.

Although 1mm or so thicker, the physical panel will work as a direct fit for the Dell 1747/49 and L701x and looks to use the same standard 40pin connector. The LVDS cable looks similar as well to the other Dell 17" system cables, but this specific cable has the additional 3D/IR lead. If no 3D is used or needed, it looks like a standard L701x LVDS cable could be used for both 900p and 1080p use.

The 8bit IR module at the base is interesting and in theory could support other IR functions in addition to the 3D glasses.

More data/pics to follow-

Regards,
Scott

LP173WF2 TP A1 General Info:
Place of Origin: S. Korea
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Panel Type: TFT
Widescreen: Yes
Screen Size: 17.3"
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
Response Time: 2ms <<<< Good for 3D
Brightness: 500cd/m
Interface Type: 50pin LVDS
Resolution: Full-HD
Finish: GLOSSY
Lamp: LED

 

Here is a view of what is behind the panel along with the part numbers of the casing and LVDS cable. Note the cable says 50-pin. This is the 3D display LVDS cable. To confirm, the panel uses a 50-pin connector.
Scott-

 

The pictures below show the 3D glasses IR module both with the bezel on and off. I can't wait to see if there are some other uses for this IR port in addition to the glasses. Hmmmmmm.....<thinking>

Scott-

 

Wow, I was waiting some info and pics about the display. Could you upload some pics of the viewing angles? Thank you!!

 

Awesome thread Scott did you have any sure news about the L702x's 900p screen swapping (with the AUO B17HW01 v4)?

 

Yes, looks GOOD TO GO on this end.

Scott-

 

Interesting... it seems the LP173WF2 shows up as a LGD02C5 in the hardware string. Below, is the info as SIW sees it.

Scott

 

Great info there, thanks Scott!

On the other hand, if you want to upgrade your L701x with such panel and have the 3D, you'll have to change the front bezel too.

 

Wow, very cool. Thanks for the amazing photos and info.

 

Scott, first off, thanks for the thread and all. I have some comments/questions...

That's quite an optimistic comparison Unfortunately I had no luck finding any datasheet for the LG panel, but one thing I know is that it has a color gamut of 72%, while the AUO panel (being B+RGLED or RGBLED, not sure) has 90%...

Does that mean we only need the glasses and can skip the USB IR emitter? I have no idea, what Dell ships, but apparently these are sold as a kit or separately.

Interesting indeed. Same with B156HW01 V.7 on the L502X showing as AUO17ED...

And the GPU, right? I mean, how would you connect the 50-pin cable and/or take advantage of the 120Hz refresh rate?

 

All the screens have a NTSC, RGB, and Adobe color gamut rating. The AUO is rated at approx. 90%(NTSC) and this LG screen is rated at approx. 70%(NTSC). Likewise, the other ratings follow suit. In real world use, this 20% on paper difference is not going to be noticed by most people unless you have the screens setup side by side with the same color profiles. To confirm, I still love the AUO screen, but if I didn't know ahead of time, I would not be able to tell the difference between the two unless I ran some Photoshop tests. Regardless, the LG display is currently better when it comes to its higher refresh rate modes so until AUO addresses this, the LG will be fine in my very picky opinion.

The 3D glasses rely on the IR emitter as it controls the active shutter timing within the glasses. No IR emitter = no active shutter glasses = no 3D with this system. The only other logical option would be to wait until the non-glasses 3D display panels are released, which should be soon since the consumer market 3D TV's that do not require glasses are starting to pop up. As far as I know, you cannot get the Dell L702x IR emitter separately at this time. However, there may be some third party options out there.

I do not have a L702x system schematic, but the motherboard header where the LVDS cable plugs into looks to be the same in all regards on the various models. Likewise, the GPU's are the same and all can do 3D on their external HDMI 1.4 outputs. This leads me to believe the non 3D ready L702x systems may simply use the standard 40-pin LVDC cable without the IR emitter pigtail for their onboard standard displays. By replacing the LVDS cable with the 3D (50-pin) LVDS cable and adding a compatible IR emitter, there should be no reason why these systems cannot be made 3D ready once a LCD panel with a high refresh rate is also installed.

Scott

 

I'm afraid you missed my point. I might have misspoke, though

I know that the IR emitter is required for active shutter glasses to work and NVIDIA sells their glasses bundled with an emitter, which is plugged via USB. Since L702X has a built-in emitter, I understand it is supposed to work with these glasses and therefore we don't need to purchase them with that NVIDIA emitter, correct? Glasses alone are way cheaper...

 

Ahhh.... OK...
Yes, you are correct; the Nvidia 3D glasses should work fine with the Dell internal IR emitter.

Scott-

 

I have the non 3D L702x. If a screen became available on the market with the required refresh rate could I then use the Nvidia IR emitter and glasses to get the 3D experience? I assume that if this is possible I could theoretically have the L702x with 3D, Optimus and WiDi capabilities but with an external IR emitter.

 

Sounds right... And the LP173WF2 screen seems to be available on the market, since it has been installed on Asus G73 laptops for over a year now. Note that Scott's screen was manufactured in the first week of 2010.

@DOWN: True that...

 

I doubt it, your notebook has NVIDIA Optimus, which screws it all up
The way it works is that your dGPU sends the image TROUGH the iGPU's, which isn't 3D capable.

 

I do not think so really. The L701x GPU is advertised as being 3D ready and can send the proper signal to an external 3D TV. I do not see why it cannot do the same to a 3D laptop screen. But again, I'm not an expert in the matter so I could be wrong.

 

I suppose Optimus may have an adverse affect on any 3D viewing due to the lag. Could be a good experiment when I get some extra cash. Even if 3D didnt work I would still have a nice FHD screen with a high refresh rate.

 

My L702x is capable of 3D on an external screen. I assume that that the 3D image is still sent through the iGPU?

 

Hi all,

I have been following the thread and after receiving some great info from Scott (legend) have decided to post.

I am in contact with another forum member from the UK who owns a computer company. We have been discussing ways to upgrade the L701x to 3D. His name is Jon but I'm afraid I don't know his forum name as he contacted me via the Kuzotronic website, (sorry Jon, post to here if you read this so we know who you are).

Anyway, Jon is very knowledgeable on 3D and is pretty certain the L701x can be upgraded to the 3D screen.

I have also made some enquiries and I have sourced the 50-pin cable from Taiwan. Please see here

I am currently looking for the IR transmittor board and hope to have some leads shortly.

The only things missing then are the 2ms/120Mhz screen (available on the market openly) and the IR exposed bezel. Oh and the glasses of course.

As per Jon, the L701x Dell bezel could be retro-fitted with the help of a small drill, which solves that problem, or sourced directly from Dell.

Glasses can be purchased directly from NVIDIA.

Just thought I would share this with you. I'm not sure how helpful it will be or whether any L701x owners would want to attempt an upgrade???

I would go first for those who are slightly nervous.....

 

Could the external Nvidia IR emitter be used as a temporary measure until an internal one is sourced or if people don't want to modify their bezel (assuming Dell doesnt make the 3D screen bezels available)?

 

Yes, I'm pretty sure it could. I am not sure whether you would still need the 50-pin cable or whether the pre-installed 40-pin one would do as the extra 10 pins is for the IR board, so maybe its just a case of new screen, USB IR transmittor and glasses?????

 

95.05%

70.04%

 

Aren't you confusing B173HW01 V.4 with V.7? Not that it actually matters that much...

 

heres some shots from my 1080p 3d FHD screen. Some lovely yellows from the side, magenta from top , greens from below.

 

The first pic seems blueish, although that may be my current display doing that... Did you apply any of guapper's color profiles?

 

All this sound tempting!! But.... my question is.. Is it really worth to upgrade and spend so much money for the glasses and a 3D screen now?
Don't you think we may be able to install directly a 3D screen with the new technology that doesn't need glasses? Would it be possible?

 

those were with the XPS17_3d_8of16 icc profile from guapper. Doesnt look blueish from where i`m sitting, especially compared to how it came out of the box?!

 

Then that only proves there's a blue tint on my display... Nevermind

 

Yes... and the 3D ready bezel is available. The info is below, but I do not have a current price.

Scott-

Part# W43Y4 - Assembly,Bezel,Liquid Crystal Display,3D,L702X

 

I believe you are correct.
If an external IR emitter is used, then there would be no need to upgrade the internal LVDS cable since the 40pin stock LVDS pigtail should work. The cable is so short, there should not be an issue with the bandwidth differences either.

Scott-

 

That would be my first choice if I didn't mind waiting the potential 6-12 months for them to hit the market. However, since those screens use an additional optical layer within the panel, the thickness of the display would need to be a consideration and confirmed.

Scott-

 

i just checked deleting them settings back to the sRGB showed a significant amount of blue tinting which was gone with those new profiles. The camera white balance may not have done a perfect job neither.

 

I really hope they will be available before 12 months!
I didn't think about the thickness really...

 

Does anyone know of anywhere reliable where I can purchase the LP173WF2 screen? I'm considering installing this screen instead of the B173HW01 V4 on the off chance I can get the 3D working.

The way I see it is that if 3D doesn't work properly I will still have a decent FHD screen and that is my main aim. Getting 3D would be a nice bonus but not a deal breaker. If I had wanted 3D I would have taken up the option with Dell.

 

If you are in the USA, this place is pretty reliable, but I would still confirm with them if they are shipping actual LP173WF2 panels or compatible ones. Specifically, you need to confirm the 120Hz requirement.

LP173WF2 LG Philips 17.3" Full-HD (LED backlight) LCD Screens, brand-new for $172 Retail ($155 Wholesale)

Scott

 

I should have mentioned I'm in the UK. I think I will have to send out some emails to ensure I end up with the correct screen.

 

OK, try these chaps in the UK:
NEW 17.3" LG PHILIPS LP173WF2 FullHD LED SCREEN GLOSSY | eBay

Scott

 

Hey,

These 3D compatible screens are ferociously difficult to source.

I'm in touch with another forum member who has told me all the big manufacturers are swallowing them up for their 3D machines.

I'm just in contact with some Chinese suppliers to try and source some. I will post on the forum if I have any luck.

Thanks
Lee

 

Scott_RC-TEK - thanks for this informative thread .
My question - I imagine you'd know - I see from the pics that the screen has wireless and IR devices . Can these be turned off , not only as receivers , but to actually stop them physically emitting their signals ?

 

Well, for the 3D IR emitter, you simply unplug the connector from the little board. This will kill that function.

The WLAN/WWAN antennas are simply passive elements. To disable the wireless, you can physically remove the WLAN and/or WWAN card(s) from their mini-PCIe slots under the keyboard and leave the antennas disconnected.

Scott-

 

Thanks Scott_RC-TEK . I am not experienced enough to open up and do that sort of thing . Can this be achieved with Device Manager or something similar ?

 

The 3D IR emitter does not function unless turned on by the control software. So, just do not use the 3D function, which is off by default. You would know if it is ON by the green light it emits. The wireless functions can be turned on/off by opening up the Intel wireless manager or the Dell mobility utility.

Scott-

 

OK - thanks .

 

Hi Scott -

Do you know if Dell can replace under warranty my 1080p AG screen on the 17" L702x that arrived today with the LP173WF2 Phillips used for the 3-d version? The AG 1080p is too dusty / grainy for my taste. It would be nice not to have to buy a new one.

My new 17" L702x arrived today with 2 rows of bad pixels across the top of screen.

Thanks in advance.

THX.

 

They will only replace it with the same type of display panel ordered so you would neeed to source it elsewhere. The 120Hz panel also uses a different LVDS cable. I have a LP173WF2 with all the other parts to convert a system to the 3D model, but I am still debating if I want to use it in my Sager or sell it.

Scott

 

Scott -

Thanks for the reply. Dell replaced the AG with another AG this week (tried really hard for the 3-d but no go).

The new AG is much better / not dusty grainy like the first panel. Might even be acceptable. But, I really like the clarity afforded by the glossy screens...but, at least no rush to replace now.

Questions:

What parts were needed besides the display and the 50pin cable?

When you said "sell it" above, did you mean the computer or the display?

On scale of 1-10, how happy are you with the 3-d LG Philips display on the L702x?

Thanks.

David


Dell XPS 17" 1080p AG display

 

If you want 2D only, just the display and panel are needed. If you want to go all the way, you will need the IR emitter as well. The kit I have on standby and MAY sell is just the parts shown below; not the entire laptop. It is classified as the "3D LCD Service Kit" and includes the 120Hz LG panel, IR emitter, and the 50-pin LVDS "3D" system cable. I also have the side mounts with updated/new LCD hindges. Typically, Dell will not sell this service kit directly and one would need to go thorugh some business channels to get it. Even then, the price is over $400 . If I do sell it, the cost will not be that extreme.

Scott-

 

I always thought the terms display and panel were interchangeable?


THX for clarification.

 

Haaa.. you are correct. I meant to say - the display panel and the LVDS cable.

Thanks for the heads-up on my typo. I was up too late last night.

Scott