Difference between LED and WLED?

I'm in the UK and I have just ordered an Inspiron 15R N5110 with a Core i7 2670qm CPU and GT 525M graphics and 750GB HD from Dell's Outlet store.

One thing I am curious about is the screen. It's standard resolution (1366x768) with TrueLife (which I understand is Dell's anti-reflection coating on their glossy finish screens). Of course it has an LED backlight but the online chat Dell sales rep was adamant that the screen was not 'WLED' - which I think all new Inspirons are according to the specs.

Is there any difference between plain 'LED' backlight and 'WLED' on Inspiron 15Rs? Is this just marketing speak?

One other thing, I chose a unit with only 2GB RAM as I can upgrade the RAM to 8GB more cheaply than an identical unit with 8GB which was also on offer. Why would such a high-spec 15R only be supplied with 2GB RAM? I have seen several with only 2GB.

Really looking forward to this laptop as my old one has a CPU about 6x slower and graphics 16x slower according to Passmark figures.

Ian

 

There is no difference between LED and WLED, both are the same since both have white LEDs.

 

WLED just means a white LED. It's the standard LED in LED-backed displays. (The more expensive being RBGLED).

Also, TrueLife means a glossy screen. An anti-glare screen is just called Anti-Glare on Dell's site.

 

Thanks bluke424, this is my thinking too - but the Dell sales rep was adamant the screen in my refurb system was NOT WLED, but could not explain why. I'm expecting the display to have good lateral viewing angles and good colour and brightness when the screen is tilted to the most optimum angle. I know it's not an IPS display, but should be a lot better than my current laptop

Ian

 

I'm sorry to break your balloon, but you will be disappointed.

N5110's display is pretty bad IMHO, from all points of view. Maybe I'm asking too much, but I've had tens of laptops and this is one of the worst displays I've seen so far. Don't get me wrong, it might be usable for office tasks and an occasional movie/game, but nothing more.

If you truly want a more than "usable" display then I advice you to get an XPS 15 with the 1080p B+RGLED panel.

 

I won't be disappointed and I will tell you why. I currently use a four and a half year old HP Touchsmart laptop - 12.1 inches and with the typical graininess of a resistive touch screen and it has a CCFL back-light which is not very bright. It also has a very small colour gamut and extremely narrow viewing angles all around.

Everything is relative - if you are used to using an IPS display all day you will find it hard to stick with an inferior display. I do use excellent desktop screens as part of my work but I am content to use a typical budget laptop screen of today. I have also done my research and the reviews I have read don't pick out the screen as being bad, although nobody says it's brilliant either - it will be adequate. But for me a laptop will rarely be used where the ambient lighting is absolutely ideal (on a train, in a press working room, on a plane, even here in my living room) so in many ways a really expensive screen will largely be wasted.

At the office it will be connected to an external screen.

But as I said, the screen will be massively better than what I have had for the last four and a half years

Ian

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing it with IPS panels, I'm comparing it with other laptops that I had. Many low end & mid range laptops today have really bad screens, but the XPS that I recommended is one of the few exceptions.

I hope it will be better than your previous laptop because, overall, the N5110 is a pretty decent laptop.

 

Like I said - it's all relative. The screen will be calibrated and I will measure the colour gamut out of curiosity. If it can cover sRGB I will be happy. I only paid about 500 Euros, so I am not expecting miracles. I mainly need the CPU and graphics power for video editing with Premiere Pro CS6.

I'll report back when it arrives - I just hope the wait will be shorter than the 10 working days Dell suggests.

Ian

 

i can confirm now after been using this new (Samsung SEC5044) True life 3D 1920x1080 (same as in new Alienware M17x) ...that this new type of coating is NOT high glossy.

its not matt but it neither plain glossy (if i look at the screen its REALLY hard to see myself)....i have a older True life on my m1710, that one you see yourself in a second.

its the best coating ive seen. (very smart)

 

I think you posted this in the wrong thread

Ian

 

I know this is an old thread, but I simply had to share... it seems Dell thinks WLED means Wide-screen LED back-lit monitors:

http://www.dell.com/downloads/globa.../trends_and_issue_driving_wled_whitepaper.pdf

 

I may be wrong but I stumbled upon this thread while researching computer screens and I believe from what I have read earlier there is a difference between LED and WLED. I believe LED screens use blue LEDs covered with a phosphorus coating to make them appear White this is why in rare cases LED screens could be tinted blue this would indicate an uneven coating on the leds

 

LED just means that the backlight is using LEDs rather than a CCFL bulb. WLED means that it's using "white" LEDs, the other type of backlight would be RGB LED which is pretty rare. All WLED displays in my experience have a slight blue hue to them, at least before you calibrate them.