Grainy screen poll for 1520

yes
no
not sure
don't care,,love it anyway

 

Do you have color bleed, shadows, or color shift on your text? I did, Not so grainy with matte.

 

my screen seems fine so far

 

Mine is fine.

 

I'm still waiting for mine (1520 w/1440X900).

Could those who vote also post what screen they have? Maybe we'll see some interesting patterns emerge here.

 

I think for ppl that selected WXGA+ and WSXGA+ you will find that there is graininess. I got my 1520 today with 1440 X 900 today and by graininess - The whites look grey (To me atleast). Rest of the colors look absolutely great!

 

Mine is very grainy....looks horrible on whites and dvd's. I know in the past with the 1405,1505, and 1705 people had this problem. Seemed to be confined to the samsung panel which is the one i received. They were getting them replaced hoping to get an LG panel. did you guys get the samsung? You can check by going onto Dell and looking at your tag number for the brand.

 

My screen part number is UVW648 - Does this indicate Samsung or LG?

 

how big of a problem is this?? The screen is very important to me and i want it to be clear as i will be watching dvd's. Can you go into more detail about how grainy things really are.

 

1 RW985 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4WSXGA+, VIDEO ELEC. STDS. ASSOC., TLF, SAMSUNG is what mine says under my service tag at dell.com



It's pretty bad to me atleast.

 

gosh i hate re-thinking...is it so bad that movies are just not clear?? Or what/?

 

personally, it is somewhat noticable on dvd's ...especially the closer you are viewing the dvd.

 

think its worth going down the the wxga+ since it may not be as grainy??

 

i thought some people had the same issue with that one as well....i think it comes down to who manufactored the panel....maybe we got a bad batch..i dunno.

 

Is the grainy screens due to the 6bit screens used?
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1520/en/om_en/html/specs.htm#wp1102222

supports only 262k colors... instead of the 16.7m colors (8bit) the older models used to get (check the docs for the older models)

perhaps to cut costs, Dell has switched to the cheaper 6bit panels...

 

WTH? are the screens on the 1520 and 1420 only 6bit? and 262k? that sucks ass...

No wonder people are seeing the grainy screens. This is making me double minded about my 1400 on order.

I currently have a v3000 and it has the QDS display which has to be the best screen I have ever seen on a laptop.

 

Are you serious, the panel is only 262k colors?......... I'm honestly considering cancelling my order.

 

Guess what guys...


I was just looking at the specifications of XPS 1330 and it also comes with the 262k screen!!! So I guess Dell has decided to go cheap across the board on the LCD screens.... I would be pissed to get this ****ty screen on a laptop costing more than $1500 ....

Very Disappointed ....

 

1 GU429 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4WXGA+, VIDEO ELEC. STDS. ASSOC., TLF, AU OPTRONICS CORP

This is the one I have - I don't think its a bad batch but my hunch is the True Life coating - I have a Latitude D400 / 600m without Glossy coating and another Inspiron 700m with truelife and I see the same percevied Greyness (Grainyness) on that. I could be wrong though.

 

Vcash: Both 600m and 700m , according specifications on dell's online manual, have a 16.8 color screen. And 1420,1520,1400,1500,1330 all have the 262k color screen. I just looked them all up.

 

if your specs state 16.7m colors and you get grainy screens, your laptop could be using a bad screen. 262k screens are often advertised as 16.2m colors screens because of dithering. maybe they reckon it is difficult to notice the difference so they use whatever is available/cheaper...

but in the case of the new models, Dell has specifically stated 262k colors so they have the right (maybe?) to use the 6bit panels.

 

Don't really care about the 700m anymore being 16.7m or 262K - its 3 years old out of warranty and that laptop is used solely for email / internet. Kinda wish the 1520's white's were white (Nor Grainy) because I can see this bothering me when it comes to Google / Word / Excel - basically anything with a white background.

 

Is this ALL screens on the 1520's, or only wsxga ?

 

Mines WXGA+

 

If you check the specs, you will see that ALL screens, ALL resolutions, ALL the new models are stated to support 262k colors only. I guess it comes down to how good the calibration/dithering is... I would actually feel better if they state "16.2m colors with dithering" but they didn't even do that...

 

I just read the Vostro manual. Also 6-bit LCDs there...

Can someone try this for everyone then? (just click the link, open the BMP and zoom in to determine what type of LCD you have)

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GkGu

"It can be quite difficult to determine whether a given panel is six or eight bit. Most vendors either don't say, or they play fudge-and-hedge with the specs.

So here's how to tell. Open the gray gradient bitmap below in your favorite image editor and zoom it up to the size of your screen. On 8-bit monitors, the lower level will be a stepped but steady gray gradient. On 6-bit monitors, you will see dithering patterns, either static or sparkling, in the gray tones. You may need to look closely at first. The dithering is how the monitor displays intermediate colors to go from it's native 262k colors (6 bits x 3 color channels) to the 16.8 million of true 8-bit representations. You may also see very mild red and green casts, varying with the dithered tone.

Warning: this bitmap can be quite annoying if you have a six-bit panel and didn't know it."

 

Wow, this is quite upsetting.

 

dl the exec from here:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/6bit_8bit.htm

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/downloads/Colour_Gradients.exe

 

I am royally pissed .....

 

I'm looking at my new 1520 beside my WSXGA+ 1505 and there's a definite difference in the screens. The 1505 looks less grainy and has a better tone to the colors. I looked at the specs for the 1505 and it says 16.7million colors. It also looks like the horizontal and vertical viewing angles were rated better on the 1505. Both have Samsung screens.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD

"The TN display suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction, and most are unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit truecolor) available from modern graphics cards. These particular panels, with 6 bits per color channel as opposed to 8, can approach 24-bit color using a dithering method which combines adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade. They can also use FRC (Frame Rate Control), the less conspicuous of the two. FRC quickly cycles pixels over time to simulate a given shade. These color simulation methods are noticeable to most people and discomforting for some. FRC tends to be most noticeable in darker tones. Dithering has the tendency to appear as if the individual pixels of the LCD were actually visible. Overall, color reproduction and linearity on TN panels is poor...."

 

Alright, so I think I'm going to cancel my 1420 because of this... Looking at an Asus A8SC instead. Does Asus (or anyone else for that matter) use better quality panels ?

 

i think i am cancelling as well... shopping for another laptop right now....

 

I went to best buy and alot of computers have this grainy effect on their screens. to be honest, if you fool around with the color settings, you should be all set, movies/games look awesome, i <3 my 1520

 

so it's not really that noticeable? I'm a digital artist, as well as an Architecture student, and I just hope this won't really affect my projects and work....

 

I believe if you have been using a screen/laptop with a good panel (like me) I am 99% sure you will be able to tell the grainy picture and not like it at all.

 

what is dell's return policy, after the laptop has been delivered? I want to see the screen in person first, but my local kiosk doesn't have a working display model yet.

 

Even though my new 1520 and my 7 month old 1505 have the same brand of panel, there is a definite (noticeable) difference in the two. The panel on the 1520 looks shimmery when you are looking at a white background. I guess if I didn't have the 1505 to compare it to it might not be as noticeable. But, when the two are side by side the colors on the 1520 look really washed out. The only other difference in the two laptops is the video card. The 1505 has the 256MB ATI X1400.

 

perhaps all the cheaper models you see in the market may be using 6bit panels but that doesn't mean that there are no good screens around? especially so if our existing older Dell laptops are using good quality screens...

i think if you are going to do graphics work, photo editing, etc. where gradients are important, then the screen may be quite awful to look at.

I think Dell is using these 262k screens because they are cheaper, and if dithering is good enough, and consumers are tolerant enough, they might just get by without noticing the difference... ultimately, you get what you pay for.

One thing to note is that the same manufacturer may produce different grades of panels, so the same brand may carry 6bit and 8bit panels.

Dell has a 21 day return policy but you have to pay restocking fees. The Vostro apparently has a 30 day money back guarantee with no restocking fees. That is, if you are in the US.

I am hoping that Dell will offer a better screen option in the future for these new models, but it seems pretty much lock in if the manual states 262k colors...

 

How different will the two screens will look when compared? I currently have a 600m so I'm probably used to 8bit - I don't want to switch to 6bit and find it terrible.

jetcity : can you post pics of the 1520's screen verses the 1505's screen side by side please? Anyone? Thanks!

 

I will compare my new (home) Vostro 1400 to the work IBM T60. Any ideas if I will be completely dissapointed? I am pretty happy with the T60 but it is too expensive to get for home use I think.

 

It's 1:00AM now, but I will post some when I get up in the morning.

 

Awesome! Thank you so much!

 

is this problem confined to 1520s only, wondering what my 1720 will look like
and if this problem is for glossy screens only, is that the possible reason for the delay on all glossy screens?

 

Grr, I suspect I'll just have to deal with it. Then again, I'm fairly certain that the 1520 allows dual monitor support? If so, I'll still have my 20" for web design work if the panel is that bad. I planned to dual screen in the dorm anyway, but it does rather suck, now that I think about it, because I'm fairly certain the 1520 doesn't have DVI output?

 

I suspect what you suspect is right... the thing is this - Dell is cheap. Damn cheap. For all the specs it offers at this kind of price point, you just have to accept some flaws. I think most people are not going to notice the difference, especially those who have not been using 8bit panels in the past for an extended period of time. And for those who did, it's probably just a matter of getting used to (or getting a better second monitor for those times when color accuracy is imperative).

What would be nice is if Dell could offer a nicer screen at a higher price point for those who wish to pay more. But it could prove to be a logistical hell.

 

What would be the price difference for an OEM between 6 and 8 bit ?


--

 

Has anyone with this grainy problem turned cleartype on?

 

I do not have a 1520 nor have I ordered one. But since I know what your talking about so I will chime in anyways with my experiences with this sort of problem.

My old 6000 has what we call a 'sparkle' effect which is when the pixels seem to glint and the screen seems grainy. So far all of the Dell 15.4 models with WSXGA+ have suffered from this problem along with the Lenovo Z61m and the Lenovo Widescreen T60 (which apparently use the same panels). Some 17 inch screen models also have problems with the sparkle effect. Really for me it has never been a big deal and I got used to it quick. I never notice unless I am looking for the sparkle effect and no one ever comments on it. I have asked if other people see the sparkle before and they say they can't. Still I don't use white wallpapers or wallpapers with alot of light blue as the sparkle effect is easiest to see on white or pale blue backgrounds. It does dissapoint me just a little here here 1520 owners claiming there screens also have the sparkle effect.

 

You know what? Changing some settings around can "improve" it but this definitely not what I paid for. I notice in games and movies its not as bad but doing work on this pisses me off.

Now that I have this WSXGA+ I hate it - 1680 x 1050 should not be an option for a 15.4" screen, this way too small without developing a hunchback and cataract after 1 month of use.