Interesting Discovery on M1330

Well, after having recieved an m1330 eleven days ago and finding that on battery power the screen flickered / colours went off slightly, I was very disappointed. It meant the laptop could not be used on battery power.

I searched for answers on the internet and through Dells technical support but to no avail. So on the day after it was recieved (9th Feb) a replacement was ordered.

The system is specced with a Toshiba LCD2306 LED screen and Intel x3100.

20 minutes ago I found out what's been causing it - Intel Display Power Saving Technology. This is a feature of the x3100 in the graphics properties hidden in a power settings tab.

It only takes affect when on battery and has a slider; at one end 'maximum quality' and the other 'maximum battery'. On my system it was enabled by default and set to maximum battery.

According to Intel ( http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/centrino/Napa_backgrounder_final.pdf) Intel Display Power Saving Technology "Reduces display backlight power with minimal visual impact to the end user, enabling improved battery life." I had a good laugh at the "minimal visual impact" part .

So I moved the slider for Intel Display Power Saving Technology to maximum quality and immediately after clicking apply colours were as they should be and the flicker disappeared

I'm guessing this phenomenon only occurs with the Toshiba LED screen (LED panel main cause perhaps?) and x3100 media accelerator as i've never seen it reported anywhere before.

So I thought i'd post how to fix it just incase some other poor soul encounters this problem on their new m1330.