Light Bleeding - Reply from Dell

Hi all,
My new Inspiron 1420 LCD was showing considerable amount of light bleeding. I contacted the Customer care and this is the reply that I got from them.

Just look into this.....

Many Dell notebooks are utilizing a new technology in LCD design called prism light guide plate (LGP). This technology helps to reduce weight, improve reliability, and increase luminance while maintaining high contrast ratios at the same power consumption. This technology is also 20% brighter than similar panels with a conventional LGP. However, because of how the light is diffused across the panel, it has an effect of uneven uniformity of light. This is only apparent on a uniform background color, in particular black. The level of leakage (brightness along the panel edge) can spread up to 3 to 4 cm from the base of the panel.

The light source for the LCD is at the base of the LCD panel and radiates across the area of the panel through the LGP. Light has a natural tendency to be brighter at the source and go in a straight direction. By utilizing a pattern of prisms, it brings the light to the surface in a natural progression across the panel. This has the effect of being brighter at the base and top, while being darker towards the left and right sides of the panel (Figure 1).



Figure 1 - LCD Back Light Uniformity

By incorporating the prism structure in the LGP, its thickness is reduced. Additional diffusers and prism sheets are no longer necessary, thus reducing the overall weight of the panel. A comparison of the structure between a conventional back light unit (BLU) and the new prism LGP back light unit is shown below (Figure 2).

Is this genuine or are they somehow trying to make their stand clean?

 

aw crap, I have LGP on my specs. I was hoping LGP stood for LG-Philips

 

Well, I really can't tell without looking at the images they sent. But the wording sounds pretty genuine to me. Of course, a company like Dell would be expected to send out such a nicely explained letter.

Sorry, can't help you, but my 1420 has slight light bleed at the base as well. It doesn't bother me. If your laptop is good and there is nothing wrong with it, don't just get it replaced for the light bleed. I would suggest not even chancing an LCD replacement which might get you a grainy screen, or one with worse light bleed.

EDIT: And actually, LPL stands for LG/Phillips, not LGP. I have an LPL screen.

 

Seems moot to me. If the screen looks like crap, it looks like crap, regardless of the technology behind it. For Dell's sake, you'd hope it's not true that they're using some new fangled technology if it's making the computers look worse.

They told me the TrueLife Super Glossy Super Cool Screen (TM) made the screen look better than traditional matte screens. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't; I couldn't tell since all I could see was my beautiful face staring back at me in the mirror they call a screen.

 

LPL is used to abbreviate LG Phillips.

LGP is obviously something to do with technology in the screens as pointed out.

 

Here are two images of my LCD

 

wait so on my service tag it shows lgp and thats it, no sec/samsung/auo/lpl. does that mean that this lgp is a new fourth type of screen in addition to those 3? that would be interesting to see since this is the first time i've heard about it. Dell Lover what manufacturer does it show for your screen or does it just say lgp?

also, that message from dell references two figures comparing the back lit units and the lgp units, can you post those figures?

 

Yeah, actually I meant I'd like to see the figures from Dell, the ones they refer to in their email.

But looking at your screen, it does look like bad leakage. I can see how it can bother you, specially when playing a movie or doing anything in fact.
If it looks like that in real life too (cameras sometimes pronounce light leakage), then I would surely be on the phone to Dell right now.

 

XP059 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 15.4WXGA+, VIDEO ELEC. STDS. ASSOC., TLF, LGP

hmm since LGP is just a type of technology not a manufacturer, who made the screen I got then? others who don't have LGP in that description usually have samsung/sec/or auo so thats really weird..

 

LGP I guess stands for the technology then.... And that also confirms the fact that you cannot see what screen they put in your laptop until your laptop arrives.... They do not decide the screen manufacturer before building the laptop and instead it is merely a matter of luck of what screen you get....

And back to the topic - DELL's explanation seems somewhat genuine too.... But the light bleed in the pic seems worse though....

 

I have a friend that has a bad case of light bleed. Luckily I only have a little.

 

I just wanted to say thank you VERY much for posting the pictures!

I recently purchased my first laptop and was concerned when I heard the term "light leakage". Not wanting to appear to be a total idiot (or even a partial one!), I didn't ask but your pictures were extremely helpful and I'm checking my screen when I get home!

 

Very interesting... makes me sad about my upcoming replacement which is listed as LGP meaning it's probably not an LG panel...

OP is yours by chance SEC? The first 1400 I got with LGP listed as the part I believe to have an SEC panel...

 

I have light bleed on mine... I can't notice it unless I have a black screen. I really don't care about it since it is completely unnoticeable during regular use. It isn't a huge problem at all.

 

Dell Lover, is your a SEC or LPL panel?

 

BTW I also get very noteable light bleed on black screens, however for normal windows useage it's not noticeable. During movies... yes noticeable and not pleasant.

 

No unfortunately mine is LPL (LG-Philips). The one that is considered to be defect free.

 

even most cheap lcd monitors have those anyways they're only visisble when black is shown on a screen like a widscreen movie or a screensaver.

 

Can you tell me what yours says exactly inder the device ID?

Does it say LPL000 or LPL3000 or something else?

 

Any way I am going to get an LCD replacement from Dell. They said that the new one is also going to have the same issue as it is common for the new technology LCDs. But for my satisfaction I will give it a try.

 

Mine is LPL0000. Whats the difference between these 2?

 

Nothing, I just thought the LG were LPL3000 and the fact that mine reads LPL000 (despite it somehow reading SEC a while ago) was some kind of error...

I still say I wasn't smoking crack but maybe there are more than 1 kind of LPL out there too...

 

LPL0000 could be with Truelife and LPL3000 without.

By the way your LCD is with or without TrueLife?

 

14.1 inch with TL.

Definite light bleed and less grain than the AUO but also dimmer and not a very good viewing angle.

 

Dell Lover, other than the light leak, how's the color, view angle and sharpness? Any grainy background?

Your LG may not be that bad, the top of the screen is tilted closer to your camera, so the backlight is exposed more.

I am still debating which is the best panel. I thought LG is the best until I saw this horrible shot from BigEmpty. His is much worst than yours and his screen is in perfect viewing angle too.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150101&page=3

 

OK Well I may have to eat my hat on my previous comment about having an LPL labeled as SEC...

Just got my replacement Vostro... Panel listed LPG... inside... LPL0000... looks exactly like my other LPL which means I see grain and not the best viewing angle.

So at this point I have to wonder if I got super unlucky twice or if ALL Dells screens just aren't up to par with what I am used to with laptops (and this is after two trips to the stores to check against floor models and having worked on a 13.3 Vaio and a 17 inch Alienware in the last 2 days)...

At this point I have to sit back and wonder how much more I am going to try for what I think it should be in the face of evidence that I would say strongly suggests that there may not be a perfect solution out there for me (2 lpl screens exactly the same).

The flip side of this is that it would seem that the LPL = LPG in service tag area is correct despite me being sure I saw SEC before...

 

So now even LG is grainy? Wonder what should I get now...

 

It would seem that way to me...

It's entirely possible of course that LG is still better than the other options though... I may just have very discerning eyes... or I might have gotten unlucky with LG twice.

It sucks there isn't a way to take pictures and compare between ourselves.

 

my lg is almost flawless for my wxga+ on a 1520, its hardware id is LPLDF00. also, mine was listed as LGP on the service tag as well

 

I would guess DF00 is a hex number...

So one yours there is no grain or rainbow at all, the pixels actually look like little white squares where they should even up close? The best I can explain mine is a cross between a low bit panel and a thin grease film over the screen causing some distortion of the LCD screendoor effect.

 

One is 14.1", one is 15". I am looking for the better Dell 14.1".

 

whites look white, no rainbow, no greasy screen, and very very little grain if any at all (my eyes just might be tired from staring at it the past 4 hours ). its definitely not bad at all and i see no visible distortion, and if there even is "grain" then its not readily noticeable. and the viewing angles are also pretty good.

 

It's a bit concerning to hear of LPL screens with issues. I'm getting used to my SEC screen, it does have some light leakage on the bottom, but it only bothers me when watching DVDs. It has about as little graininess as I can ask for, but after an inferior AUO replacement, I'm trying another replacement. I still don't understand how you can justify light leakage as a sort of "new technology" though. I'll take a bulkier build for a better screen.

 

shadu I am pretty sure justifying it as new technology is the "other" option to justifying it as lower cost. Sounds better than cheap, after all no one would buy in to "we chose this because it's newer tech even though it's worse performance."

r30028 have you compared it to notebook panels in stores and such? My grain isn't horrible to be sure, but I can definitely see it if I get up close (say 3 inches) away and move my head side to side, a slight distortion and grain kicks in. From normal distance I can't see the grain perse (ie I can no longer pick out the individual grains easily) but the effect still is noticeable and what bothers me.

 

You know I am starting to wonder if the "magic" LG screens are only on 15 inch models and on 14 inch models they are as bad (or at least not great) as 2 in a row with the exact same grain makes me really wonder....

 

True. I also have my concerns about the second replacement. I guess I should forget the manufacturer and just hope for a bright, not discolored, not grainy 1400 WXGA screen (that's hoping for a lot). I have only a few days before the return threshold is up, but I plan on keeping a Vostro because it fit my budget and has stronger build quality than the only other option I was considering (HP dv2500t). I can only hope for a better screen, if not, my current SEC is not the worst thing I've seen (compared to the AUO I got in the replacement).

Much of the success stories I have heard about the LG seem confined to the 1500/1520 and at higher resolutions. There are a few users with a 1400 and a LG screen that are satisfied, but just the same for AUO and SEC. Therefore I can only think that the screen manufacturer does not matter too much, only the individual screen, at least in the 1400/1420's case.

 

Mine looks very much like this. To me it seems to be half light leakage and half poor viewing angle (I have the WXGA) since it comes and goes as you tilt the screen. However, I'm willing to put up with it since it's really only a problem during the rare times I'm watching a widescreen movie (as you show). It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the clarity and beautiful picture quality I have.

 

It's 2004 technology so it's not exactly "new". Plus, I don't get his point. The LCD sucks! Using new technology doesn't mean crap. It still sucks...

 

Thank God for this thread! I thought I was going nuts!!!

After reading so many great reviews about the Vostro 1400 / Insp. 1420 I thought I'd pick one up. I really wanted something powerful and lightweight for cheap, and I think this laptop really fits that well when you get in on a Dell deal. It was just over $1000 and extremely souped up.

Upon first boot though I was immediately distraught. I love everything about this laptop except for the screen. I have all of the same light leaking problems shown in the pictures here, but I think mine is even worse. It reminds me of those really bad 60" projecttion screens. Sitting in any one position always produces "grayed" blacks someplace on the screen in a significant amount. On mine though - even just slightly tilting my head - you start to get that weird negative appearance in pixels. Its hard to explain, but I've definitely never seen it before and its really annoying. And since I'm doing more design and graphics than coding on this, its just not going to do - this is all besides the reflective screen, which I thought I could deal with, but really can't.

The problem - IMHO - is how subjective this is. I've shown this screen to about 10 other people, some previously with laptops, some not, and they think its the coolest thing ever. "You don't notice anything wrong - maybe in the colors?" usually comes back with a "No."

Really sad about this cause I love everythhing else about it...I bought a Sager 2090 and am not looking forward to lugging around 7 pounds instead of 5 (its a big difference!), or any of the tons of problems people have been reporting, but it seems to at least have a really nice matte WSXGA+ screen, which no one other than IBM seems to be offering any more (WTF?). I have the 1420 in the meantime and figure I'll just ebay it when my Sager arrives. And if the Sager doesn't work out - well, then I guess it'll be off to something else!

 

My replacement LCD arrived today. I was happy to see that the new one is also LG-Philips as the old one . But after replacing I found that the light bleeding in the new one is much worser than my original one . I made the service engineer put back my old LCD.

Now I am used to it and it really bothers me only while watching widescreen movies. As somebody quoted "It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the clarity and beautiful picture quality I have".

So for me this issue is CLOSED.

 

If you ask me when going to higher resolutions it becomes a rather difficult task to control the light bleeding problem....