Vostro 1400 WXGA+ Grain -- still a problem?

Hi everyone, this is my first post...

I've been looking around the forums and apparently there was (as of September?) an issue where the Dell Vostro 1400 WXGA+ screens were "grainy"

My first question is: What is this supposed grain?

Is the grain rainbow "sparklies" where the screen's supposed to be a uniform color?

My second question is: Is this still an issue?

I could only find one other reference on the intertubes about this, and it was rather recent--but it was only one reference.

If I get a "bad" screen, how would I go about getting Dell to replace it?

This includes phone numbers, what to say, which phone menu to use, etc...

Finally, What screens are good?

I have already heard several bad things about AUO, SEC, and LG screens--Those of you who are satisfied with your screen--why are you satisfied?

Thanks!

 

Look, it all comes down to one simple issue - laptop displays these days all suck in one way or another. They're pretty much all TN film displays, so they are all going to have color reproduction issues, less than perfect contrast, and poor viewing angles. The glossy displays that are all the rage at the moment help in improving contrast and color appearance, but in my opinion, they exacerbate the viewing angle issues as struggling to adjust the display to avoid glare from even the dimmest of lights makes it that much more apparent that the display only looks perfect at a very precise and very tight angle.

As for the grain, it is a "rainbow sparkly" effect that's most apparent on brighter colors. It's supposedly caused by the coating used on the display. Honestly, it may not be that big of a deal for you. Yes, it looks different, but it really doesn't ruin the usability of the display. High-end photo editing or other applications that require perfect color reproduction might suffer, but why on earth would you be using a laptop display for such work in the first place?

As far as I can tell, there are only two suppliers for the 14.1" WXGA+ displays - SEC and AUO. I've seen two examples of each. The SEC displays did not exhibit any grain, but there was noticeable backlight bleeding and a few unevenly lit dark spots near the bottom of each display that were occasionally noticeable on white backgrounds. The AUO displays were brighter, exhibited a cooler and somewhat more pleasant color temperature out of the box, and suffered from much less blacklight bleed than the SEC displays. They did exhibit a little bit of the so-called "graininess" that seems to have taken this forum by storm.

I honestly don't know why people are in such a tizzy over the "graininess" issue. Yes, it is there and noticeable, but the viewing angles and the mirror finish are much more detrimental to the usability of the machine, in my humble opinion. Poor viewing angles are a problem with every notebook out there, and mirror finishes are pretty much standard on all but the upper-end corporate business machines.

"Grainy screen" thread number one-billion-and-one.

 

Thank you very much for your down-to-earth reply.

The internet has this "magical" ability to exaserbate problems that don't exist... but reading the "billion and one" (lol) threads about screen grain on the vostros out there had me worried...

Anyway, after reading your post, I'm pretty sure I have nothing to worry about.

As far as "high-end" graphics editing--it's mostly posters and whatnot that will be blown up, or cartoons. And I don't need something that's super-accurate, but something with relatively vivid colors--most "standard" (read: probably older) LCD's that I've seen have the standard LCD low black-level issues, but have a general "washed out" appearance. My other "shiny screen" (a HP, btw) doesn't exhibit this, which I assume is due in no small part to the shiny screen...

 

The TN film displays in any of the laptops on the market are going to be 6-bit dithered panels and will be incapable of producing true 24-bit color. The dithering will help if implemented correctly, but it'll never be near perfect. If color is your game (photo editing, printing, etc), you're much better off with a true desktop display. There are 8-bit desktop LCDs that will be much more accurate with regard to color reproduction, and their viewing angles and brightness will be much improved over that of a notebook display as well. A DVI connection would be required to get the most out of such a display, so you'd have to look at laptops that can provide such an output, either onboard or through a docking station.

Honestly, I think people are trying to do too much with their notebooks these days - I'm not saying you are, but it's a thought I just have to get out there. Everyone wants a small and lightweight computer that can play the latest bleeding-edge games at stellar framerates and produce accurate images with precise color from screen to paper, all the while delivering at least 5 hours of battery life. Buy a notebook for quick-work-on-the-go or travel, but keep the desktop for any specialized work. Notebooks just aren't there yet, especially when it comes to display quality. They'll always fall short somehow.

 

if you want a laptop with a good 14" WXGA+ screen, stay away from Dell Vostro 1400 or Inspirion 1420.

I've bought one Vostro 1400 from Dell UK last month and it's got a grainy AUO panel, had a replacement after 3 days it was the same with even worse quality. The same day Dell called me back saying they will drop that AUO panel because of the vast complaints of poor quality, they are sending me a new laptop with a samsung panel which has got better quality.

I'll keep you guys informed.

 

i had three 1520s (not the same model, but a dell nonetheless). all grainy. really, horribly, inexcusably, obviously griany. bottom line- you buy a dell you might get a pretty grainy screen.

dell has done nothing to fix this problem as far as i know. if they wished, they could discontinue the commonly grainy screens, but have not done this yet. this would fix the problem rather quickly because dell does not keep inventory for more than a couple of days.

you may also get a great screen. some poeple do. dell's parts are a crapshoot. as are the parts in every laptop. hard drive, memory, lcd, cd/rom, etc. you never really know what your are getting for sure except the chassis, the processor, and the wireless.

the reason there are lots of grainy threads is because there are lots of grainy dell screens. go to the HP forum. you will see few, if any, grainy threads there, for example.

please- believe the people who have owned one of these computers before you believe people that are just commenting on a thread. i will not buy another dell laptop any time soon.

one good thing about dell is if you don't like it- you can return it no questions asked... i think within 21 or 30 days depending on the model. if you get a bad screen, send it back. this could, however become a huge waste of time- as it was for me. two months of dell hell and now i have no laptop because i'm waiting for my return money.

 

Augh. I've already read the (several) complaints against the screens...

Is there anyone who is satisfied with their screen?

Based on that info, if I could choose, I'd choose the brighter and less leaky screen, even if it has a bit of rainbow sparklies...

Which, by the way, "grain" is a (IMO) bad way to describe the "problem"... grain IMO refers to something akin more to line static or a fuzziness, but I digress.

 

I got a replacement. Switched from a terrible AUO to a SEC, which was indeed a way better improvement, but the vertical viewing angle is a bit limited so beware. Otherwise the SEC screen is far superior compared to the AUO...

 

Agreed. The SEC does not have the grain but poor viewing angles. If you really want a nice display stay away from the 14" wxga +. I know the res is lower but you will probably enjoy a wxga more. The viewing angles are really bad on the SEC. If your ok with being right in front all the time and constantly tweaking for the sweet spot.. then go for it. But I personally don't think anyone can make a decent wxga+ panel on the 14". If the sony CR 14 are bad.

 

I stuck with the XGA. I know if i keep trying i'll get a good WXGA+ but just not worth it.

I finally gotta settle on something and start configuring the laptop

 

LATEST NEWS!

Originally Dell said they will collect my old 1400 at 2/11, and the replacement with SEC panel will be sent later. Just got a call my replacement will arrive tomorrow instead!

I'll see if it's as they said they've dropped the AUO panel and ALL new computer will be equipped with SEC panel. If it's still an AUO panel I'll kill the Dell guy who collect the old one on Wed!!!

Nah, I'll just tell him to xxxx off and keep both as compensation.

 

Well if I have, that is good news. One of the reasons I chose the WXGA+ is that it had no shipping delay... Mine's still "in production" so hopefully all will be right when I get it.

 

*bump*

Any update on this?

 

same crap AUO screen.

new story from Dell is no SEC panel for UK and won't in short time even AUO panel is a known problem, he offered me a refund, or change to V1500 which he said no AUO panel is used ( what a lie!).

He couldn't explain why the first 2 people said I can change to SEC. I think we have to accecp the fact is Dell can't change a specific panel, the people got the replacement with SEC is by luck.

 

Thanx for the update... but I think i'll be happy with either--they both have their advantages. From what I understand (from other places in this forum and this thread) the AUO has a nicer color temp. and back light.

 

I have both the AUO and SEC.

SEC
- no grainny background
- serious light leak at bottom
- poor viewing angle
- warmer, more pleasing color like Canon camera.

AUO
- grainny to the point that small fonts looks fuzzy at native WXGA+ resolution.
- cooler color but can improve by reduce the blue channel.
- much better viewing angle
- less light leak at bottom but there are some minor light leak at the top too.

At the end, I keep the SEC.

 

My roommate has had 0 problems with the 2 Vostros he had. He traded in his 1400 for the 1500 with the 8600 GT :O

 

I got my Vostro waaaay early (5 days, actually) and I'd like to report on the screen "issue"

... The screen is B-E-A-UTIFUL. Colors are accurate, and the images are very crisp thanks to the WXGA+. Images are incredibly vibrant and vivid, and show a high level of definition. Colors and contrast are better than my old HP screen--especially blacks.

And games are phenonominal--Anti aliasing is hardly needed at this resolution w/ the 14-inch screen because the pixels are so small.

The viewing angle is much better than I expected, and is more than passable for showing off the laptop. The screen is also very bright, and very usable on even the lowest brightness setting.

I haven't done a battery rundown yet (I will next time I'm in class ;-) ), but off AC, the estimation jumps between 4:30 and 5:15 hours--plenty of time--with wifi & BT on, but no DVD and just doing things like notes, web, etc

Now for the "bad"...

As far as grain goes, yeah it's an AUO, and yeah it has a bit of grain, but is acceptable and certainly not the downfall of the screen--it's really only noticable if you are:

1. Looking for it
2. Looking at something with a relatively solid background

It is entirely unnoticable when playing an FPS (such as Sauerbraten).

To describe the grain, it looks alot like an anti-glare coating... in fact it may be an anti-glare coating, as this screen exhibits alot less glare than my old HP...

So... my conclusion about the grainy screens...

It's a non-issue. I too do not see why everyone's making such a fuss about it. Yeah it's there, and yeah the screen isn't perfect, but it's far from horrible, and certainly not as bad as the majority of the threads I've read make it out to be.

[edit]
(for those who like summaries...)
Summary:
Screen: AUO
Backlight: Very even - almost no bleed, some bright/dark on bottom and top edges
Brightness: Very good
Horiz. viewing angle: "guestimated" at about at least 160 usable degrees with light colors (such as this web page), and about 120 with darker colors
Vert. viewing angle & sweet spot: Screen at 95-105 degres compared with keyboard, depending on whether you are doing bright or dark (eg. games) work
Grain: A bit, not unacceptable
Glare: Better than my old HP (also glossy)

 

Yep, what you are describing is part of the problem. The fact is, issues like the grain that *continues* to be present at this day and age is *utterly and unquestionably* unacceptable for discerning consumers like me and many others on these boards.

No compromises for me, certainly none that go backwards in terms of display quality. I can see grain *immediately*, whether its from my father's old Inspiron E1705, my old Asus A8Jp, BestBuy's display Asus G1s... it is immediately evident to me when the quality of a display is subpar, to varying degrees of graininess.

But there are people who can't see these things. Perhaps it's like why I'm able to discern a CRT running at 60, 75, and 85 hz (but not beyond), while many people will blank when I ask them if they see anything wrong with the CRT running at 60hz they are staring at. All I see is image flashing before me, while apparently they see a steady image before them.

Then it all comes down to consumers like you, who are willing to tolerate issues like grain while acknowledging it's presence. All I can say is that it's your money, its your AUO, and the SEC is out there, and it's better.

 

my 1420 display is excellent.

 

Speaking as someone who will notice it if I order it, if I ordered a 1400 today (10/29/07) which of the 2 options would I be safe with (if any).

14.1 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Display with TrueLife™
14.1 inch Wide Screen XGA+ LCD Display with TrueLife™

Or am I rolling the dice with either?

 

rolling a dice with either.

My LG XGA was grainy
My SEC XGA is not grainy.

 

Just got a Vostro 1400 XGA+
It's AUO 1447

It's about as grainy as you can get. I mean BIG TIME grain.

Problem still exists

 

... funny. I can do that too...

Anyways, If the backlight is as bad as they say on the SEC (dimmer, very uneven), I'll tolerate the grain for a better light. But thanks for the level headed reply--something I can't say for alot of others on this forum.

 

Does the WXGA without the "+" have no issues?

 

i just said it's a toss up a few posts above

I have both WXGA+ and WXGA screens.

SEC WXGA has no grain
LG WXGA has slight grain

AUO WXGA+ has crap load of grain

 

I could not understand your post because it just mentions XGA.

 

No grain on my roommate's 1400.

 

Dell just sent me a replacement for my AUO1447 WXGA+. It just got here and it's a Samsung SEC4457 WXGA+.
I chose to do self install l (I have DCSE account). I really don't trust the techs, the last guy that worked on my Vostro 1500 left dents and scratches because he was retarded and didn't know how to properly separate the front bezel ( You don't stick a flat head screw driver in between the crack and turn, moron tech).

It's all in and it's WAY WAY better than the AUO. It's got VERY MINIMAL grain, to the point I can barely see it. It should not bother ANYONE.
There is a bit of light leakage but I saw that on every 14.1" screen I got.
This one's a keeper.

Here's a final run down.

LG WXGA = Slight grain, light leakage, not a bad screen.
SEC WXGA = NO GRAIN, slight leakage, good screen

AUO WXGA+ = VERY BAD Grain, low light leakage, good colors. Grain is too much.
SEC WXGA+ = VERY LIGHT grain, leakage is not bad, good colors... this ones a keeper.

Yes< i have all the screens and am speaking from experience.

Good luck to all.

 

anyone has part numbers on the AUO and SEC screens for WXGA+ TL 14.1 vostro 1400 ?

 

How can you tell which screen you have? I have a 1520 on the way and would like to know.

 

Open Device Manager
Click the + next to Monitors
Double-click Generic PnP monitor
Details tab
Hardware ID's in the dropdown menu box
Screen model should be listed in the box below

 

The vertical viewing angle is WORSE on the SEC than the AUO? I have the AUO1447 and I already think the vertical is pretty bad..... makes me think twice if I should switch to the SEC.

Also, just to double check, the only 14.1" 1440x900 LCDs available for the Vostro 1400 are the AUO and SEC right? I also saw some thread that mention an LG, but I believe that only applies to the 15.4" 1440x900 screens. Please correct me if I'm wrong.