contrast on dell XPS M140?

ok, i have the machine and i love it! however, the color seems a little washed out. everything looks a little faded. is there any way to adjust the contrast on laptops? i've looked all over the place and i can't seem to find anything.

i should mention i have the 14" bright and shiny screen! i think it's called truelife or something like that.

any ideas?

oh, and are the media buttons on the front of the machine supposed to light up?

thanks!

 

The media buttons light up for a few seconds when you push one of them, but outside of that, they won't be lit.

On the contrast problem, you might make sure that your brightness is all the way up (FN + UP arrow). I think you can adjust the brightness and contrast in the control panel in your ATI/nVidia settings.

 

thanks for the tip on the buttons!

i can't find contrast information anywhere. i've looked and looked. everywhere. online. forums, etc.

can anyone tell me if they've found a contrast option for dell laptop screens?

 

What video card do you have?

 

It's the XPS M140, so it's the integrated Intel GMA 900.

 

thanks! i was on my way to looking that up. actually, it reads Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS,910GML, so yeah, is that the same thing?

the colors just seem a little washed out in comparison to my gateway MX6421.

 

Do you have a Truelife screen?

 

yes, i do.

 

anyone? i am still lookin for a solution to this "problem".

 

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to poke around nearly as much as I'd wanted to about this; the closest I came was going to Display Properties (right click anywhere on the desktop) > Settings Tab > Advanced > Color Management. That's the closest I could find to it. Problem is, it requires some sort of settings file, to which I haven't the foggiest idea what to do with.

There's another tab in the Advanced section for the Intel GMA utility. I was hoping that you could change it there, but I was unable to find anything. Maybe check it out though, I might've missed something.

I know that didn't help much, but maybe it's a step in the right direction. If I get a chance I'll keep lookin' as well.

 

thanks for checking. i've been all over the web, my laptop and i can't find anything anywhere.

does anyone else feel their M140 screen is a bit washed out? a little too light or something? i just seems like the colors should be richer or something. esp when i sit it next to my gateway MX6421. maybe i am just out of luck here.

 

All XPS M140 / Inspiron 630m screens seem to have a washed out look to them out of the box, especially if it has the dreaded Samsung (SECxxxx) screen. All 3 screens I tried on my 630m looked like that. Not sure about the other 2 screens Dell is using on this model(s) the Quanta & AOU displays.

I was able to slightly make the colors richer by using Adobe Gamma.

 

well, i am glad to know it's "normal". frustrating though. i am guessing it's the samsung screen. how do i check?

how do you adjust the colors with adobe gamma? i have photoshop and illustrator. can you point me in a certain direction?

 

Right click on your desktop and go to properties and then to graphic options, you should be able to check the screen model under "notebook".

As far as adobe gamma, it is installed when you have photoshop cs2. it has a setup that you follow to adjust screen colors and it works pretty well...

 

are the adobe gamma settings available for photoshop CS (not 2)?

as for the monitor, all i can find is "SEC3157". does that mean it's the samsung?

 

I am not sure if Adobe Gamma is available with PhotoShop CS, it should I guess... also, yes the SEC3157 is the dreaded Samsung Screen... I actually snagged a XPS M140 from the outlet for $636 before handling and taxes that has a Quanta TrueLife screen, the one given high marks from recent owners... if it's as good as they claim, I'll ebay the 630m or just return it if it sux as bad. I might even take pictures for comparison... owners of the Quanta screen even say its much brighter than the Samsung with better colors, viewing angles and no grainy aka sparkling effects.

 

I own an XPS M140. I did notice the that colors are a bit washed out. However it doesn't really bother me. I might try adjusting the contrast and stuff using Adobe Gamma. I do have CS2. I wonder if it's possible for me to get a Quanta screen. After all my screen has like 2 dead pixels.

 

Another option I just noticed; browsing Dell's XPS forum, I noticed comment that the most recent Intel drivers for the 915GM chipset contain gamma, brightness, and contrast control. You'll have to find the download from Intel, as Dell's Supports and Drivers page contains the older version of the drivers. (I wanted to read up on the release notes, but their ftp site is wonky, bleh).

One problem, however, sounds like there's some problems installing the drivers, that may require a bit more work then click and execute. Not sure if it's a Dell-only problem or something with the .exe file, but it sounds like you have to download the .zip, unzip it, and instead of using the .exe file, you update the driver and point it to the unzipped folder. Might be a bit of a headache for some.

There might be some marginable graphics performance increase as well, depending on who you talk to. Now I haven't personally tried this, and I recommend doing a bit of research/try other options first. Just throwing it out there for the bold and the daring to check out.

Oh, and I looked at my shipping invoice, looks like I've got a Quanta screen. Yay!

 

i am starting to get used to the screen. it really seems to be washed out when it pertains to the OS, but not so much other things, like pictures, etc. i notice that the yellows seem particularly soft and light. not a true yellow.

so, how do you get a quanta screen? luck of the draw? is dell starting to migrate towards using these instead of the samsung screen?

i'll live with it, it's not the biggest deal in the world. i have yet to watch a DVD on it, so we'll see how that goes.

i'd love to see a side-by-side comparison of the two screens though!

if anyone finds the driver and installs it, i'd love to know how it goes.

the info is here: http://www.intel.com/design/chipsets/mobile/915gmdocumentation.htm

 

Totally agree with you! It's mostly the icons and the contrast with the desktop image that seem washed out. When looking at pictures and videos and the little bit of gaming I do on this machine, (CS) the colors are quite good. I'm looking into drivers and stuff, and will let you know how it goes.

 

i posted a link above that should point to some info about the intel915 chipset. i am not daring enough to install anything at this point, but i will be doing some reading.

i notice the "wash out" most with the start menu, particularly the "my documents" and "my pictures" icons, as they are primarily yellow.

 

I too am a little disappointed about the richness of color on the screen (however, I am getting used to it).

I just installed the drivers (from Intel), and they do in fact give you options for adjusting the gamma, brightness and contrast for either all colors at once, or each separate channel. But before you get too excited... the gamma setting is already on maximum, so it really doesn't help that much. It is nice to just play around with the settings though, since you can change the overall color cast (I found that I preferred a little less blue).

A note on downloading - you need to get the *.zip file, as the *.exe doesn't work (I think it's specific to Dell). And the install is a little more complicated than just clicking on the file, but Intel provides a step-by-step guide on how to do it. Just open the "Read Me" file, and scroll down to "Microsoft Windows* XP Installation Instructions". The directions are very clear, and you shouldn't have any problems.

Good luck!



here's the link - http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df-external/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=1862&OSFullName=Windows*+XP+Media+Center+Edition&lang=eng&strOSs=88&submit=Go%21#DRV

 

ok, i just did this and i am MUCH happier with my screen now. it made a noticable difference for me! thanks for the post! i am happy now!

the directions are a little off on intel's site, but you should be able to work through it ok.

thanks again!

 

I did this awhile ago and screen is much richer and "cleaner" then before. Well worth the upgrade to the intel drivers.

 

Ok, I guess I got the good M140 screen or something, because I can't believe how clear everything on here looks and I have bad eyesight.

I mean, the desktop, IE, photos, everything look way better than my old lappy.

 

Yes it does.

 

The CCFL bulbs... could be dying.