Looking for an expert in laptop LCD screens here !

I need the spd1 as it is minus the black foil with circuit board that hangs off the bottom and is shorter than the spf1 by about 1 cm because of this (230mm vs 241mm). The circuit board is instead wrapped around the LCD to the back of the panel hence the 2mm extra thickness which is no issue for me since I am using a NP9377sm-a and have a thicker Chi Mei TN panel in there right now.
As to why even bother trying to change panels in the first place, IPS panel and the extra viewing angles plus the better colors. As bonuses these IPS panels can also be overclocked to 100hz and gsync works on them albeit in an unofficial way and may never get fully supported.

 

Yeah BUT I was thinking that yes, on SPD1 there is no black foil but the length is 1cm more no less.
Try measure your SPF1 WITH black foil and it will give you maybe same measurements as SPD1 which means won't fit AT ALL if I am right ...
I don't think SPD it is shorter than SPF ..
Let us know..

 

The spd1 is definitely shorter than the spf1 since it doesn't have the circuit board hanging underneath it. The viewable or active area is the same for both panels so assuming the bezel is the same on both it has to correlate with the technical manual measurements that I posted earlier. Besides looking at a G751 with the panel exposed there are no additional protusions etc to add to the height:

 

Gonna hijack this thread for a second..

I bought the Gigabyte P35G V2 yesterday, and to my surprise found out that it uses a cheap TN panel by Chi Mei instead of what I assumed would be a LG IPS panel.

According to HWInfo, the panel is N156HGE-LA1 with the hardware ID CMN15B9. This seems to be a newer panel by Chi Mei, but I was able to find it on Panelook - http://www.panelook.com/N156HGE-LA1_Innolux_15.6_LCM_overview_18430.html

In a Notebookcheck review, it states that the P35W (only difference from the P35G is the video card AFAIK) uses the LG 156WF4. It doesn't state specifically which panel it uses. I assume that the same screen would be able to fit in my P35G.

I found one screen that seems to match up with the stock Chi Mei panel in terms of compatibility and fit - http://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=18872,18430

Notes:
* Both seem to have very similar dimensions and areas
* Both use LVDS (2 channel, 6 bit)
* Both use different signal pin configurations (010A/010C)
* Both use 40 pins
* Both use different signal interface brands (UJU/IPEX) and signal interface models
* LG panel uses a ton more power from the looks of it

How likely will this fit in my laptop?

 

It actually fits in .. so how u progressing ?

 

There is a taobao seller start selling spf1 (from china ofc)

They charging 650 RMB for perfect panel, and 300RMB for one with defect (probably random pick instead of cherry picked like the 650)

 

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.W0RlZw&id=43593229186&ns=1&abbucket=6

The screens appear to be used. If they were new, the seller would say that they were new. 650 RMB for one that is in perfect shape, and 300 for one that has some flaws. My guess is that the flaws are some light scratches. If it says that it has flaws, it has flaws. Random pick vs cherry pick is not something that they do in China. Also, the fine print says that SPF1 and SPD1 screens are being sold, so either one should be expected unless you ask the seller and they explicitly tell you something different.

 

I never shop there(taobao~) so I just translate what it says, and add my speculation. I guess I should said random pick from those arent "perfect"(perfect=no dead pixel but can be with light bleed etc).

spf1 and spd1 look much different though.

the description does say they ship out new.

 

Still waiting to get the spd1, I rigged up the spf1 temporarily but ran into 2 issues with the software so I am wary if this will ever be perfect unless Clevo adds support for these 2 ips panel:

Default resolutions and refresh rates are out of phase giving horizontal wavy lines. Workaround use Nvidia custom refresh rates.
No brightness controls at all, even windows power profile brightness sliders disappear. Hotkeys do not work for brightness control. Can use the Nvidia color controls to compensate but these do not actually control the backlight they only send lower output to the screen so power consumption will be at max for the screen.

 

The pin-arrangement of the SPD1 and SPF1 are identical; both at pin #23/PWM:

Spoiler: pin-arrangement LP173WF4-SPD1 and SPF1

IPS or TN wouldn't matter; the dim function is a property controlled by power output to the backlight and these are both WLED (a CCFL's would be different). One issue might be a different pin arrangement vis-à-vis the original panel. Either that, or poor connection on either side of the cable, which would also explain the out-of-sync. (AUX_P and AUX_N).

 

Poor connection I'm not so sure since I can oc the SPF1 to 100hz by using custom refresh rate. I have been looking into the registry entries for the Nvidia device under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000

There are various keys for refresh and timings etc, also wondering if a key is missing, something like previous fixes for brightness control eg EnableBrightnessControl or RMBrightnesControlFlags or MonitorCapabilityList

I will take another look once I get the spd1 panel

 

Here's the pinout of the original TN panel, they match the LG IPS panels as far as I can work out:

 

These are the timings for the original TN and the spf1 IPS panel:





How does the graphics card get these timings does it have to match what is in the EDID?

 

A clean install, live cd or dual boot could rule out software issues. And reinstalled the driver? Might also check ' roll back driver' in ' device manager', that should revert back to standard VGA.

 

I tried reinstalling older drivers but no joy. I'm waiting for the 850 evo msata to be released before I try dual boot.

 

Your're right. I missed that when skimming through it. They usually come out and say it more prominently than hiding it in the details.

 

That sucks ... looks like screen modding swapping is NOT 100% compatible..

Anyway long time ago I was repairing Sony Vaio AW series and this model supported 3 screens
1st. one was CCFL
2nd one was CCFL2 (2 means dual lamp)
3rd one was Adobe RGB 3chip LED technology (18.4'') (I think still BEST laptop screen 137% color gamut )
And when I was swapping ccfl screen with LED I had to change switch pattern on MB called DIP switch.



Here is pic of cable extension (40pin) if original is short. Can be used for 30pin too.

 

I think I've worked out the native resolution/refresh display issue. That's an EDID problem. The horizontal backporch was being read as 70 when it should default to 80. This can easily be fixed by editing the registry.
Still clueless to the brightness control, not sure if that is EDID or eprom related on the LCD itself.

 

I managed to add 90hz as a native refresh rate to the TN panel via editing edid. Also applies to all lower resolutions. Just waiting for the spd1 before I try to fix the issues now.

 

-------------

 

My spd1 screen still hasn't arrived. I did some more research on the 2 issues I encountered with the spf1 screen in my P377sm-a and I'm happy to report that I have fixed/worked around these issues to the point I have a 100% functional IPS panel with the only caveat is that the FN+F8/F9 will not adjust screen brightness.
For the native resolution/refresh rates I used CRU (Toasty?) to set the proper parameters:


For the screen brightness I added 2 reg keys under the Nvidia keys found at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
Search for Nvidia
Add a reg_dword EnableBrightnessControl with a value of 1
Add a reg_dword RMBrightnesControlFlags with a value of 800 (hex)

This gave me back the screen brightness controls under power settings and windows mobility panel and the sliders work.

In the latest P770ZM bios there is a changelog for support of the LP173WF4 screen so I assume that is the hotkey function. I hope Prema can add this to the P377sm-a bios sometime or Clevo releases the same code update to the P377sm-a.

Now all I need is the spd1 panel for a permanent swap.

 

That's great news ... so fak the spd1 and fit spf1 put all together and make nice picture..
I really want to see it..

 

@kantana
Do you think that this same screen would fit into MSi GS70 2QD ?
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/173-...-128gb-ssd-1tb-hdd-2gb-nvidia-geforce-gtx-965

 

Not an expert on the GS70 since I've never worked on one before. You first need to check what is your current screen in the notebook, download HWInfo64 to see which LCD is being used it will return a PNP code eg CMN1735 which if you search the web will come up with a model in my case Chi Mei Innolux N173HGE-E11. This came up as an 30 pin EDP panel. You can also see this information from the windows device manager against the PnP generic monitor under details tab, scroll to hardware id.


I physically checked this as well as the connector being used by taking apart the screen bezel.
Alternately you can do a precheck against notebookcheck.net their internal reviews have the panel type listed.
From looking at notebookcheck.net I can see the GS70 reviewed had the same panel type as me so it uses a 30 pin EDP connector.
You will still need to physically check your screen bezel and mounting mechanism. The LP173WF4-SPF1 has additional circuit boards wrapped in black plastic hanging off the bottom of the screen this needs about 11mm of clearance off the bottom of the screen compared to the N173HGE-E11 panel.
The LP173WF4-SPF1 has 4 tabs with 2 screw holes each on the front face of the display, see my previous images. It doesn't have the same mounting holes as the N173HGE-E11 that has them on the left and right sides for attaching to hinges.
Lastly, even if you manage to match all these up against your existing panel you will run against bios/ec/software support for brightness control/hotkeys etc. If MSI never offered this screen in that model of notebook you may not have any control over the brightness or the default refresh rates/EDID is wrong. You can correct the refresh rates using CRU to make your own by looking up the panels information online. Bios/EC/software support may not come easily though.
It's a huge risk at the end of the day whether it will work or not but you can at least look up some of the information before hand.

 

For those wondering how to change/replace the LCD cable in the P375/377sm-a I have already tried this. The P375/377sm-a has 2 video connectors on the mainboard. These are LVDS and EDP placed side by side on the top section of the mainboard.
Bad news is that it requires almost a complete strip down to remove the top cover of the notebook to access these. I counted past 30 screws to get to the part where I could remove the top cover, there are also 4/5 ribbons that need to be removed to be able to get to these video ports. Start by removing the keyboard, after that 2 more screws under the keyboard. Flip the machine over and undo the access panel and hard drive/battery bays. Basically you are removing all the screws that you can see, start with the ones near the edges of the notebook. After that check the battery bay/harddrive bay and near the gpus.
It's a long tedious process with lots of care needed especially when removing/reconnecting the ribbons to remove the top section.

After all the screen swapping I actually prefer the N173HGE-E11 panel for contrast/colors/response compared to the LP173WF4-SPF1. I expected better colors/contrast from the IPS but was disappointed, it only offered better viewing angles and ability to overclock to 100hz and hacked gsync support. I will continue to hunt down a SPD1 panel in the hopes it has better colors/contrast.

I'm also looking for the 120hz screen and 50 pin EDP cable. I have seen 2 options on the 120hz screeen, glare and matt. Which screen has better colors/contrast/gamut/viewing angles?

 

Just an update I received the spd1 and have fitted it into my p377sm-a. The panel performs much better than the spf1 for brightness/colors etc. It is more accurate than the spf1.
So right now I have IPS wide angles/100hz/gsync support. I lost the use of the hotkeys for brightness control but I'm enjoying this thus far.
Next experiment will be 120hz TN panel if I can source the cable and screen.

 

Great to hear! Now if some Clevo resellers can offer this, it would be great!!

 

Why TN when it is worst than IPS
Can you please up both screens FHD quality pictures front and back pls ? and thicknes ?
And both prices ? and where to buy them ?

Btw Msi GS70 2QE has N173HGE-E11 (same like you has originally ) screen
Will those IPS SPD orSPF fit in MSi GS70 ?
It should work same as for you ..

So u saying u preffer TN ??? ar u sure ?? no way it has better contrast or collors!
So u receivd SDP is it better than N173HGE-E11 ?

 

Actually, you can have crap IPS displays color wise. IPS will always give you better viewing angles, but not always better colors. In general, an IPS panel will be of higher quality than a TN one, but is quite possible to have TN panels with very good color accuracy and IPS panels with lower color accuracy and gamut. The viewing angles will remain better on any IPS display though.

I personally would choose a 100 % sRGB matte TN over an IPS display with lower color accuracy. That said, at the same or better color accuracy (which is usually the case), I'd definitely go for the IPS display over TN.

 

I HATE horrible angles ! I need to have nice angles .. I have laptop in bed and I have it placed at any angles .. ! I hate when I see X-ray on it !
And no way that TN has better brightness.. it is darker .. and + IPS has higher pixel density so letters looks nice and smooth .. same like on smartphones..
I even HATE amoled crap some kind of samsungs hybrid.. dark as darknes.. too strong colours.. very bad whites and can see micro dots on it.. disgusting.

 

I've posted the exact dimensions of both IPS screens before in the 120hz screen thread. Both SPD1 & SPF1 are IPS screens, 4mm thick but the SPD1 has a 30mm section near the bottom back of the screen with the circuit board that is 6mm thick then it reverts to 4mm thick above that.
The N173HGE-E11 is 8mm thick.
Whether the SPF1 or SPD1 will fit in the GS70 will depend on how the notebook lid is setup. Depends if it has enough room inside to accommodate the extra 11mm height of the SPF1 or if you have to use the SPD1. Also how the screens are mounted may require snapping of the mounting brackets.
I suspect you will have to use tape/velcro etc.
The SPF1 can be bought from an eBay seller just search for LP173WF4-SPF1. He has posted the SPD1 as well but he will send the SPF1 only .
I had to source the SPD1 locally from a small repair shop in Hong Kong that got the screen from China. I never managed to source the SPD1 from any online sources. Just be aware that any sellers will just supply the SPF1 even if you order the SPD1! The SPF1 will require snapping off 2 clips on the front bezel of the P377sm-a lid since these get in the way of the circuit board under the screen but otherwise same mounting requirements as the SPd1.
I found the SPD1 had more accurate colors than the SPF1. Both screens need the EnableBrightnessControl registry key to bring back the brightness sliders for Windows power options/Cleve control center and the hotkey FN+F8/F9 do not work.
SPF1 has incorrect EDID settings so it has a fuzzy screen but you can use CRU to correct this as EDID overrides and to add in the higher refresh rates like 100hz.
I'm curious on the 120hz TN panel since it has a low response rate 5ms and a brighter panel as well as full compatibility with hot keys.
I normally prefer IPS vs TN but I am sensitive to ghosting in LCDs. Higher refresh rates alleviates this a bit to my eyes.

 

Ok think I found my holy grail for zero motion blur, 2d lightboost!
Do the Clevo P377sm-a support lightboost with a 120hz LCD?
Anyway this chart also explains why I find 100hz to have less blur than 60hz even with an IPS panel that has a response time of 25ms.

 

hi man !
I dont know how to PM someone so I am just writing you here.
Are u still "in the business" with sony vaio AW series laptops ? I am now trying to change my screen on my AW41MF/H which is 1 x CCFL 1680 x 945 WXGA HD+ screen to full HD LED screen, preferably RGB 3chip LED (I am not sure if this is even being sold lol). I've read through your posts but screens u posted are deleted. You said something about DIP switches or inverter or something needed...
For example, would this screen fit?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361215497525?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

My specs(I changed cpu to T9900, ram to 2*4GB and put one SSD there):
http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/content/cnt-specs/VGN-AW41MF/list

Or if you know about anyone selling AW series with full HD and raid chipset let me know please!
...or if you know about any other laptop that could replace AW series(18.4" full HD, SSD/raid possibility, not gaming laptop).


Thank you mate!

 

Hi
Yes that screen is LED matte once you replace you need swith must be set to this below :
To locate switch you need remove keyboard from top..



I had upgraded to Core 2 Extreme CPU when I had AW series .. X9100 one ..

What I know replacement of 18'4'' Vaio is just MSi GS70 2QD/2QE
It is gaming laptop but not high end gaming it is nearly high end and it is very slim you will like it ..
chck here : http://www.ixbt.com/portopc/msi/msi-gs70-2qe.shtml (translate to english)
Non gaming is this one : http://www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/model/NX.MNXEK.006

 

So what I do is, disassemble the laptop, remove the keyboard, locate the switches right...
As I understand it, there's no need to BUY new switches as they are already in my laptop(?) but just to SET them correctly?

Then what? Will I be able to just plug the new LED LCD in? (What is the "inverter" for ? Do I need a new one or something? )
I am not sure if the connectors are the same. There's one cable down there in the picture on the NON-LED screen(I prolly have this one at the moment):

But on the LED LCD there is something different:



Do you still remember anything about connectors etc please ?
And sorry for stupid questions, i've never changed a laptop screen before.

 

that first one is incorrect as thar os ccfl . u see wires coming through that means it is for inverter which converts high voltage for neon lamps .. that is non led !
the second one is correct...
and yes u remove keyboard and youvwill find dip swich somewhere near wifi card dont remember now properly
and you will need dual flex cable conector as second one is for led power
And I have feeling that it is gonna be very hard for you to find this dual connector cable..!

 

thanks you very much for help!
I've bought the LED screen already and the seller said it will come with some "special" very important cable so I think its this cable u are talking about now. When they deliver it to me I will show you some pics of the cable + screen

 

wooow uu soo lucky .. ! angels stayed above u P:

 

So this is the cable that was enclosed with the screen.









The screen is perfect! ...LED Full HD screen is awesome. Colours are so nice...Superb!

 

This screen is ONLY one BEST in the world (after IPS) made by samsung .. which can beat IPS but only in colour gamut as it produces 130%
That chimei crap in new laptops and others non IPS is not reaching ankle ... and this screen is from 2008 !
That is why vaio AW series with this screen was about £2500 back in the day

 

That's true mate. I was about to buy used Sony Vaio AW41XH which should have this screen equipped from new, raid support, altmost high-end CPU(T9800), 8GB ram.....
I didn't win the auction tho ...I was really after the raid support and thus bypassing SATA 2.0 limitations but what worried me the most is NO SUPPORT for TRIM for raid-ed SSDs/HHDs on PM45 chipset...

 

I had it and I replaced everything from scratch
I hated piano reflective finish bcos it was peeling all of so I replaced palmrest lid for nice black matte finish I had C2extreme x9100, 8gb and I replaced wifi card with 3 antenas and I added wire behind screen in the middle (didn't help much for signal haha )
I removed optical boring drive and installed SSD bay in it .. So I have installed 4x SSD in that time old samsung ones 4x128GB
Was excited that I will create Quad-RAID 0 but BIG disappointment came !! And I was really pissed off ! The laptop allowed create ONLY from two drives .. So I ended up with DUAL RAID 0 2x and 2x .. shame.. Then it would be kind of fast but then I sold samsungs and I installed 2x 180GB OCZ 1.8'' (those small ones ) and 2x OCZ normal 2.5'' ones.. sata 2 ..
2x SSD in that time gave me speed like nowadays one SSD sata 3 bcos vaio aw supports only sata 2 tho.. so it was nearly 450MB and write 200 ? or 300? don't remember..
And TRIM it DOES support u just needed to have installed IRST 12 version .. all under 12 doesn't support TRIM...

 

Hey @ kantana
I think I might buy GS70 and I wont change screen but I might get this lovely monitor with 144Hz IPS G-Sync and it is STUNNING !

 

You need a laptop that can push your games at 144Hz... A GS70 won't be good enough, even with a 970M.. I think you'd be better off with a 60Hz Acer IPS monitor (the 1440p one)...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...inkCode=xm2&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B00S9LHH58

 

you didn't see above what kantana did oced to 90Hz ..
GS70 supports new standards ! it is newer laptop than kantanas !

 

I know he could OC the internal pannel however how is that relevant to being able to push 144Hz? Maybe I should have phrased the questions better.. You won't get high enough FPS at 2560X1440 for a 144Hz monitor.. I'm not sure but that might be problematic... Sure thing, you can output it however, you need fps too.. Maybe @D2 Ultima can explain this better then me.. Also Kantana's laptop can also output 4K@60Hz by mini DP/thunderbolt port so nothing special about the MSI.. The HDMI is also still 1.4 so limited to 4K@30Hz which is the same..

 

970M probably will have problems keeping 120+ fps at 1440p. Even my two 780Ms have problems with 120fps at 1080p sometimes, especially in more demanding games. A single 970M at 1440p will be worse. A GS70 is not a computer you get because you want the best gaming experience, no matter how you slice it. It is one of the better ones if you feel a desire for a very thin gaming-capable notebook, but it's not going to be as good as a P770ZM or something, especially for overclocking.

 

No I don't want to use 4k or 2k .. I wanna keep 1k (1080p) at 144Hz !
And am no overclocker (bcos it is useless ) but wud do try Hz modding as kantana ...

 

Hi kantana here is review of new gigabyte laptop and uses again same LG screen SPF (no SPD) and they saying screen is very quality ...
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Gigabyte-P37X-Notebook-Review.139381.0.html

 

You can't overclock the internal screen because it runs on the iGPU. You can't overclock external screens either, as even though it runs through nVidia GPU, I believe the nVidia GPU options are still gone from the control panel for the display options.

Your CPU likely will have problems keeping 120fps at 1080p, even if you can OC the GPU enough to do so without overheating etc.