DV2000 and DV6000 - Displays

I've been debating between these product lines for a while now and spent a bit of time at the store tonight comparing them side-by-side re: dimensions, weight and display size. Anyway, I couldn't help but notice a fairly substantial difference in the clarity of the displays between the two models. The display in the dv2000 (nVidia 6150) exhibited a visible shimmer/sheen. The display in the dv6000 (GMA950) was perfectly clean/clear and appeared a bit sharper on the other hand... definitely easier to look at, which is important during extended use. I don't know if I was looking at a bad sample of the dv2000 or what, but side-by-side, there was a noticeable difference. I'm curious to know if anyone else has encountered this or if it was an isolated incident? Could it be a difference between the display adapters? Different panel types/technologies? Both were advertised as HD BrightView glossy displays @ 1280x800... no more detail beyond that of course.

When I was shopping for an LCD display for my desktop I seem to recall similar comments re: some desktop LCD displays from Acer and ViewSonic. Only certain models tho... odd.

 

I've noticed the shimmer too. This was very prominent in the nVidia based DV series. It is due to the greater sharpness settings that the nVidia based solutions offer. The Driver control panel offers tweaking the settings to have an acceptable level of sharpness (or say, reduced fuzziness/shimmer).

I have tried tweaking those options for the GeForce 2, 4, 4 Go, FX, and 6 Go series. Works differently with all of those. Try tweaking it. You might just be amazed to find a razor sharp setting never seen before .

 

HP uses several suppliers for the LCD and there is bound to be some minor differences between the screens even in the same model. So its not surprising that there is a difference between 2 different models. Also since it was a display model someone might have poked around the display settings and changed it on the dv2000.

Personally I havent noticed any issues with my 14" V3000(basically compaq version of the dv2000)

 

Doh. I didn't think to dabble with the display properties when I was in the store... only had ~20 minutes to play tho. I'll give it another try tonight and see if it makes a difference. I was a little surprised tho as the difference was quite noticeable. I'll try to find a dv6xxx with a nVidia display adapter as well. The two I compared side-by-side were selected because they were physically side-by-side on the shelf. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I just got back from the same store as last night and looked at all of the HP dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 models on display as well as a Compaq V6000. I first confirmed the shimmering/sheen effect I noticed yesterday on an HP dv2000 (nVidia 6150) and after messing with the display settings/nVidia Control Panel, there was nothing I could do to change it. All of the settings in the nVidia control panel are pretty much targeted at 3D anyway. I also noticed it on a TX series HP, also nVidia 6150, and may have caught it on a dv6000 nVidia 6150 (very very slight tho). The nVidia driver was of the same version in all cases whether the behaviour was present or not. The odd thing is that there was absolutely no sign of the behaviour on any of the Intel-based TX/dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 models w/ GMA950 or the AMD-based v6000/dv6000/dv9000 w/ nVidia 6150. The displays were very clean/crisp.

I then went to another store and verified the same behaviour on a dv2000 configured with an X2 Turion and nVidia 6150. No sign of it on the dv6000/dv9000 models, regardless of CPU/display adapter.

So, from what i've seen, the behaviour appears to primarily affect HP dv2000 series notebooks with 14.1" WXGA displays when configured w/ an nVidia 6150. You would think that HP would use the same LCD panel for both AMD/Intel dv2000's, but who knows. If that's the case tho i'm a little disappointed as i'm looking to buy a notebook shortly and the dv2000 (w/ X2 Turion and nVidia 6150) is right up my alley. Thinking about a dv6000 now tho...

 

So AMD versions have worse screens? I don't have anything to compare to my V3019US with AMD and Geforce 6150 but it looks like a fine screen to me.

 

I believe the issue here is the manufacturer of the screen as miner mentioned above. HP uses several different brands for there screens: LG-Philips, Samsung, QDS, AOS,(I'm not certain if the last two are 100% correct, its been a while since I last looked at the brands used). I have a LG-Phillips and its pretty good. also its not just the AMD versions, it just depends on what manufacturer was available the day yours was being built or which screen was closest to the person building your computer, so its pretty random.

To check: right click on my computer> properties> hardware tab> device manager> monitors> double click on "plug and play monitor"> details tab

and under "device instance ids" mine displays: DISPLAY\LPL2A00\5&D11BBC6&0&00000118&01&00; you can also look under "hardware id" which displays: Monitor\LPL2A00
in both of these the LPL is the manufacturer code which stands for LG-Phillips

for more info on the different manufacturers and there respective ids under the device manager I suggest you search the forum as there was a lot of talk on this subject when the new dv series first came out.

 

I think that's simplifying it a little and is not the statement i'm trying to make. I will let people judge the quality of their display for themselves. It's also entirely possible that I may not have noticed the behaviour if I had not done a direct side-by-side comparison. All I can say is that i've compared a number of dv2000/dv6000/dv9000/v6000/tx-series notebooks and found the behaviour to prevalent on the dv2000 when configured with an nVidia 6150 display adapter. Is it tied to production time? Did HP put a specific make/model in dv2000's with this config? I don't know the answers to those questions. I wish I had taken a look at the device details tho as jmhal suggested... I should have known better.

I was just curious to know if anyone else had come across this and could offer an explanation. I remember this issue being discussed on other forums re: desktop LCD displays and don't think a clear answer was ever found...

 

I took a look at the hardware id's yesterday and it seems that the models exhibiting the "shimmer" use an NVD0800 panel. Not sure who makes it. The other models, which don't show any sign of this behaviour, use either AUOxxxx (AU Optronics), LPLxxxx (LG) or SECxxxx (Samsung) panel.

 

AUO.... thats the one; not sure where the hell I got AOS from?
Anyway, NVD is a new one to me. back in Sept-Nov when a lot of people where looking into the screen manufacturers I don't remember that one ever showing up, HP might have added a new one to their list. But looking at NVD I can't help but think nVidia

 

I first thought of nVidia, but I don't see it. My next thought was perhaps the drivers for integrated 6150 are some how masking the panel ID. From a quick Google search the other candidate is "Nieman Video Displays"... but they don't seem to claim supplying LCDs to notebook manufacturers.

 

NVD0800 is not the actual name of the panel. I translated a bunch of the chinese discussions on it (from an nvd0800 google) and it seems that something in the bios is preventing the real manufacturer from being displayed... They suspect NVD0800 is samsung.

 

I was curious if the actual identification was being masked. If that is the case, I wonder why...