HP NC8230 / NX8220 lcd low brightness ?

I heard here and there that the NC8230/NX8220 lcd have a very low brightness level and stay very dim, even with the ambient light sensor turned off. I am wondering what you, NC8230/8220 users think of that. Is this really a problem and should i look elsewhere.. and buy another laptop instead ?

Also, can you tell if this problem is only occurring with the WXGA version or is it for both WSXGA and WXGA screens?

 

Any NC8230 proud owners ?

 

My nx8220 with the light sensor off, goes really bright. This is how I usually use it when I'm on AC.

On batt I just use the light sensor on, but max brightness it'll let me go.

The laptop can go as bright as any other laptop I have ever owned.

 

I am happy to hear it. Which screen version do u own ? WSXGA (1600x..) or WXGA (1280x..) ? And when did you buy your laptop ?

 

WSXGA of course, anything else is a waste of time

It is going on 6 wks old now. Love the 1GB LAN and the usb port on the LHS (because that is where my mouse is plugged in).

Also love the full size k/b.

 

In order to increase brightness of your LCD, you need to do the following:

1. With the Ambient Light Sensor On -> Max out birghtness (Fn+F10), then,
2. Turn Ambient Light Sensor Off -> Max out Birghtness again (Fn+F10)

It looks like there's 2 levels of brightness/dimness with this notebook. Most people don't know about this "feature" and they only max out the brightness once, which is still way too dim.

Give it a try and let me know what happens.

-Vb-

 

One thing I wish the HP had, was osd for the display and the volume. (volume solved by using MS software)

 

Venombite : thanks for the trick!
and are you with wsxga or wxga ?

 

Thanks for the tip - I'm currently shopping for a nw8240 so this is helpful.

I'm wondering though - if you keep cranking up the brightness without increasing the contrast by a proportional amount, doesn't the screen begin to look washed-out? Right now I'm on a Thinkpad R51, and increasing the brightness beyond a certain point makes everything washed-out, colours become less saturated, etc.

 

Ummm there is a contrast adjustment? I don't think there is.

 

Sorry, what I meant was that increasing brightness too much on my R51 makes the screen look washed out because there isn't a way to proportionally increase contrast

So I'm wondering if Venombite's method for increasing brightness on the nc8230/nx8220 results in a similar tradeoff.

 

CyberDef,
You're welcome! It looks like HP doesn't seem to advertise the 2 brightness levels, so people only max it out once and makes it look dim.
The LCD I have is the WSXGA+, with a max resolution of 1680x1050.

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Device,
You're welcome as well. The brightness of the LCD goes to a limit that will give a good balance between brightness/contrast. With the settings (brightness only as there's no contrast adjustment) maxed out, I don't notice anything washed out. In fact, I think it looks ****ed good!

There was an issue with the brand of LCD used in the nx8220 (whites looked "dirty"), but that was supposedly fixed on HP's part for all new units.

-Vb-

 

Thanks again Venombite

I think I'm going to buy the nw8240, but I'm going to wait until January when the new "SmartBuy" promotion models come out.

 

Here is a review of the nc8320, if you are interested.

 

How can you turn off the Ambient Light Sensor ?

 

I've had my HP NX8220 for 5 months now, and generally I am very satisfied with it. It has withstood transportation and usage between home and work for me without any problems.

The display, however, is one of the laptop's shortcomings. Mine has a defect, and a rather dim display. When I received the laptop, the display had no dead pixels, and slightly uneven brightness.

After two months of owning the laptop, I noticed a blemish about the size of pen point in the top right region of the dispaly that was lighter than the rest of the display (it was not a dead pixel). I can't pinpoint the exact time that this defect appeared, and there are no incidents that I recall that would have caused this blemish to appear.

It was, and still is, too disruptive and bothersome for me to have to send in the laptop to HP for repair/replacement, so I have continued to use this display; however, the blemish has become 1/2" long and is quite a nuissance. Moreover, I am noticing the uneven brightness on my display becoming more severe. The lower left has "ripples" of brightness where there are lighter and darker bands (from sight only, not the ripples commonly described from contact with the display).

I have to rate the NX8220's display as unsatsifactory. It is possible that my display is beginning to fail. I may send it in to HP for repair over the Christmas holidays when I don't need it for work.

PS: What is the turnaround time for HP warranty service (i.e. replacing a display)?

 

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I have the same question: how can i turn the light sensor off?

 

See here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1185311&postcount=2

HTH

 

thr is a button which says Fn..press fn+f10 to increase the brightness..jus check on all the F buttons..there shld be a pic of a brightness icon withan upper arrow...
i had the same prob before with my nx6120..and had no clue how to adjust the brightness..

 

hi!
I have bought my nx8220 in june and have been loving it since then. Lately I have the impression that my LCD isn't as bright as before... I'm allways trying to increase the lcd brightness when before I wasn't... I allways thought that the screen was good but could be a little bit brighter, but know I am shure of it. It isn't too dim or so like some have reported (even HP support) it is perfectly usable, but I am not as happy with it as I was before.. the wite isn't white anymore, it's more of a bright greyish yellow... Has someone had this issue? Is there a way to check if my LCD is the one that had quality issues in the beggining? Is there a way to evaluate the brighteness of a lcd (besides my eyes..) I have tryed to use venom's trick to increase brightness, but with me it seems that it only has one brightness level... And for last, do you think HP would change my lcd, just because It doesn't suit my needs, and if so how long would they take based on your experience?
Thanks a lot guys!
cheers

 

I purchased my HP NX8220 around the same time as you did, and I share a similar sentiment of disappiontment with the LCD display the my notebook came with; see here.

Also, HP has issued a customer advisory notice about dim LCD displays on the NX8220. I received this in my e-mail from HP:

HP Notebook PCs - Dim Display on LCD Panel (c00575828)
Customer Advisory
Products: HP Compaq Notebook PCs
OS: not applicable
Release Date: Dec 05 2005

This link was included in the e-mail, but apparently the page has been taken down for some reason.

http://r.your.hp.com/r/c/r?1.1.HX.Dc.1MJJ4O.CC1NjS..N.DSyq.1Mqi.3Os1Bu

I am currently trying to contact HP support to resolve the issues I have with my LCD.

 

They say it affect from CNU5451YWB to CNU5460C7T. How can I read this code?
My nc8230 is CNU5420D()S

 

miufahkiu: please let us know when you find out more info - TIA

kylechanb: if you go by the "5xx" numbers it would appear your unit doesn't fall within the problem range ...

 

Every company try to make the best quility business line laptop. I think they use cheap LCD on their business line laptop is really stupid.

 

*most* of the business line laptops seem to be built around the idea of the least possible power consumption, and they end up saving those 2-3 extra watts of juice by going with the dimmer backlight bulbs.

 

own6volvos - what did you think of the nc6230 screen the short time you had it? And was it WXGA or WSXGA?

 

I mean the dead pixel problem of NX8220 in other thread..

 

I have to agree there with kilechanb. HP decision of using some cutdown dim/dark (call it what you want) LCD on their business laptop line while giving the 'dv' lines brighter LCD is kinda stupid!! I can't find other words sorry

As for autonomy issues, why don't let the users adjust the LCD for themselves, according to the battery life they need?

 

sxga+ screen (not widescreen)

Brightness was less than optimal. Highest setting was lower than my sony desktop lcd on its lowest setting. Easily washed out in a bright room, outside would have been a joke. One thing I disliked about the coating on the screen to make it non-reflective is that it gave it a "muddy" texture, and some of the text was overly blurry.

 

Ambient light sensor is a great feature IMO
However, even when I turn off the ambient light sensor and adjust the LCD to the brightest, its still dimmer than my girl's cheap Toshiba that she bought one year ago. Anyway, I would prefer dimmer hp screen becuase I already get used to dim compaq screen. My only hope is the NC8230's LCD doesn't have any dead pixel/ dimmer than now problem later.

 

I hate the ambient light sensor, as I lean over to look at the screen closer it makes it dimmer because it my shadow is over the sensor

I wish the brightness had an OSD so you can tell what level it is at.

For now, when I'm on mains I just turn the light sensor off and run it full brightness on Ac. On batt is when I turn it on and dim it as much as I can handle.

 

Sorry for upping an old thread, but what if...Fn-F9 and Fn-F10 don't work for any reason?

I turn the ambient light sensor off by F11, then the screen goes very dark. Then trying to up the brightness is totaly unsuccessful.

Can it be some kind of software issue. Does anybody know a way to use these buttons with some kind of virtual keyboard or a software for increasing the brightness?