Lenovo W530 Full HD screen door vertical grid B156HTN01.1

Hello Lenovo ThinkPad users,
I'm on my first ever Lenovo ThinkPad W530 (being one of the last available laptops that 15.6 inch without a number pad) and I got the Full HD screen because of all the praise on notebookcheck.net

Now after I powered it on and looked at it, I see annoying vertical grid lines between every column of pixels. They are more noticeable than my last laptop and are especially apparent on light backgrounds almost ruining them.

HWinfo says that my panel name is AU Optronics B156HW01 v4 (the good one listed on notebookcheck)
It also says the manufacturer name is: B156HTN01.1
My laptop manufacture warranty date starts in Mid October 2013 (don't know if that coincides with the assembly date or not).

My question is:
Is this common with all W530 w/FullHD manufactured in this period ?
Can other people with the same panel chime in on this ? Can I change it via warranty ? Is there an alternative part used for FullHD panels on this model used by Lenovo ?

(I have the 3 year carry-in/depot warranty).

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

You seems to have very good eyes.

 

I'd agree with Mr. Koala - you must have very good eyes. All LCD screens have those grid lines between pixels, but I have to get very close to the screen (roughly 2-3 inches away) before they are noticeable for me on the W530. As the screen you have is the best one offered for the W530, you would not be able to get a better replacement screen from Lenovo (unless yours is clearly defective). Something that may reduce the appearance of the grid lines is swapping the screen out with the v7 version (same screen and color gamut, but glossy instead of matte) to see if that helps.

 

Well if you want to see what I'm talking about see the article.on screen door effect on wikipedia.

I just want to know whether the 1.1 version screen is the same as what everyone else has and is normal or if Lenovo has several FullHd panels and I got an inferior one.

 

I looked up the part number for my screen according to my serial number:
MFG P/N: 0C00347
FRU P/N: 04X0609

Is this the same as what everyone has ?

 

The AUO B156HW01 V.4 and B156HTN01.1 aren't the same model (not sure what is up with HWInfo reporting both). If you can notice a screen door effect I am fairly certain you don't have the B156HW01 V.4. I loved the B156HW01 V.4 on my T530 and ordered the same panel to replace the lame screen on my m4800. I would see if Lenovo would be up for replacing your screen with the better AUO.

 

Correct

That would be my guess as well.

Most likely not. The V.4 panel has been discontinued and it will take some pull from above and/or plenty of luck to get the current one swapped for it.

Good luck.

 

Ok I'll check it out man

 

I have two identical ThinkPad w530 units with identical displays, according to moninfo, but one is beautifully clear and pleasnt on the eyes, while the other has the uber annoying screen door vertical grid pattern. With both of them sitting side by side, it is intensely obvious. I am wondering if perhaps this is a defect in the panel rather than just a design flaw in one panel versus another given that these two machines are identical with identical displays.



Here is the moninfo output from the displays:



Monitor
Windows description...... Generic PnP Monitor
Manufacturer............. Lenovo
Plug and Play ID......... LEN40B2
Data string.............. B156HW01 V4
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2009, ISO week 1
Filter driver............ None
-------------------------
EDID revision............ 1.3
Input signal type........ Digital
Color bit depth.......... Undefined
Display type............. RGB color
Screen size.............. 340 x 190 mm (15.3 in)
Power management......... Standby, Suspend, Active off/sleep
Extension blocs.......... None

 

Please post data from HWInfo64 as it seems there's a second value that only it can see and for the 1st value it reports the same data string even on the "worse" panel.

 

Ok I'll check it out man

 

OK I finally broke down and bought one from the same seller tonight. My display is the B156HTN01.1 (moninfo shows this correct, hwinfo is conflicting). Although I was able to calibrate the colors pretty well, the screen door effect has always bothered me. Dwindling supplies and ~50% lower price than the last time I looked (last autumn?) made me impulse buy....I hope it will be worth it!

Any tips for doing the replacement? I've not extensively searched but this guide seems fitting for the W530: Upgrading the Lenovo ThinkPad T520 Display - iFixit

 

Ok I'll check it out man

 

Awesome, thanks. Hoping I get a good one. I'll post back after I get it installed.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

No problem. Let me know how it goes.

 

New screen received today and installed. Wow installation was easy. Grid completely gone --- definitely worth it! :thumbsup: Using the color profile from here http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/695861-t-w530-fhd-color-profile.html is a definite win (I had to create my own for my B156HTN01.1). I think the whites are a bit better on this new display over the old one.

I bought this B156HW01 V.4 late Tuesday night (the 25th) and received it today (the 28th). Hope I don't get in trouble for posting this info, but seller "lcdtech889" definitely came through in a big way on this sale (good feedback going their way). I've only got 1 stuck pixel approximately 1/3 down from the top about 3 inches from the left side. I had to look for it just now (appears reddish on a white background but it looks white with other color backgrounds). Not too shabby, I can live with it. My other screen's pixels were perfect but they were spaced too far apart LOL. I was worried about ending up with multiple dead or stuck pixels, so only 1 is a good thing.

For anyone reading/doing this, when removing the connector from the old screen I had some black tape around my connector -- you don't need to remove this, only the tape holding the connector to the screen.

 

Awesome. Good to know! I'll give the profile a try and see how it is. Which one did you use? The custom w530 one?

 

Ya that's the one I'm using ("ThinkPad_W530_Custom.icm"). The colors are balanced quite well but for some reason I think the gamma might be overall a little low using this profile. Having a hard time as I don't have a device to calibrate with, but this profile goes a long way.

Did I mention how I like not having to look through a screen door? I can defintely say I can now use this baby for a long time with no regrets.

 

Could you please share your ICC profile for the B156HTN01.1 ? I'm stuck with it for a while and I don't have the calibrator Pretty please.

Yeah, I know what it's like to live without the screen door, but frankly I'd be really more irritated from having a stuck or dead pixel more than this uniform grid pattern. I also want to keep my OEM factory warranty (I'm in Egypt, so I don't have the luxury of on-site, next business day or even accidental coverage). So I guess I'm stuck for now.

 

Certainly..can't promise you it's the best as it was done without hardware as well, but I did my best to match it to my U2412M displays, which did have hardware calibrated profiles. Use at your own risk of course, but this is what I had with my B156HTN01.1 which was manufactured in January 2013 and had versions H/W:0A and F/W:1.

View attachment CalibratedDisplayProfile-1.zip

 

Hmmmm, this ICC gives me a very noticeable red tint to all colours, I guess I'll stick to the "ThinkPad W530 Custom" file I got on this forum.
Thanks anyway .