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    Quality of T400 WXGA+ LED

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by peli_kan, Aug 3, 2009.

  1. peli_kan

    peli_kan Notebook Evangelist

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    WXGA+ LED: I've read from one owner that his is from LG, and that there is a bit of a blue tint. Can anyone confirm this, and comment also on its contrast ratio?

    Again, I'm not asking about the WXGA LED, which are from both Samsung (bad) and LG (good), but the WXGA+ LED which to the best of my knowledge isn't all that great either. Where does it stack up against the WXGA CCFL and WXGA LED?

    Thanks guys.
     
  2. zenit

    zenit Notebook Evangelist

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    i've had both Samsung and LG WXGA+ and they are both total crap, some of the worst screens i've ever used on a recent laptop. Contrast ratios on both are extremely poor. LG has more saturated red, Samsung more saturated blue. Red on the Samsung is orangish.

    here is the WXGA+ LED LG (left) and WXGA high nit (right)

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Dreamer

    Dreamer The Bad Boy

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    The 14.1" WXGA+ displays are of very low quality in general, the real contrast ratio is horrible (about 150:1) regardless of the notebook brand and the display manufacturer, the viewing angles will be very narrow as well.

    The WXGA ones on the T400 won't be any better too, with the exception of the "High nit" panel.

    Btw, zenit, can you fix the links to the pictures in your thread as they don't work anymore?
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=399176
     
  4. pipspeak

    pipspeak Notebook Deity

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    Yep, my CCFL WXGA+ is no better than displays I had on laptops int he late 1990s. Most disappointing, even for a TN panel.
     
  5. pipspeak

    pipspeak Notebook Deity

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    Yep, my CCFL WXGA+ is no better than displays I had on laptops in the late 1990s. Most disappointing, even for a TN panel.
     
  6. peli_kan

    peli_kan Notebook Evangelist

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    Poop. Are there any good LED screens out there after all, besides the ones on Sonys and some Macs?
     
  7. Dreamer

    Dreamer The Bad Boy

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    "LED" is a type of backlighting and has nothing to do with panel quality. In this particular case, the old crappy panels got backlight upgrade and that's about it, they are still crappy.

    The 14.1" displays are mediocre in general, with a very few WXGA exceptions that are usually used in semi-rugged and rugged notebooks. The "High nit" option on the T400 is one of them and has LED backlighting as well.

    Otherwise, you are aware of the two sites that provide objective measurements about display quality...
     
  8. peli_kan

    peli_kan Notebook Evangelist

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    NBJ and NBC don't regularly post color gamut test results, usually leaving the readers with just luminance readings and contrast ratios. I'll keep looking around though for objective tests.
     
  9. pem69

    pem69 Notebook Consultant

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    Hmm, interesting. Out of curiosity, how does the display for the T400s compare?
     
  10. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    A little better, but still not great by any definition of the word.

    The only good Lenovo displays at present are:

    x200 Tablet, T400 (High-Nit LED), w700 (WUXGA).
     
  11. LoneWolf15

    LoneWolf15 The Chairman

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    Maybe it's me --I guess I'm one of the few that's fairly happy with my WXGA+ CCFL screen, at least at full brightness. Backlighting is uniform with no bleed, and color quality is good. It's not at the level of my Dell 2407WFP S-PVA panel, but what TN panel is?

    Maybe I just got a good one in the batch. It's a darned sight better than the WXGA panel I had on my 15" T61, which seemed good when I got it, but looks dim and washed-out in comparison.
     
  12. Dreamer

    Dreamer The Bad Boy

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    The standard color gamut for notebook displays is 45% NTSC, you don't need to test that, it's a fact. The small percentage of notebooks that happen to have a higher and/or wide color gamut are well advertised, it's just a feature of the backlight and it's not difficult to find information about it.

    Notebookcheck usually provides information about the gamut when it's necessary, which is rare as I said and there won't be any surprises there.

    Otherwise, it's the contrast ratio that gives you a general idea of display quality, the bare minimum for a good display is about 400:1, anything under 200:1, which is very typical for 12-14.1" business models from HP, Dell and Lenovo is low quality and you can expect the viewing angles to be poor as well.
     
  13. peli_kan

    peli_kan Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for filling me in. I'll keep what you've taught me in mind and make sure that I look for the right figures.

    I have owned 12" Thinkpad tablets before, their screens really are nice.
     
  14. Dreamer

    Dreamer The Bad Boy

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    Tablets are the only ThinkPad models that still use IPS variations (AFFS) and more recently PVA panels, so they are an exception as well. There are also a few other companies that offer tablets with better displays, Fujitsu and HP, for example. Dell uses better TN panels in their business tablets.

    I usually don't mention tablets as they are rather niche market products and there is a dedicated forum for them.
     
  15. t30power

    t30power Notebook Deity

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  16. pufftissue

    pufftissue Notebook Evangelist

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    It is the contrast ratio that makes this panel stink so bad. I have seen it and for web surfing, it's fine, but for video, it is very unacceptable. And it is not a matter of glossy or matte, I am totally fine with a matte screen. It is akin to the macbook unibodies' 13" screen. Not bad in the store and you can certainly do your office productivity, but if you start watching full screen hulu or any dvds, you'll be disappointed.
     
  17. peli_kan

    peli_kan Notebook Evangelist

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    Hmmm, that's a shame. I was hoping a WXGA+ LED T400 could serve as a TV replacement as well, so this is disappointing.
     
  18. koreo

    koreo Notebook Consultant

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    Does the WXGA High Nit LED for the T400 drain more battery than the WXGA LED or WXGA+ CCFL?