T400 Samsung vs. LG display

Have we figured this one out yet folks?

I've been reading through a LOT of threads about this debate all started (and ended) last September '08. The biggest thread is this one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295694.

Since blogging about this has died down I'm wondering if it's still an issue. Should I try my best to get an LG or is 42T0504 not that bad of a FRU after all?

 

Well, I received the LED (not high nit) Samsung LCD with my T400 last week. I've noticed that some people on these forums like to use words such as "horrendous" when they're even slightly disappointed in something. I'll try to be a bit less emo.

Pros:
The screen is BRIGHT (obviously, it might be a little less bright if you get the CCFL version)
The text and picture is clean and crisp.

Cons
The colors do look a little "washed out." Still, it doesn't seem to detract from the overall sharpness of the text and picture (which is my #1 concern since I'm using this primarily for school-related tasks).
It seems to have an overall bluish tint to the whole thing, but it's not very noticeable. It just looks slightly off when compared to an LCD with really good color production.

Overall
I feel like the sharpness of the picture and text is better than most screens I've seen. The vividness of the colors does leave something to be desired, but I'm perfectly content with it.


I have no idea if Samsung has improved their panels since the hysteria that occurred several months ago. It seems that my Samsung panel resembles the characteristics described by those previous posts. It just seems to be a matter of opinion whether people find their screen "horrendous" or not. My panel was made in 2007 and has the same model #, so I'm betting it's the same one Lenovo has always been using.

 

Thanks for your non incendiary description. After reading many of the descriptions of the panel I am starting to think it's a gamma issue which can be corrected with calibration. I have yet to read a critique of the samsung that involved calibrating the panel at all. If you do not have a colorometer can you run window's display color calibration program? This will do a good job of adjusting the gamma and then give a revised review?

thanks again

 

I had one about a month ago, a T400 with the Samsung wxga+ led display. It is really washed out and calibration can't fix the gamma issue b/c I tried.

I am thinking that the mere fact that you want to calibrate a monitor will mean that you're going to be disappointed. I find that you don't need to calibrate to recognize whether a monitor is good or bad. Looking around campus I have been steathily getting looks at the many T400s that are around. Some of them I can swear are alright. They do not look like the Samsung LED that I got. Whether it's a "good" Samsung or they're all LGs is beyond my knowledge.

I've never been disappointed with LG screens, so if I attempted to get a T400, I would try to get an LG screen for sure.

 

I just received my LED high-nit display T400, and the display looks really washed out, when compared side-by-side with my old Dell E1505 laptop. I looked up my parts here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/product.do?template=/partslookup/partsLookup.vm
My screen is Mfg# 42T0622, FRU# 42T0623
According to PC Wizard:
Manufacturer : LTN141AT09201
Product ID : LEN4037

Is this a Samsung or LG? How do you tell?

I love everything else about the laptop, but am disappointed that the color is as bad as it is. Any suggestions on calibration? Or is it possible to get Lenovo to fix the color?

 

LTN = Samsung
LP = LG Philips

Most simple way to tell.

 

I think the chances of you being able to pick your screen is little to none.

 

If you spend time adjusting it you should be able to get it to look decent with some tradeoffs.

This website will take you through a number of adjustments,

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Also make sure you have the appropriate color file loaded.

 

I have an Samsung on my Q210 and it was super bright , but totality washed out , with no colour.

I now have an lg/philips screen on my Toshiba P300 and it`s beautiful.

If you want to find your lcd manufacturer try the util below.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

 

Short summary of the LG vs Samsung T400 debate:

The Samsung *would* be a good panel if it were not for the bad contrast ratio and black levels (black is gray). Aside from that and average vertical viewing angles, it would actually be a nice panel. They have *not* improved them over time. At all. Samsung is very consistent with their manufacturing; unless you get a defective part, the other hundred of that same panel sitting in the Lenovo warehouse or shipped from Samsung will look nearly identical unless they do a major revision of the same model, which rarely happens.

The LG from everything I've read is a bit brighter than the Samsung, but with the Sammy's faults fixed (contrast, vertical angles), aka, what the Samsung could have been.

If you're not picky about your notebook LCD's, then the Samsung may work fine for you. If you're the slightest bit picky about your notebook's display and have some to compare it to, the Samsung will look awful.