T61 14.1 LCD LG vs. Samsung screen

My friend and I bought the T61 with the same configuration. I got the Samsung panel and he received the LG panel. I spent about an hour looking at the screens side by side. Here are the differences.
1. LG screen is definitely brighter. About 2-3 clicks. I put both laptops on AC power. I also went into BIOS and changed the LCD brightness to HIGH on both machines.
2. Samsung screen has a more blueish tint.
3. The LG panel is considerably more grainier then the Samsung panel. For instance, when looking at white back ground, the LG panel is brighter and considerably whiter but way more grainier. The Samsung panel is considerably dimmer and the white is more blueish but is way more smoother meaning not grainy at all.
4. The text is definitely more crisper and sharper on the Samsung screen.
5. The advantage of the LG panel is that it is really bright. You can really tell the difference. But, it started to hurt my eyes because it was hard for my eyes to focus for a long time due to the graininess.
6. The Samsung panel is really cool to look at because of the slight blueish tint. It is dimmer but it was a lot easier on my eyes. I can look at the screen for hours without my eyes getting tired.

I guess it is personal preference.

 

That makes me feel a little less worried about possibly getting the Samsung on the 15.4" I ordered today.

 

Excellent post, thanks for the comparison. Maybe later you can get pics of them side by side?

 

Mines a samsung and it kind of sucks actually. Just delivered right now.


Might just be b/c I'm comparing it to my old 15.4" wsxga+ LG, but I am bummed. In fact, despite actually being pleasantly surprised at the overall build and tightness of the notebook (vs what I was expecting from reading the boards)- I'm thinking about taking the 15% hit.

POOR viewing angle. I could look at my z60m from anywhere, it could be open all the way (flat) and it looked the same. This one turns a different color if you get a slightly different vertical angle. Not worried about horizontal.

Huge arc of white light at the bottom on all black screens, unless you are looking square on.

I don't know. The thinkvantage map even looks like sh1t. Something so simple, but looks sloppy and not sharp at all.

Ahh! Maybe I'll get used to it, but right now I want it gone.



You guys better HOPE you get the LG. Really this thing looks bad even compared to my cheap emachines monitor.

 

turn brightness down on the LG then?


For me being into photography, the LG is imortant to me because the colors are more accurate, so when something is meant to be white, it better look white.


BTW are you sure it not a placebo? You may be making your self think the samsung is better.


And has anyone with a samsung tired collaborating it?

 

It's not really about the brightness. The LG screen is like looking at sunlight reflecting off of white sand. Feels like millions of crystals twinkling. This is the best I can describe what it feels like to me. I am not really sayng the Samsung screen is better.
Right off start, I thought the LG screen was really superior because of the brightness. But when I used the LG screen for some time, my eyes started to get tired faster.
I am not saying which is better but both are definitely different with pluses and minuses for both.

 

I have a T60p with the Samsung 15.4 screen and it looks good to me. Its not the brightest screen I have ever seen but it does fine indoors. Mine has minor light leakage across the bottom of the screen.

Of note is that mine came with the default color settings at "High Color (16 bit). This made the map in the background look like crap. Once I found this and set it to "True Color (32 bit)" everything looks much better/clearer.

I'll try to take some pictures of the screen tonight buy my camera skills are weak.

 

I think there is an article on wiki that describes this kind of "sparkling" effect.

Basically all TN LCD panels are 6 bit panels. In order to achieve the appearance of 8 bit color, you need to play some optical tricks on the human eye by employing something called dithering. I am not an expert on the software aspects of dithering. People in that wiki article claims that it is this dithering that is causing this perceived "sparkle" effect.

Not everyone call see this "sparkle" effect. But to the people that can see it, it is really annoying.

So, when it all comes down to it, all 6 bit TN panels have this "sparkle" effect. Some just have it a bit more than others.

 

thank you for the information. I find this the most difficult part about buying thinkpads, you can't see what the screen looks like...

 

so what are the part numbers for the LG and the samsung? by reading the description, i'm guessing I got a samsung, but its hard to say.

 

how do you increase max brightness from bios?

 

xnothingpoetic,
Im a photographer as well.
I have the LG 14.1 WXGA+. and I must say it is supreb !
I was worried about brightness - but Im so glad to say - its fantastic !
colors are accurate, black is black, white is whits.

btw...chk out my web..just for fun http://nimrodk.com

 

By grainy do you mean that the LG panel has bad screen sparkle?