Why does Lenovo use such low-quality screens in their notebooks?

I'm very interested in the Lenovo T500 notebook. However, after checking several reviews, the screen-quality is not that good. The brightness is low and contrast is not the best it could have been.

T500 screens resolutions:

WXGA - 1280×800, 98dpi

WSXGA+ resolution - 1680×1050, 129dpi

WXGA w/LED Backlight - 1280×800, 98dpi

Why does Lenovo use such low-quality screens? A WSXGA+ resolution screen on the T500 only has 129dpi compared to a notebook like the Sony FW190, which has a similar screen with about 350dpi (both use CCFL screens).

Is there any particular reason why Lenovo uses such low-quality screens?

 

Uh, 1680x1050 (16:10 aspect ratio) is an industry standard for a 15.4" screen. The Sony's screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and it's one of the only laptops out there (besides the 13.1 inch Sony Z) that actually has this.

**edit: I think you're confusing brightness (nits) with pixel density (dpi). Those "dpi" numbers you gave for the Thinkpads are correct but the "dpi" number you gave for the Sony is its brightness in nits.

 

I meant the overall quality of the screen (brightness, contrast etc.) I realize the resolution is different. Even the HP Pavilion Dv5t has better screen quality than the T500 (both having same resolution and screen size). Is there a reason for this?

 

Uhh, they use different suppliers? Different screen qualities for different price points?

 

My point is, Lenovo should have used high-quality screens for once.

 

I can't speak for all of the other resolutions and sizes that Lenovo uses, but atleast for 15.4" WSXGA LCD's, what Lenovo uses are usually pretty decent at minimum.

They use either LG or Samsung panels for this size and resolution and if you get an LG panel, the quality is probably the best out of any 15.4" WSXGA made. The Samsung is about average quality, but the LG is very good out of the box and superb (at least for a notebook LCD) after some moderate tweaking.

 

They did. They used IPS (FlexView) screens for the T60 series.

 

I really don't get the point in this questions. Assuming that Lenove CEO is not reading these forums, no one here has any influence on which screen lenovo choose for its laptops. So if you don't like the screens why not buy another brand? I'm saying it for you own good. there is a huge selection of laptop manufacturer out there, and anyone can chose what he likes.

 

I think they use the same panels as everyone else, but without the glossy treatment they look worse.

 

What the manufacturer puts on paper doesn't necessarily make it a high quality screen. As others stated Lenovo has used IPS in their notebook lineup before. The reason they don't now is because no one makes 15.4" IPS screens. For any given resolution there are only a couple of panels to choose from. For WSXGA+ there is LG and Samsung and Lenovo utilizes both.

There will be a 15.4" WUXGA RGB LED screen coming soon though. I don't think you can get better than that.

 

How soon? I'm looking to pick one up in a few weeks.

 

I saw that Dell will be using this as well. I wonder how long it will be until it is available. It would definately be worth waiting for the W500 purchase to have a WUXGA LED screen.

 

I have an LG screen for my T61p and I have no issues with it. How can I tweak it to make it better? Thanks

 

These settings are basically what I use on my T61p on a daily basis.

The only two things I usually tweak in the nVidia Control Panel color settings are:

Digital Vibrance: 20 (this is more personal preference so play with it a bit and see what you like better)

Blue gamma: 35% is what I'm using right now and if that's a bit much of a blue cut try 38-40%.

:EDIT:

Grabbing a pic to make it easier...
There we go.

Sorry about the off-topic! *pushes thread back on the topic of LCD quality*