Wrong T530 TN Panel Model

Hello,

one of the reasons I chose this laptop was time tested FHD TN panel, model "AU Optronics B156HW01 v4". As my laptop arrived the LCD was "feeling" strange and not at all how everyone praised it as "the best TN panel". I looked at the EDID information, and sure enough, it's not the same panel, mine was "B156HTN01.1" instead.

For example, I can perceive black vertical lines every 5-10 pixels, but when I put LCD under microscope - everything looks perfect (besides reds being way too bright). This also has been confirmed by my co-workers - they could see the same distracting pattern. Adjusting color profile does not help, it just does not feel right...

I do feel discomfort using the screen and I never had any issues with any other LCD panel. I work with laptop pretty much the whole day, so eye comfort is a priority for me.

As a side note: I also increased my screen backlight frequency to 1 KHz, but it did not fix the problem. This happens with both, integrated and discrete graphics cards and on both, Linux and Windows operating systems.

Any suggestions what should I do? I *love* the laptop otherwise!

 

The ambient temp it's very hot?

I have seen that patterns and even worst with high temp under some panels. Try use it in a room with airC, no more than 23ºC, and see if that helps.

 

Well, it's a rather conflicting statement Options are simple:

1) If you're in the office for a significant part of the day, just get an external monitor, or more than one + dock. Reasonably sized Ultrasharps from Dell + external keyboard are inexpensive, and far easier on eyes and posture than any laptop screen mechanically attached to the keyboard.
2) Since you're looking for a particular panel looks, just buy and replace the panel yourself (voiding the warranty).
3) Claim a defective screen with Lenovo, if under warranty. Perhaps the replacement will be better.

 

how did you increase your backlight frequency?? I am very interested in this, as w530 seems to be the only laptop I've had that I cannot work on for prolonged periods of time because of eye strain...

 

well, to answer my own question, IntelPWMControl seems to do the job just fine

 

So I've found the same thing. B156HTN01.1. Here is my moninfo data. Where do you find IntelPWMControl? My searches don't really turn up anything that looks trustworthy.

Monitor
Windows description...... ThinkPad Display 1920x1080
Manufacturer............. Lenovo
Plug and Play ID......... LEN40B2
Data string.............. B156HTN01.1
Serial number............ n/a
Manufacture date......... 2012, ISO week 1
Filter driver............ Monitor
-------------------------
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
-------------------------
DDC/CI................... n/a

Color characteristics
Default color space...... Non-sRGB
Display gamma............ 2.20
Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.676 - Ry 0.314
Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.215 - Gy 0.665
Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.141 - By 0.069
White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
Range limits............. Not available
GTF standard............. Not supported
Additional descriptors... None
Preferred timing......... Yes
Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 138.000 1920 1980 2028 2090 1080 1090 1094 1100 -hsync -vsync
Detailed timing #1....... 1920x1080p at 50Hz (16:9)
Modeline............... "1920x1080" 138.000 1920 1980 2028 2508 1080 1090 1094 1100 -hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported

Report information
Date generated........... 8/24/2013
Software revision........ 2.70.0.989
Data source.............. Registry-Active
Operating system......... 6.1.7601.2.Service Pack 1

 

Looks like AUO B156HW01 V.4 is really out of stock. Lenovo is using a different, possibly inferior, part for 15.6" FHD screens.

Back to square one.

 

I'm a little saddened...just received this W530 yesterday. The screen isn't bad by any means, but like the OP I wasn't blown away. I noticed the grid effect right away, but it's not nearly as bad the XPS 15 that I had a couple of weeks ago. The XPS 15 screen was probably a little brighter and more saturated but screen effect was very bothersome.

The W530 screen is not bothersome in terms of grid (but noticable to me), it's definitely better than most TN panels I've seen, and the colors still seem pretty accurate (I'm using an ICC profile I found in another thread). No wow factor. I really hoped that for $1600 I would get wow factor. And I really don't have time to deal with replacements or returns at this point due to personal reasons.

 

My T530 shows the data string as B156HW01 v4. Still I am not so happy with the display quality. In my opinion, this 'best TN panel' is much hyped and it is still inferior than an IPS screen on X-series.

I would return it if I don't like the screen. It is the most important part on a laptop since I face it every day.

 

OK Well I need to provide this update because I really kind of jumped the gun in my previous post.

This screen is actually quite good IMO, despite the grid still being noticeable. I've been doing some lightroom work with some of my photos recently and I've found that the colors are really nice. I normally use 3xDell U2412M that are color calibrated and I'm not feeling that out of line doing this on my W530. I transferred my lightroom catalog over and went through some photos, imported some new ones and edited some RAW, and was actually surprised I wasn't at all disappointed. Note that I'm not a pro with pro-level gear, but I enjoy my amateur work. The viewing angles overall are pretty good for me. There is definitely a a color shift off angle, but who uses their laptop to when not sitting in front of it. The grid was not noticable to me when running lightroom and looking at photos.

I think I was overly jumpy because after returning the XPS-15 due to grid, I was really looking for it and of course that was the first thing I saw. That being said, I think I'm satisfied. I'd love a 95% color gamut IPS to go a long with all the other great things about this W530, but there are always tradeoffs.

 

Cool.

Hah, that Dell XPS 15 (L521X, 2012) is terrible in many ways, not just the screen. It has nice look, but awful engineering.

The XPS 15 (L502X, 2011), on the other hand, is really good. Incidentally, it has the AUO B156HW01 V.7, the glossy brother of the V.4.