X200 video playback ???

Sorry I just stumbled on that old thread that reappeared ... can someone tell me that all these video playback problems are of the past ... I travel a lot and I am getting an X200s with the 1280 x 800 screen (same as the X200). I am guessing these driver issues have been long corrected ?

Thanks
J.

 

I own an X200 and I've heard of no such issues. And I play movies all the time. Even if their were potentially problems in the past, Lenovo is very quick to solve any issues, so there should be no problems.

Ah, and the X200/s are amazing laptops! You will be extremely happy in buying one. Highly recommend these units!

 

It could be that there are new drivers or you could be in "power save mode". Or the codec could have compatibility issues, have you tried other video players?


oops: I thought you where having those problems

 

Perfectionseeker, the video playback ugliness still remains with my X200. The problem isn't the driver, it's the poor quality TN panel. It does pretty crappy static dithering, with very noticeable artifacts in the gradiented dark areas of videos and photos. There's an old thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299791 discussing it to death (prolly the one you're referring to), I've posted a workaround in it this morning. Without the workaround, videos look as ugly as three months ago. I have X200 model 7454-CTO, Vista x64, videocard driver 7.15.10.1556.

To be fair, many people don't notice any problems with video playback on X200 display, while some (myself included) do. Could be a bad batch of LCD panels, or could be few people with high standards. Judging from your nickname, you might be one of those

I suggest to try playback of videos with dark scenes on X200s in store before buying, and deciding for yourself. Make sure it's plugged into the wall, and has video power saving features disabled. And yes, in all other aspects X200 is an amazing machine.

Edit: looks like X200s has better panel than X200. Perhaps it doesn't have those gradient problems. Still, good to check beforehand.

 

I am a video-phile and I do not notice these artifacts you are mentioning. I've tried varies forms of media. Could be the panels, I'm not sure. I actually really like the screen on the X200. No problems to date.

 

Xenon2k9, the easy test is the gradient check at http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php, see whether transition in dark areas is smooth all the way to pitch black. That site is generally very useful for the purposes of display evaluation and tuning. It's possible that Lenovo switched to better panels later in production, and you're a lucky one Ah, the curse of early adopters...

 

I was a key participant in that thread you are referring to. I noticed the same problems that "DontBugAnymore" mentioned (dithering and poor quality in blacks/dark grays).

It ultimately proved unacceptable to me, so I got an x200 Tablet instead (the x200s [LED] and x200 Tablet do not suffer these problems). I am a bit of a picture perfectionist though, so your opinion may vary.

I was informed by Lenovo that the x200 only has a single source for the LCD panel, so unless they changed suppliers, it is likely that this problem still remains.

 

Thanks for the honesty ...it was something I would never think of since well it's 2009 and you don't expect any screen to do that ... I have a 5 yr old Toshiba Portege, slow yes, but great video playback ... and I do need that of those long flights & I put TV series on the HDD to watch in hotels. So it is a function I definitely use ... the thing is Jon here in Europe there are almost no shops that sell Lenovo, you can only get it on-line ...so go and see them is impossible, or play around with them. Shame they did not make an X61s with a webcam or did they ? I would rather go lower specs machine to have everything working as one would expect. Otherwise I may have to jump ship to HP 2530P, or the X200T Tablet but I think that comes with 1400 x 900 LED screen, and I see some people are having problems with flickering of LED screens ... See all the problems I have would be easily resolved if I could just in person look at an X200s, X200, X61 etc ... that HP 2530 looks good but doubt if the keyboard would be anywhere near a Lenovo. I have a T61 here sitting on my desk and that is great but too big & heavy. It has no issues at al with DVDs etc ...

 

I actually found this link, please tell me it's not this bad ! That is just unacceptable and very disappointing that a top notch company like Lenovo seems more committed to its deal with whichever LCD manufacturer then to go look elsewhere. This is a link I found:

http://lord.sfrnetwork.com/X200ScreenProblem.jpg

That is just NOT acceptable. I am cancelling my order for the X200s (with 1280 x 800 screen) right now. Time to reconsider, bummer !

 

Well, ThinkPad models X200 and X200s do use different LCD panels. Per jonlumpkin's post above, X200s panel is a LED one, and should not exhibit those banding issues. I guess you could play it safe and cancel, or search for any display quality complaints regarding X200s ( NOT X200) and decide based upon what you find (or don't). Your call.

 

Well the X200s in Europe has the screen of the X200 ... and is a tad heavier. I am now looking at the tablet though I don't need tablet function ... but I simply cannot spend weeks trying to call Lenovo should there be a problem of any kind with the screen. In actual fact I need to travel next month for about 3 weeks so I do need a machine that works properly, including video. I mean a U$2,000 is a bit of a gamble whether or not you get a good screen. Again if I had options like in the USA where you can simply return a product for a refund but Europe is a bit behind in that kind of customer service, or simply the market is not big enough to have such generous return policies.

 

The Tablet is very nice and all models offer 1280x800 displays. They are also FFS/AFFS+ displays of extremely high quality. I have the 285nit LED super-bright frameless active digitizer model, and would highly recommend it.

I have not experienced any issues with eye strain due to the dimming process on the LED panel, but some people are more sensitive to refresh rates. If you are particularly concerned about eyestrain due to refresh rates, you can opt for the CCFL model as it uses a different method to dim the screen (frequency isn't adjusted). However, the CCFL screen will be dimmer and use more energy than the LED variants.

The x200 Tablet also has stereo speakers, webcam, and a dual array (noise canceling) microphone. So it definitely has some multimedia advantages over the x200(s).

I was in much the same position as you in early October. I had become dissatisfied with the x200 screen (poor viewing angles and bad performance in dark grays and blacks), and was between the x200s and x200 Tablet. I had never used a Tablet PC before, but I chose the x200T due to the superior screen quality, 1280x800 resolution (more manageable than 1440x900 at 12.1"), webcam, WWAN, and superior flexibility. I have been extremely satisfied with the tablet, and actually found the digitizer pen and rotating screen to be quite useful.

 

Jon. Just a query ... you say the tablet can be obtained with the CCFL screen ... I am taking this would not come from the same manyfacturers are the less than perfect X200 CCFL screens ? I don't mind a screen not being that bright, I am used to work on an old Toshiba Portege R205 with a Pentium M at 1.2 Ghz. So not too difficult to go better than that ...

 

They are different. The tablets use FFS/AFFS+ displays of extremely high quality (both CCFL and LED models) that are comparable to the old ThinkPad FlexView displays. Conversely, the x200 (and almost all non-Tablet PCs) use comparatively low grade TN panels.

 

That seems encouraging news ...and not too heavy with a 4-cell battery ... how much real life usage would a 4 cell give ? Thanks

 

How do you define "real life usage". This is very important, as your factors will determine your wattage and thus battery life.

The x200T with 4-cell should get the same battery life as the x200s 4-cell (assuming identical CPU and backlight choices).

Exact numbers are 4+ hours with a dim screen, wi-fi off, and using MS Office or a similarly low impact application.

Web browsing will be more like 3 hours as Wi-Fi activity, Javascript, and Flash will all use extra energy.

Video playback may only be 2 hours, but this is highly dependent on the type of contnent you are playing back (720p content at max brightness requires far more energy than 512x288 XviD at minimum brightness).