Viewing angles in Toshiba Trubrite screens

Hi,

I just got a Toshiba A135-S4467 yesterday. I did a clean install of vista and am happy with the performance. However, the LCD screen has horrible viewing angles. Is this normal? (it's my first time owning a laptop, but I do have 2 LCD monitors that are awesome)

The colors appear very washed out when looking at the screen from above and the screen turns way too dark when looking from bottom (tilting screen). I have to view directly perpendicular to the screen to avoid this. There's maybe 20-25° angle where it looks satisfactory and if I move my head a couple of inches up, the colors seem washed out. Is this true with all toshiba screens or did I get a dud? I read a bunch of reviews here and they include the screen quality in the pros of this laptop.

I'll try to post some pics over the weekend... but just to give another example... if I have a blank (black) screen and I view straight at the LCD, I can see 3 distinct "bands" of color. The middle appears to be optimal (true black) but the top and bottom third appear washed out and dull (gray, as if there's terrible bleeding... only it's not bleeding).

Hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

So, if any of you have similar LCD on your Toshiba, can you please let me know if you also experience this issue?

Thanks

 

Sounds normal to me.

 

Thanks for the reply. Is this found in all glossy screens or just toshiba laptops?

Sorry for the stupid question, but like I said, it's my first time owning a laptop.

I didn't notice it on the display laptops, perhaps because of the lighting.

 

I'm not really sure because I only have one Toshiba with the glossy screen. My HP has a matte screen.

 

According to your description, your LCD indeed has problem.
You can go to Compusa or officedepot or ... to take a look at
a A135 model and find out how it compares to your.

I find almost all A135 models in stores have good LCDs, in fact better than many other brands.

 

I went to Office Depot today, but wasn't able to set it up to show a blank screen. I noticed some washing out problems in all LCDs! (except one), but couldn't tell if it was same or better than mine...due to the bright lighting in the store.

All the display models were WXGA and they all had bad vertical viewing angles. The Toshiba A103 (or was it 105) was the only one that didn't have this problem. the screen had excellent viewing angles and dark blacks. This was also the only one that had WXGA+ display.

I'm gonna go visit it again tomorrow and take a closer look especially after you mentioned I might have a problem with the LCD. Plus the LCD I have certainly wouldn't please anyone, yet I read more favorable reviews today!!

I took some pics and will post them soon as soon as I figure out how.

Thanks for the help

 

The 3 bands I was talking about look a lot exaggerated, but it gives you an idea of how the middle is black and the top and bottom appear gray (not blue like pic lol ). They also don't look like a rainbow.. maybe has a slight curve.

The desktop pics show how the screen looks when looking from top and bottom.
Even with the picture I took while looking straight at it shows the viewing angle problem. Notice how the top appears dark (top left) and bottom part is washed out (taskbar + water). Again, the camera exaggerates the washing out effect, but it's very noticeable.

The orange color on the red screen was introduced by the camera, but the bottom is washed out.

I'm definitely gonna try out a diff laptop after checking out the displays again. I already spent a lot of time modifying/customizng the settings on this one I might have to swap the hard drive if I have to return this one haha

If anyone else owns the same model or experiences (or doesn't experience) this problem, please post here.

Thanks

 

On my A130, tilting LCD forward (towards user) beyond 15 degrees,would create color shift effect( grey line becomes white line), but tilting backward (away from user), I can push more than 30 degrees without significant drop on picture quality.

Most A135 machines in stores are quite similar in this aspect. Even though this is no way close to desktop LCD monitors, they are still better than most other laptops I can get my hand on in the stores.
That was why I ordered the A130, since they should be the same except for the choices of graphic cards.

For you situation, I would not compare yours again a desktop LCD monitor, but would compare it again other laptops.

Anyway, I guess you just simply got a bad one. Try to return it or exchange for a new one...

 

that looks and sound normal. indeed most lcd has this problem. most lcd has better viewing angle from side to side (horizontally), but worse viewing angle from top to botton (vertically). i believe it has something to do with the polarizer in the lcd panel.

lcd panel has different range of grade and quality, some is worse and some is better, depends on what ur willing to shell out. premium laptop usually has better lcd than its budget counterparts, though the phenomena (colour shift) still exist but just to a more minimal effect. bigger screen, premium desktop replacement style laptop usually get the best screen, eg. sony vaio AR and toshiba qosmio G30.