SZ7 LED Screen Quality

I previously owned a SZ Premium with LED screen and moved to a Dell XPS 1530. The Dell had the widely reported screen grain issue and I returned it.

Now, before the Dell, I never noticed the grain effect in displays before so never looked for it on the SZ2. Because of this I thought I'd be safe buying another SZ with a LED display.

I received a new SZ7 Premium yesterday and the screen looks almost as bad as the Dell 1530. Please check your screens, whether LED or CCFL backlit, and report the quality here.

A simple test. Open a window with a white backgroud, notepad is good, and drag/move it around the screen. Is a fine static misty/grainy layer visible in the foreground.

Maybe I'm just worrying too much, having seen it on the Dell and not noticing it before on my previous SZ I just want to know what everyone else sees. I'm sure the screen was of better quality on my previous SZ, photos and colours just looked a lot brighter.

 

i've a sz7 cto with the LED screen, no grain issue as far as i can tell.

 

no problems here

 

same here - no problems

Jim

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Seems like I do have a problem with my screen then.
Will contact Sony about it later and see what they have to say.

I've also noticed, like with the Dell, it makes the backlight uneven.

 

I think you're not seeing things. The screen on the previous SZ is better. I've had 3 SZ now. The screen on the SZ370 (already sold) that I bought in Aug 06 is better than the screen on the SZ381 that I bought in March 07. That screen is better than the screen on the SZ791 that I bought in Feb 08. When I meant better, it is mainly to do with the max brightness it can go, with the SZ370 having the brightest screen out of the 3.

Having looked at many different laptops, I get the feeling that the screen on my SZ791 is not a Toshiba-Matsush1ta but maybe a CMO or Samsung, although I don't have any proof as of now (I'm definitely not going to open up my SZ)...

 

Thanks for for the reply SPEEDwithJJ

My last model was an SZ2 Premium with an LED screen.

I've created a case with VAIO support and they want to collect my laptop next week. I've heard horror stories about laptops being returned with scratches etc from various manufacturers and am not sure if it's worth the risk. Plus this is only my 3rd day with the laptop and I'll miss it

Has anyone had much experience with Sony's support in UK/Europe? Will my laptop be safe?

 

What is the hardware id of your SZ7? Should be in the Device Manager - Monitor - Detail tab. My SZ3 is MS 0040 and mine doesn't have grainy screen.

 

SZ7xx has a MS_0040 panel too.

 

My SZ7 has the same screen. Does your screen have the grain issue or is it clear?

 

All three of my SZ's screens are MS_0040. It is however obvious that they are all of slightly different quality. I know for Dell laptops, using this hardware ID is a clear indicator of what LCD/LED manufacturer that is but I think that Sony must have made all their supplier use that same number. If you google this number, you'll find that it is also the same for the Vaio FE screens or something...

 

I think it depends on personal point of view: for me it's no grainy, for you it could be grainy. I think you are, after your Dells adventure, quite picky atm.
Did you try to test that grainy/misty issue in Stamina or Speed mode?

 

My experience with the SZ screens are the following:

I can't see any "grain" affect on my screen, however,
when I purchased two SZ7's and put them side by side
I noticed one of the screens white had a yellow hue while
the other screen was white white... You could only see this
next to another display, otherwise you would think it was
a 'normal' white.

both were premium LED models

 

Not sure about the SZ's, but as an earlier adopter of the TX series, the LED screen quality varied. I had as many as 6 altogether, and as many as 3 side-by-side. The whiteness, brightness and hue noticeably varied from screen to screen, most were yellowish, with only two what I would consider "white". As I changed them around from computer-to-computer, they even varied slightly, but not as much. It was almost the luck of the draw, but hopefuly the quality has improved overall. Very limited sampling on my part of course.

Now after two years, I have two TZ's and one older TX that I kept with the good screen. The TX now has diminished in brightness as compared to the two newer TZ's I have. I thought the screen brightness wasn't supposed to deteriorate in time with the LED screens, but at least with my sampling it has.

Again, these differences aren't as noticeable until you have them all side-by-side.

 

I compared the TX and the TZ screens at the Sony Store, and the TZ screen is brighter. The TZ is advertised as having a hi-color screen, so it should be brighter and more vibrant compared to the TX.

 

Yep, Sony advertised that the TZ screen is a lot brighter than the TX screens.

 

That's good then. The two TZ's I have are at least pretty consistent with one another. Hardly a sampling however. There were a few complaining about the color accuracy of the older TX's. Those really varied in quality. At lowest brightness, you could really see the columns of light or bleedthrough from the bottom of the bezel.

 

I may be in the wrong section, but I want to give my input. I have a chance to compare Sony CR series with Xbrite-ECO and my XPS. I compared the screen side by side and played some HD video clip. I found that both screens were equally in qualities. The screen on Sony may look a little warm, and Dell screen was on the brighter side.

I can tell you that both screens are no different in quality including brightness and clearity. The Sony screen hardware is ms_0040, and my XPS has LG.

 

I am happy with the LED screen on my SZ7. I have noticed that all of the glossy laptops that i have used that this laptop screen is the least glossy looking laptop screen that i have used so far. Of course it is still glossy but some laptops have got more of that high gloss look to the screen.

The screen does not go as bright as some other laptops that i have used but the SZ is probably the only laptop with a glossy screen that i could recommend to someone that needed to work outside in the sun because working with a high glossy screen in the sun could prove to be problematic.

The colour balance is also good and i don't notice any grain issues.

 

The Air possibly has a better screen than the SZ, my opinion only.
Also not a "high gloss" look to it.

Andrew