Newbie q re. thinkpad screen. Is this normal?

[yosh]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I recently purchased a thinkpad r50e with a 14.1 TFT inch screen
through the ibm webstore for work purposes and to watch the occasional
dvd. I'm pretty happy with it, as it does most of what I want to do
with it, and it's a very well-constructed and sturdy machine compared
to many other laptops I've seen at the same price.

My only complaint, however, is with the screen. The contrast ratio
seems pretty abysmal and the screen is not uniformly bright. I get
that 'fading out' effect (the effect you see when you look at ATM
screens at an angle) from about 20 degrees horizontal and vertical .
The colors on the bottom 40% of the screen is washed out, while the
top 10% is too dark. Tilting my head lower (or pushing the screen
further back) corrects the bottom brightness somewhat, but the top
portion now 'fades out'.

Now, from what I've read on the net and some laptop sites, this can
apparently be considered normal on some screens (the backlight is
located on the bottom edge of the screen, as I understand). However, I
use no-name desktop lcd monitors at my workplace and don't see the
same problem. In contrast to my thinkpad screen, colors are saturated
and details on those lcds seem even better than some CRTs I've used. I
then had a look at a friend's 3-yr old sony vaio laptop and again,
don't see the same thing I see on my thinkpad.

Any thinkpad owners out there want to comment on this? Or is it just
my eyes?

Thanks in advance.

P.S: I've tried lowering screen brightness, but that doesn't help.
Yes, the bottom brightness goes away a little, but the entire screen
is now too dark. Tried fiddling with gamma and contrast but that
didn't help either. Can't find any controls for colors.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

In normal operation this doesn't sound normal, I have a T40 and my sister
has an R51 with a 15" screen. It is uniform brightness all over when
looking from the front, and sideways you have about 20deg each side before
you see a difference. Vertically, any movement changes the brightness - but
this is normal, unless you have a flexview screen.

However, you mention you watch DVDs - one problem with this is that the
screen is often black when watching DVDs - and TFT's are not so good at
doing black - it looks greyish with the lights off, and looks lighter at the
bottom - this is normal. The contrast ratio looks low, but actually, is
very high (i.e. the screen can be very bright compared to it's 'black').

So if you're talking about when the screen is displaying black in a dark
room, then what you're talking about is normal. If, however, you notice
this, say, in the normal WinXP screen, on Word or Outlook etc... then it's
not right.

Duncan.

"yosh" <linnaeus00000@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:5152c93e.0410161618.1ac25023@posting.google.com...
>I recently purchased a thinkpad r50e with a 14.1 TFT inch screen
> through the ibm webstore for work purposes and to watch the occasional
> dvd. I'm pretty happy with it, as it does most of what I want to do
> with it, and it's a very well-constructed and sturdy machine compared
> to many other laptops I've seen at the same price.
>
> My only complaint, however, is with the screen. The contrast ratio
> seems pretty abysmal and the screen is not uniformly bright. I get
> that 'fading out' effect (the effect you see when you look at ATM
> screens at an angle) from about 20 degrees horizontal and vertical .
> The colors on the bottom 40% of the screen is washed out, while the
> top 10% is too dark. Tilting my head lower (or pushing the screen
> further back) corrects the bottom brightness somewhat, but the top
> portion now 'fades out'.
>
> Now, from what I've read on the net and some laptop sites, this can
> apparently be considered normal on some screens (the backlight is
> located on the bottom edge of the screen, as I understand). However, I
> use no-name desktop lcd monitors at my workplace and don't see the
> same problem. In contrast to my thinkpad screen, colors are saturated
> and details on those lcds seem even better than some CRTs I've used. I
> then had a look at a friend's 3-yr old sony vaio laptop and again,
> don't see the same thing I see on my thinkpad.
>
> Any thinkpad owners out there want to comment on this? Or is it just
> my eyes?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> P.S: I've tried lowering screen brightness, but that doesn't help.
> Yes, the bottom brightness goes away a little, but the entire screen
> is now too dark. Tried fiddling with gamma and contrast but that
> didn't help either. Can't find any controls for colors.

 

[yosh]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks for the reply, Duncan.

The uneven brightness I was talking about is completely visible on the
normal winXP screen (with the default blue IBM world map desktop
background), under ambient light, when looking directly straight-on at
the screen. It's not as noticeable though on white backgrounds (eg.
Word, etc.).

It's highly noticeable when watching DVDs fullscreen. The bottom 40%
is very bright, with washed out colors, while the top 10% is either
dark or display that 'negative' faded-out effect. Only a narrow middle
section of the screen displays 'normal', rich saturated colors to my
eyes.

I guess I understand that the screen being brighter on the bottom and
dark on the top is normal. I'm just concerned that, to my eyes, my
thinkpad screen appears to display these properties to a more extreme
extent than desktop lcds and other older notebooks I've seen.

Any further comments?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"yosh" <linnaeus00000@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:5152c93e.0410171755.2707b426@posting.google.com...
> Thanks for the reply, Duncan.
>
> The uneven brightness I was talking about is completely visible on the
> normal winXP screen (with the default blue IBM world map desktop
> background), under ambient light, when looking directly straight-on at
> the screen. It's not as noticeable though on white backgrounds (eg.
> Word, etc.).
>
> It's highly noticeable when watching DVDs fullscreen. The bottom 40%
> is very bright, with washed out colors, while the top 10% is either
> dark or display that 'negative' faded-out effect. Only a narrow middle
> section of the screen displays 'normal', rich saturated colors to my
> eyes.
>
> I guess I understand that the screen being brighter on the bottom and
> dark on the top is normal. I'm just concerned that, to my eyes, my
> thinkpad screen appears to display these properties to a more extreme
> extent than desktop lcds and other older notebooks I've seen.
>
> Any further comments?


I don't think this is normal and would talk to the store about an exchange.
I previously had two IBM thinkpads and was very happy with them. Even the
older model did not have this problem.

MaryL

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

This is definetely not normal - you shouldn't be able to see any change in
brightness in normal conditions across the screen when looking straight on -
and thinkpad screens tend to be pretty good, so you can see them over quite
a wide angle, too.

Contact IBM, and I'm sure they'll sort it out for you pretty promptly.

Duncan.

"yosh" <linnaeus00000@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:5152c93e.0410171755.2707b426@posting.google.com...
> Thanks for the reply, Duncan.
>
> The uneven brightness I was talking about is completely visible on the
> normal winXP screen (with the default blue IBM world map desktop
> background), under ambient light, when looking directly straight-on at
> the screen. It's not as noticeable though on white backgrounds (eg.
> Word, etc.).
>
> It's highly noticeable when watching DVDs fullscreen. The bottom 40%
> is very bright, with washed out colors, while the top 10% is either
> dark or display that 'negative' faded-out effect. Only a narrow middle
> section of the screen displays 'normal', rich saturated colors to my
> eyes.
>
> I guess I understand that the screen being brighter on the bottom and
> dark on the top is normal. I'm just concerned that, to my eyes, my
> thinkpad screen appears to display these properties to a more extreme
> extent than desktop lcds and other older notebooks I've seen.
>
> Any further comments?