would thinkpad ips adapters work on other laptops?

[astral]

this got me thinking right? all the t-420/t-430 ips fhd/qhd adapter is doing right is converting lvds to edp video signaling, am i right on that? so there for as long as you've got the right style lvds connector on a laptop you should be able to use it?

now i also know the t-420/t-430 and the t-420s/t-430s have separate converters, so that suggests that there could be an incompatibility involved.

would be useful though, many nice laptops released during that time have terrible screens. latitude e6420 being one example. ive also seen that there are more general adapters out there, at least from a quick websearch.

thoughts?

[RealBlackStuff]

Both Lenovo T420 and Dell Latitude e6420 have a 40-pin LCD-connector, BUT:
Dell uses: ACES 59003-0400C-001
Lenovo uses: AMP 2023308_3_40

To upgrade to IPS you need this: motherboard 40-pin LVDS connector / cable / IPS-converter / cable / 30-pin EDP LCD-connector

According to their schematics (freely available), Lenovo and Dell pin-outs are totally different.
And most likely their mobo-side LCD-cable connectors are different as well.
So at least the wiring from mobo to IPS-converter will be different.
Assuming both can use the same EDP LCDs and thus the same IPS->EDP wiring, then half the battle is already won.
You do the math for the rest.

PS: the cheapest solution would be to make a mobo-side cable adapter from Lenovo 40-pin to Dell 40-pin.
And use the existing Lenovo IPS-adapter.

[TPFanatic]

There's 2 differences I see between the T420/30 non-s and T420s/30s adapters:

Difference 1:
a. T420s/30s adapter boards use an FPC/FFC flat cable 40 pin input.
b. T420/30 adapter boards use an IPEX 40 pin input.

Difference 2:
a. T420s/30s adapter kits use that FPC/FFC flat cable to connect directly, pin-to-pin, to the LVDS cable output on the T420s/30s' motherboard.
b. T420/30 adapter kits need a CUSTOM cable to connect the T420/30 LVDS connector to the adapter board input.
--- This is because the 20s/30s's LVDS cable output on the motherboard has an INVERTED pin arrangement from the standard LVDS pin arrangement on the LCD input, and the T420/30 adapter board is the same board as T420s/30s, simply with an LCD-connector-style IPEX input instead of FPC.

Unless you really want QHD, which has only been marketed for ThinkPad kits, you can just buy one of these general FHD kits that don't deal with the T420s/30s inverted pinout:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832701705222.html DIY LCD controller board Kit upgrade IPS FHD Screen for thinkpad HP and other laptop LVDS to 30Pin EDP display panel 1920X1080
"keep your original LVDS cable (which is for the older screen), and when the upgrade FHD Screen Kit comming , you can use the cable with our kit for your laptop. "

They also sell this HP 8470p/8470W kit which from the picture looks like it is using the T420s/30s-style board with inverted pinout and FPC input with a sequence-inverting extension board. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832661096037.html

Personally I experimented used the T420/30 and T420s/30s QHD adapters with T530 and W530, they're still ThinkPads so it doesn't say much to other brands, but so long as the other brands at least use the same poor-quality TN HD+ LCD as T420/30(s), I would think that yes you can adapt those brands to IPS FHD uisng one of the above linked kits.

[astral]

perhaps ill do some experimenting around with a generic kit if I get a 6420 again, the screen failed on my old one funny enough and I chucked it. was in horrible condition too.

great info here! thanks.

[astral]

bumping this because i want further clarification.

so, i've got a working e6420 with the HD+ screen. terrible tn contrast but better than before. i do believe the hd+ (1600x900) cables could in theory transmit enough data for 1920x1080?
so you said the 40pin connectors between the lenovos and the dells are different. SO - is this only at the motherboard or at the LCD as well? If that's the case then were there multiple 40pin standards for different laptops? i'd have to imagine that some standard would exist, otherwise different panels would have to be made for each brand, but from what i know, this is not the case? i've heard of people swapping alienware (from dell) lcds into t420s as an alternative for better quality so they've gotta use the same connector.
so if that's the case, why would it not be possible to use a t420/t430 adapter in the e6420?
I'm thinking:
stock cable from the e6420 hd+ > ips adapter > adapter-supplied edp cable > 1080p screen

so from what RBS said above, this would not be possible due to a different pinout? if LVDS is a standard, how could this be the case?

If I'm completely off-base here than let me know...

edit: so re-reading the other post above by TPfanatic - the T430 NON-S custom kits will not work BECAUSE they are using a custom-cable due to being based on the improper/inverted pinout of the t420s/t430s cables? it's a modification of this design?

so...should i be looking into the generic one linked above then? would be pretty cheap... i have a spare 1080p panel i think could work.

[kfzhu1229]

so, i've got a working e6420 with the HD+ screen. terrible tn contrast but better than before. i do believe the hd+ (1600x900) cables could in theory transmit enough data for 1920x1080?
so you said the 40pin connectors between the lenovos and the dells are different. SO - is this only at the motherboard or at the LCD as well? If that's the case then were there multiple 40pin standards for different laptops? i'd have to imagine that some standard would exist, otherwise different panels would have to be made for each brand, but from what i know, this is not the case? i've heard of people swapping alienware (from dell) lcds into t420s as an alternative for better quality so they've gotta use the same connector.
so if that's the case, why would it not be possible to use a t420/t430 adapter in the e6420?
I'm thinking:
stock cable from the e6420 hd+ > ips adapter > adapter-supplied edp cable > 1080p screen

I am a Latitude E6430 owner with also an HD+ screen LP140WD1-TLM1, yeah that screen has dreadful viewing angles that it makes me have eye strain in no time.
I do like to point out, however, that there is a bigger problem fitting eDP displays on Latitude E6420/E6430 - the display mounts are COMPLETELY different. Thinkpad T420/T430 series use the thin boarder type of LCD's that is also commonly found on the later eDP panels.
Latitude E6420/E6430 however, uses a traditional thick boarder type of 14 inch screen that is like a smaller version of the 15.6" panels on ThinkPad T520/T530 - you are not going to be able to fit eDP screens on these without serious structural compromises!
What I end up doing on mine, and you should consider this alternative, is to swap the LP140WD1-TLM1 screen for a LP140WD1-TLA1 screen. Yes, the TLA1 is a totally different animal than the TLM1. While they do have the same physical dimensions and same connector (and same compatibility),
TLM1 has a matte finish and is a bit brighter (300 nits) but has absolutely dreadful viewing angles (almost privacy screen like), terrible colour reproduction and mine had a terrible blue tint to it.
TLA1 has a glossy finish but it's got comparable optical characteristics as a HD+/FHD screen from a ThinkPad T520/T530 or Latitude E6520/E6530. It's got 60 degrees (in each direction) of horizontal viewing angles and 50 for vertical, it's got 1:500 contrast and it's got 60% NTSC coverage. (In comparison, TLM1's only got 40 degrees horizontal and 10 degrees top and 30 degrees bottom - that 10 degrees really hurts! And just a 45% NTSC coverage)
Now how you are going to find this screen is going to be a trial and error. Don't just go and buy just this LCD panel - sellers will ship you a "compatible", and TLM1 is a compatible indeed, and you get the dreadful LCD all over again.
Go on eBay and find a Dell Inspiron 1440 or Studio 1440, see if the screen works perfectly, search up its service tag and see if it's got this HD+ screen. AFAIK every HD+ version of Inspiron 1440 has this screen - and it's many times so obvious that the Windows 10 background would look a lot more vibrant on the photos already!
Since you're in the US, most of these cost you no more than $50 and you get to have a beater Inspiron laptop (Intel Montevina GM45 stuff) that you can fix up and do whatever with it or sell it.

[astral]

That certainly is one option to look at here - I’ll definitely consider doing that. I would like to put some form of better screen in there, even if not an ips panel.
I have been inside an E6420 ATG before that had the screen start leaking goo and it indeed was a thicker design. The regular one is that way too though? my regular units screen housing is thinner. I’m willing to do some hack job for the lcd mounts if I have to though. The original ATG lcd wasn’t half bad too, just low res mainly (1366). angles on it were decent, it was bright.

[TPFanatic]

I was able to fit a thin-frame IPS into a W530 that's designed around the ancient thick-frame style LCD. You can fill the space to the sides and rear of the LCD with filler foam strip tape. Layer it and trim it as needed. I rely on the lid bezel to hold in the LCD from the front.

[kfzhu1229]

That certainly is one option to look at here - I’ll definitely consider doing that. I would like to put some form of better screen in there, even if not an ips panel.
I have been inside an E6420 ATG before that had the screen start leaking goo and it indeed was a thicker design. The regular one is that way too though? my regular units screen housing is thinner. I’m willing to do some hack job for the lcd mounts if I have to though. The original ATG lcd wasn’t half bad too, just low res mainly (1366). angles on it were decent, it was bright.

Yes the regular one is like that - heck even the latitude E6430s screen is like that despite it being inside an E6330 chassis. The way Dell made it "thin" is by making it a wedge shape so that it looks thin - but you have big LCD boarders as a result.
I wouldn't mess with LCD mounts as the thin boarder LCDs are already more prone to bends and then developing lines on the screen and this is going to make it much worse - not helped by the fact that E6420/E6430 have strong hinges.
The only downside for the LP140WD1-TLA1 really is its glossy finish if you mind that. And also it's a bit dimmer - but that's more due to the black contents being deeper rather than just the brightness decrease. Other than that it's better in every way and is a far more enjoyable panel.
If you are coming from 1366x768 panel remember to change LCD cable too - those cables won't have the 2nd LVDS channel populated. Also E6420 and E6430 LCD cables are NOT interchangable - E6430 has one extra LED on the lid. E6430s is NOT capable of 1600x900 screens as no dual channel LVDS cables are ever produced for this.

[astral]

my current screen is the 1600x900. going to the better quality panel instead of ips modding seems like it might be the better option here then.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/372137630729
^^
This listing here specifies a different resolution I've never seen before. Is this correct?

also, does anyone here have a proper explananation for why on earth the E6420 ATG screens all leak out a really sticky, sweet smelling goo? does anyone know what on earth is up with that? i've heard it has to do with the glass layer on the top of the panel? who screwed up there any why wasn't there any recall? ALL the ones I see have this issue.

[kfzhu1229]

my current screen is the 1600x900. going to the better quality panel instead of ips modding seems like it might be the better option here then.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/372137630729
^^
This listing here specifies a different resolution I've never seen before. Is this correct?

Don't buy those. Again, these sellers list a LCD model number, but does NOT actually ship you that exact model number - ships you a compatible model instead. and the LP140WD1-TLM1 is a compatible to the TLA1 and you get the exactly the same crap panel as you currently have.
Don't buy from any ebay seller that just use a generic photo instead of photo of the actual stockpile of LP140WD1-TLA1's. You may not be able to find such listings though. Hence why looking out for an Inspiron 1440 that has one of these LCD panels hidden inside.
This Inspiron 1440 looks to have that 1600x900 LCD panel to me judging from the photos of the vibrant picture, but Dell doesn't have the full specs of this specific service tag sadly so you need to ask the ebay seller to see if the BIOS settings says 1600x900 once the information screen is scrolled to the bottom: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115964400651

[astral]

I ordered the 1080p panel for my T430 from one of those sort of listings and got as described - it doesn’t say in the listing that they ship a “compatible” one like I’ve seen in others. Plus I could always just dispute if I don’t get what I ordered. I’m just curious about that resolution and if that is correct. It’s slightly higher than 1600x900 which is why. Were there ever any LVDS 14” panels made higher than 1600x900?

I’m not buying that one anyway though, I’m not doing this upgrade right now. I’ll see about just buying the Inspiron if that’s cheaper anyway when I do.

Funny to me that they’d ship a pentium Inspiron with a better panel than a quad-i7 latitude…hah.

[TPFanatic]

1600x900 is the most in the 14" lvds.

[kfzhu1229]

I ordered the 1080p panel for my T430 from one of those sort of listings and got as described - it doesn’t say in the listing that they ship a “compatible” one like I’ve seen in others. Plus I could always just dispute if I don’t get what I ordered. I’m just curious about that resolution and if that is correct. It’s slightly higher than 1600x900 which is why. Were there ever any LVDS 14” panels made higher than 1600x900?
I’m not buying that one anyway though, I’m not doing this upgrade right now. I’ll see about just buying the Inspiron if that’s cheaper anyway when I do.
Funny to me that they’d ship a pentium Inspiron with a better panel than a quad-i7 latitude…hah.

Usually what these seller does is they put the legal fineprint of saying shipping a "compatible" somewhere in the description you are likely to miss. I have ordered from that ebay seller before for this panel and got a refund 2 weeks later instead as they couldn't come across the exact panel.
Nah the resolution is 1600x900, I have that LCD panel I know how it is. Here's the exact specs from panelook: https://www.panelook.com/LP140WD1-TLA1_ ... _5220.html
And yeah Dell was kinda crazy for selling Inspiron 1440's with Pentium dual cores but a 1600x900 screen that's actually very nice to use, my Inspiron 1440 came that way. With minor repairs like tightening hinge screws and repasting the Inspiron 1440 fixed up nicely for me and I was able to resell it with a 1366x768 panel and a Core 2 duo T9550 CPU in 2021 - my purple version's purple lid caught a lot of people's attention

[astral]

yeah... guess they just didn't care about business laptops.

I still like the idea of ips-modding this thing but a GOOD 1600x900 panel would be a good start at the very least.

[kfzhu1229]

yeah... guess they just didn't care about business laptops.

They thought an anti-reflective screen and outdoor visibility were the priority I guess. The TLM1 screen is very easily outdoors visible I'll give you that.
Good panels were usually mainstay for 15 inch machines and larger. The LG LP171WU1-TLB1 17 inch WUXGA panel on my HP Compaq 8710w (bought totally broken from this forum) is such a treat to use.
That said, good 14" panels were always an rarity before haswell. Not like T420/T430 came with any good LCD panels (although without eDP mods there are still LCD panels compatible with it that are like the TLA1 panel I mentioned).
But if you do go with glossy 14" 1366x768 LCD panels, there are still plenty that have better viewing experience than these panels. Not TLA1 kind of good, but servicable with half decent colour reproduction and slightly wider viewing angles. Afterall that's what the Super TFT coating (i.e. glossy) was supposed to be for (but many manufacturers simply used that to cut down costs instead).
My only other this kind of 14/14.1" panel would be the CMO N141X9-L01 XGA screen (part of a digitizer screen assembly) fitted inside my Acer Travelmate C310. Still XGA but viewing angles are actually good enough you can use it in any orientation you want.

[astral]

yeah...i mean, i'm typing this one out on the e6420 and it's not terrible, at least the resolution is manageable. it also gets much brighter than the stock 1366 panel in my t430 did.
i love 14 inch laptops the most i think. 12" is a bit too small for me and 12" laptops usually compromise on something. 13" is something i usually only see in home laptops or lower-end stuff...usually. 15" gets you better resolution but that's when things really start to get bulky, and many laptop makers will try to cram a number pad in there too which can screw up the keyboard a bit. 17" laptops make great workstations but are much too large to really bring many places.
14" is the perfect compromise for me.

[kfzhu1229]

yeah...i mean, i'm typing this one out on the e6420 and it's not terrible, at least the resolution is manageable. it also gets much brighter than the stock 1366 panel in my t430 did.
i love 14 inch laptops the most i think. 12" is a bit too small for me and 12" laptops usually compromise on something. 13" is something i usually only see in home laptops or lower-end stuff...usually. 15" gets you better resolution but that's when things really start to get bulky, and many laptop makers will try to cram a number pad in there too which can screw up the keyboard a bit. 17" laptops make great workstations but are much too large to really bring many places.
14" is the perfect compromise for me.

I guess possible you could have a different LCD panel than the LP140WD1-TLM1 inside my E6430. You can find that out through monitorinfoview. That one's viewing angles are as bad as a privacy screen from an ATM, with an unusably tiny 10 degrees of viewable angle from the up direction. Yet I was still able to resell that LCD panel for the price tag of that Inspiron 1440 because its officially compatible with Latitude E6420/E6430 and is in top condition.
The 1366x768 screens on my E6420 and E6430s are definitely less bad than that.
13 inch is indeed more common on home laptops, like my Acer TimelineX 3830TG. While that thing certainly did not compromise on performance and still features a CPU socket and discrete graphics in a footprint slightly lighter than a 2011 macbook pro 13, its structural properties is about on par as a ThinkPad E420/E520 and its battery requires top cover removal to get to. And its screen is average. Not downright dreadful, but colour shifting is pretty common while in use.

[astral]

monitorinfoview doesn't give clear answers.
I get "44806 (0xAF06)" under ManufacturerID, "12606 (0x313E)" under ProductID.

Later down on the page under Registry Key I see a mention of AUO, so maybe they made my panel.
I think I'll open the display housing on mine and just check myself.

[kfzhu1229]

monitorinfoview doesn't give clear answers.
I get "44806 (0xAF06)" under ManufacturerID, "12606 (0x313E)" under ProductID.

Later down on the page under Registry Key I see a mention of AUO, so maybe they made my panel.
I think I'll open the display housing on mine and just check myself.

If your LCD is original to the laptop, you can also search up the service tag of your laptop on Dell support to see what exact LCD panel you have (Dell P/N). But I do feel that your LCD panel is a lot better than the dreadful LP140WD1-TLM1 that I got. Then again I got my E6430 for absolute dirt cheap due to it having a shorted capacitor.

[astral]

the panel I have is still bad. It gets plenty bright is all, colors are ok at full-straight viewing, but it's tricky to get both the top and bottom of the screen to not look washed out at all.
definitely better than the samsung 1366 panel that was in my t430 though.

i may still buy the generic ips adapter just to see if it works. I'm sure I could find some way to mount the panel. you could always design a 3d print to adapt it, especially if there's extra space in there.

[kfzhu1229]

the panel I have is still bad. It gets plenty bright is all, colors are ok at full-straight viewing, but it's tricky to get both the top and bottom of the screen to not look washed out at all.
definitely better than the samsung 1366 panel that was in my t430 though.

i may still buy the generic ips adapter just to see if it works. I'm sure I could find some way to mount the panel. you could always design a 3d print to adapt it, especially if there's extra space in there.

The bigger problem however is that there may be no room to make for the bottom PCB of the eDP LCD screen. There is some space on the bottom of the original LCD mount but I don't know if that's enough for that PCB.

[astral]

Good point. I should check clearance before I go out and buy anything.

[astral]

curiosity got the better of me and I tried the t430 ips kit in the e6420. shorted the charger and when i plugged the adapter back into the thinkpad it no longer works, so, whoops. Doesn't work.

[TPFanatic]

Did you plug the adapter directly into the Dell’s lcd cable? The adapter’s input connector is reverse-direction or upside-down or pin-inverted from a normal LCD connector, plugging directly into any normal LCD connector will destroy the adapter and possibly the LCD and the laptop.

[axur-delmeria]

curiosity got the better of me and I tried the t430 ips kit in the e6420. shorted the charger and when i plugged the adapter back into the thinkpad it no longer works, so, whoops. Doesn't work.

At least check the pinout before connecting them together. Seems like you didn't, and well...you wrecked an adapter kit for that mistake.

[astral]

Did you plug the adapter directly into the Dell’s lcd cable? The adapter’s input connector is reverse-direction or upside-down or pin-inverted from a normal LCD connector, plugging directly into any normal LCD connector will destroy the adapter and possibly the LCD and the laptop.

sounds like what happened. I'd assume a generic adapter wouldn't do this.
I figured that 40 pin lvds was 40 pin lvds, didn't realize that the adapter's proprietary cable did funky things with it.
I think I lost the LCD - I can't know for sure until I get another adapter but the backlight no longer lights. E6420 and ThinkPad T430 are both still fine, the T430 just doesn't have a working screen right now. The screen I tested with was a spare with a line defect so I only need a new adapter.

Even if I had checked the pinout I'd assume I could only find what it was for the T430 and E6420 stock, which would both just go to standard 40 pin lvds (I'd assume, an earlier post here says the T420s and T430s might have it flipped), which wouldn't have helped here as I doubt I would have found the pinout for this specific adapter.

Stupid? maybe. But I had to try it. I'll pay the price.

[TPFanatic]

Welcome to the club. I toasted two adapters for my t530 qhd project. Still cheaper than an engineering degree.

[astral]

Just how it goes with these things. I'm still committed to getting more of these 14 inch laptops converted to IPS. I love the form factor but I hate the TN screens. There is a generic option out there so I'll have to see those are compatible with laptops like the E6420.

[kfzhu1229]

sounds like what happened. I'd assume a generic adapter wouldn't do this.
I figured that 40 pin lvds was 40 pin lvds, didn't realize that the adapter's proprietary cable did funky things with it.
I think I lost the LCD - I can't know for sure until I get another adapter but the backlight no longer lights. E6420 and ThinkPad T430 are both still fine, the T430 just doesn't have a working screen right now. The screen I tested with was a spare with a line defect so I only need a new adapter.
Even if I had checked the pinout I'd assume I could only find what it was for the T430 and E6420 stock, which would both just go to standard 40 pin lvds (I'd assume, an earlier post here says the T420s and T430s might have it flipped), which wouldn't have helped here as I doubt I would have found the pinout for this specific adapter.
Stupid? maybe. But I had to try it. I'll pay the price.

Interesting I thought that connector is perfectly standard. I swapped my Latitude E6420 screen with a generic screen from a dead Asus (glossy 1366x768) and it worked perfectly fine. Probably the ThinkPad screen was the one that has the different connector since neither Dell nor HP business class laptops used that form factor of a screen.
That said you sure you don't want to harvest the Inspiron 1440?
This one looks like a prime suspect you wanna go after: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115964400651 and https://www.ebay.com/itm/115490987858
maybe message the seller to scroll down the BIOS information page to confirm it is a 1600x900 screen but I am fairly certain it is if the picture of that LCD is that crystal clear at that angle of a shot