screen door effect on W530 display

[msdowdie]

I recently got a new W530. I'm mostly happy with it. Even adjusting to the new keyboard, with the exception of some of the bewildering key placement.

I am distressed by the horrible screen door effect on the built-in LCD panel, however. I am coming from a T510. The screen on the T510 is gorgeous. I can't see anything in between the pixels on it. On the W530, I clearly see grids of lines/spaces in between the pixels. It looks really bad compared to the T510 and, for that matter, to any display I've used recently.

HWInfo identifies the monitor as Lenovo B156HW01 v4, which is the same as the T510. The manufacture date is 2012 vs. 2009 on the T510 panel. The part number may be the same, but the panel itself is obviously different and much worse in my opinion. Just noticed that the Monitor Name (Manuf) value is different: B156HTN01.1 on the W530 and B156HW01 V4 on the T510.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Does Lenovo use more than one supplier for these panels? I appreciate any thoughts or ideas on what can be done.

Thanks,
Michael

[ajkula66]

The manufacturer is the same - AUO - the panel is different.

I've read complaints about "other" revisions of this panel, so it appears that you're not alone in that respect.

Have you tried loading the colour profile from your T510 on the W530?

[msdowdie]

Thank you for your reply. I haven't tried loading the color profile form the T510, but can't imagine the color profile would help with this particular issue. The colors themselves are not problematic and I can see the screen door effect in all except very dark colors.

I'm thinking I may call Lenovo and see what, if anything they are willing and able to do about this. This panel is a huge downgrade from my T510.

Thanks,
Michael

[msdowdie]

OK, so here's what I think I've been able to surmise after spending some time on the phone and on the Lenovo support site:

The wonderful T510 LCD panel part number is 42T0765. Lenovo is out of stock, but would charge $1924 if they were available.

The W530 (screen door) panel part number is 04W1544. This is also considered a direct replacement part for the T510 , so presumably would the older T510 and newer W530 panels are interchangeable.

I was hoping Lenovo might still have some stock of the old panels and be willing to swap it out under warranty, but that doesn't appear to be the case. So, it looks like my options are

a) live with the screen door effect

b) return the W530 and hope the IPS screen on the W540 is better, but I've had serious problems with the antiglare coatings on several IPS screens in the past.

c) try to swap the panels from my T510 and my W530 myself, though I'm sure this would void the warranty and the idea makes me nervous.

I appreciate any other information or ideas that anyone may be able to offer.

[DiagonalArg]

I found some admonishment about using this particular panel with the W530. I quote Bliss Computers in my post here, along with the link.

I'm looking for the right upgrade path to FHD for my W530.

[jursky]

From my experience the easiest way how to get a V.4 (FHD) panel for W520/W530, is to get another W520/W530 already equipped with it, but maybe you'll have better luck getting that panel just on its own.

[ajkula66]

From my experience the easiest way how to get a V.4 (FHD) panel for W520/W530, is to get another W520/W530 already equipped with it, but maybe you'll have better luck getting that panel just on its own.

There's one caveat here, though: later production of W530 involved a V1 - not the V4 - panel and those leave a lot to be desired. Without verifying which panel is installed I'd be hesitant to buy one.

[atagunov]

later production of W530 involved a V1 - not the V4 - panel and those leave a lot to be desired

Hi, any way to check which one I got?

I just pushed Ubuntu 18.04 ssd in and executed

Code: Select all

xrands --verbose
# copy-paste EDID block to edid.txt
edid-decode edid.txt

but all I got was..

Code: Select all

Manufacturer: LEN Model 40b2 Serial Number 0
Made week 1 of 2009
EDID version: 1.3
Digital display
Maximum image size: 34 cm x 19 cm
Gamma: 2.20
DPMS levels: Standby Suspend Off
Supported color formats: RGB 4:4:4, YCrCb 4:4:4
First detailed timing is preferred timing
Established timings supported:
Standard timings supported:
Detailed mode: Clock 139.000 MHz, 344 mm x 193 mm
               1920 1980 2028 2050 hborder 0
               1080 1090 1100 1130 vborder 0
               -hsync -vsync 
Detailed mode: Clock 115.830 MHz, 344 mm x 193 mm
               1920 1980 2028 2050 hborder 0
               1080 1090 1100 1130 vborder 0
               -hsync -vsync 
Manufacturer-specified data, tag 15
ASCII string: B156HW01
Checksum: 0xd6 (valid)
EDID block does NOT conform to EDID 1.3!
	Missing name descriptor
	Missing monitor ranges
	Detailed block string not properly terminated

The panel looks nice however I also have an SSD with Win 10..

Update: fuhhhh.. I have just exhaled, since I've got

Code: Select all

anton@shalfey:~/.local/share/xorg$ fgrep -i b156 Xorg.0.log
[     7.908] (II) modeset(0):  B156HW01 V4

Hurrrah! The panel does indeed look gorgeous! But the location of PgUp/PgDown feels off after *20 series - and indeed my hands damaged through a developer's career are starting to hurt from chicklets - keyboard mod pending! And I still need to figure out the calibration matters..

P.S. I just love it how I am able freely swap my Ubuntu SSD from X220 to T520 to W530 and things just work - no fuss at all!! That's how operating systems should be!

P.P.S. Okay, I have a slightly whitish spot 2-3mm in diameter around center of the screen (not where the red stick is). It's spoiling the fun a little but I think it's overall possible to ignore the defect. Otherwise the screen got a nice resolution, nice colors and an okay brightness for indoor use.