Swapped Ugly QHD To An Awesome UHD Display Alienware R4 Tutorial

@SonVolt thanks for the link, did you buy a screen from there, did it work? Or more specifically, did G-Sync work and did it *not* have the 'auto dimming' feature. Also its sold out now

I spoke to Dell UK the other day, and they told me that the price to *upgrade* from QHD to UHD was going to be around £500! The screen alone was £300 and then they said I would need a load of other parts in order to swap them, a new cable and surround and something to do with fitting it. and that I'd have to pay for the technician to come as well... So in comparison with that even just taking a chance on a panel from china is cheap!

We discussed the issues I currently have with my QHD screen but even after showing direct comparisons between this machine and my 7 year old Dell XPS 17, they decided that they would not fix it in warranty because the crapness of the screen was within technical limits of a TN Screen...

 

R4 screen is compatible with R5 ??? i guess AW 17 R5 has the 30pin dpi (with FHD screen)... my AW 17 R4 died and i have the screen available...

 

@aldaris565 do you mean that you have a Alienware 17 R4 UHD 4k screen to sell? If so does G-Sync work with it? If it does I'll probably have it...

 

Wow, I didn't even know this was possible, I wish I'd visited these forums before!!

I'd love to change my 1440p G-Sync screen for something IPS. sorry to hijack, but there's a mountain of pages here.

Is there an option for another 1440p/120Hz/IPS/G-Sync that I can switch to?

 

Darn, I think I might have just got a fake off AliBaba... The one I bought looks more like the last screen in this video:

But mine has no sticker on it at all! Certainly no mention of AUOptronics or even the B173zan01.2 part number

The top joining blocks are all bent as well, looks like someone has tried and failed to shove this into an incompatible chassis...

I'm not sure whether to even try it out, since bending the connectors back might likely damage the screen even more...

Waiting to see what the vendor says (if they say anything)

But be careful out there folks...

 

UPDATE:

So the seller got back to me very quickly and assured me that it was very unlikely that the screen would be damaged by bending the joining blocks back and it would be under warranty anyways, so I took the plunge and fitted it... (for anyone struggling to pull the connector out of the screen be aware that there was a tiny latch that was holding it in place on my R4)

Aaaand it seems to be great! The screen reports itself as AUOptronics B173ZAN1.0 rather than 1.2 as was advertised, but my horrible issues with light bleeding and shading on the QHD screen are gone. I dont have the gear to test color range and accuracy, but sat next to my external Apple Display (which I know is excellent) the colors look exactly the same, no 'auto dimming' so far as far as I can tell, text in all apps is now sharp (because you can set windows to 200% scale), and best of all G-Sync works!

If I was being picky, I say its got a miniscule yellow cast compared to the Apple, but its barely noticeable and could probably be fixed if I could snag the pantone calibration profile from someone who has an Aorus X7 v7 dt (which uses the same screen)

Downsides? Only that having played games at 120hz I can now see a slight difference (didn't think I could before), but I'm more of a 'tell me a story' gamer anyways and would rather have good colors and no dodgy TN bleeding funk. The other thing is that the screen is not as bright, but I think thats right according to the specs (UHD is 300nits QHD is 400nits)

So now I have the choice of both! and all for less that £150!

Winner

For anyone who is interested this is where I got the screen from:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/17-...114.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.614f4c4dFvXebZ

on that page it says that delivery will be 20-40 days but I got mine (China - UK) in 6 days

 

So, how does running games at lower resolution look on a 4k screen then? Because I can't imagine the 1080 can really output games in 4k with decent framerates... I think I'd like to change the screen in my R4, and I'm not bothered about 120Hz, but I don't like to play games below 60fps really...

 

Is there any advice for a Alienware 15R3 screen?
Mine seems to be defective, see my post : http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...een-pink-vertical-line-and-flickering.820656/

If there is a better screen I rather would like to try that then get an other same screen that might fail over a year.

 

As far as I could see, apart from the better colours etc I couldn't see any negative difference between gaming at QHD on the 4k screen compared to QHD on the QHD screen

 

What screen do you use in your 15R3?

 

Hi guys, I have the 17 R4 with QHD g-sync but It has pretty bad backlight uniformity. I want to get the 4K gsync screen you mention here but I am confused about the different models and problems regarding backlight dimming and gsync not able to work. Can anyone send me a link from an ebay seller that has the fully compatible screen? I prefer a seller from Europe because we have problems with custom taxes in my country.
thanks

 

I am having issues with the DBC (Dynamic Brightness Control) on this uhd screen (B173ZAN)
. (want to disable it.. It's a firmware thing). i see some fw fixes for the 13" R4 but does anyone know if theres a fix for the 17 uhd screen?

 

Guys I finally got this screen mentioned here in previous posts: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/17-...114.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.14684c4dyXiCzy
it works but I cant find g-sync option in control panel. Does it means its not compatible with the 17 R4?

 

I too would also like to know this if anyone knows?

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Is the display screen of B173 ZAN 01.2 either glare or Matte?

 

If you have a glare B 173 ZAN 01.2, let me know.

 

In case of touch panel, is it glossy.

 

I am considering trying the UHD IPS screen, I have the QHD from the factory right now, and rather than return this computer and get a new one, it seems easier to try it myself. However, does it matter if one gets left or right-hand connections? From the pictures, it seems the connector is in the middle of the top lid, so either side should work?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...173ZAN01.2.TRS0&_nkw=AUO+B173ZAN01.2&_sacat=0

I was surprised to see both left and right like that. Perhaps they're really the same?

Also, there is no way to tell glossy from matte from the part number, is that right? I wouldn't mind trying glossy again, but if it's extra thick because of the touch layer, I don't know if I'd want that. (especially since the touch won't work anyway)

Finally, I saw one reply in here said the tape can be re-used, is that for sure? Or do I need to source some new tape?

Also, to anyone who has replaced it - does the idea of using velcro instead for the bezel sound possible or not feasible with the space constraints? I was thinking to make it even easier to remove, in case I like both screen so much that I want to switch back and forth. (lol, I know, like that's going to happen...) On the other hand, if the tape is durable, I guess I can just pop the bezel back in and out many times without changing the tape anyway?

Thanks everyone.

I really wish they'd come out with a 120Hz+ IPS screen at QHD resolution (or 4K), but I guess that won't happen due to lack of demand for the power requirements and so forth. Not many models would want to offer that I am guessing since battery life would be miserable. I have compared the mouse cursor in Windows on both an external, 60 Hz cheapo TN screen to my built-in QHD 120Hz TN screen, and the movement is quite different. The 60Hz looks like the computer is lagging, the cursor jumps an inch or more at a time, compared to at 120 Hz, the cursor almost looks like a separate object on top of the screen surface, it moves so much more smoothly. But every time I look between my QHD screen to my cheap IPS in my Lenovo, the Lenovo looks so much more richer.

Oh, the only other thing I am worried about, is whether I will miss the extra 100 nits of brightness the TN offers. Others have said not at all. (and that person has used both panels) My Lenovo is 267 max brightness and I definitely always wish it had another notch or two to go. 300 is probably just about right for indoors usage.

 

Bumping this one again. Going to hope this one works, making an offer on it now. Available stateside in NJ:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4K-UHD-17-...bpbjrME:sc:USPSPriority!18324!US!-1:rk:2:pf:0

I am guessing left or right hand connection don't matter since it appears the connector comes from the exact middle of the base, right?

Also can someone with touch panel/glossy confirm that it's very thick in front of the LCD? I think the one above is matte and while I like glossy, I don't love having those extra touch layers that won't do anything anyway in the way of the pixels.

 

I'm always sketched out when the seller has a disclaimer "screen contains 1 to 5 dead pixels" so I assume that, while they are "new" items, these failed testing and/or inspection and that's why they are being resold on the cheap on ebay.

 

I guess we'll find out! I wonder if eBay enforces no returns for dead pixels. I actually went with a different seller and they offer a 120 day warranty at least, same dead pixels (2-5). I think if you pay restocking you can still return though no matter what, I could give it one more shot. I did call Dell Parts, care to take a guess on the cost of the UHD screen from them?

Spoiler: Think of a number then reveal the answer below...

$650! $1k if you want the whole upper half assembly.

 

Bloody hell. That’s atrocious.


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I am curious - is there definitive proof that B173ZAN01.0 is G-Sync compatible, and B173ZAN1.2 is not? Or vice versa? I've seen a forum or Reddit post somewhere saying only 1.0 is GSYNC. I think I saw one to the opposite effect.

I ended up cancelling my order and going with a 1.0 one. It has the tag "2DK4K", which I think is from when they first offered the 4k screen. I am guessing it's all the same screen, just sold with different tags to market to different folks?

Other thing is, out of all the listings with contact info, it seems they all are made by ChiMei. Not sure if Panasonic got out of business, but at least it isn't a Sharp, I read those were bad. From what I can tell, Dell-provided ones were at some point (still are?) made by Sharp or Panasonic. I guess I don't quite get where AUO fits into this - they made the first run then sold the design to all the other companies or something?

I did see one old posting saying the person hated the ChiMei because it ghosted, but it looked so bad in their screenshot, I can only hope it was a production run issue and/or has been fixed by now.

Just afraid that, if I get ChiMei, and Dell's OEM is actually Panasonic (or truly AUO), that mine won't be the 100% Adobe RGB. But perhaps they all have to conform to the spec? Or are these knockoffs, like fake Gucci handbags, and they're just making some cheap stuff to pass off and get the sale?

At least restocking is only 15% if I really don't like it so I guess it's worth a shot.

 

It seems that the key isn’t the sub model number - it’s the firmware on the panel that dictates if it will allow Gsync or not. People have had success only when the seller lists the panel as g-sync.

I haven’t seen this discussed but if it’s possible to reflash the panel with the gsync firmware that would simplify things for a lot of folks.


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Yeah it seemed it was certain runs by certain manufacturers... perhaps it's the firmware then, makes sense as that would identify it and authorize it for gsync capability against the hardware vendor lookup, I remember reading that somewhere now.

I know there was another thread about reflashing a panel to get the brightness controls to work but that was another laptop completely that I stumbled on. Seemed rare that anyone does that, unfortunately...

Well I guess I'll see how it works with this one anyway.

 

Ok, well, I got my panel. The sticker answered my question - basically, what a lot of these sellers is selling is an Innolux (Chimei) N173DSE-G31. That answers my confusion - obviously the part number for AUO is only AUO! Duhhh.

Screen is 800:1 instead of 1000:1 like the AUO; other than that, I don't see any other differences on panelook.com.
http://www.panelook.com/N173DSE-G31_Innolux_17.3_LCM_overview_26419.html

Oh, brightness on Panelook says 300 (I think original AUO was 400, then next was 300). It's weird, this screen seems way brighter than the factory QHD panel which was 400 nits! I honestly have to turn it down one or two clicks at least in a darkened room. Maybe it's the contrast that makes it seem brighter.

Doesn't support G-Sync, obviously.

Light bleed - uggggh! So ugly upon first boot. I removed the bezel though, loosened the four screws, pushed it around, and then tightened gently, seemed to help. Honestly, much less bleed with bezel off. Funny thing is, I set my windows desktop to black on my other laptop, Lenovo, and it was same! Scalloped random edges of backlight bleed. I wonder if this is why Apple uses aluminum - more rigid, less likely for screen to get twisted in its shell? With screen black, even just pushing lid makes it turn medium grey in some areas; grabbing both edges and just gently twisting makes for some crazy light effects all over the screen! But with a regular image showing, just don't notice it. I guess all laptop IPS panels do this? Just neve realized it. Or is the Innolux just awful?

Panelook says it's 100% Adobe RGB. Maybe I'll buy a colorimeter. Colors seem boosted though right now. Also, the touch screen surface of the Lenovo does make it look a bit nicer still. I've read that it's easy to remove the matte coating though by leaving damp paper towels on the screen overnight - but then it will expose any surface blemishes, and be ultra glossy. Will research that more.

The biggest negative is, it seems I have exactly three dead pixels! One short to get a replacement. One is off to the side, hard to find it, dark medium color; other two are unfortunately dead center, one third from the top. One of them is a darker color though, so it's just one that's really noticeable. But, like people say - on a 4K screen, a dead pixel really isn't such a huge issue like it is on a 1080 screen. It is so tiny, I almost don't even care, even on a black background!

I do feel like people are getting gouged a bit on the prices though. This cost $160. I don't think it's less than $110 direct from China - I was just hoping it might be a better batch or something or that maybe Chimei could magically overclock to 100Hz. Seems like that's the going price though if you want one available in a day or two (i.e.,. already stateside). I know people have said DHL didn't take that long with Alibaba Express. Maybe I'll still get the AUO sometime if I can truly verify it is the real deal.

Can anyone who has the AUO 4k screen comment on blacklight bleed, any dead pixels? I assume I'd have to get the 1.0 to be sure GSync worked. I saw a two year old thread saying the 1.2 didn't work because Nvidia hadn't added it yet, but probably would (but maybe it never happened). I did see online videos of backlight bleed, seemed not as bad, but then the guy did a timed exposure to exaggerate it, and it looked much worse. Obviously if I am not at max brightness, it's not as bad either.

 

Funny thing I noticed - it's as if I hadn't seen orange before or something - the orange buttons and logo on this site pop out like they're neon! I guess that specific color just ain't in the QHD TN panel's wheelhouse!

 

Grats on the successful swap!

If you are looking into getting a GSync panel, I would suggest getting a used pull, from a place like xyverx or parts-people. That way you will actually get an AUO panel loaded with the GSync panel firmware that Dell's BIOS will expect.

I wouldn't worry so much about backlight bleed. Just make sure screws are not overly tight (as you did) and that the tape is not deformed and is evenly spaced. If you remove the bezel enough times it can get deformed as well.

 

Thank you for those recommendations - I'd only seen one used one on eBay and it was overpriced and pretty old, not even GSync. Glad to hear that some of the stuff I did on the fly was somewhat normal! I realize now looking at other screens around the house that they all do have some backlight bleed - just never really notice it at all until you have black all around the edges and are looking for it, I suppose.

Overall though I am happy the top shell has the big bezel the way it is - not sure why people complain, this is not an ultrabook. Dell, please keep it easy to maintain, I can literally change my screen in less than 5 minutes, now that I've done it once. Plus the bigger bezel creates a nicer dark surround when playing games, I've found.

 

@win32asmguy If you don't mind me requesting a favor - do you think I should be worried about the sticker on the panel on this eBay listing?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362126699567

It has the right part number, but it doesn't actually say "Manufactured by AU Optronics" like other pictures of the right panel have had. It's the only one I can find on eBay which actually shows the sticker zoomed in, others just show the whole back and the text is illegible, too small. I have also noticed the ones that are definitely legit have the sticker at the bottom, below the actual panel. Not sure if the sticker up top indicates anything, or just random manufacturing runs. (By the way, I can't seem to find how to read the manufacturing date - I assume it's like tires, the numbers are the xth week of a particular year? If so, that panel was 21st week of 2015... 3 years+ old already... normal, or indicative of refurb/reject unit? Unless I am reading the date wrong, and it's number of quarters, not weeks, or something like that.)

The one good thing is seller responded and at least there is the message history on eBay where they do say it is original AUO and not any other manufacturer. I've also now asked him if he can offer a no-dead-pixel guarantee and perhaps even guarantee it will be Gsync-compatible. I'd be willing to pay a little extra for the first, don't want to be sending panels back and forth to China. Just not worth it after a while with the shipping and time waiting.

EDIT: Seller just wrote back and checked, it is a refurb, so that explains the date; but WILL guarantee zero pixel. I think I will pull the trigger on this one, maybe it will even get here by next weekend:

"sorry just now i confirm from my supplier, this screen is refurbished. but original AU Optronics screen. i can guarantee it is a zero dead pixel display. if there is any defective with it, we accept the return and will pay for the return postage fee."

I checked the two sites you mentioned, did not see any current inventory, but reached out to both of them anyway.

I tried reaching out to three vendors on AliExpress, but the first one wrote back "just message when you make order", so I guess they're not really into answering questions/pre-sale support. I guess people just click and hope they get what they think they are getting from the listings. I did find one Ali listing where two reviewers said they got AUO brand panels, although one thought he was getting a 1.2 but he got a 1.0 but it worked with G-Sync anyway (I think it's the opposite, 1.0 definitely works, not completely sure 1.2 works because even a panel with 1.2 sticker like that reviewer's ended up reporting that it was 1.0 on its EDID).

Another thing I am wondering, but don't seem to see much info - shouldn't it be possible to use something like Phoenix EDID Designer to edit the panel's EDID to report the right part/model number (and trick the GPU into allowing G-Sync)? Or is it more detailed than that? I am clueless how that even works - I guess it needs a service port or how else is it going to write data to the monitor...

 

When AUO makes a run of panels for Dell, they put Dell's sticker at the bottom of the screen instead of their usual at the top. It has the Dell part number and QR code so they can track which part gets installed into what. The Dell panel also has a specific EDID, which both the BIOS and driver are looking for when exposing GSync to you in the Nvidia Control Panel. There is a chance that even the 17R4 UHD GSync panel won't allow GSync on a 17R5 board - if Dell has yet another new EDID for the 17R5 display. I am guessing you are past your return date so the best option is to stick with the Chimei UHD you have that works, or use the QHD it came with that works with GSync. You could technically also try the Chimei N173HHE-G32 which is a FHD 120hz TN (but has dramatically better gamut and contrast than the AUO QHD TN) and use that with Fast Sync until a good deal on a UHD GSync panel appears.

 

Thanks - my QHD from the factory only said AU Optronics though on it, not Dell. Oh, you mean the barcode though, right (plus the EDID flashed into it). Yeah that is a concern. It seemed some people at least had luck though installing the third party AUO panels and getting G-Sync to work. I'll report back when this other one arrives. Will return the other one due to dead pixels anyway. If I'd known it wasn't as easy as it seemed, I would have just returned/re-ordered with the other screen, oh well.

Funny thing is, I really DID like the QHD screen - I could put up with the TN quality, although annoying (colors changing just rocking my head back and forth); the thing that really got me though was the lack of black; any dark scenes in games were always more of a dark brown/green! Now with the UHD, shadows look like shadows. (and of course, with 100% Adobe RGB - I have not actually used a monitor like this before - really amazing the colors it can produce, even puts MB Pro screen to shame, at least the one from a few years ago)

Good thoughts on the HD screen too - I think there are even some IPS, high refresh rate options. I just can't deal with 1080p though on 17". Right now I am even experimenting at running with equivalent of QHD res (scaled down from 4k). It is small, but it's sharp due to the high DPI from the 4k, and I can scale up web browsers and email, leaving more screen real estate for other programs that are more visual (I'll probably reduce it a bit at some point). But yeah, if I didn't mind regular DPI, 1080p, HD would make a whole lot of sense.

If this replacement still doesn't support G-Sync, I'll probably just stick with it, maybe get a portable high refresh rate monitor or something if it still bugs me. I've turned on V-sync now. It's not too bad as long as i run at 1080 and keep FPS above 60, of course. Interestingly, when I first got the new UHD panel put in, I had not repasted my CPU/GPU yet. On the old QHD, I ran fine at QHD res, no throttling; but for some reason, running 1080p on the 4k screen, the same game (AC Origins) would stutter and throttle down to 3-7 FPS in fights. (and no over-sampling on the resolution either - the game was simply set to 1080) Could have just been the quality of my factory paste getting worse though and coincidentally timed with my changing of the panel. Since the re-paste, no issues at all, 60 FPS at all times (and 90-100 if I turn off v-sync to show the actual FPS).

Anyway thanks again for the insight!

 

Hello again, to anyone who follows this thread - I posted this in a related thread also, but this one had more recent activity. I got the new panel that is supposed to be AUO, and it DOES work with G-Sync (whether it's truly AUO or a "fake" that they pushed the EDID to). No dead pixels. Spyder5 Pro confirms it's 100% Adobe RGB and 98% NTSC. Only problem is, it's very, very dim. Hence my message below:

Is anyone still following this thread who has the UHD AUO screen, and has also run their own colorimeter on it? I wonder why brightness you get when testing. When my Spyder5 Pro does the first part of the test, I cannot get it higher than 179 nits at max brightness. Panel looks very dim, too. Pretty sure it is a dud.

The last 4k screen I put in, ChiMei Innolux, was exceptionally bright. I am pretty sure this one is broken because it seems too dim to use even in a dark room, but perhaps the Spyder calibration isn't giving the max brightness when it tests? For example, I just tested it on my QHD panel which is supposed to max out at 400 nits (and does seem very bright), but it's saying that is only 279 nits. Perhaps it's because it uses off-white to test? I don't have access to the Innolux screen unfortunately to see what it says for that one.

Anyway, just making sure the AUO panels aren't that dim. From feedback on them, it certainly doesn't seem they should be (and it seems that I have a problematic panel). I can't even make out shadow detail, that's how dark it is.

 

If anyone here would like to sell me his original QHD screen that came with the laptop please let me know. I have bought several QHD screens from Chinese suppliers and all of them had problems like severe backlight bleeding, g-sync not working or much worse colour reproduction than the original. My original one is broken and dell charges too much so it's not worth it to get it from them.

 

I am having same problem getting a quality UHD screen! On my 3rd and 4th tries now (yep, trying TWO at once this time). If I get one I like evenutally, I will probably sell my QHD. Was thinking of keeping it though in case I trade up laptop or something, or wanted to switch back to it. Each time I put it back in I do miss that 120Hz! Anyway I'll let you know if I decide to sell (once and if I get a UHD I like, lol).

 

This thread is exactly what I was looking for. While I took time to skim through I am still conflicted. I got 17r4, the display is 17.3 inch UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits, what I want to do is replace it with 4k gsync, is that possible? Again, great 4k screen but limited to 60hz and no gsync, i want 4k with higher hz and gsync, is this possible?

Thnx everyone

 

If you did not order the system with a gsync screen then the only way to add it after the fact would be to replace the entire system board (as well as the screen of course)

Tl;dr not possible.


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Yeah, unfortunately that's right - unless they hardwired the GPU to the monitor lead, G-Sync won't work... basically if you have Optimus, then G-Sync won't work for you, because it's not directly connected to the monitor then.

 

Thank you cruisin and equal. Should I bother overclocking the screen? See if I can squeeze it to atleast 75hz? Ty

 

I did try to use CRU to adjust my Chi Mei Innolux (the first UHD I tried) upwards - most I could get was 62Hz. Then I found some settings someone else had used on this forum who probably spent a lot of time, and that got it up to 63... but then I ran that online test to see if it was skipping, and I wasn't sure, but felt like it was, or at least still glitching sometimes (like a highlight effect on some pixels), so I went back to 60Hz, didn't seem worth it.

Screen #2 which was too dim, I tried it, and just going to 62 gave it a 3" wide vertical band that looked like a Star Trek transporter beam. It persisted across a few reboots, then sort of went away, not sure it ever went away entirely. Could be due to the screen being bad though, I've never had an issue like that in OCing a screen before! (semi-permanent change to behavior across restarts)

I supposed you might get lucky with yours, but I don't know, I think these 4Ks are kind of maxed out as it is in terms of the bandwidth per frame. I think usually it's with the 60 Hz 1080p screens that folks get those crazy OCs to 75 or even 100Hz I saw somebody got once.

If you've never used CRU, it's kind of a pain picking it up but not really that difficult.

Do some more research though - while I am pretty sure the end user can't "turn on" the G-Sync by setting the output like it needs, who knows, maybe someone out there did it. The thing is, I forgot you already have a 4K screen from the factory. R3 it wasn't an option, so no-go there, but you have an R4, and it was available then? Even now they sell 4K with or without G-Sync. Not sure if that's really to give the choice of using iGpu for more power savings (I think that is why), or if they're using a different non-Gsync panel for the that option, but I highly doubt it's a different panel.

Which panel do you have anyway? It's not the AUO 173ZAN01.0? If it is, that is the G-Sync screen, so then the connection is definitely not there on yours. I.e., you might already have the G-Sync compatible screen.

Don't forget, G-Sync still works on the external outs... with all the bad luck I've had trying to even get a viable 4K screen, I myself might stick with QHD, which is very nice in its own right; maybe for you, consider getting a portable gaming monitor? Seems hard to find them in 17"+, 15" or smaller is more common. (then you can find HDR, high refresh rate, IPS too I think, and power it off the USB and plug into the HDMI; not sure if they are G-Sync capable though, lol, come to think of it - only did a brief search twice - of course, much nicer to just use the built-in screen anyway) Or just a nice regular gaming computer monitor, of course.

 

Thank you. I am just going to try and OC it and see how it goes, other then that it's a great screen and will leave it alone. Too bad for the lack of gsync though. Thank you for taking the time and everything.

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Hello guys.
I never gave any update about the UHD display I bought from the Chinese seller, and avoided giving more info, because in the end it WASN'T original.
Yeah, the display works, and the colors are much more satisfying than the crappy QHD I had before, but it didn't come with gsynch, it has noticeable bleeding on the right side, and I could only overclock it to 66hz.
When I complained to the seller, they simply told me "but it works so stop making my job difficult". Pissed me off but eh, lesson learned.

That being said, even if it didn't have these issues, I don't think a 4K monitor is for me. The only good thing about this monitor were the better colors (which were the reason I decided to switch in the first place), but windows has scaling issues everywhere (with programs scaling properly and others forever blurry), and with gaming, this machine is not able to run stuff with max settings at 4K, so everything is pointless: I end up downscaling, or directly playing at 1080, which results in a not very sharp image. A display like this also consumes more.

So, my question is, is there a 17inch 1080p monitor (of course possibly with high refresh rate, and most importantly, with GOOD colors, can't stress this enough) I could get?
Any tested model, and/or a seller you could recommend?

Thanks in advance to whoever may bother with my question (which may already have an answer in the 25 pages of this thread, in that case I apologize).

 

Yeah I think those sellers are mostly selling rejects/returns/refurbs, because out of the 4 AUO ones I've gotten so far, three said "No Warranty" and had very dim brightness, and the fourth looked like someone re-programmed the EDID, and even sRGB coverage was only 73%! So, obviously not even the real panel on that last one (but 4k).

I am curious, is yours also dim? Not sure if you have a colorimeter, but mine have varied from 120-180 nits. The only one close to the 350-400 nit max brightness was the ChiMei Innolux (looked beautiful, but had a lot of dead pixels, and no change of G-Sync working of course since it is a different model number altogether). That was my first attempt at going UHD.

I have seen a 144Hz 1080p IPS screen, sounds like that may be ideal. I am not sure if it's compatible with these machines though; the standard 1080p is not high refresh rate, only G-Sync, so you would probably not get G-Sync on that one either. And, I am not sure if it takes the 30 or 40 pin connector. (your're on 40 pin now, since you had QHD and UHD) So, you might need to take it all apart to downgrade the cable.

Have you considered an external, portable monitor? They come up to 17" in size. If you only want 1080 and not 4k or HDR, they're $200 or so. Seems like it would fit right in place if you wanted to prop it on the lid. I am probably going to do that if I ever find a UHD - I already have a control board bought and in hand that will work with QHD or UHD res/refresh rates, so I can just keep one of the panels as a homemade external monitor. (but no G-Sync then of course, since it will report as whatever the control board says it is, not the original panel - at least I think that's how it would appear; the model number whitelisting only works for direct connection to motherboard, not via HDMI, anyway, I believe)

 

I don't know about brightness, it's not something I stress about, mine feels bright enough, but I have no way to test it.

As for an external monitor, I don't really have enough space to have one.
I often plug the pc to my TV when I watch YouTube or play some games, but again, I get scaling issues. I either keep the original 4K resolution, which means it is a little blurry and everything is too small to be able to read, or switch to second monitor only, but doing so it still gets the upscaling setup I have for the 4K monitor, so everything gets too big.

In the end I really think 4K on a laptop is a very stupid idea, especially with current technology. I really regret following the hype of some people in this thread.

 

Yeah, QHD is a nice resolution for 17.3"... Even at QHD you get some extra DPI for making things looking smooth (I run at 113% custom scale setting)

Do your games offer a way to render at 4K but not 100%? For example, I noticed in AC Origins, it lets me output at 4K, but I can choose to render the output only at 70%, for example... 50% would be the same load as 1080P output. So, the output still looks sharp, pixel to pixel, just not as detailed since the render engine is doing a bit less internally.

Also, I happened to just receive my sixth attempt at a panel update! Created a thread with link to the seller in case it helps anyone:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/psa-found-a-reliable-panel-seller-on-aliexpress.825851/

EDIT: Oh, and on the external portable monitor - I meant, you could proably add some padding to it and simply strap it in front of your built in panel on the top lid! Kind of ghetto, but then you could use the 4K for productivity, and strap on the 1080P external for gaming...

 

Depends on the game.
It's the best option I have when the game doesn't run well on native 4K,but the loss in details is a compromise I don't like..

Oh, that's a little TOO getto for me ahahah

 

Did you finally decide what are you going to do with your old QHD screen? I'm still searching for a new QHD on eBay and I sent messages to almost all sellers I found but they cannot tell me if the screen has the right hardware ID (AUO 1496) which is fully compatible with the Alienware.

 

Hi - I got a working UHD panel - but, I am going to use the UHD as external with the control board I got. I just like the QHD as a natural resolution for general Windows usage too much, and the high refresh rate. My first QHD was not as nice. This one won't color shift unless I look at it from 45 degrees below, it just starts doing a contrast/brightness shift (which IPS panels will do also off-center), and even that not until a good 10 degrees off center, downwards (old one was noticeable with any movement).. I figure since I got lucky I might as well keep using it. Sorry about that!

 

I just installed the old panel from my 7710 (purchase from amazon via a third party seller) and g-sync is working (or at least is enabled in settings). this is the .0 panel revision.

 

If you have a 4K panel you can make a qhd custom resolution from nvidia settings then set it natively, 4k is the best screen for the laptop!