Color gamut - how are the colors on the M14x's 1600x900 display?

I was a little disappointed to read Anandtech's review of the M14x, which sort of indicates the color gamut on this laptop is poor, even worse than the Dell XPS 14 and Toshiba M645 (I've seen those screens in person--they're bad). For a gaming laptop to have worse color than a crappy 1366x768 screen on the Dell XPS 14 is well...absurd.

Is that really true? Can I trust that review?

Ideally I'd get the M17x with 1920x1080 but I don't think I can afford that and the weight (12 lbs!) makes it completely impractical for me, since I would like it to be somewhat portable...

 

When carefully looking at the screenshots of the unlocked BIOS thread hereabouts I noticed that the LCD panel is 18 bit not 24 bit.
Further reading - I was surprised to learn that a lot of (most laptops?) LCD panels are 18bit not 24bit! Just because Windows let you set it to 24bit does not mean it is - an 18bit panel can simulate 24 bits with dithering (which perhaps explains the hint of rippling diagonal lines I used to see in the background of some (this?) forum site using the M1330).

Further reading suggested that there is a tradeoff between quick refresh rate and colour depth... so my guess is for a gaming laptop Dell chose a panel with faster response at the expense of gamut.

 

in short. it is crappy

 

I guess I could understand a trade-off for a quicker refresh rate on a gaming laptop...but...I guess I can leave gaming for my desktop and get a laptop with a better display.

 

I can't say I have noticed the crappiness. I just compared it to the M1330 (I think has a Toshiba paneL LCD2306l) and I couldn't really see any difference between them. Both can't distinguish the darkest few panels but I bet that is true of very many laptops.
I was using the test screens at LCD monitor test images
(Did see some flicker on panel 7b of the pixel walk test for M14X... which is supposed to indicate a misadjusted voltage).

Incidentally - I guess the panels may not all be from the same manufacturer anyway (as was the case for the M1330). In Device Manager, Display Adapters, Intel Graphics, Details tab, Bus relations (Property), I see the string SEC544B which confirms mine is the same as the one reviewed.
Searching on that and I find the whole M14X display quality thread at http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/574067-display-quality-m14x-6.
I also find the same panel used in other computers such as one of the ones used in the Asus G74SX
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/591329-asus-g74sx-owners-lounge-16.html
So in avoiding buying the M14X for this screen you could end up with another computer with the same panel!
(Perhaps my earlier speculation about compromise with response time for a gaming machine was wrong - looks like this panel is used in some Latitudes and Precisions too)

 

Really?

I mean, unfortunately at Fry's all I can see is the M14x with the 1366x768 panel. And while the screen didn't appear "grainy" or anything like what I often see on poor 1366x768 panels, the colors looked very faded and washed out and it was very disappointing.

And reading that thread you linked to just depressed me. 45% gamut? That's horrible

I already have a MacBook with a stellar screen...I'm not willing to go worse. I think, if I ever decide on a good PC laptop, it'll be one with a FullHD 1920x1080 screen and thus I'll probably end up getting a 17-inch. Still, there's something about this damn M14x that appeals to me...but if the screen is crap...

 

Screen quality was the main reason my m14x disappeared from my lineup. It serves its purpose but gamut wise all I have read is negative.

 

my sager had a much better screen. it was in a totally different class

 

All reviews are done on stock machines with no adjustments. However, with very minor tweaking, the 1600 x 900 screen looks great. Just turn up the 'saturation' a little in the Intel display settings and you are set.

See discussion: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/602588-improving-m14x-display-2.html

I have an m14x with 1600 x 900 display and it looks nearly as good with regards to colour depth as the much touted XPS 15z display side-by-side.

Bottom line, don't let the screen stop you, but get the screen upgrade.

 

Hmm...I have a Toshiba Satellite whose 1366x768 screen is pretty bad and adjusting the saturation made the screen look better, but it was still far inferior to the screen on my Mac.

I just hate how the screen is the lowest priority of PC-manufacturers and that's what we stare at all day (well, some of us at least). You'd think they'd put more effort into it.