[GUIDE] Swapping Stock M15x 900p/1080p LCD to B+RGLED 1080p LCD

Who says the M15x has reached its potential! ATI 6970M? 6990M? How about a FHD 1080p B+RGLED screen to go with that? This screen is used in the XPS L501X/L502X and the is same as the Clevo 95% gamut LCD upgrades.

Difficulty: HARD
Voiding Warranty: Likely

What you'll need:

-Patience
-Assorted tools (Phillips screwdrivers etc)
-Be handy
-AU Optronics B156HW01 v7 (glossy) or v4 (matte)
-M15x (duh) with stock 900p or 1080p LCD cable (either will do)
-Dremel with cutting disc (optional)
-Soldering iron (optional)
-2" razor/flat, long metal (optional)
-Clean work area
-Preferably a copy of the M15x Service Manual

**Screens available here (probably the only genuine B+RGLED vendor out there. Most will sell you knockoffs): Kuzotronic.com - Search Results for "auo b156hw01"

NOTE: Cheaper imitations have not been tested so I cannot verify picture quality. They're usually about $100 lower in price so..

1. Disassemble the M15x by removing the battery, service panel, touch strip, wifi/bluetooth antennas, keyboard, palmrest, and finally the display assembly.

2. Remove the LCD back cover using the instructions from the service manual, nothing tricky here, as long as you follow the instructions, you'll make it out alive.

3. You'll end up with the LCD exposed so use extra care in handling the assembly. Remove the two metal braces from each side of the assembly. Remove the webcam.



4. You can go about the next part in a couple of ways. I picked the easiest of the three but it basically kills your warranty LOL. The main problem here is the double sided tape Dell uses to secure the black plastic backing and LCD to the front "glass". You need a way to remove both in order to continue with the mod.

a. You can choose to use a razor or long flat metal to cut the "glass" away from the LCD and backing. This method is tricky and I decided to skip it due to concerns of cracking the "glass". I'd assume that with enough time, one can cut away the entire LCD and backing out cleanly.

b. You can cut the backing out using a Dremel with a circular cutting disc. This one will result in the best "looking" finish but again, I skipped it due to concerns of the cutting disc slipping or other accidents happening.

c. So I basically took the wussy way out and plugged in my soldering iron to cut the backing out. Took about 5 minutes and the finish is good enough for me! Just follow the outline of the backing and you'll know what I mean. It'll look like this after.



5. While the soldering iron was heating up I decided to test out the new screen. Hey, it works!



6. Ok back to the panel. I used a metal hook to gently lift the old panel out via a screw hole. There honestly is no easy way to do this part and it takes a bit of learning/figuring out to complete. I cannot teach this part of it but it is doable if you can figure a way out. The LCD is stuck in there due to the gluey tape, but my hook/lift method allowed me to get it out unharmed.



7. Just drop the new panel in and secure the metal braces to hold it in. Hopefully there will still be a little bit of glue on the glass and it'll help seal the new LCD in as well. Install your webcam and stock 40 pin LCD cable.



8. Reassemble and you're basically done.

Confirmation that it works through Device Manager


9. Reap the benefits! The pictures don't do it justice.

 

Cool!! +rep

So the difference between the stock 1080p panel and this one is huge? I was always happy with the stock screen, but if you say the difference is worth it I might go this way, the screen doesn't seem to be too expensive on ebay.

 

cool. where u get the lcd?

 

I had the 900p screen out of the Outlet but back in the day when I had the 1080p, it was quite nice.

Apparently this screen is only second best to true RGB screens used in the XPS 16 and the R2.

The colors are definitely more vibrant than your run of the mill WELD, and it's BRIGHT!

Your best bet for an accurate comparison is to find someone or a store that carries the B+RGLED XPS L502X. As much as I would like them to, my pictures don't come close to doing this screen justice.

 

So, what are the benefits of this? You mention better colors. Does it have an impact on batterylife? I mean more color and better light must cost more?
And does it work with the brightness controll?

Edit: oh yeah, forgot to say gj on an awesome guide

 

Haven't tested battery life yet but I'd assume it might impact it a bit. It is truly a beautiful panel for those who do a bit of coloring work on PCs, now they can mod and do it on their favorite AW. Honestly, I did this for experimental purposes because I like a challenge, it just so happens that it worked lol. The OSD and controls all function like before.

 

This is pretty awesome! I knew there had to be a way to do it. Great work!

 

Anyone post a link to where I can purchase the screen? Thank!!

 

If the next person that does it, could make a video, that would be awesomeness.

 

Sorry dttran83, I had a busy day. I've included a link to the place I got my screen from. They're pricey but genuine.

Added a Device Manager confirmation screen as well.

 

Villosca is that where you get your from?

 

Yeah, it is. Takes about 7-10 days to reach the states from the time of order. They appear to be all sold out for now though.

 

Very nice work! I will probably do this on my M15x since I am often annoyed by the quality of the stock LCD when doing Photoshop work.

 

Thanks! I do some PS and other 3D work too so this screen definitely helps. But the gaming and movies...man...simply awesome.

 

Would this one fit the bill as well?

 

It will, if by exact they mean genuine. I'd email them about that first.

 

Ya I will for sure before ordering. Just wanted to make sure it was the right connector and such.

I'm also wondering if there was a way you saw to just remove the "glass" cover entirely and leave it off?

 

Like the mod done with the M18x where it's just the bezel and no glossy covering?

I'd imagine it would be VERY time consuming haha.

 

Just order mine, it should be here this week. Hopefully everything go well when I install it.

 

Videos pls!

 

+1,000,001 rep for a video!!

 

I'll be doing this project my self so it be really hard to make a video while doing it. I can take some more detail pictures if you guy interested.

 

Would it be possible to use this to make the process easier?

 

Now you're on the trolley!

 

Nice find! That would definitely make things easier!

 

I'm going to get one of those and cut that annoying glass off first. Maybe buy a second just in case I mess the first up.

 

Whoo! So, we'd have to buy the cable, webcam, bezel, and screen seperately and put things together? Would any cutting be necessary?

Edit: I suggested buying it all seperately to ensure a fully functioning backup in case something goes wrong!

 

No, just the front bezel. Attach the new screen to that, then connect it to the current parts.

 

I got the display about a month ago, but not until today did I get some time to actually install it.

I used a dremel to cut the backing out which went fine, but left a lot of fine plastic powder which I had to carefully clean up afterwards, so maybe the soldering iron would have been a better approach. When removing the old display, most of the sticky tape came out with it, so I used some 3M double sided tape to keep the new display in place.

It took about 1½ hour in total and now I'm typing this on my M15x with the new display

The colours are great, but after I calibrated the display, the greys seem to be a bit greenish - something that my other calibrated monitors do not show. Putting this side by side with another calibrated monitor, the colours are clearly not identical. I have to look a bit more into this, but otherwise I'm happy with the result.

Thanks for the inspiration and the HOWTO, Villosa.

 

Just a follow up of my issues with the calibrated display showing wrong colours.

It was because the the device used for calibration did not support wide gamut monitors. I have now calibrated it with an i1 Display Pro, and everything now looks as it should.

 

Which device did you use?

 

I used a Spyder 2 Pro, which apparently does not support Wide gamut monitors.

 

This might be a dumb question, but I was wondering if it is possible to put a more HD screen. Like 2560x1440. You probably can't get that high of a definition, but I am curious if there are more high res displays out there.

 

I would like to upgrade from the 900P screen but the website listed in the first post seems to be located in the UK.

Where could I go to get one in the US?

Thanks

EDIT: I found this one hopefully its the same thing. Are the connectors the same? Doesn't specify whether its glossy or matte though unless I missed it.

http://www.screentekinc.com/AU_Optronics-B156HW01.shtml

 

Sorry to bump an old thread....

I purchased a replacement screen(AU OPTRONICS B156HW01 V.7) from Amazon(a knock-off?)...but unlike the original post...my M15X does not seem to recognize the monitor/lcd in device manager, in fact there is no monitor showing up in device manager after install.

I uninstalled(complete)the video drivers and on initial boot up screen(or safe mode)it looks fine, but during the install of the new video drivers it instructs to reboot....the laptop reboots to the opening Windows screen, then(as the drivers load up)backlight stays on, but screen goes black. Plugged the old screen back in...and it does recognize a monitor(default anyway)in device manager, and works fine.

So does this new LCD require a special monitor/other driver or perhaps a special ribbon/cable(the default cable is listed as W670DI/DELH-DP8RH) to work?

Thanks

 

I can only reply on personal experience. I have a AU Optronics B156HW01 V.07 (glossy, matte is .04) and its recognized as a AUO17ED. I didn't use amazon/ebay to try and avoid knockoffs though!

It was literally plug and play for me, no video drivers involved. Screen display screen upon power and bios when not even installed in my lid. The fact the screen is going black after everything loads almost sounds like a refresh Hz and/or resolution detection issue to me.

Do you experience any of these issues off a live or persistent live of a bootable USB or CD?

No special cable was required, I used the stock m15x cable. Best of luck

 

Thanks for the reply...

I just decided to back to the original screen. Did not try those things you suggested though, maybe when I have more time. Seeing that all was OK(safe mode/initial vid. driver install), until the drivers loaded up on reboot, could have been a driver issue or(as you stated)a refresh HZ /res. issue. Currently using Nvida 260m with monitor listed as generic Plug and Play 1920 x 1080 59hz.

 

Hey all, just thinking, is there any way that we could make the screen Matte, without the use of a screen protector?

I really like this LCD change, if I had the know-how i'd probably do it.

I do a lot of digital painting, a better gamut would benifit me.

 

where you purchase it from if it wasn't from ebay/amazon.

 

I realize this is an old thread, but I'm hoping someone could help here.
It seems as if the link I posted previously doesn't have any more bezels and I can't seem to load the LCD page. Does anyone know where I could find a plug and play 1080 (or 2560 ) replacement LCD?
TIA!

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Also, is there any reason why I should get the glossy instead of the matte or vice versa?

 

You can buy it here at a pretty good price:

B156HW01 | New AU Optronics 15.6" FHD 1080p LCD Screen