Calibrated FHD screen W530 vs IPS

I've used the calibration file that was posted on the W530 Owner's forum thread but the colors are still off when compared to my S-IPS/H-IPS panel LCD HDTV.

Is the matte coating making the colors inaccurate (e.g. dirty whites)?

Also is lenovo going to go forwards instead of backwards?

 

Using calibration file doesn't mean your screen is calibrated.

 

So how do i get it to look as good as the IPS panel LCD displays that I have used?

Buy a $300 color calibrator?

 

How do you know your IPS panel is calibrated. Define look as good?
You are not going to get the viewing angle of a IPS but you can get the color accuracy after calibration.

Display Calibration Sensor Capabilities

 

My IPS panels show more details in the images and whites are white instead of greyish.

 

Well S/HIPS can be 8 or 10bit and the TN is just 6bit, so there is some technical difference. But if you want them to look similar (color wise), a calibrator is your best bet.

 

TN and IPS panels have different characteristics.

I'd rather focus on properly calibrating the TN panel (to optimize its performance within its salient characteristics) rather than making it behave like an IPS panel. That is, don't use any IPS screen as a model to "push" your W530 FHD screen by AUO.

In my subjective opinion, the AUO B156HW01 V.7 (glossy, used by Dell) shows better than the AUO B156HW01 V.4 (matte, used by Lenovo) because of the anti-glare coating on the latter.

If you need IPS performance in a mobile workstation, consider a Dell Precision or an HP EliteBook.

 

Try a different color profile? Whites look fine on mine.

You could force more detail to show up by squeezing the image colorspace into the screen's representable colorspace, albeit at a loss of color accuracy.

 

I guess the FHD screen that lenovo uses is overrated. I'll guess I'll keep the W530 for now since I got a good price on it.

Compare your whites to a semi glossy or regular glossy IPS panel screen in person.

 

In a market where low gamut and poor contrast/viewing angle screen dominates, I don't think it is overrated. It give the best gamut/contrast/nit on a laptop panel w/o breaking the bank (retina, dreamcolor, etc). The new slim IPS model beat the b156hw01 v4/v7 in viewing angel but thats pretty much it.

The v7 is nice but a eye killer ... (using it now on my dv6z, I will say almost double the strain compare to using my matte external, 1.2x-1.3x compare to my old crap 768p) The fact it is not calibrated so the gamma may be off add on to the problem xD And I have glasses w.o all the fancy anti-reflect xyz.

Edit:

True enough the white on matte display seem dirty(red/green/grey color showing up), but that's the problem with the nature of matte/anti glare coating screen. When I use my cheap eips for game/video, it doesn't show at all.

 

It's the best overall panel in all Lenovo laptops for a few generations, not more and not less. And, with very few exceptions, panels in laptops, including IPS and their variations, are simply not as good as an average IPS desktop monitor.

That said, "My IPS panels show more details in the images and whites are white instead of greyish" may mean just incorrect gamma or color cast, not necessarily the difference between panel technologies, or 6 bits and 8 bits.

These are easily fixable by calibration, of both the IPS and W530 screen. Basic screen calibrators cost far less than $300 today, and if you notice these things, they're well worth the money IMO.

 

Right. At least within the ThinkPad family, the 15.6" FHD screen is "relatively" superior. To be fair, it is one of the best TN screens right now, but the anti-glare coating does have some minor "negative" effects.

Speaking of IPS, the X220/230 IPS screen is only average in terms of color reproduction. Not all IPS screens are great.

In this domain, subjectivity is a major factor. There is no hard conclusion. Some of my friends consider the T420 HD screen "good enough." I won't argue.

 

I paid $764.80 + taxes for my W530 so I guess there is no laptop with a better screen for that price , right?

 

That's a great price for a W530! You're absolutely right: there is no laptop with a better screen for that price.

 

You're probably using my color profile. FWIW, when I look at my flickr stream and web site (I do photography for a hobby), the photos match in color between my T61p, W530, and my desktop, though the W530's colors seem a bit more rich (puzzled why the calibration didn't compensate for this). My desktop is an HP ZR24w IPS screen for reference.

So exactly what are you using your IPS screens for since you have multiple ones? And what models are they? This seems like a gripe thread w/o a lot of details for us to help you on

You can't be serious about color matching without a calibrator. Using someone else's profile should just make it better than from the factory (my W530 had a significant push towards blue for the whites). You have to calibrate your monitors to compare them, otherwise you're comparing whatever the factory settings are and everything will be different. BTW, I used a $1K color calibrator...the i1 Photo is one of the best...it's not the cheapy I1 Display or Huey...

 

I guess it is because the b156hw01 v4/v7 have a larger gamut compare to 24" IPS. There is some really technical method regarding colorimetric and compensation method to some how fit them into certain space( which I have no interst to know, just want my screen to show "true" color ~~)

 

If you count a first-gen iPad, which you should, then I have.

Personally, I consider this screen to already be semi-glossy; the reflections are tangible.

 

if you're inclined for understatement...

HOW???

 

Yeah, I would like to know as well. It's funny, we commonly see people posting "I got a $2500 laptop for like $400!1" but there is never a how listed. It has a sort of "na nanny boo boo I'm smarter than you" tone to it.

Unless he stacked coupons (which is not possible 99.9% of the time) there is no way it was that cheap with standard discounts.

And by the way, the IPS screen on my Asus Zenbook Prime (1920x1080 on 13") is positively amazing. Made the X230 IPS screen look like a screen door.

Don't worry, I still have a T520 with a FHD screen. Refurb. Paid $979 for. So yeah, how you got the W530 for that price I'll never know.

And to echo what others have said, you can't rely on someone else's .icc profile for your display. There are differences in the manufacturing process that mean no two displays, although the "same" are identically built. If accurate color is critical to your work, you should have no issues buying a proper calibrator. If you are just looking to make it look pretty then keep trying .icc profiles and understand there will always be something a bit "off" about it. Just the way it is.

 

I did stack coupons. The June coupon from the lenovo survey + the Barnes and Nobles discount. Here is the configuration that I chose:


Processor

Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Operating system language Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English

Display type 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready

System graphics NVIDIA Quadro K1000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory

Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English

Pointing device UltraNav with Fingerprint Reader

Camera 720p HD Camera with Microphone

Hard drive 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm

Optical device Optical Bay Travel Bezel

System expansion slots Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader

Battery 6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+

Power cord 170W Slim AC Adapter - US (2pin)

Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN

Integrated mobile broadband Mobile Broadband upgradable

Language pack Publication - US English

 

You are indeed smarter than I am.

 

Well aren't you a lucky duck? I tried to stack like 40 times. Never could get it to work.

Great deal but nearly impossible to get. Buy a lottery ticket.

 

Take the money you saved and buy a color calibrator...

 

A calibrator helps a bit. But it can't make a typical poor laptop panel look like a good IPS. Can't extend the gamut.
You could use a monitor profile someone else made but it must be for the exact same type of screen. I think a "profile loader" program may be required. Lenovo does multisourcing: same-spec panels of several manufacturers found in same models. And exact same types seem to be available in both matte and glossy (which is also anti-glare). It appears that the glossy anti-glare coatings produce richer colours, with all panel manufacturers.
Mind there are non-colour-managed and colour-managed applications (like Adobe PhotoShop and Lightroom). So far I've been mostly using non-managed Picasa for photos. Calibration helped a great deal, but after calibration there was quite some residual difference between the laptop panel, T500 matte by Samsung which was really flat and colour-twisted, and an external wide-gamut Dell U3011 IPS (matte). I used native white point to preserve most of the narrow gamut. There are negative side effects like banding in the skies, because calibration makes the poor 6-bit depth even worse.
I switched to Lightroom and noticed many vivid-coloured objects got a radioactive look. Colour management makes more effort to match colours, but the laptop runs out of gamut and ends in saturation, which looks similar as if the red channel were blown. I replaced the panel with a compatible matte LG, but the colours are not substantially better despite a small improvement. Two glossy panels, one Toshiba TruBrite (??) and an AUO that replaced it after failure, both show better gamut (of course nowhere near the IPS). Mind these are all a bit obsolete CCFL-backlit "standard-quality" panels, but AFAIK standard LED panels are not much different.
Colour management also affects the IPS, in the sense that it tones it down a bit (when comparing the same tonal test chart on the IPS panel open in non-managed Picasa and managed Lightroom).