Eye strain with T400 LG LED display?

I've got a few T400's that are identical except for the display. Some with LG, some with Samsung.

I'm trying my best to like the LG since everyone know it's supposed to be a lot better esp since it's contrast ratio (600:1) is about double of the Samsung, but my eyes are getting pretty tired. This problem is at it's worst when reading text or looking at stuff with high contrast. On the other hand text seems to very very good on the Samsung, while the colors are somewhat washed out for video/photo content.

Has anyone experienced something similar? I'm guessing this isn't something that's particularly common since most people love their LG led displays.

The drop-off in brightness between maximum and the next step down also seems to be relatively big compared to other screens I've used including the Samsung led.

 

first make sure you are using the native resolution, it`s normally the maximum one and then if you are using windows 7, you can run the "calibrate" screen program from the bottom left search box and see if that improves the screen.

 

It's at native resolution 1440x900 and I've run the Win 7 calibration.

 

Have you tried the Win7 ClearType calibration?
Makes sense to me though that the screen that is not as good for photo work is better for reading. Even though higher contrast is supposed to mean less eyestrain, somehow for me it has not been my experience.

 

Have you gone into the Intel graphics control panel and tinkered with the Color enhancement (gamma, contrast, etc) for display? I played with the settings and found one that works well for me.

 

I think the ClearType calibration may have done the trick.

Either way, imo the Samsung version of this screen has taken on a far worse reputation across forums than deserved. It has it's advantages, and since I do a lot of reading with this laptop and prefer a cooler gray scale anyway I might keep one of these in the end instead of the LG. It's main drawback out of the box is slight bias to purple, but hopefully than can be changed with calibration.

 

The nice thing about Win7 is a hardware calibration will apply to the entire environment.

 

Not with mine the Intel Control panel seems to be overriding the calibration , like when i resume from sleep or exit a game and i cannot see a way to disable the colour mode in the control panel.

 

Yeah, just disable the intel graphics stuff from the startup tab in msconfig.

 

take a video camera and record the screen for a few seconds. then look at the record to check whether your screen is flickering.

i remember from somewhere that some led screens flicker their backlight when dimming.

as a fix it would then help to have the screen at fulll brightness all the time

 

Good idea. No flicker picked up with the camera with either screen at all brightness levels.

 

if the intel display control allows you the ability to change refresh rate, make sure it's on 60Hz rather than 50Hz.   battery life might be affected but your eyes will appreciate the faster refresh.

i run my X301 at 60Hz and it made a noticeable improvement.

 

It can also be done through a combination of the windows display settings and the power manager. I'll never understand why Lenovo ships there set to 50hz.

 

the LG is not even close to 600:1. Both of these panels contrast ratio is in vicinity of 100:1.

Review here found one of these two panels (not specified which) to be 108:1.

Notebookcheck: Review Lenovo Thinkpad T400 (6474-19G) Notebook

in my experience with both, the contrast ratio is almost the same in both. LG just has more saturated colors and wider horizontal viewing angle, while Samsung is less saturated, but has wider vertical viewing angle.

Personally, I found the LG to be extremely harsh on my eyes and got rid of it after a month. The Samsung on T400s (different model) and AUO on W510 were very compatible with my eyes and never gave me eye strain, even when I worked for hours without breaks.

 

You're right that the contrast ratio definitely isn't 600:1. For some reason that's listed for this model in a LG catalog. A few other datasheets I found subsequently say 300:1. The brightness is also 250nit compared to 300nit that's posted around forums.

Have you tested the contrast ratio in these two panels? The contrast actually seems better in the Samsung; but I wonder if that'd get knocked with a proper calibration that's necessary to get the color balance right. Red is obviously pathetic in the Samsung, but it seems like all the other ones are better in it compared to the LG.

The notebookcheck review says they tested a ccfl model.