High nit panel on T400 too bright?

Can this panel be turned down enough to look "normal" in a low light situation? Do the colors and contrast stay accurate when you turn down the brightness?

 

The high nit panel was designed for bright environments (ie. in natural sunlight). You should be able to lower brightness though, on my computer the key is Fn+down. Check your manual or download it under Lenovo support. Colors and contrast should still be accurate since those are based on the screen type which is independent of the backlight.

 

I have poor vision so not a good person to ask about accuracy of contrast at lower levels but I can turn my screen brightness down 3 clicks and it is fine for me in room light or with no llights inside. Others may get along with less brightness depending on their eye sight.

Gary

 

Most ThinkPads have 15 units of brightness (with the bottom 5 being largely unusable in all but the darkest rooms). If the T400 high nit stays true to this pattern (but employs larger steps) then yes it should still be usable in a low light environment.

Just to be fair, colors and contrast are NEVER really accurate on most laptop LCDs (indluding the T400). However, the same relative level of accuracy should be maintained throughout brightness levels.

Piece of advice - The standard LED, and even CCFL, display are more than bright enough for almost any indoor environment. I would only recommend buying the high nit model if you plan on using it outdoors in direct sunlight fairly often.

 

I am jw why you would not recommend getting the high nit if you use your computer inside more often then not? Is it just because it is more expensive?

 

The high nit is more expensive, is only available at WXGA, and I've heard that the contrast/color accuracy is slightly lower than the standard LED or CCFL.

As a result, I maintain that the high nit panel is best suited for more specialized applications. As a general purpose home/office computer, the standard panels are plenty bright.