I replaced my T500 LCD with a new glossy screen

I was sick of the horrid 1680x1050 LCD screen in my Thinkpad T500. I usually use it docked with my nice IPS Dell 2007WFP monitor, but whenever I used it off dock I was annoyed at the terrible screen.

- Horrible contrast made everything look washed out
- Nasty color balance
- Washed out colors with low saturation
- Uniformity was terrible

So figuring I couldn't go any worse I ordered a new screen from LaptopScreen.com for $107 shipped. I got it today and installed it.

Pictures:
Viewing angles from hell | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

(Hit the right arrow to go through them)

Original panel is a Samsung LTN154P3-L02
New panel is a LG LP154WE2 (TL) (A3)

Fit was perfect. New screen is glossy and same resolution.

I am extremely pleased. It's no FHD screen or MacBook Pro screen, but everything is improved.

* Viewing angles are decent now. No longer have that super narrow sweep spot that was so narrow you couldn't really get into it unless you were a few feet away.

* Color balance is better now. I will use my Huey to calibrate the screen which should fix it right up, but right away the color balance is much more pleasing.

* Contrast is hugely improved. The Glossy helps here but it's more than that. My Acer Aspire One netbook has a glossy screen but it has pretty poor contrast and also terrible viewing angles. This panel is much better than that.

* Color saturation is better, though still pretty limited. Colors aren't at least washed out looking due to increased saturation, but the colors do look a bit better. I used the latest Catalyst to crank up saturation a bit which helps dramatically. I have a wide gamut Samsung TV and some new Dell monitors at work which have a very wide gamut so after working on that all day this screen looks quite ho-hum .... BUT I am no longer annoyed to work on it.

The process to change it was pretty easy .. I used the Lenovo service manual and I also watched a video on LaptopScreen.com where they swapped the LCD on a T61. (If I recall right.) The T500 was aibt different due to the roll cage but overall using the service manual it was quite easy to do.

Highly recommended mod.

The screen + the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid 500gb drive have given this T500 a new lease on life.



--Adrian

 

Very nice pictures - how about a few more pictures with some test wallpapers?

Is the new panel you put in LED-backlit, or is it also CCFL-backlit?

My LG 1680x1050 CCFL display on my T500 has much better contrast, viewing angles, and evenness than your Samsung panel - guess the screen OEM makes quite a significant difference!

 

Cool. You were able to get the stickers covering the bezel screws back?

Too bad your old screen was bad. It's rated as 500:1 contrast too. ( TFT display - ThinkWiki)

 

This actually looks pretty nice, I know at least two people I'm going to recommend this to.

One of them has 1280x800 and is considering upgrading later

and the other has the same 1680x1050 you have (and it's also unbearably dim, though I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact he's dropped it)

Is this new display brighter than the old one at all?

Yes. Post a photo with this wallpaper :3
http://www.wallpaperstop.com/wallpa...s/red-fractal-wallpaper-1920x1200-1010028.jpg

EDIT: oh, also, how did you get Aero working on your t43 in the photo? I can't for the life of me get it to work on my T42p.

 

My OEM screen was crappy from Day 1 ... we have a few T500's at work with the 1680x1050 screen and they all look like mine too. (Perhaps they are all Samsung?) My T410 (Work laptop) is also pretty poor.... not sure who makes that panel. It's LED backlit.

Now, I am just really picky about my screens -- and it's made worse by the fact my Dell 2007WFP is such a great monitor. When I undock the internal screen just looks extra horrid.

Anyway, ya, the screw covers went back on perfectly. I was careful removing them and used an xacto blade to do it. I then set them aside adhesive side up ... and then you just pick one up and stick its edge on the xacto blade and it makes it very easy to put it back on.

The new screen is CCFL -- you cannot switch between the two technologies by swapping the panel..... All 1680x1050 screens are CCFL, but I think the 1280 screen can come in either format. You have to buy the appropriate LCD panel for whatever your machine has.

I don't think the new screen is any brighter than the old one... maybe slightly, but it's still just a single CCFL backlight so there isn't much you can do there.

Perhaps the LG panel that was OEM in this machine is the non glossy version of the one I put in? I suppose Lenovo just uses whatever they can get their hands on the for lowest price at the moment, with the quality being unimportant?

 

My T43 FlexView has ATI graphics -- perhaps that's the difference? I am only using the stock Windows 7 drivers (+Lenovo System update which didn't touch the graphics drivers) and Aero works out of the box. Performance is quite good too. 720p video won't play on it without dropping frames, but 480p works perfectly. I use it in the bedroom just for casual checking of email and web surfing.

 

I will take some pictures with the fractal wall paper

 

Is there anyway to request a specific panel when ordering a laptop? My OEM AUO WXGA in my Vostro 1500 is kinda grainy..

 

How hard is it replacing the screen? My laptop is a T400.

 

No way, usually. They allow the customer to select specific characteristics of a particular device, but not any specific OEM for it.

For example, Dell has 2 OEM sources for the Precision M6500 1920x1200 RGBLED panel. Some users like the Samsung panel and most users prefer the LG Philips panel, but no one can specify an OEM during configuration.

 

Alright, I took some test pictures and the new screen is shockingly good!



And the gallery on my Flickr:
T500 Test Image Straight On | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Overall, I'm quite amazed at the quality. Taking pictures never really shows what the eye can see, but overall things look good.

So right away when you look at both screens side by side is the red and green is quite a bit less vibrant on the T500. Contrast, though, looks great. With the settings I am using for brightness the T500 is actually a bit brighter than my Dell (which is set to 85 out of 100.) Thinkpad was set to MAX.

When you tilt the T500 screen, all that really happens is it gets dimmer. The color stays quite true. Tilting away from you results in some slight inversion, but it's quite minor.

Check out the pictures and tell me what you think.

 

Awesome! (Yes, You Can! )

 

Yep, it's a total crapshoot. And it's only after some time that people can figure out which panel is better. Sadly Apple is probably the only company that cares about the quality of their screens and keeps things consistent.

I know my Dell 2007WFP display also comes with two panels .. and one is much better than the other. I luckily got the better of the two. (You can tell on this monitor by going into the service menu.)

 

It's probably similar... Does the T400 have the roll cage? If it doesn't then it should be even easier.

I watched this video and then used the Lenovo Service manual for the laptop.

IBM ThinkPad T60 LCD screen replacement guide | LAPTOP SCREEN, LCD panels from $42.

Also I found some parts of this FAQ helpful:
FAQ and Articles | LAPTOP SCREEN, LCD panels from $42.

 

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

 

Could you please say where you actually got the LCD to do the replacement?

 

"Viewing Angles From Hell" - I can understand as my Samsung panel does exactly the same as shown in the picture, tilt at an extreme angle and the top darkens out.

It seems the LG-Philips panels are the way to go in terms of panel upgrading for most ThinkPads. Good job on the modification, purists would probably be miffed that you put a glossy screen instead of matte on a ThinkPad but hey as long you're happy with it then that's all that matters!

 

I did in the first post: laptopscreen.com and it was $107 shipped.

I'm not a huge glossy fan but at work (where we have probably 1000 Thinkpads deployed to users) we get them back with broken screens... So the PC support guys send them out and get them back with glossy panels and the glossy always seems to look much better than the OEM panel. We had a T61 the other day that had just had this done.

So I decided to go with glossy myself in hopes that would end up with the best possible screen.

Seems it worked out in this case .... and yep, I'm very happy now.

 

Yeah the t400 has the roll cage, I'll watch the video.

 

Yeah its all supply and demand. One month they may ship samsung and the next 2 its LG. All in what is cheaper and available at the time that determines which brand screen you get. Turkey shoot if you will.

 

My wish is that it would be easier to replace the CCFL screen with the LED one (the LED screen wasn't available at the time I ordered my T400)

IIRC, I'd need at least a new screen and a new inverter. I'm trying to remember if the screen bezel needed to be replaced as well. In the end, I think it ends up being pricier than it's worth, or I'd do it.

Glossy isn't for me, but if it works for the OP, good for them.

 

You might need a different LVDS cable along with that. LED screens got that same brightness when it is dark and light, and they last longer than CCFL screens.

 

LED screens aren't necessarily better. CCFL lights will dim over time (and can burn out) but I think most LCD panels in laptops will long outlast the computer they are attached too.

LCD screens with LED backlights will probably not have the dimming problem, but many inexpensive LED backlights use only white LED's which have extremely poor gamut. (My Acer Aspire One D250 is like this) The display is extremely blue and it has a really hard time reproducing red. If you put a deep red on the screen, it looks brownish/orange.

My T410 has the LED screen and it is a pretty poor display... So don't think because it's LED that it will look like the current MacBook Pro displays. The screen is a bit better than my OEM T500 screen, but now my new LCD panel in the T500 is leaps and bounds better than the T410 LED screen...

Good LED backlights don't use white LEDs, they have red, green and blue LEDs so they can have a very wide gamut. Also CCFL displays can have better quality lights that give a wide gamut. My Samsung LN52A650 television is such a device....

 

If I had the same gamut as right now, but better brightness and contrast, that would be all I'm looking for. I'm fine with the color quality; I'd just like the display to be brighter under everyday indoor lighting.

 

Nice! I wonder if I can change the display on my T510 also.

 

nice upgrade ... not you got me thinking

 

And thus you perfected the Thinkpad Adrian!

So even the latest thinkpads have matte screens choice only and no glossy one?

 

I've always wondered if it would be possible to take that B+RGLED screen on the XPS and put it in a business-class notebook such as a T510 or E6510. I've yet to see someone attempt the mod though, nor have I looked into the hardware differences.

EDIT: yep, should be possible. The XPS 15's B+RGLED display is the exact same screen as the T510/W510's FHD display, except glossy.