Are all 120 Hz FullHD panels defective ?

Hi all!
It's been a while since I visited NBR forum, the reason behind this is because of work and ever since I have been trying to get an MSI GT73VR 7RF with a perfect screen.

To my experience it seems that all (or at least most) of the Chi Mei N173HHE-G32 panels (120 Hz, FullHD, G-Sync) currently used for the 7RF model are defective.

I am known to be very unlucky regarding dead/stuck pixels, but this issue is a bit more.

Here are my thoughts.

I have tested 6 MSI GT73VR 7RF models with the total value of more than $20.000 and NONE were issue free.
4 laptops were from UK stock and 2 were from German stock.
To my surprise temps were fine for all of them (thumbs of for MSI for a decent paste job), however all had 1 common issue with the screen.

6/6 laptops had a green lit "pixel" when viewed with a black background. The " " is because it looks like a stuck green subpixel from a distance, however looking up close I was able to see that it is not a pixel which is lighting with green color, but instead a piece a dust or scratch according to its shape.

Other "symptoms" which indicate that it is not a bad subpixel is that in some cases it was not viable from all sides, only from either the side or from the front, probably because changing the position of the eyes affected the fracture of the light hitting the scratch or dust particle under the glass.

Not at all cases was the issue easily noticeable. The best so far was the 4th one from the UK stock. It had 3 "green spots", however they were not noticeable from viewing from the front and from normal viewing distance, only from the sides and only at very close range.
Others however were noticeable from normal viewing distance too.

In short:
6/6 laptops with this screen had the above mentioned problem
2/6 of the laptops (besides the mentioned problem) also had 1 stuck subpixel too

Dead/stuck subpixels seems not to be very common, however the "green dot" problem is very, very common. First I thought I am just unlucky, however they were from 2 different regions and 2 different batches. The German batch was the newer one, because it already had the new vBIOS flashed.

Also another common thing was that all laptops had the "green dot" around the center. Different place but always around the center.

I don't see how Chi Mei is producing these panels but to me it seems that there is a huge issue with their assembly line. If I have to guess the machine which puts the glass in place hold the glass at the middle and during that process it either scratches it or the assembly line is not sterile and dust particles get inside.

Honestly I am very disappointed. The screen itself has excellent colors and very good performance during gaming, it is a disappointment that Chi Mei does not fix this issue with their assembly line.

In most cases the issue was very hard to spot, most people probably would not even see it. However once you find it, you can not unsee it.

What is your experience ?

I swear the reason why I don't go to a laptop seller to be a tester is because I would have to send back half the laptops due to an issue...not once I found an issue which was overlooked by others. Curse me for finding issue so easily :/

 

My limited experience with the panels did not have such an issue. I actually did do a dead pixel test with that panel on a GT73VR. I didn't see any green area. @Phoenix I'm pretty sure doesn't have that issue either, though obviously his word would be better on that than me I just know he seems happy with the panel.

Can you show us any pictures of it? It could be possible I missed it if it was very subtle.

Edit: I think @D2 Ultima also has the panel.

 

My screen is perfect. No backlight bleeding or dead pixels My friend DRevan chose to get it from Amazon because it is slightly cheaper. All I see is someone who saved a few bucks and bought one problem after the other. Just return it, and get it from HIDevolution and choose the dead pixel guarantee option they have and be done with it.

Think of what you've done bro, you are paying for something that you are not enjoying 100% and are having to deal with one RMA after the other. Why?! To save a few bucks?

 

All 6 were from Amazon stock (UK and DE), I doubt Amazon is ordering models with known defect to save some cash.

Before this laptop I have never encountered an issue like this and as I said in some cases it was not hard to overlook them.

But maybe it is just us filthy Europeans who get from the defective stock ?

 

well you can keep trying or cut to the chase and email [email protected] and get it with your NBR discount. Not to mention the better quality control, stress testing, awesome thermal paste jobs, and better hardware customization

 

As I said it is arguable if it is a stuck/dead pixel or not, so I am not sure if normal dead pixel warranty will cover it. Not to mention that in most cases doing a "normal" dead/stuck pixel test did not reveal the issue. I had to directly look for this 1 issue with some extra methods to find it. But once I did find it, I was not able to unsee it.

Believe me, if the difference was only a few bucks, I would go with HID without a thought.

However because it needs to be shipped from the US even with half the warranty and half the SSD I still get to $4,141.98 USD price which is ~390 USD higher than the European price.
And 390 USD is not just a few bucks :/
But yea, I am starting to get there that I will need to put a pricetag on the frustration ...

 

you are aware that the MSI laptops have a 1 year global warranty that covers shipping both ways right? They also have a 1 year accidental damage warranty but the latter doesn't cover shipping, still, nice to have that peace of mind.

so that saves you 200 USD on the warranty since with other laptops, you have to shell out 200 USD per year for the global warranty. But I get where you're coming from.

I guess don't try to look so hard for it, I don't think it's that bad or gets in your way.

 

It's still recommended that you go through the local channel to purchase your system. And MSI only covers 1-way shipping on all warranties, they do not provide shipping label from customer-end to their RMA center.
https://us.msi.com/page/warranty-condition

By the way, do you know the model # of the LED panel?

 

How to check ?

Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk

 

You can find out using AIDA64 or HWiNFO32.

 

Only AIDA64 gives you the accurate model number of the screen.

 

Sample.

 

I bought from Amazon.com gt73vr 7rf no issue with the screen, but its TN-matrix, dont like to play on him

 

How's your G701VIK? That IPS panel should be awesome.

 

Yes that AUO panel is awesome, but it's IPS so only 25 ms response time

 

I know, can't have the best of both worlds but we will get there with gaming notebooks.

 

guys what are u talking about in g701vi is TN panel, yes its better than in gt73vr but its TN, I dont see ANY 120hz IPS panel in laptops, maybe only aourus

this why i am playing on aw17r4

 

The ASUS G701VI uses the 120Hz~ 25ms AUO B173HAN01.1 which is an IPS-level AUO AHVA screen, it is not a TN, which is why it can only deliver 25ms response time. The GT73VR uses the faster 120Hz~ 5ms Chi Mei N173HHE-G32- for the Full HD (1920x1080), and the 60Hz AUO109B (B173ZAN01.0) IPS-level AHVA for the 4K UHD (3840x2160)

@Mikle39 are you using the Full HD (1920x1080), 3K or 4K screen on your Alienware 17 R4?

 

Mike,. your ASUS G701VI has 17.3" 1920x1080 FHD Matte-Type TN LED @120Hz (Anti-Glare) nVidia G-Sync.