GX63VR Screen Issues

I bought a GX63VR (really just a GE63VR) from NewEgg a few months ago, and quickly noticed how bad the screen is. There is poor color depth and bad banding artifacts in dark regions. I do 3d graphics professionally, and need relatively accurate displays on my machines. I dug a bit deeper and found that the display my laptop shipped with only displays 262k colors (6 bit), which is not the "94% NTSC Color" that was advertised when I bought the machine. This is the spec sheet for the display in my machine:

http://www.panelook.com/N156HGE-LA1_Innolux_15.6_LCM_overview_18430.html

Does anyone know what the different variations of screens (make/model) exist for this laptop? Has anyone else had similar issues with the displays on their GE63VR or GX63VR? This is pretty unacceptable, and unfortunately I couldn't get any useful information after calling MSI and NewEgg. MSI said it is NewEggs problem, and they couldn't verify what make/model the display should be. NewEgg said it was MSI's problem, even though it seems the specs on their page for the laptop were wrong.

 

Check here, it is rated 94% NTSC.
http://www.panelook.com/N156HGE-EAL Rev.C1_Innolux_15.6_LCM_parameter_26689.html

But TN panels definitely cannot be used for professional graphics, what was the reason why you wanted to get this system and then now having to change out the screen?
Do you work on the go with this system?

 

I do a mixture of visual effects for film and virtual reality, so this was going to be my on-the-road machine that I could hook a headset up to and hopefully get reasonable images out of the screen too. It can definitely handle light VR, which is great, but the display leaves a lot to be desired. I'm just kind of shocked at how bad the banding is on the display. My laptops from 10 years ago were better.

I did a bit more research and it seems that the issue lies in the fact that the vbios incorrectly set the display bpc at 8 instead of 6. My guess this is causing some nasty artifacts. This has been reported on other MSI laptops, and the only fix appears to be MSI releasing a new bios. I'm going to try to get in touch with them tomorrow.

Do you have any experience replacing screens? I'm not opposed, but I would be worried about making sure to choose something that fits.

 

There are Intel & Nvidia graphics in your system so their VBIOS are managed/released by their respective companies, not MSI.
If MSI receives a newer VBIOS they will usually update them in their BIOS, so the best way to get these VBIOS update is to update your system BIOS. Have you executed a comparison running your application on AC power as well as battery only?

Latest version of BIOS:
E16P1IMS.10A

EC:
16P1EMS1.105

 

Yes, I notice the problem plugged in or not, with things ranging from still gradient images to netflix movies, to work, etc.

Do you know if there is a way to expose setting various display settings? It seems much of this has been disabled, and I cannot set refresh rate, bit depth, etc.

I updated the bios, but I'll update the ec too. Thanks!

 

Updating you BIOS or EC does NOT involve s update to you VBIOS!

Go to control panel > programs and features then uninstall MSI True Color and see if it solves your problem

 

Intel VBIOS is integrated in the BIOS.

 

Ohhhh the Intel, my bad, brain fart, I was thinking nVIDIA VBIOS

 

I should have been more clearer, and you are right, Nvidia is separated.
But in some value models (low-end), it is inserted in the BIOS such as CR500/CR600.
https://www.msi.com/Laptop/cr600.html

Mainly, just trying to figure out every possible option he can try to improve or even to eliminate the issue.

 

Thanks a lot for the help, guys. I really appreciate it.
Removing True Color didn't fix the issue. I really think this is a bit depth problem since it seems really similar to issues I've seen in other scenarios where you get banding/other artifacts when you need dithering, higher bit depth, etc. I wish there was a way to test setting the viewmode on the display to 6 bits per channel. All of the options for that aren't exposed, so it seems the only way to change it would be something hacky. Any ideas?

 

The issue might be screen itself. Have you tried connecting the system to one of your professional display and see how it looks like?

 

Please Try Resetting Your Laptops EC (Embedded Controller)
Sometimes it is necessary to reset your laptop's embedded controller (EC). The EC is responsible for sending very basic instructions to the rest of the system; things like "send power here", "turn the screen on". Sometimes these instructions are not sent correctly, or sometimes not sent at all. Without these basic instructions, your laptop is essentially trying to "run before learning to walk" and this can cause various issues with the system. These issues may include (but are not limited to) : no display, inoperable/distorted microphone or webcam, crashing, boot looping, inoperable/distorted speakers/sound, inoperable I/O ports.

HOW TO RESET THE EC
To do this, follow the steps below:

1. turn off the unit completely
2. unplug it from any power sources/ac adapters and also unplug all peripherals such as mice/keyboards, headphones, ect.
3. Locate the EC reset button. This button may be on the sides, the back, or even the bottom of the unit. It is extremely small, and could be mistaken for a screw-hole. This button is typically indicated by a circular/battery/lightning bolt symbol. Sometimes it'll simply just say "EC" in small text (MSI is not very consistent with labeling their EC button, be sure to look thoroughly!)
4. With a small object such as a dull needle or paper clip, hold down the unit's EC button for a maximum of 30 seconds.
5. Release the button for 10 seconds, and hold again for another 30 seconds.
6. Plug in the AC adapter and let the unit charge for 5 minutes and turn on the computer normally.

 

Don't think EC reset will help at all.