WUXGA upgrade on a T500?

[tomkrishan]

did anyone tried to change and/or upgrade the original LCD`s (max. resolution 1680x1050)
with a high resolution WUXGA LCD (1920x1200) such as the ones for the W500 or T61p series?

question then would be if the inverter has to be changed as well?

many thanks for sharing your experience in advance!

[richk]

The inverters and cables are all the same. If you change just the panel, it will work fine.

[GoEagles]

Is this relatively easy to change? I am having a hard problem finding the T520 that I want, and I want to change out the LCD? Do I just changed the LCD, or buy extra parts, etc?

I want to buy a T520 and replace it with a 1920x1080 screen. I found the part number for it (B156HW01 v4) for Au Optronics LCD screen. I just want to make sure it's going to work out for me.

Thanks!

[LegendaryKA8]

Is this relatively easy to change? I am having a hard problem finding the T520 that I want, and I want to change out the LCD? Do I just changed the LCD, or buy extra parts, etc?

I want to buy a T520 and replace it with a 1920x1080 screen. I found the part number for it (B156HW01 v4) for Au Optronics LCD screen. I just want to make sure it's going to work out for me.

Thanks!

I'm not sure on the T520 as it's a different machine, but it's really not all that difficult on the T500. All that really needs to come off is the front bezel. I'm likely going to do the WUXGA upgrade as my year-old WSXGA+ display is already showing dark spots and other strange signs of damage. May as well get a resolution bump while I'm at it.

[t140568]

I swapped the LCD on my T500 from the 1280x800 panel to a 1920x1200. I had to replace the inverter, though only because the 1280x800 was LED backlit and not CCFL like the 1920x1200. Aside from accidentally ordering a glossy screen instead of matte, I have no regrets. Like everyone else has said, "It's an easy swap."

[tomkrishan]

many thanks guys, sounds cool! I will give it a try.

I swapped the LCD on my T500 from the 1280x800 panel to a 1920x1200. I had to replace the inverter, though only because the 1280x800 was LED backlit and not CCFL like the 1920x1200. Aside from accidentally ordering a glossy screen instead of matte, I have no regrets. Like everyone else has said, "It's an easy swap."

did you choose the SAMSUNG lcd or the LG PHILIPS? according some reports it is said the LG PHILIPS is more brighter.

[t140568]

did you choose the SAMSUNG lcd or the LG PHILIPS? according some reports it is said the LG PHILIPS is more brighter.

I looked up my old post and supposedly I ordered part 42t0361. The best I can say is that is the panel I set out to buy. What I ended up with may be a different story.

I can also say that the panel I have when set to a dimmer setting illuminates the screen VERY unevenly (though is fine when at full brightness or even a few ticks down). If I have to swap this panel in the future, I will be certain to pay close attention to what panel I get.

[maverick85]

i need some help. i want to replace my lcd screen on my t500 with this,
LG-Philips screen
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LG-Philips-LP ... 7219046031

will it work?

[t140568]

i need some help. i want to replace my lcd screen on my t500 with this,
LG-Philips screen
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LG-Philips-LP ... 7219046031

will it work?

I believe so.

[cgsplcd]

HELLO ..
For T500 series upgrade to WUXGA 1920x1200 , i advise you can check the P/N: LTN154U2-L05 including IBM EDID ,its work fine ,thanks !!

[Jim_in_Omaha]

For what it's worth,

I have a T500 that I just upgraded to a glossy WUXGA 1920X1200 screen.

I have no affiliation with this outfit laptopscreens.com. I ordered from them.

I really wanted to get a LG Philips screen per these forums. I ordered it by selecting a Lenovo Thinkpad W500 and then the WUXGA glossy. It said nothing about the manufacture other than the picture next to it is a LG Philips screen. Cost about $103 delivered and had it very fast. Was not sure what was actually going to come.

To my surprise, in the box was a LG Philips LP154WU1 (TL) (A2).

I installed last night. The biggest problem was the sticky tape in a few places around the bezel holding it to the outside of the screen. Also the screw covers are hard to get off without scratching them. Found some on Ebay fairly reasonable brand new.

The screen is very beautiful and the whites are white instead of a pale looking. I will say it is taking some getting used to the glossy, but I think might be worth it in the long run because the colors are fantastic. Glossy is just that, glossy ie: very reflective.

I run Ubuntu 12.04 Linux and it had no issues recognizing the display.

[crashnburn]

Given how much people love the Frankenpads and IPS over TN on our forums -

Would people prefer this WUXGA (TN) or the 1080p FHD (IPS like High Gamut) ?

[Tasurinchi]

Probably, but WUXGA is 16:10 format while FHD is 16:9, so the latter won't fit in the OP's T500

[Jim_in_Omaha]

I have ran the T500 now for a while. And the display is fabulous except in a bright room due to the glossy finish. But with appropriate lighting it has been a joy to use.

That is correct on the formats and the screens. I like the T500 screen because of the vertical space. When I was in school it received a few odd looks until they realized just how high the resolution was. A fellow student with a older Macbook Pro asked if it could be done but could not because of the format.

[Cigarguy]

Just finish transplanting a WUXGA screen from a T61p with dead GPU into a T500 with damage screen. Works perfectly. You need to use the LCD cable from the T500 and a straight screen assembly swap would have been difficult if not impossible. Inverter on both of my machines was identical.

[TPFanatic]

I have ran the T500 now for a while. And the display is fabulous except in a bright room due to the glossy finish. But with appropriate lighting it has been a joy to use.

That is correct on the formats and the screens. I like the T500 screen because of the vertical space. When I was in school it received a few odd looks until they realized just how high the resolution was. A fellow student with a older Macbook Pro asked if it could be done but could not because of the format.

I just bought and installed the same screen as Jim_in_Omaha, an LG LP154WU1 TLA2 glossy, in my T500 to replace my poor Sharp LQ154M1LW02 matte with its dust spots, pressure spots, and vertical blue line. Now, ignoring the blue line, the Sharp LQ154M1LW02 was a great screen, decently bright and very vibrant, great viewing angles. But it was old, and it is not actually 100% compatible with Thinkpads.

One compatibility problem with the LQ154M1LW02, for example, is the brightness control that is screwed up. Level 15 is too bright at night while Level 14 is too dim, and all the levels below cause unhealthy darkness at the edges. Level 3 turns half the screen black, and Level 1 turns the entire backlight off. Not fun, totally unusable outside, and terrible for battery life. I was getting at best 2 and a half hours with my 9 cell. Possibly the LQ154M1LW02 can be reprogrammed to not have these problems, but it's beyond my current ability.

I now have a flawless LG LP154WU1 TLA2. It's glossy, which will probably cause me problems outside, and it's only noticeable with black colors or bright lights shining on it. But it doesn't have the dimming problems of the SHARP, so my battery life will improve. It has the best brightness and contrast specs of the LP154WU1 series, and it's not a dreaded Samsung. The brightness is great, not LED-amazing, WSXGA+s are still brighter. The colors look vibrant and the contrast is good. LG makes good screens.

While I was waiting for the LP154WU1 TLA2 to arrive I was using a stock W500 Samsung WSXGA+. This screen was very bright, brighter than some of my LG WSXGAs, but harsh looking because of inferior contrast. After calibration, the contrast got a little better, but it still left a harsh feeling even at dimmed levels. Another characteristic of Samsung panels in general, I've seen it on T500,T410, & X201 - dimmed white is grayer than dimmed white on an LG.

The Samsung WSXGA+ is still a decent panel, it is very bright, but it's harsh, has poor contrast, and the viewing angles are worse than contemporary LG WSXGA+ or WUXGA. Now, I haven't yet seen a Samsung WUXGA, but they are very cheap on eBay (around $25) so I may buy one to check it out.

[CASPER]

I have been using Samsung`s LTN154U2-L05 in T500 for about year and a half. It has 1920x1200 resolution. And I can only say to you - don`t buy. It`s grainy, brightness is not too good, also viewing angles aren`t good either. Overall probably you will be better off with LG alternatives, even with WSXGA+ resolution. There is recommended WUXGA panel for T500 on the forum - Sharp, either LQ154M1LW2A or LQ154M1LW02. Cannot say whether they`re any good, but many people praise them highly.

[Kaervak]

I now have a flawless LG LP154WU1 TLA2. It's glossy, which will probably cause me problems outside, and it's only noticeable with black colors or bright lights shining on it. But it doesn't have the dimming problems of the SHARP, so my battery life will improve. It has the best brightness and contrast specs of the LP154WU1 series, and it's not a dreaded Samsung. The brightness is great, not LED-amazing, WSXGA+s are still brighter. The colors look vibrant and the contrast is good. LG makes good screens.

I have a question for you, I have a T500 that I put the exact same screen in a while back. The screen was brand new, in box with Dell part numbers on it. Ever since I put the screen in, the integrated camera hasn't worked. I have another T500 and I've swapped ribbon cables and camera modules between the two and all the hardware checks out. The only thing I haven't done is swap screens. The Fn key combos to change brightness work perfectly fine. According to the MTM lookup mine never originally shipped with a webcam, so it's entirely possible mine can't support one. Does your webcam work with the LG screen installed?

Edit:
I forgot to mention, when I received the laptop I never tried the camera prior to swapping screens. It originally shipped with an LED backlit screen but the previous owner had already swapped it for a CCFL Sharp manufactured 1920x1200 panel.

[RealBlackStuff]

Sounds like tpfanatic had a real dud of a Sharp screen.
I have replaced numerous T500/R500/T61 screens with a Sharp WUXGA, and none of them had any of his (dimming) problems.
They are superior to any Samsung or LG that Lenovo stuffed in them.
On all of them the webcam (where installed) remained working.

[Fahmed7]

Hi everyone, good to see theres still activity on this forum for the older models like the T500! I'm considering upgrading my 1680x1050 screen to a 1920x1200. For you guys who have done this, was it a worthwhile upgrade? and is there any consensus about which brand screen is best (samsung vs sharp vs lg)? Any opinions or advice would be appreciated

[Pete B]

I've been trying to get used to 16:9 and hate it, so I'm looking again at a T500 for the 16:10 display.

I'm aware of RBS's suggestion for the Sharp WUXGA panel but wish there was something closer
to an IPS display. I have a Dell M4400 with the 1440x900 WXGA LED display and all I can say is
that it is VERY bright. There are other dual CCFL WUXGA panels for the M4400 and I'm wondering
if anyone has tried these in a T500 perhaps Lenovo used them in the T/W500 - anyone know?
The panel in my M4400 is reviewed here:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-De ... 959.0.html
I really dislike this Dell display but was wondering of the dual CCFL or LED WUXGA panels that
Dell used are any good?
I also hate the keyboard and trackpad of the Dell so would like to replace it with a T/W500.

I have no issue with the performance of these systems, good for what I do.

[TPFanatic]

I don't know of anyone that has installed a 1440x900 15.4" LED lcd in the T500, I have considered the possibility tho. I imagine you'd need the hard to find display cable and indicator lights board from the 1280x800 LED T500.

For dual CCFL lcds, the T500 only has the connector for one CCFL.

LED modding a CCFL WUXGA may be the best way to get everything.

Someone on German Thinkpad forums LED modded a dual CCFL lcd to have dual LED strips, powered both off the stock inverter, and got a super bright LED WUXGA T500.

[unixed]

I've been trying to get used to 16:9 and hate it, so I'm looking again at a T500 for the 16:10 display.

What is it you want over and above the frankenpad in your sig? Updated chipset, SATA on ultrabay drive, 16:10, higher resolution, more powerful graphics...?

[Pete B]

I'm just looking at options, I do love the IPS UXGA in the Frankenpad.

The 16:9 IPS display that I've been trying is in a T440s and the low heat and long
battery time are VERY nice.

[unixed]

If you retain the flexviews but want long battery life and low heat you can either use a 4:3 R61(i) (A) or integrated graphics T61 planar (B) in a frankenpad with a BIOS with additional microcode and run a E0 stepping P9700 underclocked by pinmod which would be like a ULV T8100 with double the cache, or put a R500 planar (C) in a R60 and run a P9700 without any underclock. You can also do the 1066 MHz FSB mod (D) and run the P9700 but that overclocks the graphics and memory too. (B) is relatively easy, (D) requires hardware mods but there's a mega thread you can follow, (A) you'd have to mod the BIOS and (C) is very difficult. If you use a C0 stepping T8100 with (A) and (B) all difficulty disappears.
Doing all of that still won't give you the long battery time of more current thinkpads but you can use ultrabay batteries or mod an ultrabay adapter to extend the battery socket outside and then you can use additional 9 cell batteries for example.

[Pete B]

Thanks very much for the suggestions.
Do you suggest specific steppings because they are lower power, or for some other reason.

[TPFanatic]

What bothers me the most about 16:9 is the lack of resolution compared to similar 16:10 panels. HD is less than WXGA+, HD+ is less than WSXGA+, and FHD is less than WUXGA. However I have no problem with modern QHD, 3K, and 4K 16:9 panels because they are higher resolution than WUXGA and can be had in 14" laptops.

The ultimate ThinkPads with classic keyboards and the highest resolutions possible, excluding 51nb models, are a Classic Keyboard T430s with the RMSMajestic QHD mod, or the 4K T25/T480 FrankenPad. I have built the former and it is my daily driver, very fast with a very nice screen, whole project cost less than $250, only catch is the miserable battery runtime of 1:30 hours on a good battery. Only the T25/T480 Franky with 4K would beat it in all aspects, classic keyboard, higher res screen, faster, battery life.

[unixed]

You're welcome. They are statements (saying that the P9700 would be better than the T8100 even if they had the same speed and cache sizes) rather than suggestions, there is no E0 stepping T8100 and no C0 stepping P9700. In contrast the X9100 has both C0 and E0 (although rare) steppings and the latter is sought after since it is relatively cooler running for instance. On that note I would ditch your X9000 (which is C0 stepping) if you don't overvolt and overclock it since a T9500 in dual IDA mode is at least its equal and under normal operation is less diametrically opposed to your goals of reduced heat and long battery time.

[Pete B]

Thanks again to all, very informative.

There was mention that Apple is still doing 16:10, has anyone looked into using an
apple panel in a Thinkpad? I'm sure someone here has thought of it.

[Briefkastenopa]

I got a 15,4" panel Samsung LTN154BT08, recently. This is from a Macbook Pro built around 2010. This panel has a 40 Pin LVDS-connector, but with pitch 0,4mm. This is different from what the Thinkpads use and it would require an adapter which I could not find anywhere.