How to know hardware specs of a laptop display? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2023, 10:48:56 pm
content: How do I get to know what specific display hardware is in my laptop?It's a used Dell6800 and I am starting to doubt all parts are original.I looked inside the diagnostics, where the hardware is specced and I could not find anything but the resolution 1920x1080.Even hardware monitor doesn't seem to list it.Is there some utility that shows manufacturer and technology? LED or CFL, technology...

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2023, 11:54:45 pm
content: It's been said before..."before you turn it on, you have to take it apaaaaht".

author: DimitriP
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:03:08 am
content: https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/business/smb/merchandizing/en/Documents/Dell_Precision_M6800_Spec_Sheet.pdfQuoteWhat makes you "doubt all parts are original"?

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:14:57 am
content: Well, it's used.It was guaranteed to have a backlit keyboard so that I could write in the dark and... Here is the keyboardhttps://youtu.be/uup22rXmQRE?feature=sharedThen, it should have had a 240W power adapter, and it came with a 180w one.Also it should have had a new battery, and well, it was new in 2015. :-) . In 2023 it doesn't pass the bios diagnostics and is declared as "end of it's useful life".And only after I had bought I read a review by a customer stating that the display of the used Dell laptop he bought from the same seller was not original.I know the original one are all LED, I just wanted to see if I can see the manufacturer and type somewhere on software.I can't take it apart. :-(

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:25:38 am
content: QuoteWell, you cannot replace LCD with LED backlight to CCFL, so there in zero chance for it to be non LED. You can replace to a worse screen though. Like IPS to TN with poor viewing angles (that would be obvious) or cheaper IPS with lower brightness and worse color gamut.QuoteI suspect there are different language stickers put on those keys.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:31:33 am
content: It's easy to tell a TN panel from an IPS one without taking anything apart. So if the panel is supposed to be IPS and it looks like a TN one, or conversely, then you can be sure it's been replaced. Otherwise you'll have to remove the screen bezel, unscrew the panel and see for yourself. 99.99% of laptop LCD panels are from a few brands with easy to find references.

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:31:57 am
content: Yes, there are stickers. I knew some of the laptops he sold had stickers, so I expressedly asked for one without them. A backlit keyboard with stickers on defeats its purpose.Good point of the display, so it's LED, but no software can report the type and manufacturer, to your knowledge?As I said I can not take it apart since I am preparing for a civil lawsuit (this seller has... A history... Sadly I discovered it after the purchase).

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:36:13 am
content: @SiliconWizardhow easy? I am a bit out of the loop on PC hardware...

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:42:07 am
content: Quote from: Sredni on November 20, 2023, 12:36:13 amLike wraper said. Essentially from the viewing angles. On TN panels, the worst is often with vertical angles (although it's usually bad with horizontal angles as well). To see that, preferably have a light image on display (not something too dark) and just look at the screen from above or below - if colors tend to show as their negative past a certain angle, then it's definitely not IPS. OTOH, if colors don't seem to change much even at drastic angles, then it's most likely IPS.

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:44:41 am
content: Ok, so it's ips. The angle is fairly decent. Thanks.Edit: no, I did not check the vertical angle, see below.

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:45:51 am
content: From the viewing angle. IPS has large viewing angle in every direction. TN does not. One direction is the worst, on laptops that usually down (towards the keyboard). Fold the screen open as far as it will go and see if the colors invert when looking at the screen from the bottom. This will be very obvious on a TN screen usually in the neighborhood of 45 degrees. An IPS screen will be viewable basically until the parallax and glare make it unusable anyway.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 12:49:49 am
content: QuoteYou can try for example Deltacast E-EDID Editor. Tools-> extract registry E-EDID. You can use fake email service like mailinator to download.

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 01:20:15 am
content: I have added a video with the viewing angles.WARNING: LOUD NOISE THE FIRST 3 seconds .https://youtu.be/J2ypLoVzbSY?feature=shared

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 01:32:38 am
content: It's a TN, from what I googled TN was at least was one of the options for this model, if not all of them came with that. Spec sheet from Dell does not say display technology type, so I would not be surprised if all of them came with TN panel.https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/business/smb/merchandizing/en/Documents/Dell_Precision_M6800_Spec_Sheet.pdf

author: Sredni
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 01:44:15 am
content: Ah, ok. Well at least it's LED and the right resolution. What matters toe.its that it is an original Dell and not some half quality knockoff. Thanks, I will try that software later to see if I can get some more info.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 02:18:19 am
content: Quote from: Sredni on November 20, 2023, 01:44:15 amThere are no knockoff screens. All of them are standard screens from large manufacturers. There are good more expensive models and there are cheap shitty models. And the vast majority of laptop manufacturers used shitty screens in their cheap laptop variants. Although IPS of VA are dominating now and usually screens are not that bad even in cheap laptops.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2023, 08:35:33 am
content: It definitely looks like a TN panel, not the worst I've seen, but TN nonetheless. From what I've quickly found, it would seem that the panels fitted in this model were all TN, except possibly the panel that came with a touchscreen, that was IPS.