K53TA Screen banding

[zombiechow]

Good Afternoon!

This is my first time posting and I happened across the forum while looking for a solution to my problem So here it is.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...808_120206.jpg

I picked up a brand new Asus K53TA from my local Best Buy yesterday afternoon and was thrilled about it. Great specs and seemingly outstanding performance for the dollar (Gaming performance is stunning for this price point), however no display model was available for me to review.

There is a severe banding problem with the display. Check out the enclosed pic (My apologies for the quality. It was taken from my phone) and you will clearly see what i'm talking about. This makes the overall image quality terrible, especially during gaming and movie watching. The issue is especially apparent in dark scenes.

After hours spent updating drivers, playing with calibration settings, staring at test images, and calling ASUS support, I can pinpoint the problem to one of two things.

1) The laptop comes with an SEC5441 panel and AMD Radeon 6720G2 graphics, which is essentially a crossfire configuration between the APU graphics and an additional dedicated GPU. The images and various test patterns I've looked at suggest that the color depth is incorrect, being displayed at 16 bit instead of 32. I've ensured that the proper color depth was applied numerous times.

2) Perhaps ASUS got a bad run of panels. I went to exchange the laptop and compared it to a display model today (they finally put one up) and noticed the exact same problem.

There may also be the possibility of GPU error. It may be broadcasting at 16 bit color depth in error regardless of settings which might suggest incompatibility with the display panel?

Regardless, testing with both the AMD and ASUS GPU drivers produced the exact same result.

Just an FYI for you all.......unless somebody can make a few suggestions for me.

Thanks!

[UnXpectedError]

i bought one yesterday as well and noticed the same thing... its the only issue i have with the laptop atm... i was hoping to replace the screen with something better. but im not sure if thats possible atm.

i think its just a crappy screen i dont think its the rest of the hardware to be honest.
im going to try the computer out on my tv later on and let you know if i still have the same banding issues.

also does anyone know how to find out what lcd panel we have... i wanna see if there is a nice compatible 1080p replacement for this screen. thanks

[zombiechow]

i bought one yesterday as well and noticed the same thing... its the only issue i have with the laptop atm... i was hoping to replace the screen with something better. but im not sure if thats possible atm.

i think its just a crappy screen i dont think its the rest of the hardware to be honest.
im going to try the computer out on my tv later on and let you know if i still have the same banding issues.

also does anyone know how to find out what lcd panel we have... i wanna see if there is a nice compatible 1080p replacement for this screen. thanks

What a shame

Per the hardware id for the panel, it's an SEC5441 which is made by Samsung. It's the same panel that in the Alienware Mx11.

I'm hoping that this is something that ASUS can fix with a BIOS update or by enabling some form of dithering at a minimum.

I also forgot to mention that the issue exists even with the complete absence of the GPU drivers.

Good luck with the screen replacement!

[Zagnut103]

Seeing the same on my K53TA bought at BB yesterday...I've sent ASUS a support inquiry regarding this. Make sure to pester ASUS about this... often!

[abaddon4180]

It is definitely just a very low quality screen, as Asus has done with their non-gaming notebooks for years. I went up to BB today to check it out and noticed it as well. That seemed to be the only problem with the laptop. Build quality was good, keyboard was firm and it is obviously great performance for the price. I didn't like the touchpad all that much either but that might just be because I wasn't used to it. If only Asus had even used an average quality screen this would be the best deal I have seen in a while.

@Anyone who has this - The display model at BB had a little problem where the left click button was raised higher than the right and really wobbly. I assume that was just on that one and is not a model wide problem?

Edit - I picked one up to check it out and the display as well as the button are both better than on the display model. I think that Asus made the left-click a little looser so you know which button you are pressing if you aren't looking but on the display model it was really loose. Probably from some idiot clicking it too hard.

[bleeto]

It is on mine as well.....and seems basically the unit can put out 32 bit color depth but right now the panel is only producing 16 bit despite what comp is saying and hence the banding. I also sent asus an email and explained it is not a one machine issue but the whole lot---which is pretty sad for asus to send something out like that. If you read folks at slick deals they have been talking up a lot on this ---as well. I hope there can be a solution found by ASUS to fix this as I do like the Laptop alot. Alot of bang for your buck.

[UnXpectedError]

well i went to best buy again today to pick something else up and i noticed that the other K53 laptops that ran on the intel setup didnt have any bad banding issues. also i hooked it up to my LG 1080p hdtv today and had no banding issues ether. so its def the panel

i find it weird that the intel version dont have the bad banding but the amd one does..

[link626]

no. These are not cheap screens.
they're just miscalibrated. software issue.
If I set the screen in 16bit color, SOME banding goes away. Try viewing the attached gradient picture in 32bit mode, then 16bit mode.
Test just the picture; there's still banding elsewhere.
On the picture, banding goes away about 80-90% in 16bit color. At least it's smoother. So the screen is capable.

and there's nothing wrong with the graphics card either.

the screens are not the problem, and the graphics card is not displaying in 16bit mode, because if you plug in the hdmi or vga port, the external monitor displays perfectly in 32bit color.
also, if you hit printscreen and take a picture in 32bit vs 256 color (attached), the screenshot will show the difference. In 32bit, the screenshot is true 32bit when viewed on other computers.


Zombiechow has a samsung lcd. I would have liked a samsung, but I got a Chi Mei, which is not bad either.
(My screen is used in some sony and samsung laptops. yeah, even samsung buys screens from other companies.)

so, what are the chances that 2 different lcd brands are cheap and bad at the same time?

it's a bios issue.

[Datamonger]

So is there some way to recalibrate the display then?

[link626]

So is there some way to recalibrate the display then?

not by us.

asus needs to fix it. They have the AMI bios software


For example, in the asus k50AB notebook, there was an lcd flashing issue fixed by a bios update-
http://support.asus.com/download/dow...us&model=K50AB

another laptop had display artifacts fixed by bios.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support-

I have faith a simple bios update will fix our problem.


All we can do is continue to email them everyday. Keep pestering, or else they won't know the seriousness of this.
Make their job tougher by being annoying.
http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx <<<<< here

Here's a template you can use-

ATTENTION !!!
This problem needs escalation and immediate fix.

ESCALATE TO BIOS ENGINEERS NOW !!

USA product sales in jeopardy ! Asus will lose money on this.

All Best Buy laptops of this model K53TA-BBR6 are affected, and will result in thousands of product returns if problem not fixed quickly.

The problem:
K53TA-BBR6 notebook cannot display 32bit color properly.
See picture attached.
Normal laptop shows black to white gradient smoothly.
Asus laptop does not show black to white smoothly. Asus shows vertical bands, not true 32bit color.

LCD screen is not problem. Both Chimei and samsung lcd panel affected.
Graphics card is not problem. Graphics card displays 32bit color to external monitor through hdmi and vga port.

Only notebook lcd does not show 32bit color.

NEEDS BIOS CALIBRATION AND DEBUGGING to enable FRC and dithering.

PLEASE ESCALATE NOW, or millions of dollars in sales will be lost.