T440s LG/AUO Screen replacement

I'm also interested in any information about changing the panel yourself.

IBM sent a tech to replace the "blobby" LG panel in my T440s with the AUO one. He replaced it with... the exact same LG panel. IBM just sends them a box with a panel in it, and he installs it – he had never heard anything about the AUO panel. I can't speak for other people's screens, but my LG does have an annoying white blob in the middle of the screen and quite bad vertical viewing angles. The colours look nice when the viewing angle is right, though.

I'm hoping to replace the LG with an AUO panel myself, if I can find a trustworthy place to get a B140HAN01.1 or B140HAN01.2 panel from.

Does anybody know how to obtain the bezel sticker from Lenovo/IBM if I don't manage to get it off in one piece?

 

I only know the AU Optronics B140HAN01.1 is matte and the B140HAN01.2 glossy. They should be the same panel with different coating. I don't know anything about the even more elusive B140HAN01.0.

The LG panel in my T440s has the connector on the left hand side if you stare at the FRONT of the screen. Apparently there are panels that have the connector on the right hand side, which would be a major problem; I don't know if there are variations of the B140HAN01 that have the connector on the right side, though.

 

None of my B140HAN01.2 models have been glossy. In fact, it's among the least glossy laptop screens I've ever seen.

xii changing the screen yourself is not terribly hard but that comes from the point of view of someone who has a lot of experience working on computers. The tips I gave above are, I believe, the major possible stumbling points.

I would not attempt this change without a good nylon pry tool.

 

I've received the same information from a reputable seller on aliexpress. It seems there are glossy versions of the display (B140HAN01.1, but not all of them?) so one should take precaution when choosing the correct version. My screen has been shipped and I will see to follow zhenya's advices when disassembling the laptop

@xii
Regarding the bezel sticker, I've already inquired about the FRU 00HM187 which stands for "LCD Bezel Sheet w/ Camera" in the list of T440's FRUs at de.ibm.com. A price of ~15 EUR excluding the shipping fees has been mentioned by the sales representative. It is a bit worrying that the part is not sold by third parties yet though.

 

I'm considering upgrading manually as my LG as the spotlight issue, some backlight bleed and some yellow coloring bottom left which IBM tech support refuse to address.

What is the correct AUO display?

The official parts list says: B140HAN01.2

It looks from:

AUO B140HAN01.1 Overview - Panelook.com
AUO B140HAN01.2 Overview - Panelook.com

Like the the .1 is anti-glare and .2 is not.

.1 is slightly deeper and there seems to be a whole host of other extra features to the .1.

I'd be keen not to have a glossy display but going down the .1 route sounds like it comes with some risks.

Michael

 

I have the B140HAN1.2 and it is not a glossy display. Maybe both can be matte or glossy.

 

I can verify that the .2 model is not glossy. It is considerably less glossy than the LG displays we have received, and as I've said before, is among the least glossy laptop displays I have seen.

 

I finally received an AUO replacement panel directly from Lenovo today. They previously sent me the LG panels twice, even though my support tickets specified the FRU# for the AUO. I guess they now have the AUOs in stock again. Here are a couple of galleries before and after the replacement. Both displays are at 70% brightness, with about the same amount of light bleed (slight at startup, not noticeable during actual usage). My machine was built on Dec. 26, 2013.

First the original LG panel: T440s LG Panel - Imgur. Notice the spotlight effect and how dark part of the screen gets as the viewing angle changes. It's actually more dramatic in person than in these pictures. Strangely enough it's much less noticeable when the panel is tilted toward the viewer than away from the viewer, as seen in the last picture. If they had mounted it upside down, I might have been able to live with it.

And now for the AUO replacement: T440s AUO Panel - Imgur. The spotlight is gone, thank god. The color is definitely warmer than the LG, which doesn't bother me. So far I don't find the AUO to be noticeably sharper or brighter, but the lack of a spotlight alone makes it 1000% better in my book.

It took a lot more time and effort than it should have, but finally I'm happy with my T440s.

 

The AUO I just received was also the .2 model. It's definitely not glossy. Though I didn't find the LG on my machine particularly glossy either.

 

Could you send these pictures to Mark_Lenovo in the official forums?