Hello,

I've purchased the Lenovo X220 laptop with the Premium HD IPS display and I do have a problem with it (see below).

Laptop was purchased something like month ago and I've spotted this after I've started to work with it more heavily but after 14 days, so I was not able to return it to the seller (http://www.lenovoonline.cz).

When you put backlight to maximum you see that the display is not evenly lighted and forming bright spots on the bottom of it. It's most noticable on the black background.

I've sent notebook for repair (http://www.pcnet.cz) with this description (translated to english):
"With maximum brightness set and the black display/background (eg. BOOT screen) on the bottom edge of the display there are visible white spots/maps. Small but visible and not even with different sizes. It's most visible on black background and while limiting external light (darker room, working in the night). Spots highlights even more when you try to pull the display towards you into steeper angle."

The laptop has been in the repair for 2 weeks and the result was this description:

"This kind of display is very sensitive to any pressure, and it will result in the brightening the place. It is specific for this model line and it's not the reason to warranty repair. We recommend to lower the brightness level in the darker room. Check of the display frame has been done and no problem has been found."

Later they said they've replaced the panel too.

However the issue still persists (see attached photos).

Let me say few words about this:

• display is showing the spots while in rest I'm not touching it, if it's sensitive for pressure than it is indicating that there's some pressure on it while mounted in the frame
• I want to have backlight lighting the display evenly on the whole surface area, that's the correct function of a product anything else is NOT
• if they claim this is how it should be and it's actually a "feature" of the PREMIUM display then if I had known I would choose regular TN display and even save some money, needless to say that in that case the word PREMIUM sounds like a bad joke
• after lowering brightness level problem doesn't go away, still visible just gradually slightly less, depending on the brightness set
• if you are working in the night without external light this is VERY irritating

So my question to you X220 community is, do you happen to have same issue?
as they say it's "normal" with X220

Thanks

EDIT1:

I've done a search now and it seems I'm not alone with this issue

PS:

I'm attaching two photos.
First is the X220 (booted into GNU/Linux with X running and mouse as reference).
Second is the very old Z60m (booted into Windows and running blank screensaver).

Compare for yourself which one you would prefer.
It was shooted in absolute dark (I'm used to work like that) with Canon EOS350D on tripod.
There are some slight artifacts which you normally not percieve but anyway I think it clearly shows my point.

X220

Link to image 1

Z60m

Link to image 2

Moderator note: images larger than 50k converted to links per forum rules: Lenovo Community Participation Rules

Yes, at maximum brightness level the backlight bleeding is very visible but I use it at 5 or 6 level where it has excellent contrast ratio considering how crappy current notebook displays are in general. The uneven backlight is caused by fancy LED backlight which is still not able to deliver similar quality regarding uniformity as good old CCFL backlight (that's why professional LCD monitors still rely on W-CCFL backlight). But I agree that the top-left corner is way too much bad and might indicate that the panel is seated badly in the frame. On the other hand my old IPS panel in R51 also have backlight bleed at maximum brightness level.

Major problem is that Lenovo is still not able to fix the stupid bug with brightness level always set to max in BIOS screen that the backlight bleeding is very visible and irritating everytime you boot your machine.

IMHO, the X220 IPS panel is still much better than any ugly contrastless TN panel Lenovo puts into ThinkPads (except 15" FHD). I bet that you would hate the X220i TN panel more than this one :smileyhappy:

There are also two different revisions of the IPS panel, the second one fixes problems with image retention. As for comparison with Z60m, X220 display lid is much more fragile so the panel is not protected well against pressures and flexes. In any case panel flex should affect the backlight bleeding temporarily only. If it persists it is subject to repair (replace, reseat etc.).

Unfortunately I don't have any good low-light camera that takes useable pictures in dark environment so I can't post relevant images of the backlight bleeding.

Thanks for your opinion, I agree with a lot.

I can get over this issue and still use my laptop, I can put brightness level to lower settings but the bleeding is still visible for me.

The point is... why should I? I mean X220 is the business line laptop (the top quality Lenovo has to offer) so why should I accept some obvious faults? No way.

I am very disappointed with the resolution by authorized service center (http://www.pcnet.cz). Basically whatever they did at the end they just dismissed the fault saying. Well this happens to all X220. **bleep**? Seriously, I thought they're joking. Even any IT laic can say that some spots on the display are NOT the feature but fault. If that's the case for all X220 then that just manifests the quality Lenovo can offer. And I don't care that it happens on all X220 (which I don't believe), but it's the case for my laptop I've paid for.

I'm really very disappointed about quality of this machine. I regret I haven't found those numerous records of problems with X220 on this forum before purchasing.

This is for sure my last Lenovo product I've bought or used, not going to buy even a screw from them anymore. Unless the quality and support changes, going to recommend to all my friends and colleagues to stay away from Lenovo.

PS:

Is there any escalation mechanism if I'm not satisfied with the "resolution" my authorized service center provided?

I don't know PCNet but if you are from Prague I can recommend http://www.bitservis.cz/

The problem is that the service center have to return replaced component to Lenovo and they have some rules for that. For example I had problem with keyboard (middle trackpoint button stopped to work) and got a replacement. The new one (different FRU) had another problem that Return and Backspace keys started to make horrible squeaky noises after few hours. I asked for another replacement but got kind answer that they understand it but unfortunately can not replace this keyboard because Lenovo would not consider it as failure covered by warranty. Finally I fixed the keyboard myself by putting missing grease into keys hinges that shows poor Lenovo quality control (I have R51 and X31 and I have never seen such problems with new keyboard yet).