Gaming Laptop Screen Upgrade!

[AlexTheGreatish]

In a shocking twist Linus offers you a tech tip that's cheap, easy to do and makes sense.

 

Get the Custom Resolution Utility: https://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-Custom-Resolution-Utility-CRU

 

Buy a new laptop screen (can be found cheaper if you bid on eBay):
On Amazon: http://geni.us/WgLs
On Newegg: http://geni.us/BK8s

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Pretty interesting video, still not what I had originally expected.

 

If I had a reason to upgrade my laptop, I'd probably consider doing something like this.

[Sirgeorge]

Did it the second I finished the video. Would be nice to figure out the adjustable brightness issue. Is there any way to do it besides the keyboard?

 

EDIT: is it auto stuck on full brightness or what?

[samcool55]

Well thanks for that, now the mii channel song is stuck in my head...

 

Anyway, even tho it was a short video, it was a damn good one!

[nummereinsnerd]

But the question is, can i just look up any 120hz display and slap it in whatever laptop i want with no problems whatsoever?

[Sanjyot Gargelwar]

I have got ASUS FX553ve-dm318t

it's screen isn't that good as that of GL series  

Please!! Suggest me a screen with good colour quality and wide viewing angle 

High refresh rate doesn't matter for me

 

 

Thanks!!

[victoriasecrets]

1 minute ago, nummereinsnerd said:

But the question is, can i just look up any 120hz display and slap it in whatever laptop i want with no problems whatsoever?

No you need to make sure it have the same connector and pins. Last time I checked most 1080p 60hz uses 30 pin and 144hz uses 40pin

[Sypwn]

I've been wanting to do exactly this. My Predator G9-793-79PE has a 1080@75hz display, but the response time is still pretty trash when I tried to overclock. Does anyone know how G-Sync factors into this? I assume I would need a G-Sync panel, in addition to all the other things I need to check?

[TechyBen]

55 minutes ago, nummereinsnerd said:

But the question is, can i just look up any 120hz display and slap it in whatever laptop i want with no problems whatsoever?

Nope. Or do you mean external?

 

Also some laptops get revisions/model changes and you won't know the connector placement/type/screen until opening it up. So going in blind like this is rather risky.

[samako93]

I once replaced the LCD screen on my Lenovo laptop, and had issues with the brightness too. I was able to fix it by modifying a registry key for the Intel Integrated graphics.

This page details what I had to do to get the brightness keys working again. Not sure if it would work using the Nvidia card, but it might be worth a shot.

[SRTHellcat18]

Do you think this would work to upgrade from a 1080p display to a 4K display, or even 2560x1440? I've got a pretty beefy laptop, Aleinware 17 R5 with a 1070, but opted for the lower res 1080p display to save a buck, but a screen upgrade would be pretty nice for some newer games or 4K YouTube vids.

[pi4a7a]

Greetings all!
So I have Legion Y520(IHD 630/1050Ti) with LG Philips LP156WF6-SPK3 (LGD0533) monitor. The display itself it's really low rated, bad colors 60hz etc.

I need IPS and lowest response time possible for cheap and possibly mate one.
Knowing that, which replacement screen I can buy without costing me arm and leg. 

 

I'm apologizing if my reply is not in the correct thread, but I just saw Linus's video. 

Thanks

[D13H4RD]

I've actually known about this for a while. Some people with certain gaming laptops, especially the Dell 7567, have actually been doing screen upgrades for a while.

 

The one thing to note is that some laptops and displays have different connectors depending on the panel, even if it's the same model of machine. So definitely do your research.

[Sirgeorge]

3 hours ago, samako93 said:

I once replaced the LCD screen on my Lenovo laptop, and had issues with the brightness too. I was able to fix it by modifying a registry key for the Intel Integrated graphics.

This page details what I had to do to get the brightness keys working again. Not sure if it would work using the Nvidia card, but it might be worth a shot.

Oh, neat. Thanks. I'll be sure to try when I upgrade my screen.

[pHrankee]

Can anyone confirm if I can do the same for my Acer Nitro 5?..the bezels on the nitro 5 look very similar to the helios.

[Joseph445]

Hi guys, I have an acer vx5 and I want to upgrade the screen, do you have any idea how can I compare if is a screen works for me or not?

 

[Ross Siggers]

Replacing screens has been a thing for a while, but it's just very dependent on getting the right model which is what puts a lot of people off, even those who've done DIY before.

I closely follow threads on the the old X220/230 Thinkpads, but that's a bit more in-depth; Using a custom board, you can replace the standard 12.6-inch 1366x768 panel, with new ones up to 1440p! If you're even braver you can get aftermarket bezels and fit a larger 13.3-inch screen in as well....online these large display modded laptops have been unofficially dubbed as the 'x320/330'

 

Sadly none of these screen mods work with the tablet versions, otherwise I'd have done ALL THE UPGRADES.

[TechyBen]

2 hours ago, Ross Siggers said:

Replacing screens has been a thing for a while, but it's just very dependent on getting the right model which is what puts a lot of people off, even those who've done DIY before.

I closely follow threads on the the old X220/230 Thinkpads, but that's a bit more in-depth; Using a custom board, you can replace the standard 12.6-inch 1366x768 panel, with new ones up to 1440p! If you're even braver you can get aftermarket bezels and fit a larger 13.3-inch screen in as well....online these large display modded laptops have been unofficially dubbed as the 'x320/330'

 

Sadly none of these screen mods work with the tablet versions, otherwise I'd have done ALL THE UPGRADES.

Yeah, I remember in 2002 being able to do it on my HP ZD8000. They had 2 models, 1 with nice glare reduction and screen colours/brightness, and one with a cheaper panel. After a year or two, the spare panels came down in price, so buying the cheaper model and upgrading worked out cheaper for a lot of users if willing to do the work themselves. So it was posted on the customer forums/gaming forums etc. I never did do it though.

 

A different HP laptop, I went to replace the outer case for a neibour as they dropped and cracked it... had to send the parts back, as although externally and part numbered exactly the same, they changed the internals half way through the production cycle.  I guess because everyone was breaking the cheap flimsy case and they had to redesign... but they never updated their part lists. 

 

[PS, GAH! THAT'S A LOT OF EMOJII!] 

[AlexTheGreatish]

So a lot of people have been asking "Can I do this on laptop X?", and the answer is probably, but you'll need to do some research.  The hardest part is finding a compatible panel, the basic steps to do this are:

 

Find out what panel you have.  The easiest way to do this is to download HWiNFO, and then go to the monitor drop down.  I'm currently using a Zephyrus, and it turns out the panel is the Monitor Name AUO B156HAN08.2.

 

The most important thing when finding a new panel is to make sure that it uses the same interface and mounting.  I went to panel look and was able to find that it is a 40pin eDP connection with a 3.3/3.6V power supply and a Slim Form.  The bits highlighted below (and the size obviously) are the most important.

 

With this information you'll need to find another panel with those same specs and whatever upgrades you're looking for (higher refresh rate, better colours, etc).  There isn't really a great way to find this, basically you'll have to look online for what panels similar laptops are using, so like if you have an Acer Nitro 5 maybe look at what the Helios 300 High Refresh model is using.  Another option is just to look online and with any luck someone on a forum has already done an upgrade with your laptop and mentions the panel they chose.  If everything matches up you're probably good to go, but you still might have trouble.

 

In our video we couldn't get the brightness to work (there was a lot of off camera troubleshooting, I don't think it will ever work), although I've heard people with that same panel having it work fine on a Dell G3.  This can be caused by a manufacturer having a whitelist in Windows for panels and anything that's not on that list doesn't get brightness control, so brightness probably works fine in Linux but to get it back in Windows we'd need to do a BIOS mod and add our panel to the whitelist.  It also might just not work at all, sometimes manufactures have strange ways of doing things and how every panel works exactly is hard to find information on, so it's a bit of a dice roll.  Once you have the panel just do what we did in the video, if you picked the correct panel it should be pretty easy.

[reptarded]

I did this swap on my Helios 300 (G3-571-77QK)

 

I did some research and found this acer thread which mentioned that the N156HHE-GA1 screen worked 100% (even the screen brightness hotkeys work!).

 

This one does 94% gamut and of course is 120hz as well.

 

Initially my laptop wouldnt give me the option to change refresh rate but after a couple of reboots, it automagically switched to 120hz.

 

I actually bought the screen on ebay for $100... I was ok paying extra for the brightness controls...

 

 

Hope this helps someone!

[Sirgeorge]

huh, sweet. Same laptop and same screen assembly. I got it at the very day that the video came out and am glad that I got lucky. Great.

[Morgan MLGman]

15 hours ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

With this information you'll need to find another panel with those same specs and whatever upgrades you're looking for (higher refresh rate, better colours, etc).  There isn't really a great way to find this, basically you'll have to look online for what panels similar laptops are using, so like if you have an Acer Nitro 5 maybe look at what the Helios 300 High Refresh model is using.  Another option is just to look online and with any luck someone on a forum has already done an upgrade with your laptop and mentions the panel they chose.  If everything matches up you're probably good to go, but you still might have trouble.

I just bought the Acer Nitro 5, WHY ARE YOU TEMPTING ME LIKE THAT?!?! I've never replaced a laptop display but having high a refresh-rate one looks pretty tempting. I wonder if this is really true, I probably have to do some research on that...

That's the current display of the laptop: http://www.panelook.com/LP156WF6-SPK6_LG Display_15.6_LCM_overview_31856.html

Another thing: My particular Acer Nitro 5 is the AMD-based variant that consists of a Ryzen 5 2500U w/ Vega 8 iGPU and an RX 560X 4GB (it's the same GPU as the desktop variant, exact same clocks etc.). Do you think me having an AMD version can pose a problem with drivers etc. to get higher refresh rate working?

[AlexTheGreatish]

9 hours ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Do you think me having an AMD version can pose a problem with drivers etc. to get higher refresh rate working?

If it's using the same panel it shouldn't be an issue, AMD will do high refresh the same as Nvidia or Intel.

[Spotty]

Great video, @AlexTheGreatish. Interesting to see as it's not something the majority of people would consider doing as an upgrade, outside of having a cracked or damaged panel that needs to be replaced.

 

Can't wait for the follow up video... How to upgrade the crappy 480p webcam in your laptop with a camera suitable for 2018?

(Obviously it's easier and probably cheaper to just buy a USB webcam if you need a better camera, but would be nice to do for the "if we can do this, why can't the manufacturer?" factor.)

[gtaking111]

I found this video very interesting, the cost is shocked me most, that is a very cheap upgrade!

 

I am considering doing this upgrade myself to my PC Specialist Optimus VIII 17.3 Inch Clevo Laptop to replace a 1080p panel with a 4K 60Hz one. I think I found a match on Aliexpress for less than 90 Euro :) 

 

I followed @AlexTheGreatish's info regarding HWiNFO and this is my results:

 

Here is my current panel

http://www.panelook.com/LP173WF4-SPF2_LG%20Display_17.3_LCM_overview_27610.html

 

This is the Aliexpress replacement I am looking at: 

 

http://www.panelook.com/B173ZAN01.0_AUO_17.3_LCM_overview_25358.html

 

The 1080p panel cable is 30 pin eDP while the 4K panel is 40 pins eDP  but I think I found a compatible 40 pin cable for my Clevo that I could switch out for the 30 pin one.

 

Is it just as simple as replacing the cable and panel or am I missing anything else? Thanks :)