Acer Aspire A515-51G-5504 upgrade screen panel from TN to IPS clarification

Asterisk
Asterisk Member Posts: 9

Tinkerer
edited October 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hi everyone, I bought an Acer Aspire A515-51G-5504 laptop in 2018 and want to change to better screen. I read the forum post where brummyfan2 gave good suggestions and information. According to HWiNFO64 program, I have a NT156FHM-N41 panel. I'm wondering:

1.) Can I upgrade to a touchscreen if it has the same connector interface? (eDP 30pin) or is it too much of a hassle?
2.) If too much hassle, would all of the panels below work for the upgrade? http://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=27048,19049,19048,24180,26503 In the link, Far left is my current panel I want to get rid of, ones on the right I am considering to upgrade to. List of panels are: 
B156HAN01.2, B156HAN01.1, LP156WF6-SPB1, NV156FHM-N43

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,889 Trailblazer
    Here's the list of compatible panels with part numbers. Others may work but not 100% guaranteed. Whether or not it's worth the hassle depends on what you're looking for. TN panels usually are brighter within normal viewing angles of ~30*. IPS panels have wider viewing angles before fading. Shorter response times may improve gaming presentation. If it was mine, and based on the things I normally do on a computer, it wouldn't be worth the risk, money or hassle of changing the screen. Jack E/NJ

       

    Jack E/NJ

  • Asterisk
    Asterisk Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    Here's the list of compatible panels with part numbers. Others may work but not 100% guaranteed. Whether or not it's worth the hassle depends on what you're looking for. TN panels usually are brighter within normal viewing angles of ~30*. IPS panels have wider viewing angles before fading. Shorter response times may improve gaming presentation. If it was mine, and based on the things I normally do on a computer, it wouldn't be worth the risk, money or hassle of changing the screen. Jack E/NJ

       

    Hi JackE, thank you for replying to me so fast! I looked up all the models you provided, note that about 8/18 of them are duplicates or is the one I already have. I compared them all 11 different ones here in this link: 
    http://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=27048,29602,31545,26390,25853,28135,27977,30062,31749,28556,27723

    I wanted to change my screen to have better colors, contrast, and sharpness when I use to do homework, watch videos, or do casual gaming. However, all the compatible panels you listed look like they are about similar specs to the one I am trying to change (NT156FHM-N41). Their brightness and color gamut seem to be about the same (which is only 45% NTSC). The contrast ratio is definitely higher, but some resolutions are only 1366x768 and the panel dimensions are bigger than what I have right now. Will those even physically fit? Response time and viewing angles are not that important to me. I do want the response time to be in the "normal" range (5-7ms I think?). Are these panels actually an improvement or am I judging by the wrong specs for picture quality?
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,889 Trailblazer
    >>> I do want the response time to be in the "normal" range (5-7ms I think?). Are these panels actually an improvement or am I judging by the wrong specs for picture quality? >>>

    5-7ms is NOT a normal response time range. It's essentially equivalent to 144-200Hz screen refresh rates which are high-end screen rates that only can be driven by high-end graphics. While your graphics should support up to 1920x1080 rez, it may not drive these kind of panels much beyond 60Hz rates or ~15ms times. The listed panels should physically fit as should the other panels with similar dimensions.

    You probably don't want to hear this, but your model is sort of a middle of the road work horse, not a high end graphics machine. So I consider a screen upgrade like elective cosmetic surgery that might give some visual satisfaction if the procedure goes well with no complications. But it is rather significant surgery so it does carry some non-zero risk of a disaster or an adverse side effect happening.

    Jack E/NJ       

    Jack E/NJ

  • Asterisk
    Asterisk Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer
    My apologies, I'm not communicating my ideas clearly. I just want a 60Hz screen, nothing higher. I just want the picture quality on windows explorer, videos, games to be decent, nothing superb. I understand the procedure carries risk but for now, I think it's worth it. 

    >>> The listed panels should physically fit as should the other panels with similar dimensions. >>>
    Good to know panels that are few millimeters bigger than my current panel will still fit. 


    I noticed the     LM156LF1L03 panel in your list has a Transmissive Contrast Ratio of 1000:1, is that noticeable compared to 500:1 ? What about compared to 700:1 ?
    Also what is White Variation? I see numbers like 1.25/1.67 and 1.4/1.6 ; I dont understand what those mean and how they translate to real life casual use.
    These are the panels I'm comparing: Link
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,889 Trailblazer
    >>>I dont understand what those mean and how they translate to real life casual use.>>>

    Sorry, neither do I. Even when I google the terms. Maybe someone else with more LCD knowledge than me will chime in here.  But based on the terms I do understand together with knowing the machine's graphics adapter capabilities, I think the TN panel that's in there now is about a good as it's gonna get at normal viewing angles.   Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • enzoofthejungle
    enzoofthejungle Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    @Asterisk, did you ever solve this problem? I'm in kind of a similar situation. Have a A515-51G-5F36 with the same miserable TN panel--AND the dreaded hinge break. It's all now kaput and so I'm trying to upgrade. 

    My understanding (gleaned from the past few days of researching this stuff, I'm no tech) is that the important things to look for are:

    • identical panel display and outline size (obviously)--although a thickness variation of ~1 mm isn't going to make a huge difference;
    • the same pin connection (for us, 30 pin)
    • the same interface (eDP). 
    I'm not 100% but from what I've read, I think that you might have to stick to the same resolution--I actually PM'd the Acer resident expert on panel replacement here, @brummyfan2 on this point, hoping he might be able to confirm that. But the resolution at 1920x1080 isn't a huge problem (and once you start getting much denser, the pin count goes up to 40).

    I am positive that a touch screen won't work where you've got a non-touch screen (at least w/o additional/other hardware--that's not part of the panel itself, just a capability). 

    I would love to know where @JackE got that list--can you let me know, @JackE? I'm just familiar with Panelook--from which I made the spreadsheet here of much better panels that look to be compatible (original monitor listed at top, potentially compatible ones below, with best bolded).

    I'm not sure what you're seeking specifically in a screen (although I TOTALLY get you wanting to get rid of the POS panel in the 515-51G), but generally speaking IPS>VA>TN, although I think that for gaming, VA might be limited? Can't remember, but it's an issue of refresh rate. Otherwise, VA might be a good cost compromise.

    I'm looking at accuracy of color, personally. For color representation--and assuming you're looking at two panels that have the same basic specs (resolution, pin factor, etc.), you want to look at the brightness, as well as the SRGB%, AdobeRGB, DCI-P3 (all for which, the higher the better). The latter four all are, I believe, measures of color space--basically, how accurately color is represented. 

    I found a lot of useful information at Notebookcheck.com, especially this article, which goes into some of the metrics in more depth.

    If anyone can help out with this stuff, would love to get some help--basically, confirmation that the panels listed on my spreadsheet would be compatible. Thanks.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,889 Trailblazer
    Depending on the region where the A515-51G submodel was sold/mfd, it could have any one of the screens in the part number list. That's all that list means. Some may be a bit better than the others but not a huge difference. If you try to use a panel with clearly better specs that isn't on the list, it may actually work AND physically fit the lid frame  Or it may not. Not only must the pin count & electronics be compatible, the actual 3D dimensions of the panel must be nearly identical. So if you want a 100% guarantee that the panels on your list would be compatible, you can't always get what you want in this case. You're just going to have to pick one of them, cross your fingers, and hope that it'll be a worthwhile noticeable improvement over what you have in there now.   Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Asterisk
    Asterisk Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer
    enzoofthejungle : I didn't fully go through with my screen replacement. I ordered one on Amazon, they gave me an inferior IPS model than the one advertised in the spec description, i returned it for full refund, and didn't try again b/c lazy. The one they gave me was this: link .

    Based on your post, it sounds like you have the right idea of what to look for in terms of compatibility: physical dimensions, pin interface, pin connection. I think you and I are after the same goals for a better monitor. Although all your panels in ur comparison look like they should work (at least based on my judgment), it seems like the only way to really find out is to try it :/ Reminder that a better panel will most likely consume more battery power if that is a concern for you. Good luck, hope you are successful if you try it!
  • Asterisk
    Asterisk Member Posts: 9

    Tinkerer
    enzoofthejungle : Update, I finally decided to go through with the screen upgrade! I went on https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/ , selected my model of laptop, chose to pay like $5 more for an IPS screen, and it all worked out well! The panel I got is the LP156WF6-SPP2 . Here's a comparison of the old one vs the one I upgraded to (left vs right)

    Based on ur previous post, as long as those specifications are met, the panel should work. The only con about the new panel I upgraded to is my battery life runs out faster by a little

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