Broken buggy display

[Samhawkes86]

Hello

So I've recently purchased an Asus scar 16 4090 model with the mini led display for 2023.

The display is significantly dimmer in ultimate mode than it is in any other mode.

I've taken a picture of the display, one in ultimate mode (mux switch) and one in standard mode (Optimus).

Both are updated to the same version of windows, both have the exact same settings set in windows which is HDR on and basically all auto brightness type settings in windows disabled, both are running the same bios, firmware and other updates from myasus app and armoury crate. They are also both plugged into power and display brightness set to max in both.

Now it's tricky capturing a screens brightness in a picture, especially with a smart phone, but even so if you take a look of both those pictures, it's clear one is brighter than the other (it's significantly more obvious in person).

This is my second machine in the last two weeks as I actually sent the other one back for a replacement, but both exhibit the exact same behaviour. Seems unlikely it's a hardware issue given I have two brand new versions of these machines in two weeks and both have the exact same defect here.

How are not more people talking about this issue?

Can people out there with this machine do me a favour and put your machine into ultimate mode and see if you also exhibit a display dimming issue?

I've contacted Asus about it who seems completely oblivious to any problems they are aware of with the display on these machines (seems unlikely as the brightness on these things is buggy as hell but I won't talk about the other stupid display brightness bugs ive come across).

So I'm sending this one back also. I have a strong suspicion the 3rd machine I recieve will be much the same.

 

 

[eXplode]

When you turn on MUX switch and switch ONLY to NVIDIA gpu you disable the intel gpu and when this is done your laptop DONT use the intel gpu and DONT use intel graphics driver's to correct your image quality and your laptop switch from intel graphics to NVIDIA graphics in this case you must abjust your screen settings from NVIDIA control panel 

This is normal to happen because only in Ultimate mode your intel gpu is turned off and the program for intel graphics that abjust your screen doesn't work ... So the problem is in you and doesn't metter how much laptops you will get this will happen  to every other laptop whit MUX switch 😄 just abjust your settings from NVIDIA control panel if you wont to use Ultimate mode but if you switch to other modes and enable intel gpu your image again will be changed and abjust by the application that control intel GPU so the problem is not in Nvidia not in Intel not in Asus just the things work this way on every other brands laptops whit MUX switch 🙂 

If you are not satisfied whit this send it back again and get third one and if this third one also have problem send it back again and get another one until to the end of the universe ♾️

[Samhawkes86]

Appreciate the feedback, although it appears I should have been clearer and spelled it out more. So here goes,

The problem isn't 'brightness' in the sense of display calibration. I'm fully aware of how all that works.

The problem is in nits output. 

In ultimate mode the nits output of the display is significantly lower. You can't just go into the Nvidia control panel and adjust the display calibration and increase the brightness slider. This doesn't increase the screen nits, this is just a calibration tool for the display.

My problem isn't the difference in screen calibration. I'm more than happy with it in both modes.

What I'm not happy with is the mini led display dropping to 250 nits, at maximum 'nits' brightness.

Now as I've pointed out it's difficult to properly capture a displays brightness output in a photo and so despite it being very obvious in the photos I can see why maybe you'd assume it's not what I've explained.

In person it's significantly worse. It's literally dimmer than my 300 nit razer blade display. Somewhere around 250nits.

That's not normal at all. Brightness as far as nits output should broadly be the same between Optimus and ultimate mode. What if shouldn't be doing is be putting out 800 nits at max brightness in Optimus mode and then 250 nits at max brightness in ultimate mode (making that mode completely unusable).

Again, you can't increase screen nits output by jumping into the control panel and waking up the brightness settings in the screen calibration section. Adjusting the actual brightness option in windows is how you adjust the nits out and either brighten or dim the screen. I believe there is a correlated brightness slider within Nvidia control panel aswell (not the screen calibration bit) but let's not confuse things anymore.

In Nvidia control panel and in windows brightness settings, the brightness slider is maxed out and it's putting out about 250 nits at max brightness in ultimate mode.

It's not normal. I have extensive troubleshooting experience I don't bore you with but, as I said before, the way both screens have behaved, it's pretty clear at least to me it's a driver bug somewhere.

Note, I've used the latest MSI titan mini led display. In Optimus mode brightness is on par with the MSI in the same mode at max brightness. When yij switch the mux switch on in the MSI machine, brightness doesn't drop to 250 nits. It's just as bright as it is in the Optimus mode. Screen calibration is slightly different (as you politely explained in your post would be the case) but the screen brightness as far as nits doesn't change. It doesn't drop to 250 nits using the mux switch.

In fact I've used a dozen or more gaming laptops over the past 12 months, when you switch to the dgpu mode with the mux switch, they don't drop to a quarter of the nits output.

When I get a third machine, I expect to behave the same as it's clear to me it's a bug somewhere. At which point I'll be getting a refund. As it's the 2023 model, there now releasing the 2024 machines, so it's unlikely it's going to be addressed by Asus.

So I can see that happening and I'll end up with another blade or maybe an MSI.

The point of my post was in the hope there was a way around this bug as I do like the machine and would rather keep hold of it.

I could just not use ultimate mode of course. But,  obviously not going to keep a 3k machine with a buggy mux switch 

[eXplode]

I understand now where are the problem 

I dont know will this help but you can try it

https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/calibrate-your-screen-windows-11

Other thing is to reinstall Nvidia drivers when you are in ultimate mode and restart the laptop

Or search if the laptop have some dimming option that can be enable in ultimate mode if this things dont have contact asus support or send it back again : (

[Samhawkes86]

Hi bud, no unfortunately didn't work. I tried various things such as DDU the Nvidia driver and then installed it while I'm the Ultimate mode, didn't work. Screen really dim, the minute I put it back into its Optimus normal mode the screen brightness just pops back in again like someone just turned a light on behind the screen. Really frustrating. I tested the ultimate mode also to see if there were any other odd things happening and I found that every game I tested while in Ultimate mode would hang every 3 or 4 seconds and just freeze for a half second, and then jump back up to 100fps for example, and then 3 second later the whole screen would freeze again for half a second and so on and it would do this constantly across all the games I tested in ultimate mode. 

Put it back into Optimus normal mode and everything ran without a hitch. Really weird.

So it's gone back, it's been collected today. Ill have to wait a few days to a week for the replacement. 

Hopefully third time lucky! 

[eXplode]

That is good they will replace it and i have hope you will not have problem anymore the laptop is really good but this problem is strange i also haved a problem whit my laptop when switch to ultimate mode but the problem was like i said the ultimate mode disable Intel graphics and change color profil also make the screen dimmer but it was the brightness and when i abjust it everything was normal bun in you case i dont know what else can be done 

Also if this is software bug also other laptops will have it but after returning some laptops whit same problem they mist check it and remove the problem

[Samhawkes86]

Yeh it's really weird. I agree when it was working, in the normal mode, the laptop is brilliant. That 4090 inside, the CPU, I also upgraded the ram to Kingston 5600 which worked perfectly (I saw some people having issues with using 5600 ram but mine worked great) it's a great machine. Thats why I asked for a replacement and not a refund.

Hopefully 3rd time it will be working properly. I mean you'd have to be really unlucky to get 3 bad machines in a row. I absolutely love the mini led display when it's working. I was coming from a razer blade that just had a standard IPS display with 300 nits. That screen on the Asus is amazing by comparison. l

It was picked up yesterday so Scan should receive it back today. They normally take 2 or 3 days to test it, and as long as there not going to argue with me that there's nothing wrong with it, I should have the replacement back either this Saturday or the Monday after.

I'll test it and comment on here my findings. Hopefully it will be all good