For a couple years now, I have considered upgrading the TN LCD panel in my ThinkPad T430s. I have started to look into this more in June 2024, with a Reddit post in the ThinkPad subreddit.
Part Order
On February 19, 2025, I ordered the LVDS-eDP adapter board off from AliExpress that allows me to use modern laptop displays with the ThinkPad T430s, specifically the Innolux N140HCA-EAC.
I chose this panel in June 7, 2024. Though later in February 2025, I found out that the panel appears to have 18-bit color instead of 24-bit color, has 800:1 contrast ratio and has a relatively slow response time. I thought this panel had brackets though when I received one on February 21, 2025, I discovered that it does not. I eventually put this panel in a ThinkPad T450s to prepare it for resale.
The Installation
On March 3, 2024, I completed the installation of the LVDS-eDP adapter board after receiving it on the same day.
I noticed that the part number on the video bridge IC was sanded off, making it not possible to identify what is used. I noticed there's a flash memory IC on the board, it may be possible that the bridge IC could be an FPGA.
The process was a bit more difficult thatn I expected. I removed the entire display assembly, and practically every screw on the laptop. To my surprise, I found out the laptop must have been assembled in early 2014, not 2012 that I originally thought.
I was taking apart the entire device when I realized that I may have just needed to remove the keyboard to get to the LVDS connector. It may have been required to remove the display assembly since the entire cable is replaced.
After a couple hours of disassembly and reassembly, I plugged in the laptop and to my surprise, it worked. I used the LG LP140WF3-SPD1 that I pulled out of the T450s to test the modification and it worked. I expect this to be temporary, the LG panel does have visible spots on the screen and I seem to get eye strain shortly after using it.
I noticed that the board reports the panel as an AUO part number which leads me to believe that the board sends pre-programmed EDID data instead of using the EDID data from the panel.
Conclusion
This ended up going much better than I expected. I was able to get the display to work with the LVDS-eDP adapter board. I was able to get the laptop to boot to the BIOS and the Lenovo Diagnostics. I may find an SSD for the laptop soon though finding a different panel would be first.
I expect other 30-pin 2-lane eDP 1.2 displays to work and I may find a different Innolux panel use instead. I am looking for a N140HCG-EQ1 currently and I will update this post if I find one and install it.