This is likely the only option:
The one you indicated has 50 pins
Ah my bad. Do let us know how you get on.
I’m only aware of one person using an entirely different panel via a 30 to 40 eDP adapter: 40pin eDP (Framework/4Lane) to 30pin eDP(2 lane) - #8 by Dylan_Evans
Personally I’m interested in a higher ppi density panel. Perhaps something could be wrangled with that 50 pin panel.
Thanks for the link - I’m pretty used to tinkering with PCs but fairly noob-y when it comes to laptop connectors and hardware, so really not sure whether to go that far.
I like dark mode and the glossy screen but this is really problematic when there is outside light, so hopefully this screen works.
Will report back once i have the parts and get to try. To the framework team, I couldn’t find spare eDP connectors for Framework 13 on your marketpalce. Could you please make some available?
An update from my above post: I have now received one of the 2 screens I choose to buy (the other one was a wrong model sent by the retailer). In short, it works - I will post my updates on a new post
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Great to hear! Looking forward to it.
I’ve created a new post / topic here in case anyone is curious:
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To @Gabriele_Turelli_Cap @Matthew_Quarisa and others who want to try with 90Hz refresh rate, the mate 13s screen is indeed the best option BUT i don’t have the details of the connector to know if this can be a drop in replacement. This is the (relatively bare) Panelook info for the screen:
TIANMA TL134GDXP02-0 Overview - Panelook.com
with that resolution/framerate and no touch (and not oled) it is very likely to be the de-facto standard 4-lane no touch 40pin pinout, if they used the the large or the small connector and if it is in a convenient place is a whole different question though.
I don’t think this a given, as even though the connector may be 40-pin, I’ve noticed that there are many different types of connectors. I am not sure if the other connector types are compatible with the 20455-040E-02 connector. If anyone is willing to buy and maybe test out the connector, that would be great.
The supplier listed on Panelook has an MOQ of 2, so maybe splitting the cost between multiple people may be an option. Each screen is likely to cost around 70 - 100 eur per screen. I paid 80 for one and 110 for another.
I’m personally looking for screens with similar contrast ratio but higher brightness as working with glossy screens with 400 nits screens is impossible when there are bight reflections on the screen. Unfortunately, the next jump after 450 (which is what I have now) are only Sharp screens, and they all use some weird 50-pin connector.
If anyone is reading this and has some experience with designing custom connectors, drivers, cnc, 3D printing, etc and would like to work together on this, please feel free to ping me. I have no experience in designing, sourcing and manufacturing custom hardware but this would be a great project to work on. I think once we start looking for screens with different aspect ratios, sizes, there is a need to start customising both the aluminium chassis and / or the top plastic cover
There are not just different connectors but different pinouts of the same connector. Most panels used in laptops use mostly the same set of connectors and a few defacto-standard pinouts on them for the most part. One major exception there as I found out the hard way is that the samsung oled panels completely deviated from those, same connector but veeery different pinout.
But ultimately the beauty of edp is you pretty much only need a passive adabter to make it work (unless it’s an oled and you need to change how you power it too XD).
I am planning on doing something like this as soon as an oled panel shows up that fits the 13. Personally I want one that fits in the og lid (and is 2k-ish and 90+hz). But an oled panel is likely to have somewhat different issues than an lcd, mounting should not be an issue as you have a ton of extra space due to the panel being much thinner but you also have a lot more complexity in the electronics for powering it.
In your place I would probably start with just making a different panel work before modifying the lid and stuff like that.
I’ve already hit the limits of what I can do with the existing set of cables, etc. The next step will likely require a new cable as the 500nit Sharp displays use 50 pin connectors.
Beyond that the only options are going up to 14 inches or down to 13.3 inches. A 14 inch model (assuming it fits within the max dimension available in the shell / form factor), will definitely need a new CNC’d back. A smaller unit meanwhile will require at minimum a custom top screen cover.
I guess beyond 500, I would mostly be looking to do this to scratch my itch for hardware tinkering. I’ve even gone so far as to look up bonding materials to see if i can achieve some kind of DIY non-permanent bonding solution so that I can have a macbook-like front glass. I’ve found some that are used in fiberglass splicing(and that may work here), but again, not experienced enough to know if this will work for this use case.
I blame Framework for this really 
- making this laptop so repairable makes it irresistible for some of us to push boundaries 
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I know the pain, the the oled that some of the newer thinkpads use it just a few mm too big and the next size down is way too small, in that regard the size of the 13 is quite unfortunate.
Oh boy that’s a rabbit hole, good luck with that.
Not really frameworks fault, I tried to put the oled in my t480s before I got the framework (it took a bit of damage but I managed to “repair” it).
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Replying to main thread to add some additional things I have learned:
- Some of the screens the latest laptops are using are not available on the Panelook database.
- Most of these newer screens are using the 14" form factor
- Mini LED screens are probably the best to get in terms of brightness and colour, but they use PWM instead of DC dimming, so we will need some kind of custom board to drive it
I read a lot of the display problem the past days (I have a FW 13 Laptop) and my conclusion is, that there is no option to really upgrade the display and it will not be better in the future because of the specs. HP, Dell and so on do not produce screens like that especially the 40 pin connectors seems to be a big issue. Framework itself wont produce a panel on its own and when the other big company’s use other standards in there notebooks there will be no solution in the future ans so also no other panels. Or get I something wrong in this discussion?
Hi Peter, what is your wishlist for a better screen?
Almost every BOE(and I believe AUO too) panel being manufactured for laptops (that is not a mini LED tech) is 40pin edp and used DC dimming, so basically, we can theoretically use the motherboard with any of these screens.
The only limiting thing here them is the form factor: its not a common one and does not fit any of the newer models that usually tend to be 14 inches. I have in the past week explored replacing the LED backlights, adding a custom flexible PCB backlight or maybe just cnc-ing a custom case that holds a bigger 14" panel. I have no experience in any of these, but i’m bugged by it enough that i might try one of these
Overall, I am pretty happy with the laptop except its brightness. Its colour reproduction is great, blacks are great, contrast is great, it uses DC dimming and its glossy. I don’t really care for anything else, but others in this thread have other wants (such as oled or higher refresh rate). I guess its hard to cater to everyone’s whims and they have overall done a pretty good job in something that at least has no major flaws.
And lastly Panelook db is unfortunately not up to date. Most newer models of screens are not available in the db and I have to scour new laptop reviews to find models that they have been using
@Chironjit_Das, have you come across any useable panels with higher pixel density/resolution (~250ppi / 3k+)?
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Unfortunately I haven’t found any other usable one that fits. The only higher resolution 13.5" is the Panasonic one but that has a different pinout I believe. All 4k monitors are 16:10 or 16:9. I’m waiting for @Brandon_Wang 's attempt with the Tianma monitor as I think that’s a possible option that may work.
These Tianma LCDs are the ones used by Huawei in their matebook laptops. These are 15:10 aspect ratio and should fit the form factor. That said, Huawei have been bumping up their screens up to 14.2 inches at its current latest iteration. Panelook doesn’t have complete information on any of these screens and I’m struggling to find a decent supplier to buy it from.
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I would like to have a better reaction time and maybe an oled Panel in the future. But right now there are no other options for other panels and the big notebook producer dont sem to produce panel that will fit in the future. It is a bit sad because in the theorie it is easy to change the panel but when there arent any panles on the market its just not possible to do so.
Oled is a bit of an exception there but can still be done (and I will if a suitable panel finally shows up XD).
But yeah the somewhat unique size of the 13 makes finding suitable panels quite hard.
I am already using an alternative display and generally I find it slightly better and with slightly darker blacks. I am positive there are options out there that would fit, just not commonly known. Panelook is great but it also doesn’t actually have a lot of the newer models in its database.
I am not looking to explore OLEDS as there are not really many suppliers and the options are limited. As well, we will need custom circuitry for these OLEDs. I am however exploring options with another person here on higher-refresh rate screens that should match the size / aspect ration closely. If we can procure one of these screens successfully, we can have at least 90Hz displays.
In the longer run, I will dig into mini LED screens or custom backlighting mod for the screens. Personally, I need brighter screens and OLED just doesn’t cut it for me.
Whatever grouses I may have about Framework laptop, the fact that we can try to push the envelope here is really cool for me. I reckon if there is enough interest, we can even do a proper run of alternative displays with the respective cables / circuitry