Privacy screen has a terrible viewing angle, even when turned off.

[siebed]

The privacy screen (Sure View) on my Elitebook 745 G6 is not behaving as one would expect. The viewing angle is extremely narrow in both directions, regardless of the privacy option being turned on or off.

I have noticed that turning on the privacy mode actually has exactly the same effect as simply lowering the brightness. The screen gets less bright when the feature is enabled, but the viewing angle remains all the same, and - worst of all - it is always narrow. It is even possible to rise the brightness in privacy mode up to the same level as in non-privacy mode and then both modes will look exactly the same. So, I am stuck with a screen that is always in privacy mode, making it impossible for example to watch a video with several people at once. It even requires me to adjuist the position of the lid every time I move my chair slightly forward or backward.

This is a really annoying problem. I personally don't care that much about the privacy feature and ordered it because of the supposedly high brightness for outdoor use (1000 nits), compared to the non-privacy screens. But the narrow viewing angle completely defeats that purpose. Turning off the privacy mode should also enable a fairly wide viewing angle as one would expect from any decent laptop sold these days, let alone an expensive business laptop.

There is definitely a problem here, either in hardware or in software, and an explanation and fix from HP is needed.

Siebe

Note: I have seen several people with the same problem on this forum, and threads have been falsely marked as solved. This problem has not been answered yet as far as I know.

[banhien]

@siebed 

Please try the following guide:

   https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c05244554

Regards.

[siebed]

This is NOT the solution. I clearly know how to turn on or off the privacy screen.

[Pilotg]

I have same trouble and your solution does not affect View Angle at all. View angle is now even worse, than on my ancient TN-screen Laptop. I think to return that laptop to the shop, cause it's not possible to work, it looks more like TN than IPS. Worst screen quality I've ever seen on a laptop.

I've updated BIOS and Drivers - that does not help.

Here are photos to compare to Elitebook 745 G5 to Elitebook 745 G6 . Difference is obvious, G5 looks perfect despite angle is bigger.

SureView is OFF:

SureView is OFF

SureView is OFF:

Sure View is OFF

SureView is ON:

SureView is ON

[siebed]

@Pilotg

Thanks for the pictures - they clearly illustrate how HP failed on the newer elitebook G6 models. Viewing angle does not change when turned on or off- it remains narrow at all times. So you basically pay extra to get an ancient screen. Unbelievable how HP even dares to sell this as a premium feature on a laptop in this price range. The fact that it did work well on the G5 models, proves that there is definitely a hardware/software failure, introduced with the newer generation of the sure view screen.

@Banhien

HP should address this problem ASAP and issue a software fix or replace the faulty screens on site. In the meantime, I will advise all HP customers NOT to buy this laptop.