photon78s To summarize the information you shared (and the links), laptop displays tend to have generic connectors, with only a few common variants? So finding compatible replacement panels is perhaps easier than I envisioned.
It appears that these panels (compatible with the Thinkpad T480) incorporate their backlights, rather than having the LCD only which would require re-use of the original backlight (like recent MacBooks). Is this correct?
Did you ever personally try a 6-bit panel in your Thinkpad to see how Windows handles this? As I stated in another topic, I tried a few HP ZBook models and they seem to have 6-bit panels (with Windows recognizing the displays as 6-bit), and the pixellation and colors suggest the screens are running at true 6-bit in Windows. I am currently exploring how this is triggered. Unfortunately, EDID manipulation of an external display to set it to 6-bit color does not do the trick. I am assuming most laptops will dither a 6-bit display to 8-bit, but I am not sure whether this is due to the inherent circuitry, BIOS/VBIOS, or something else.
The HP ZBooks do not feel like quality laptops to me (loose trackpad buttons, etc.), but if the true 6-bit displays could be replicated in better-built laptop like a Thinkpad, I would be interested in trying that. I had a Thinkpad T480 laptop in the past, and my only real complaint with it was the low keyboard rollover count, which made it beep at me if I typed too fast.