Notebook Screen Guide

by Dustin Sklavos, California USA

Introduction

Notebook screens! Notebooks...have screens. And we usually don't give them too much of a passing thought when we go buying; by and large when I went notebook shopping I just assumed "well, it has one, and it sure looks pretty" and was pretty much done with that.

The problem is that as consumers we like and want to be informed, and we shouldn't have to default to "oh, well, okay." But the terminology used to describe notebooks is always a bunch of complex crap that, quite frankly, doesn't mean anything to most consumers. I've been working on computers for years and years and "WSXGA+" and "WUXGA" and all that don't make any sense at all. Why can't they just state the actual screen resolution?

The reality of it is that there are all kinds of minutiae about notebook screens that should be understood, as well as a couple of major things, like dead pixels.

This guide is here to help make some sense of it all.

Aspect Ratio and Resolution

Aspect ratio isn't just "widescreen" and "standard." Where TVs are basically two different sizes, computer screens have been hopelessly convoluted.

Resolution is the number of pixels (the individual dots that make up the picture) wide the screen is and the number of pixels tall the screen is, and we can get the aspect ratio from this. For example, the average 15" flat-panel screen is 1024x768. That means the picture is 1,024 pixels wide and 768 pixels tall. This screen has an aspect ratio of 4:3. That means that for every four pixels there are horizontally, there are three pixels vertically.

Your home television and most desktop computer screens are built 4:3.

Now, of course, this is all great, but notebook manufacturers often don'ttell you the screens aspect ratio and seldom list resolution. They usually just say "WUXGA" or something similar. Here's a guide that tells you exactly what each of those abbreviations really means. I've *'ed the odd ones out and will explain them in detail after the chart.

"Standard" Screens

Abbreviation / Resolution /Aspect Ratio

• XGA/ 1024x768 / 4:3
• SXGA/ 1280x1024/ 5:4*
• SXGA+/ 1400x1050/ 4:3
• UXGA/ 1600x1200/ 4:3

"Widescreen" Screens

Abbreviation / Resolution /Aspect Ratio

• WXGA/ 1280x768/ 5:3**
• WXGA/ 1280x800/ 8:5 (16:10)***
• WXGA+/ 1440x900/ 8:5 (16:10)***
• WSXGA+/ 1680x1050/ 8:5 (16:10)***
• WUXGA/ 1920x1200/ 8:5 (16:10)***

Yeah, you can see how that could get a little confusing!

SXGA resolution (1280x1024) is sort of anomalous. For some odd reason, it became very popular, but the aspect ratio is off. The actual proper step up in resolution to maintain the 4:3 ratio is 1280x960, but it's fairly uncommon for people to run screens at that resolution, and notebook screens almost never appear with it.

The widescreen resolutions are a real chore. They're usually cited as 16:10 to bring them in line with the 16:9 that the home theatre enthusiast is familiar with, but true 16:9 would be 1280x720, and that's a pretty odd resolution. So your DVDs are STILL going to get letterboxed, but it'll be much more negligible.

Also, one major pain is that ultraportable notebooks will sometimes use a resolution of 1280x768 instead of 1280x800, and that's even weirder. (But it sure looks nice on that tiny screen.)

Note that any of these screens can scale down in resolution. Because notebook screens have a fixed number of pixels (while desktop CRT monitors do not), pixels are essentially "blended" to achieve the intended resolution. In older screens this tended to look pretty awful, but newer ones blend very well and produce a fairly good picture. Still, it won't look as good as the screen's native resolution. The reason that I mention any of this is because I've seen people ask if their screen can run at a lower resolution, and yes, it can. But you probably won't want to.

Gamers will actually probably want to stick to lower resolution screens so the games can run at native resolution, while multimedia enthusiasts (digital image manipulation, video editing) will want to get as high a resolution as they can.

Screen Size

So now you have the fundamentals for understanding how many pixels are on the screen, but what about the screen size?

When a manufacturer lists a screen size in inches, it measures that distance from the bottom left corner to the top right corner. So if a screen size is listed as 15.4", it's 15.4" from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.

Below is a list of the typical screen sizes you can expect to find and the resolutions they routinely appear with. Note that the first one in each list will be by far the most common one.

Standard Screen Sizes and Typical Resolutions:

• 14" - XGA
• 15" - XGA, SXGA+

Widescreen Screen Sizes and Typical Resolutions:

• 10.6" - WXGA (1280x768)
• 12.1" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 13.3" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 14.1" - WXGA (1280x800)
• 15.4" - WXGA (1280x800), WXGA+, WSXGA+
• 17" - WXGA, WXGA+, WSXGA+, WUXGA

14.1" seems to be the sweet spot for travel-ready notebooks, while 15.4" is more for notebooks geared for desktop replacement, and 17" is almost strictly desktop replacement. The lower sizes are for ultraportables and thin and lights.

Widescreen Vs. Standard

Widescreen is becoming the norm against standard aspect ratio in notebooks, partially because a widescreen will effectively add a lot more reading space to a screen with a minimal amount of increase in size. More than that, widescreen is fairly logical for humans, since our eyes aren't jammed right next to each other.

If you're going to be a gamer, though, widescreen can become a problem. While many games will run at widescreen resolutions, many won't either. This is one of those things that really just befuddles me, as most gamer boutique notebooks are being made with widescreens these days.

The IBM ThinkPad X41 screen is shown on the right. On the left is the Dell Latitude X1 screen.The X1 has a widescreen format whereas the X41is standard(view larger image) Notice you can see more horizontally on the X1 widescreen which is dramatically shown by all the white space on the right side ofBBC News web page.

However, if you're going to be watching (or editing) movies on your notebook, widescreen is the screen ofchoice.

Standard notebooks are becoming a true rarity on the market, and routinely only appear in the lower budget machines these days, barring ThinkPads where only one model exists (the new Z series) that does have widescreen

Greg's Example: 15.4" Screens and Various Resolutions and their differences
I tried to stay as consistent as possible for all the pictures, i.e. same distance from them, highest brightness settings, same camera resolution, etc, etc. I also tried to get all the screens to take up as much of the camera picture as possible.



Anyway...
Each and every series of pictures is arranged from left to right: WXGA, WSXGA+, WUXGA (or rather 1280x800, 1680x1050, and 1920x1200).

NBR Front Page


NBR Forum Page


Desktop Icons (Yes, Vista and XP but I made sure all icons were at classic size with same DPI settings.)


Window (This window was known to be the same number of pixels on all three laptops)

Glossy Vs. Matte

There are basically two flavors of screen available on notebooks (and flat panel monitors in general) right now: glossy and matte.

Because glossy screens are more common these days, I'll go over those first. Glossy screens are just that - glossy. They have a coating applied to the screen beneath them that is reflective, but also helps reduce "screen door effect" - the black spaces between pixels - and improves the contrast and brightness of the image.

Of course, the downside of a glossy screen is the reflectiveness. It's not at all uncommon to catch a crystal clear reflection or a glare off of something in the environment. Additionally, some users have reported that glossy screens cause more eyestrain for them than matte screens. This pretty much boils down to personal preference; I personally have a hard time choosing between one or the other, though I usually lean towards glossy.

A glossy screen can provide a bright display with bold contrast, as shown on this Fujitsu LifeBook S6231 screen

But the downside is the reflectivity you'll get from the screen, as noticed in this almost perfect reflection of the keyboard in the glossy (Crysal View) screen of the Fujitsu notebook.

To look directly at a notebook screen, you'll know if it's a glossy or not solely because of the reflectivity of the screen and contrast of the picture. However, if you don't have that option (buying online, for example), glossy screens are typically noted by a special name. Sony calls them XBRITE, Fujitsu calls them CrystalView. My Gateway is Ultrabright. You see how it is, and you'll know a glossy screen when you see the option, because many order online notebooks offer the glossy screen at an extra cost (usually a small cost; HP adds $25).

Matte screens are basically the screens of old, although they do still see use today and for some, these are preferable. These have no reflectivity, and newer ones still have excellent contrast. The "screen door effect" can be more pronounced on these screens. These tend to be less expensive than glossy screens. New iBooks, for example, use these screens.

Even if you're shopping online, you'll want to go to a local retailer and actually get a good look at the screens for yourself so you know the difference. It's one of those things that can't be fully articulated in a guide and should be experienced personally, but hopefully this guide will help you tell the difference between the two.

Backlighting and Spill

Notebook screens have adjustable brightness, mainly to conserve power, but the brightness adjustment actually adjusts the intensity of the backlight - a light inside the panel that illuminates the screen. The screen consumes a substantial amount of your notebook's power, so adjusting the brightness to a lower setting can save a lot of battery life.

However, backlighting isn't always even and sometimes the source of the light can be seen (usually on the bottom). This is called spill. Some less expensive notebooks (and even some more expensive ones, like Dell's Inspiron 9300 line) have some problems with spill, where a portion of the screen might be noticeably brighter than the rest (though never by too much). Spill is most noticeable when the screen is black.

Uneven backlightingis seen on this VAIO S notebook, notice how the bottom is brighter than the top corners(view larger image)

Viewing Angles

Notebook screens and flat panel monitors are unique in that unlike their boxy CRT cousins, they don't always look the same from different angles. The best picture a viewer can get of a notebook screen is invariably from straight on. From the sides and especially from above, contrast may seem off, and colors may look different. This really varies from notebook to notebook and by and large isn't a huge problem. If you're in the store, you can check it out for yourself.

More expensive screens tend to have better viewing angles than the cheaper ones; getting into any more detail than that would require delving into esoterica that likely the technician at your local retail store isn't even familiar with. Suffice to say, while viewing angles used to be a huge problem with these screens (early notebooks were practically unviewable from the sides), it's pretty tolerable and minor these days.

Whenviewed straight on the Dell Inspiron 9300 notebookhas a better and brighter screen than even some high-end desktop LCD screens(view larger image)

BUT, here we have a Dell Inspiron 9300 and the same high-end 23" LCD desktop screen from the above pictureand now you can see that theInspiron 9300 viewing quality and brightness is not as good when viewed at an angle(view larger image)

Dead Pixels

Ah, the most hated of problems with notebook screens. A desktop CRT screen will never have these, but because notebook screens are comprised largely of tiny dots that light up depending on what's displayed, there's a small chance that your notebook's screen will have some dead pixels.

This is one of those things that really hoses the consumer lately, because when you buy a notebook you pretty much expect it to work 100%, and if there are dead pixels on the screen, that isn't 100%, and many companies will only accept returns or replace the screen after a certain number of dead pixels are reached on the screen.

The editor, Andrew Baxter, wrote up an excellent guide to dead pixels, found here, which I strongly encourage you to read, since it covers this subject in far more detail than I can, and includes existing dead pixel policies for major vendors.

I will add two suggestions, though.

1. First, most major retailers can be pretty understanding when it comes to dead pixels. I know Best Buy will usually accept an exchange on a notebook with dead pixels.
2. Second, many users advocate the use of a program calledDead Pixel Buddyto find dead pixels on your screen. I do not, and I will tell you why -- If the dead pixel isn't immediately apparent on a personal examination of the screen or after casual use of it, chances are you aren't going to notice it. If you're anything like me, and you run Dead Pixel Buddy, and you find a dead pixel (or more), it's going to tick you off where you wouldn't have been ticked before. I don't see any dead pixels on my screen in casual use, but I'm not going to go looking for them, either.

Oh no! See that red dot in the top middle of the screen of this Toshiba Tecra M4 Tablet PC? That's a stuck red pixel, commonly called a "dead pixel"

Recommendations

Okay, so I've dumped all of this knowledge on you, and some of it's pretty hairy. All you really want to know is: what kind of screen would be good for me?

So I've split up the categories of uses, and hopefully one of the categories will best describe the main uses you'll have for your notebook.

• Internet, E-mail, Word Processing - The casual user would be served well even by a $700 notebook. For you, pretty much any screen will do. Obviously if you want more screen real estate, a bump in resolution might work for you, but keep in mind that increased resolution means text is going to be smaller. And while Windows will let you scale up text size to make it more legible, it almost never looks very good. This becomes entirely personal preference, though I'd suggest a matte screen over a glossy. Other than that, knock yourself out.
  
  
• Gaming - I cannot for the life of me understand why widescreen notebooks are the default for gaming now, but there you go. I personally would still recommend a standard aspect ratio over widescreen, but barring that, you're going to want to keep your screen resolution on the lower side. Whatever the lowest resolution available for your chosen screen size is, you're going to want it. Games look best when running at the native resolution of the screen. Note, too, that your screen likely won't get smaller than 14", since thin-and-light and ultraportable notebooks seldom have the hardware required to properly run games. A glossy screen would be ideal, but that's going to be a personal preference.
  
  
• Movies - You want a widescreen notebook, and probably one of the lower resolutions. Since most movies today come out in widescreen aspect ratio, this will be ideal for you. Also keep in mind that if you're going to be watching movies more on the road (or in the air), you'll want a smaller screen so your notebook takes up less real estate. If you're watching them at home (or in a dorm room setting, for example), you'll want a larger screen, possibly even a 17". For either situation, a glossy screen isn't just ideal, it's almost essential.
  
  
• Visual Multimedia - For digital video editing and image manipulation, I've found a glossy screen to be ideal. You'll also want one of the larger screens and, quite frankly, high resolution. My 15.4" widescreen is 1280x800 (WXGA) and frankly, just doesn't cut it for Adobe After Effects, and barely does for Premiere Pro. You want as much screen real estate as you can get, so you're going to want to pay extra for a higher resolution screen. You'll also want a widescreen, especially the video geeks. Your notebook is NOT going to be cheap, considering you're going to need a lot of RAM, a decent speed hard disk, and a powerful processor backing up that screen. The only brands I can think of that make notebooks that would be suited for this that clock in at under $1,500 are HP, Compaq, and Gateway (especially Gateway), but their screen resolutions are all going to be low (generally WXGA or WXGA+). So if you're on a budget doing this, you may want to get an inexpensive external monitor.
  

Conclusion

Some of this guide has been conversational and subjective, and that's because screen preference is one of those things that's unique to the individual user.

This is the best tool I can give you, but you should go to the store and look for yourself, too. Even if you're going to order online, even if from a brand that isn't available on the floor, go and look anyhow and get a feel for the screens, particularly for the resolutions and for the differences in glossy and matte screens.

Hopefully, when you do go to purchase a notebook you'll feel like an informed consumer. And again, as I always stress, check the forums and reviews here and learn about other users' experiences with the notebooks you're interested in. The reviews on this site are particularly noteworthy in that they come from real consumers, not from people who may or may not have been bought off by the notebook vendor, so be sure to take advantage of other peoples' experiences, especially with something that can be as touchy as this. There is no real performance grade for a notebook screen, only perception.

Go out, take a look for yourself, consult the forums and reviews here, be an informed consumer, and remember that the notebook is only ever really going to be as good as the screen you're looking at it through. (Unless you buy an external monitor, in which case this article is of no use to you. )

 

Nice guide!

I'm not sure - but is it true, that in most cases with a few exceptions, Glossy screens limit the max resolution?

 

How could glossy screens limit the max resolution? Its just a coating over the screen.

This guide should've been written long ago, but thanks a lot for writing it. Its very useful, informative, chock full of info. Good work, keep it up!

I would like to point out that on 14.1 inch widescreen displays, I've only seen 1280 x 768, not 1280 x 800.

 

I don't know, but are there WSXGA on glossy screens? For some reason the most I can find is WXGA on glossy screens, with a few exception(HP DV-something I think?)

 

Great job pulp, another fantastic guide. It really is important in what you say about going to a store and actually checking out the various notebook screens and resolutions. When people ask if SXGA or UXGA resolution will render text too small to read, it's really a personal thing. If you're over 60 or have to wear reading glasses, then definitely go with XGA as you'll struggle with smaller font sizes than that -- your eyes will thank you. If you have perfect vision and love to see more stuff on a screen and hate scrolling, then SXGA or UXGA might be for you.

 

Don't Dell's truebright or whatever they call them, go to hi res?

I would really like to see Fujitsu start producing Hi res CV screen. 1440x900 on a 17" is just a waste of space, WSXGA can be just as comfy, and allow for more side by side viewing.

Yet another great guide by pulp, it seems you enjoy this type of writing

 

I have severely impacted vision, and I'm a happy UXGA user. All I do is crank up the DPI, so that fonts appear larger. So in that respect, I get the best of both worlds. I get the high resolution and larger viewing area along with the readibility of an XGA screen. And since I'm not changing the resolution, it looks great!

 

Sony and Dell also sell WUXGA screens on their 17" notebooks.

 

Hmm, for 15.4"s though...

 

Great job, Pulp. Very helpful guide for the new potential notebook buyers out there...

 

If it is Windows booting up it could be a dead pixel, but not for certain. I have desktop with LCD and while booting I see _several_ ~dead pixels~ /or rather always light on -- blue/ but as the matter of fact it is just bug in Windows driver or something like that because when I thoroughly checked the screen for dead pixels I could spot none of them.

So -- don't use windows start-up screen as a tester.

have a nice day
bye

 

That's actually the windows default screen saver you see there in the picture

 

Saw this linked from anandtech - very nice overview.

Though, I was hoping the DPI issue would be discussed a bit. I have an older Dell 8600 with WUXGA (1920x1200). At 96dpi, fonts are definitely too difficult to read for the average user. By default, Dell ships these with 120dpi, which is definitely readable.

However - there are serious problems with images. I've googled it, and have only found one explanation for it, but haven't been able to re-find the discussion. Images are distorted horizontally at 120dpi, and most websites with image-based menus end up with the last few buttons showing up one line down, shifting the text out of place, etc.

If no one knows what I'm talking about, I can try to conjure up some pics. Just curious if there's a fix to have 120dpi and no image distortions.

 

I have some advice to ppl that are going to play some games with the laptop.

1º Get a decent graphic card (but not the top one, unless u wanna carry a brick with a power cord connected at the wall all the time).
In my case I chose one ATI X700 but Nvidia 6600 would be fine too.

2º Chose the right resolution, so u can play with the native resolution at decent frame rates.
In my case for a 15.4", I chose 1280x800. (I could also chose one with 1680x1050)
Because most games support this wide resolution, and u can play now future games at decent setting with my graphic card.

I still prefer CRT vs LCD, in fact the only advantage over a good CRT is the size and energy, the rest is worst.
And BTW I use 1280*960 at my CRT, I also never understood why ppl use 1280*1024.

Whope it helps, good hunting.

 

• Why? Because wider is better. For a game that provides a proper FOV, many people find that a widescreen game provides a better "experience." It would be like making the same statement, "I cannot understand for the life of me why widescreen movies are the default for DVDs now..." The increases aspect ratio is particularly helpful in RPGs and MMOs, where you are juggling maps and inventory sheets and such.
  
  
• Many laptops can handle games just fine. I game on a machine with a 1.86GHz Centrino, with an ATI FireGL 5000 (clocks in somewhere between an x600 and an x700), and it pushes Guild Wars at 1680x1050 at 60fps, at max graphics details.
  
  
• Not all games support widescreen, but many do. For proper aspect handling on those that don't, chose an Nvidia graphics card. Nvidia offers a "Scale and Maintain Aspect Ratio" option in their drivers. This would allow you to scale a 1280x1024 image to fill the vertical on a 1680x1050 panel, and leave black bars on the left and right. ATI does not offer this option.
  
  
• You can find a wealth of widescreen gaming information at http://www.widescreengamingforum.com Be sure to check out the Widescreen FAQ for info on resolutions and driver panel screen shots, and the Screenshot section to see how different games handle widescreen.

 

Well done.

I found that extremely useful.
Thank you.

 

Thank you for the excellent and informative review.

I might add that while bumping up the screen resolution doesn't always look very good, increasing the font-size under the Advanced Properties tab to 125% or 150% does look acceptable and for most applications will do the trick of yielding larger clear text. Turning the ClearType setting ON/OFF might also offer some improvement.

For long term text writing and reading including Internet research, I agree with your suggestion of a matte screen over a glossy one to cut down on additional eyestrain, which is the last thing a user needs when performing hours of work.

 

Eliwood, Thanks for your recent comments RE: using higher DPI settings on UXGA display screens.

I am contemplating the purchase of a new notebook. My vision is deteriorating and I too believe that a higher res screen with a higher DPI setting is the way to go. Problem is I can't examine the notebook I want to purchase before purchasing it, as there isn't anywhere locally that carries it. So, I am considering an HP DV4000 15.4" WXGA versus an HP DV1000 with higher res 14" Widescreen . I've noticed by viewing these side by side that the 14" is sharper and brighter than the 15.4". But with a bigger screen, I could crank the DPI up further on the 15.4" DV4000. I can't decide. If you have any advice or suggestions on how to proceed, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

The actual resolution of the dv4000 and the dv1000 is very, very close. The dv4000 is 1280x800, and the dv1000 is 1280x768. The difference is the dot-pitch. I "test drove" a dv1000 and a v2000z. I ended up going with the v2000z. Any of the three machines are good. HP has a 21 day return policy, even for "buyer's remorse" (i.e., "I didn't like it.").

 

Hello all. Noob to the forum and caught this very informative article.

Excuse the presumption if this is the wrong place to ask for help but I'm having a problem with my HP zd7000 (df871av/F.35 BIOS/FX GO 5600 video card/7776 drivers (same as previoius)) after performing a screen upgrade/replacement.

I did some research at the ZD7000 forums and decided to replace my original scuffed and scratched screen (LP171W01) with a recommended upgrade (LP171W02). It installed without any issues but I am experiencing problems.

My laptop boots normally but the XP desktop is essentially 'quartered'. I say essentially because it appears that only the right half of the screen is visible (twice) and also repeated at the bottom (thought smaller). My mouse can traverse both screens so navigation isn't an issue but I can't see the left half at all. I've been working on the problem by using the Windows Find shortcut (Windows key + F) to get to the Control Panels and other apps that may help. My mouse can also move the quarters around a bit but nothing towards correction. So, at this point, no success so far.

I've tried the usual driver reload, un-install/re-install devices and resolution fixes with no improvement. What may be most telling is that when I boot into the BIOS, the effect is seen even there.

Any help is most appreciated.

 

t

 

Might you try www.zd7000forums.com??

 

ATI X700 128MB & WXGA

STRANGE

A few days after I bought the my Fujitsu-Siemens AMILO 1347G notebook, I tried to connect it to my CRT monitor. A little while after I configured the refresh rate on the CRT, I noticed on the graphic card properties tab that my ATI X700 with 128MB memory now had 512MBs!

Also, I think while the screen refresh rate was 61HZ before the configuration, it was now showing 60HZ. I think that’s when I first noticed that the fonts on the screen looked funny (some parts of a character where darker that others). After a search on windows help I discovered the clear type thingy.

If you’ve recently purchased this model or any other with similar specs, can you take a look at the amount of memory attributed to your ATI X700, the maximum refresh rate (61 or 60HZ) and whether or not the clear type option is activated?

I’ve already received confirmation from other forum users that after updating their graphics card drivers, their memory went up to 512MB.

Is this notebook alive? ;D


Thanx.

 

Don't double post - you've already started a thread on this in the Hardware section.

 

Very Nice Guide Pulp, obviously you put a lot of effort into it. Well Done. I have a few questions though:

If you want to change the maximum resolution of a notebook screen can you simply get a new Graphics Card. My dell uses an nVidia GeForce 2 which maxes out at 1600x1200, which is pretty good for my needs. Does the screen itself affect the performance of the GPU in any way or vise versa?

In what ways, apart from size and resolution does a screen lack quality? Are things like Brightness and Contrast entirely controlled by the Graphics Card?

I don't understand why Gaming requires a lower resolution. Surely it must require a higher resolution as you could play the games in much more detail, having more pixels on the screen, I don't understand why it won't enchance the quality of the graphics in the game.

Any feedback to my questions would be much appreciated people. Thanks.

:base:

 

Hi Lil Mayz,

You got it all wrong.

1. LCD matrix determines the highest native resolution. It is the matrix of squares. They are fixed in position and number. GPU cards can produce all different resolutions, but only one is "native" that means 1 pixel from GPU is one pixel onscreen. All other resolutions are approximations to the lower or higher res. That means that the picture is either blurry or you get the floating desktop. Or sometimes black lines along edges.
That is why you need to buy as good as possible screen on a notebook. It is way different in comparison to CRT monitors!
Is your LCD capable of native 1600x1200? You must have a really great notebook then!

2. Brightness and contrast CAN be controlled by the graphic card, but it is DIGITAL brightness and contrast. Again a completely different story from CRT. Usually brightness is controlled by LCD itself, nothing to do with graphic card. Contrast is usually set very good, and changing the GPU contrast will make it only worse.
Things you search with LCDs are view angle, brightness, decolourization in corners, glossy or matte etc...

3.Games resolutions have nothing to do with LCD resolutions in the sense you are asking. Your idea is right, but the reality is a somewhat different. In short - GPU card has a limited number of calculations per second. Those numbers are huge, but still limited. Higher resolution as you already suggested would be much better in terms of the details etc... But it will include also a much higher number of the pixels on your screen. And all of them need to change at least 25 times per second in order to have a fluent movement. Now you can see that faster cards are fast enough even on higher resolutions. That is because of their sheer power. They calculate more calculations per second and that is it. They do that through parallel pipelines, 8 or 16 or more pixels are rendered at the same time. Slower cards have 1,2,4... pixel pipelines. And the GPU/MEM frequencies and latencies are also important. Calculation power is directly connected to the GPU and MEM speed. That is why people overclock their cards.

The bottom line is: It is better to have a lower resolution and more frames per second in your game + you get better visual effects. For example: I play FEAR at 800x600 but with max settings! All shadows, lights, max textures, all! But on 1024x768 I must turn off soft shadows, volumetric lights, anisotropic filtering etc... Only because the card needs to render more pixels on screen. On 1280x800 (widescreen) I must turn down some more settings in order to get the same frames per second....

I hope you got the idea?

Cheers,

 

yeah thanks a lot that cleared up my doubt and yes my dell has a native resolution of 1600x1200. I'm still a bit confused. So if the GPU hardly controls any of the settings, why go for a better GPU. Why not just go for integrated intel graphics instead of nVidia cards and stuff?

If I put the best compatible GPU in my computer that can handle a higher resolution, will the best I can get still be 1600x1200. Will the picture be very blurred if I get a GPU that can give a higher resolution output?

 

Hey pulp did a great job, I don't think you should critisize him

 

Because integrated cards are very bad in calculating. They are slow. They use main RAM that is way slower than dedicated. They can easily show 1600x1200 at what - 1 frame per second? You buy dedicated cards for gaming and advanced 3d usage. Not windows or work in 2d. Let me illustrate:
My comp has TWO graphic cards. I can switch them with an external switch. One is Intel GMA900 integrated into the chipset onboard, and has no memory on its own. It uses main RAM. Up to 128MB.
The other is ATI x700 with 128MB dedicated ram. I bought it as a separate card that can be put into the PCI-x slot inside.

3dmark05 is a benchmark program that tests GPU to the limit. It is so hard on the GPU that only the fastest can show you really nice and fluent movement.

GMA scores 170. x700 scores 2500-3000. Nvidia 6800 and 7800 are above 6000 marks. Do you see the difference? You can take those numbers as a relative speed to each other. Now if x700 on some settings in game shows 30 frames per second (which is very nice to play), GMA will show what? 1-2? That is why you need the more advanced card. If you are interested in classes and speeds check this great comparison that Chaz did.

Hope it helps,

 

Not literally, though. The fact that one scores 2000 and another scores 4000 doesn't mean that the latter is going to get twice the framerate than the former.

 

Hey Pulp,

You got any wisdom on the latest thing that seems to be cited in these new screens, that is that they are 'outdoor' or sunlight readable...? I've been hearing different things, and it pretty much is confusing me.

I'm hoping to hear some direct experiences and advice.

Thanks

 

True. Thanks dr_st. It was for illustration only.

Cheers,

 

Cheers Ivan, you cleared up my doubts a lot

 

Good one............What about TFT? Which type is good for eyes?

vksjith

 

I just got my brand new S series this week and I am very disappointed with the screen. It looks just like the one pictured in this thread. Very uneven backlight and lots of backlight leakage across the bottom of the screen. Sucks for watching movies. Colors seem washed out compared to my HP notebook. Every review I have ever read said the S Series Screen is flawless, perfect etc... I wish I found this forum before purchasing. I love the size and ergonomics of this notebook, could not stand the keyboard on the SZ. Is there any chance of getting an S series with a good screen? or do they all suffer from uneven backlighting?

 

Is it possible to replace the physical screen on your laptop to achieve higher resolutions? or am I just sounding illiterate because the physical screen doesn't actually determine the resolution? If it is possible, how would I go about doing it?

 

very nice! thanks alot for this perfectly-detailed review...

 

I'm hesitating between the 2 resolutions of a HP NC8430 which exists in both WXGA / 1280x800 and WSXGA+ / 1680x1050. I cannot find any computer in 1680*1050 at my local shop so I could see what it looks like. From what I've seen so far, it seems to be too small for me but all people I've talked to so far keep telling me I'll get used to it and in the end it will be more comfortable.

The thing is that it's my first laptop and I am really scary to make the wrong choice. As anyone got pictures of a 1680*1050 so I could see what it looks like in real use (aka with the desktop opens) ?

I would be very grateful and it could trigger my purchase!

Rémy

 

Is it True that every monitor (lcd, notebook) have lifespan (life-time)??
My brother in OZ told me not to left my notebook's monitor turned on when downloading things for hours..
Any solution for this??

Also, how can i know my notebook monitor's brand??
I checked my catalyst, hardware, display and monitor properties and i only says "default monitor" or "multiple monitor" or "standard monitor types".

 

Just set the monitor to turn off after a certain period of inactivity. its a waste to let the LCD be running when you are just d'lowding and not doing anything with the screen.

Look under device Manager-->Monitor-->Plug n Play Monitor-->Details Tab--> You will see the Device Instance ID's listed in the white box like this...
DISPLAY\QDS005C\4&.....

QDS is short for Quanta Display Systems
AUO -> AU Optronics
SEC -> Samsung
LPL -> LG Philips
CMO-> Chi Mei

***Depending on the model of your laptop, you might have to click on default Monitor instead of Plug n Play. Just try all the entries under Monitor and one of them will display yor monitor code.

 

This is great info miner! Do you know where we can find the full list of LCD manufacturer codes?

Thanks!

 

I dont think there exists one. The ones I listed are the top OEM's. There might be others but less common. If you buy form a major brand name, it will most likely be from them.

 

I know this is a bump to a post written a while back, but I would edit the above to reflect that most everyone's eyes are going to need reading glasses at age 40, not 60... that most everyone is going to need some kind of vision correction around 40 years of age because the lens of the eye with age, the lens gradually hardens, diminishing the ability to accommodate. (focus up close and or far away)

The crystalline lens is located just behind the iris. Its purpose is to focus light onto the retina. The nucleus, the innermost part of the lens, is surrounded by softer material called the cortex. The lens is encased in a capsular-like bag and suspended within the eye by tiny "guy wires" called zonules.

In young people, the lens changes shape to adjust for close or distance vision. This is called accommodation. With age, the lens gradually hardens, diminishing the ability to accommodate.



http://www.stlukeseye.com/Conditions/ConditionsIndex.asp

 

I would like to know what 17'' wide screen would be best outside.
I do arial photo work and want to know if i should use a seperate monitor for viewing what my R/C Heli Cam is looking at up there.
Will use it to show photo's and such to customer's.
kinda asking what is good for both situations.
Greg

 

Learned a lot from your guide! 90% of my time on a laptop will be spent editing MS Word reports (plain black and white, no color, no graphics, Arial 11pt. font, some days up to 5/6 hours, my preferred view has always been 'print layout'). I like 14" (don't really need 15 and 12" seems too small, despite it's ultraportable advantages). I'll take the best for this task over any sacrifices for other tasks. What do you say?

 

awesome guide!
This cleared up a lot of my questions about screens and their resolutions and size and stuff and now I know what I should be looking for as I research getting a laptop for multimedia graphic and video editing.

Thanks Pulp.

 

Great guide. I read it but not the rest of a thread. I had a quick question.

In the Original post:

Movies - You want a widescreen notebook, and probably one of the lower resolutions. Since most movies today come out in widescreen aspect ratio, this will be ideal for you. Also keep in mind that if you're going to be watching movies more on the road (or in the air), you'll want a smaller screen so your notebook takes up less real estate. If you're watching them at home (or in a dorm room setting, for example), you'll want a larger screen, possibly even a 17". For either situation, a glossy screen isn't just ideal, it's almost essential.

Can anyone explain to me why lower resolution is better for movie-viewing? I was under impression of the opposite. The laptop I am looking at purchasing has a 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) and I plan to do a fair amount of Movie/TV watching on it. Is this display resolution fine or should I be looking for a higher one for movie-viewing? Thanks

 

Thank you for a most informative and insightful article concerning aspects I had no idea of. For instance, my CRT is now at 1280 x 960. Whereas this article has been most helpful choosing a forthcoming notebook, my priorities have changed accordingly due your time, effort, and consideration.

George G. Fries
DAB FL 32117

 

I am so confused.

I just purchased an HP DV9033CL with an NVidia GO 7600 w/256meg and a 17" monitor. BUT, I cannot get it to go above 1440x900. I've added custom resolutions, but the only thing that does is screen scrolling. I've downloaded new drivers, and went so far as to use the custom drivers at laptopvideo2go.com. ALL TO NO AVAIL!!!

I have a 2 Dell's that are over 4 years old, and both of them easily to 1600x1200.

I am simply perplexed. I even loaded custom MONITOR.INF files and gave that a whirl, but still nothing.

Am I stuck with this fancy-*ssed notebook with no visual real-estate??

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!!

 

Is the resolution of your display 1440 x 900? In this case, you will not see higher resolutions listed unless you uncheck "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" (display properties > Advanced > Monitor).

If your computer detects that it is plugged in to an external monitor then it should automatically add the resolution of that device, if not already listed (you may need to reboot for the detection to work).

John