New 16:9 notebook displays - even more crappier quality ?

[Puppy]

The new 16:9 display format probably brings another major step down in notebook display quality (can you even imagine that ?). Reading reviews on http://www.notebookcheck.net I found that new notebook displays contrast ratio dropped down to values between 120:1 and 200:1. This is ridiculous again.

For example Dell Inspiron 1750 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Del ... 975.0.html with 17" 1600x900 has 176:1 only. High resolution notebook panels like 15" WSXGA+ / WUXGA usually had better parameters (contrast ratio at least 400:1 or better) but it seems to be over now.

The same is for Acer Aspire 8935G http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Acer- ... 778.0.html with 18.4" 1920x1080 - 196:1. Does it mean this is new "top quality" ? There is additional marketing fluff "LED Backlight Wide Gamut" - what for, if the display has no contrast.

Acer 5739G http://www.notebookcheck.net/Hands-On-A ... 838.0.html - 15.6" 1366x768 - 149:1
Asus K50IN http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asu ... 971.0.html - 15.6" 1366x768 - 137:1
HP Mini 5101 - http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP- ... 884.0.html - 10.1" 1366x768 - 149:1

[ZaZ]

I think it boils down to what people are willing to pay. While people here might spring for a better screen, we're such a small slice of the pie it's probably not in their interest to do so. If they made more money selling better screen you would think they'd do it. They're not dumb. Most people are hitting FatWallet and SlickDeals for the best prices/coupons. A lot of the older screen weren't that great either. Look at older ThinkPads. Other than the IPS screens, the rest were fair at best. They're not all bad either. The Dell RGB-LED, which is 16:9, I hear is quite nice, though I've not seen it myself.

[Puppy]

Look at older ThinkPads. Other than the IPS screens, the rest were fair at best.

My X31 "horrible" TN screen has contrast ratio 250:1. Five years old and still better than all of the models listed above.

[mattbiernat]

hey, they can't get any worst than X300 screen

[Puppy]

hey, they can't get any worst than X300 screen

Ha ha, I fear that Lenovo will surprise us with even more horrible screens in top ThinkPads models than the X300 white-or-shadows-only one.

[yak]

What's event more scary are the pixel heights of these screens. 768 on a 15" screen? 900 on a 17"?

Thank God my 14.1" T60 with 1050 is still well and enough for my needs.

Widescreens may be good for big external monitors, not for mobile computers.

[dr_st]

My X31 "horrible" TN screen has contrast ratio 250:1. Five years old and still better than all of the models listed above.

You measured it as 250:1?

[pianowizard]

New 16:9 notebook displays - even more crappier quality?

I believe you are right, and I doubt this trend will be reversed any time soon. The only options we have are:

1) Hold on to our old laptops, especially the ones with IPS displays, for as long as possible. I plan on keeping my T43p (with 2048x1536 IPS) until it dies.

2) Use external monitors whenever possible, and use the laptop's internal display only when we're away from the desk.

3) Use desktop computers whenever possible. My main rigs used to be laptops (see this thread) but I switched to desktops (both at home and at work) last December and could not be happier. It's much easier to hook up 3 or more monitors, all with superb quality, high resolution and low pixel density, and they can be rotated 90 degrees for portrait mode so I get 1920 rows of pixels. And there are other benefits: more desktop space gets freed up; no more warm parlmrests to deal with; no need to attach a cable lock everyday; no need to lock up the laptop in a drawer everyday; and desktop parts are cheaper.

What's event more scary are the pixel heights of these screens. 768 on a 15" screen? 900 on a 17"?

There are many people who like these low-DPI screens, due to poor vision or personal preference. The pixel densities of these screens (100.45 DPI for 15.6" 1366x768 and 106.11 DPI for 17.3" 1600x900) are actually much higher than that of 15.0" 1024x768 (85.33 DPI), which used to be available in the T- and R-series Thinkpads. For people who need higher res, 1600x900 and 1920x1080 are available for 15.6". As far as I know, 1600x900 is currently the only resolution for 17.3" but I bet more options will emerge pretty soon.

[qviri]

.

[mattbiernat]

I propose government regulation to mandate high screen quality.

wait... you can't do that! that's socialism!!!

[Puppy]

wait... you can't do that! that's socialism!!!

EU will handle it

[Puppy]

1) Hold on to our old laptops, especially the ones with IPS displays, for as long as possible. I plan on keeping my T43p (with 2048x1536 IPS) until it dies.

My R51 with 15" SXGA+ IDTech is still alive. Now I'm getting tempted by buying T60p UXGA from local usanotebook reseller since it does not suffer from the GPU problem. On the other hand I prefer smaller 12" notebooks. X31 is perfect, the best notebook keyboard I've ever had, except the display quality/resolution. Integrated WWAN is my preference (BTW this mod http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=366472 looks promising). I always use desktop machine when I'm at home with decent monitor because of the performance.

[yak]

There are many people who like these low-DPI screens, due to poor vision or personal preference. The pixel densities of these screens (100.45 DPI for 15.6" 1366x768 and 106.11 DPI for 17.3" 1600x900) are actually much higher than that of 15.0" 1024x768 (85.33 DPI), which used to be available in the T- and R-series Thinkpads. For people who need higher res, 1600x900 and 1920x1080 are available for 15.6". As far as I know, 1600x900 is currently the only resolution for 17.3" but I bet more options will emerge pretty soon.

OK, but these screen heights are not/barely usable for most activities except watching movies. And I don't want a higher density screen, I want one that is just higher and not as wide.

[Puppy]

OK, but these screen heights are not/barely usable for most activities except watching movies. And I don't want a higher density screen, I want one that is just higher and not as wide.

Lenovo managers says you only want to watch HQ movies on your notebook. What else would you do ? To work ... are you crazy ?

[pianowizard]

OK, but these screen heights are not/barely usable for most activities except watching movies. And I don't want a higher density screen, I want one that is just higher and not as wide.

Ah, I misunderstood. But what I said remains correct: some large displays have low res (e.g. 1366x768 on a 15.6" screen) because many people do prefer screens with low pixel density so that everything looks bigger, and if you need more vertical real estate, there are higher-res 16:9 laptop panels. What you are not happy with is that in order to get enough vertical real estate, you are forced to buy needlessly wide laptops. For example, if you are looking for a new 16:9 laptop that has at least as many pixel rows as your T60's 1400x1050, you would be forced to go for a 1920x1080 ("full HD") machine, which would be at least 15.6" in diagonal size. And I know of only one 15.6" laptop with full HD, namely Dell's Studio 15; all the others are 16.4" to 18.4", which are much heavier and bulkier than your T60.

[qviri]

.

[yak]

Ah, I misunderstood. But what I said remains correct: some large displays have low res (e.g. 1366x768 on a 15.6" screen) because many people do prefer screens with low pixel density so that everything looks bigger, and if you need more vertical real estate, there are higher-res 16:9 laptop panels. What you are not happy with is that in order to get enough vertical real estate, you are forced to buy needlessly wide laptops. For example, if you are looking for a new 16:9 laptop that has at least as many pixel rows as your T60's 1400x1050, you would be forced to go for a 1920x1080 ("full HD") machine, which would be at least 15.6" in diagonal size. And I know of only one 15.6" laptop with full HD, namely Dell's Studio 15; all the others are 16.4" to 18.4", which are much heavier and bulkier than your T60.

Exactly! Sorry for not being clear enough.

I would just like to add that I'm actually an owner of a 16:9 external monitor (23", 2048x1152) which I really like. It has a sufficient vertical real estate and the additional horizontal space is a bonus I gladly accept because unlike a laptop, I don't have to carry it around with me. And it's good for movies too. It's mobile computing where I hate widescreens for the reasons you mentioned.

[Puppy]

There is new review http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Haw ... 974.0.html of an unknown (at least to me) notebook brand Hawkforce. It has 13.3" 1280x800 display with contrast ratio 708:1 and very good backlight uniformity for todays notebook displays. How comes that a relatively small/unknown/local company can get much better displays than Lenovo gets ? The panel type in the review is APP9C73. Does the APP stands for Apple ?

And BTW ThinkPad X300 http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 852.0.html - 122:1 or rather ? Probably the worse notebook display contrast ever. Can Lenovo be serious ?

[Puppy]

OMG - 21:9 aspect ratio TV introduced
http://gizmodo.com/5132065/philips-ultr ... o-the-side

Are you ready for even smaller vertical resolution ?

[dr_st]

OMG - 21:9 aspect ratio TV introduced

For a TV, this is actually a good thing. 21:9 (2.33:1) is as close to the ratio of cinemascope movies as you can get.

[MGT]

OMG - 21:9 aspect ratio TV introduced

For a TV, this is actually a good thing. 21:9 (2.33:1) is as close to the ratio of cinemascope movies as you can get.

Which would be fine, if it were not for the unfortunate case that "innovations" in TVs have often trickled down to affect desktop and laptop displays.

[dr_st]

Which would be fine, if it were not for the unfortunate case that "innovations" in TVs have often trickled down to affect desktop and laptop displays.

Well, then I wish that at least the quality VA/IPS panels that are being used by many TVs would trickle down to desktop and laptop displays.