General Recommendations:
| If you want ... | Choose ... |
| To allow multiple people to collaborate around one laptop or share a presentation with one or two other people | A panel with a wide viewing angle |
| To work extensively with a large range of colors or graphics | A panel with a high-color gamut |
| To work outdoors on your notebook | An outdoor-viewable display with high brightness |
What You Need to Know
1
Size:
Notebook screens are measured diagonally from the corners; this usually does not include the bezel, as with many desktop monitors.
2
Resolution:
The physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display. For example, a 1366 x 768 display has 1,366 horizontal pixels on 768 lines. The more pixels you have, the higher the resolution, which means that more can be displayed on the screen.
3
Brightness:
The amount of light emitted from the display. This is also known as luminance and is measured in nits or candela per square meter. Most notebook displays have a brightness of around 200 nits. The brightness of outdoor-readable displays varies but usually starts at 400 nits and above and employ filtering technologies to reduce reflectivity and/or glare. Rugged notebook displays also have a lower minimum brightness (usually to around 2 nits) for use in low light conditions when the display must remain visible without causing a distraction (example: a police officer driving at night with a vehicle-mounted notebook).
4
Viewing Angle:
The maximum angle at which a display can be viewed with acceptable visual performance. A standard viewing angle offers 80º horizontally and 45º vertically, while wide viewing angles offer 110º horizontally and 90º vertically. Some panels with superwide viewing angles offer 178º horizontally and vertically.
5
Other attributes:
- Anti-glare (AG): A matte finish that diffuses light, resulting in no reflection and narrower viewing angles. Anti-glare technology is designed to reduce the intensity of reflected light from the surrounding environment, making it ideal for typical office settings, as well as for the varying lighting conditions in environments, such as customer sites, airports and other public spaces.
- Anti-reflective (AR): A glossy finish that reduces reflected light without diffusing it. Anti-reflective coatings reduce the intensity of reflections, but the screen remains glossy and reflections are not diffused. Anti-reflective coatings are ideal when preserving the clarity of colors and the darker areas of the image are a priority.
6
Contrast Ratio:
The ratio of the intensity of the brightest bright to the darkest dark.
7
Color Gamut:
How many types of colors are supported or a certain complete subset of colors. On a standard WLED panel, 45 percent is typical.
8
Backlight:
The form of illumination used in an LCD display. Currently, CCFL, 2CCFL, WLED and RGB LED are backlights used in Dell laptops. Backlights help determine the brightness and color gamut of the notebook.