Learn About Laptop Displays

What is it?

It is an output device that displays all the visuals generated by your computer. The display is one of the most important parts when choosing your laptop.

How does it work?

Displays work by doing the following (over simplified) steps:

1. Receive instructions from GPU
2. Render visuals on the display

Look for

• Pixel Density

  The higher the pixel density the better

  It is usually measured in Pixel Per Inch (PPI), bigger displays should have higher resolutions to keep the pixel density high. PPI must be high if you plan on sitting close to the display.

• Contrast Ratio

  The higher the contrast ratio the better

  Also known as "Typical Contrast Ratio". It is the difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites the display is capable of producing. Do not confuse it with dynamic contrast ratio.

• Brightness

  The higher the brightness the better

  It means how bright can the display get. Brighter displays are easier to see in brighter environments or in direct sunlight. Some displays have different peak brightness and sustained brightness specs.

• Sustained Brightness

  Check if the display sustains peak brightness

  Modern displays with HDR advertise very high peak brightness, unfortunately, many cannot sustain the peak brightness for long. Also, some displays have Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL), which makes the display brighter when most of the display is dark, but when all the display is white, the peak brightness will be much less.

• Colour Accuracy

  Make sure the display is colour accurate

  There are many colour spaces such as sRGB, Adobe RGB and DCI-P3. Make sure your display is capable of representing the colour space you need accurately.

• Viewing Angles

  Check viewing angles

  Viewing angles are very important when the display is used with multiple people viewing it at the same time.

• Reflectivity

  Check the display reflectivity

  Anti-glare displays can look hazy, but are much easier to look at in very bright environments. Make sure to get an anti-glare display if you cannot control your lighting environment. The best anti-glare displays reduce glare without any noticeable haze.

• HDR

  Check the HDR type if any

  HDR (High Dynamic Range) is one of the greatest things that happened to displays recently. Unfortunately, not all HDR are equal. Make sure the display has high peak brightness and high contrast ratio so that it can output good HDR.

• GPU Performance

  Check if your GPU performance can handle the display

  Displays have many different resolutions based on their size, use, and quality. If you have a display with 4K resolution, and you have a weak GPU, your GPU will not be able to run games well on native resolution. You need a display with lower resolution to work better with your GPU. The best thing to do is to make sure the GPU can handle your display.

• Refresh Rate

  Check the display refresh rate, and if your GPU can handle it

  For most people, 60Hz is more than enough. For fast games, 120Hz is the sweet spot. Faster than 120Hz is not very noticeable, on top of being very difficult for GPUs.

• Variable Refresh Rate

  Check if it has variable refresh rate

  Variable refresh rate is very useful when you have a GPU that cannot run your display at native resolution and native refresh rate. It helps reduce stuttering while gaming.

Avoid

• Low Brightness HDR

  Avoid HDR displays with low brightness

  One of the most important metrics in producing good HDR is high brightness. If the display is not very bright, HDR output will be very poor.

• Low Contrast Ratio HDR

  Avoid HDR displays with low contrast ratio

  One of the most important metrics in producing good HDR is high contrast ratio. If the display does not have high contrast ratio, HDR output will be very poor.

• Low Pixel Density

  Avoid displays with low pixel density, especially for short viewing distances

• 3D

  Avoid 3D displays

  3D can cause dizziness

• Burn-In

  Avoid displays that can burn-in

  Some displays can burn-in if they keep the same content on the display for extended period of time.