Laptop LCD Roundup: Road Warriors Deserve Better
by Jarred Walton on May 22, 2007 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
Response Times
Another topic that almost always comes up with LCDs is their response times, especially when compared to CRTs. Of course, on notebook computers technologies like CRTs are not a viable option - not unless you want to haul around one of those old 40 pound Compaq boxes with a 4" display that hides behind the fold down keyboard? (Ed: ah, those were good times!) While even the best desktop LCDs still exhibit some slight pixel smearing, the vast majority of users are okay with the level of performance now available. Considering that laptops now seem to be lagging behind desktops by a couple years in terms of quality and features, though, how do the laptop LCDs fare?
Since we were unable to send the same image simultaneously to multiple laptop displays, we resorted to simply taking pictures of a familiar scene from 3DMark03. We used the first game test in part because it has higher contrast images that make the frame transitions more visible, but also because at least one of the laptops struggled to get above 60 frames per second even at seriously reduced resolution and quality settings. (We ran the MSI at 640x400 rather than the native 1280x800 because the IGP would otherwise average in the low teens on frame rates, resulting in overlapping frames. The other laptops were run at their native resolutions and experienced no difficulties with this rather old benchmark.) We took numerous pictures on each laptop, and then selected one that seemed to best represent the performance. Here are the images we captured:
We couldn't find any manufacturer specifications suggesting what sort of response times we should be experiencing with any of these laptops, but judging by the above images we would venture to say that a rating of 25ms or lower would be appropriate. You can clearly see at least three frames on every one of the laptops, sometimes more. The A8Js and XPS M1710 both show four frames, although at least one of the frames is barely visible on each laptop. Since we also have to account for shutter lag on the camera, we would say that these two laptops appear to take around two frame updates resulting in an approximate response time of 33ms. The G2P and S271 on the other hand appear to take somewhere between one and two frame updates, giving them a response time of between 16ms and 33ms.
Considering that some of these notebooks really won't be used for gaming anyway (particularly the MSI S271), response time is not necessarily a critical factor. However, we certainly wish an "extreme gaming" laptop like the Dell XPS M1710 could provide better response times, and more importantly better overall display quality.
Another topic that almost always comes up with LCDs is their response times, especially when compared to CRTs. Of course, on notebook computers technologies like CRTs are not a viable option - not unless you want to haul around one of those old 40 pound Compaq boxes with a 4" display that hides behind the fold down keyboard? (Ed: ah, those were good times!) While even the best desktop LCDs still exhibit some slight pixel smearing, the vast majority of users are okay with the level of performance now available. Considering that laptops now seem to be lagging behind desktops by a couple years in terms of quality and features, though, how do the laptop LCDs fare?
Since we were unable to send the same image simultaneously to multiple laptop displays, we resorted to simply taking pictures of a familiar scene from 3DMark03. We used the first game test in part because it has higher contrast images that make the frame transitions more visible, but also because at least one of the laptops struggled to get above 60 frames per second even at seriously reduced resolution and quality settings. (We ran the MSI at 640x400 rather than the native 1280x800 because the IGP would otherwise average in the low teens on frame rates, resulting in overlapping frames. The other laptops were run at their native resolutions and experienced no difficulties with this rather old benchmark.) We took numerous pictures on each laptop, and then selected one that seemed to best represent the performance. Here are the images we captured:
 ASUS A8Js  ASUS G2P  Dell XPS M1710  MSI S271 |
| Click to enlarge |
We couldn't find any manufacturer specifications suggesting what sort of response times we should be experiencing with any of these laptops, but judging by the above images we would venture to say that a rating of 25ms or lower would be appropriate. You can clearly see at least three frames on every one of the laptops, sometimes more. The A8Js and XPS M1710 both show four frames, although at least one of the frames is barely visible on each laptop. Since we also have to account for shutter lag on the camera, we would say that these two laptops appear to take around two frame updates resulting in an approximate response time of 33ms. The G2P and S271 on the other hand appear to take somewhere between one and two frame updates, giving them a response time of between 16ms and 33ms.
Considering that some of these notebooks really won't be used for gaming anyway (particularly the MSI S271), response time is not necessarily a critical factor. However, we certainly wish an "extreme gaming" laptop like the Dell XPS M1710 could provide better response times, and more importantly better overall display quality.
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Axbattler - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
I am also very interested in this. I know that the Sony screen tend to be a love or hate affair: on one hand they are bright and and clear, but many can't get past the reflection. I'd like to know if there are any monitors that's similar to Sony's minus the refection.figuerc - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
My Thinkpad X60 tablet still comes with an IPS screen and it is the best screen I have ever used period.Pirks - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
yeah, this article is a waste of time considering they have omitted IPS screen notebooks. I saw the title, thought "yess!!" and went to read it, you know I always wanted to see good comparison between IPS and TN notebook displays... and in the first page they write "uh we don't know about any notebook with IPS panel" - WTF?! alright Anand and Co, it was agood job, you barely made it but to make TRYLY high-quality article you really have to include at least one IPS thinkpad. I'll keep waiting for your _proper_ notebook screen comparison article, it's likely you do it firstafter all I haven't seen decent notebook TN panel reviews online before yours, so once you add an IPS notebook - job's done!
DigitalFreak - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
Again Pirks, STFU.Pirks - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
sorry for typos, I pressed post button too quick, should be truly not trylyJarredWalton - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
This is a starting point Pirks, not an end point. I tried to make that clear. All notebooks that we review in the future will include a more in-depth review of the display. As for getting the Lenovo Thinkpad X60 (or something similar if there are other IPS laptops), we're working on it. Unfortunately, previous attempts to contact Lenovo for a review unit have been unsuccessful, so we review what we have.Pirks - Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - link
okay, okay, if this is just the beginning - I'm going to STFU, if only to make DigitalFreak quietwaiting for your IPS notebook reviews, and thanks for making this just the beginning - I really like the idea of the article, and IPS panels is the only things that's missing
I wasn't criticizing the article per se, I only disliked the omission of the IPS panels. sorry for not stating it clearly
JarredWalton - Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - link
I knew what you meant, and I was glad to find out that I was wrong and that there were some non-TN panels available in laptops. I'll be curious to see if the IPS models (assuming I can get some sent my way) perform noticeably better. After all, the best of the laptops I've looked at so far still trails behind desktop TN models, most likely due to backlighting and power concerns. It could be that the IPS laptops follow that trend.Pirks - Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - link
hey Jarred, here's another mistake you made in the article: "LED backlighting is one technology that holds a lot of promise, and it has only just begun to show up on desktop LCDs" - now don't you know that Sony has been selling notebooks with LED backlighting for some time already? why have you said that it only appeared on desktop LCD while in fact Sony was making notebooks with LEDs waaay before desktop LCDs with LED appeared?Pirks - Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - link
exactly! this is why I'm waiting for your IPS panel notebooks article veeery impatiently! bring it on! :)