Types of Displays for Laptops
There are dozens of computer display standards, but the three main standards when dealing with notebooks are XGA+, SXGA+ and UXGA, with the future being QXGA displays. Netbooks or sub-notebooks tend to run at the WSVGA standard, a widescreen version of SVGA. Each designation refers to the native screen resolution of the monitor. The resolution of a monitor determines how many pixels can be displayed on the screen at one time and therefore how much information. These standards are expressed as the number of pixels wide by the number of pixels tall, and each comes with variations for widescreen formats.
Other People Are Reading
-
XGA+
-
XGA+ (eXtended Graphics Array Plus) is the next step up from the XGA format (1,024 by 768) introduced by IBM in 1990. It is commonly thought of as 1,152 by 864 and has an aspect ratio of 4:3. Though XGA+ is not approved by any standards organization, it has become the norm for affordable notebook LCDs up to 15 inches, particularly its widescreen variant WXGA (1,366 by 768), which plays 720 p, HDTV standard, video natively. The increase in LCD screen use and the popularity of widescreen displays has made higher-resolution LCDs more economical, and the XGA+ standard is quickly slipping from use.
The widescreen variant of XGA+ is known as WSXGA and has a native resolution of 1,440 by 900 on laptop sizes ranging from 12.1 to 17 inches. The XGA+ and WSXGA standards provide modest screen real estate for those either on a budget or who do only basic computing functions (surf the Internet, email, etc.) on their laptops.
SXGA+
-
SXGA+ (Super eXtended Graphics Array Plus) refers to the resolution standard of 1 400 by 1,050. SXGA+ is a common standard on many midgrade 14- and 15-inch notebook LCDs, including many budget gaming notebooks. As widescreen has become the more popular choice for notebooks, the WSXGA+ standard of 1,680 by 1,050 has become the de facto standard for up to 17-inch notebooks. Providing an upgraded screen resolution, the SXGA+ and WSXGA+ standards are a must-have for power users who utilizes multiple applications at the same time and want to keep their screens uncluttered or for people who just need more desktop space to work with.
-
UXGA
-
UXGA (Ultra eXtended Graphics Array) monitors come with a native screen resolution of 1,600 by 1,200. UXGA's widescreen brother, WUXGA (1,920 by 1,200), runs at a 16:10 aspect ratio, making it perfect to view HDTV content, which runs at a different 16:9 standard aspect ratio, slightly letter-boxed. This allows the HDTV content to be viewed with the controls still visible. Usually costing almost $200 more, this expensive notebook display provides the user with the maximum amount of desktop space available on any modern notebook. WUXGA provides a clear image the equivalent of 2.3 megapixels and allows a user to view two one-page documents side by side. It is perfect for media editors and enthusiasts who just can't have enough real estate to work with on their notebook monitor.
WSVGA
-
WSVGA (Wide Super Video Graphics Array) refers to the standard of SVGA (800 by 600) that was a common CRT monitor standard in the past and has since improved. The WSVGA display standard has made a strong appearance with netbooks, the miniature low-cost portable notebooks that have become so popular. WSVGA appears in two variations: 1,024 by 600 and 1,024 by 576. In comparison to a full-size notebook, this provides little space to work with, but since netbook screens range from only 7 to 10 inches, it satisfies the most basic of uses including email and Web browsing.
QXGA
-
QXGA (Quad eXtended Graphics Display) is named for having four times the number of pixels of an XGA display. QXGA displays have a native resolution of 2,048 by 1,536, with its widescreen variant coming in at 2,560 by 1,600. These LCDs are not yet available in laptops and should not be commonplace for some time, but they are the high-end graphics display of the future and the next step up from current UXGA displays. NEC distributed laptops with QXGA screens in Japan from 2002 to 2005, but typically the standard can only be found in 30-inch or larger desktop LCDs.
-
