How to Choose Between the Three Types of Laptop Displays

Choice of display is one of the most important decisions to make when buying a laptop. The screen affects not only price, but also battery life and the general user experience.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Laptop Computer

1. Choose a dual-scan display if your budget is extremely limited.

2. Select an active-matrix display for the best visual quality and quickest response, and especially if two people (such as a customer and salesperson) need to see the screen at once.

3. Choose an active-matrix display if you'll be using the laptop under challenging lighting conditions, such as on an airplane.

4. Select an HPA (High-Performance Addressing) display if your budget prohibits an active-matrix display but you need to use the laptop on airplanes and wish to maximize battery life.

Tips & Warnings

• TFT is one kind of active-matrix display.
• Active-matrix displays make a laptop cost several hundred dollars more than one with any type of passive-matrix display, and they consume considerably more battery power.

on 3/21/2006 Active matrix screens are much better looking because they do not have image trailing effects. On a passive matrix screen, when you move the mouse or another object, a trail can be seen for a moment. If you want to watch movies or play games on your laptop, this can be extremely annoying, but if you want to use office applications or browse the Internet, then this should be acceptable.