DisplayBlog

I was just over at Gizmodo browsing through interesting posts and came up to this video. Lenovo has done a very good job of showing a couple of limitations on the MacBook Air and then making sure that viewers see clearly how the X300 is just as thin but superior in some ways. There is one very important feature of the X300 that needs to be mentioned: the pixel format on the 13.3″ LED backlit LCD is 1440 x 900, which is quite a bit more than the MacBook Air’s 1280 x 800.

For those who purchase LCD panels, this set of information might be interesting. I took publicly available pricing information for LCD panels from Witsview and DisplaySearch, took the average, and then did some analysis on maximum value.

For the purpose of this blog post, maximum value is defined as dollar per megapixel ($/MP, lower is better). What this value shows is how many pixels you are getting for each dollar. Many might say that overall diagonal size is a much more important indicator and that might be true. But given the same size, I prefer a higher resolution LCD leading me to conclude that I value the number of pixels.

The value of pixels can be seen clearly in the trend toward 1080p in LCD TVs. Given the same size, say 42″, most consumers will desire a 1080p model compared to a 720p. The recent trend toward 1080p 32″ LCD TVs is another case in point.

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Samsung T190, T220, T240, T260

Sizes: 19″, 22″, 24″, 26″
Pixel Format:

• 19″: 1440 x 900
• 22″: 1680 x 1080
• 24″: 1920 x 1200
• 26″: 1920 x 1200

Contrast Ratio: 20,000:1 (dynamic)
Response Time: 2ms GTG (T190, T220), 5ms (T240, T260)
Input: HDMI (T240, T260)
Power Consumption: 0.3 watts at standby
Availability: Now (T190, T220), End of July 2008 (T240, T260)
Pricing: $259 (T190), $359 (T220), $499 (T240), $599 (T260)

Samsung announced on April 23, 2008 the launch of its Touch of Color (TOC) line of LCD monitors: T190, T220, T240, and T260. They have a minimalist design, a deep ruby red infusion, and a glossy piano-black finish.

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Samsung 942BW

Size: 19″
Pixel Format: 1440 x 900 (16:10)
Response Time: 5ms Gray-to-Gray (GTG, MagicSpeed)
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 500:1
Input: DVI with HDCP
Special Feature: Narrow bezel, MagicBright3 (automatic brightness, contrast, gamma optimization)
Price: MSRP US$249.99

The design is quite simple and boring. It is your typical 19″ wide LCD monitor with the regular 1440 x 900 pixel format. The 5ms response time isn’t that impressive. However there are some interesting features such as MagicBright3 that automatically optimizes brightness, contrast, and gamma. I wonder how it optimizes brightness unless it has some sort of light sensor. It probably doesn’t, so that means it changes the brightness based on the image content, which could end up simply annoying the user. Another “feature” is the narrow bezel. I guess it’s better than having a really thick bezel. Thin is in, whether it is the bezel or the depth. The price is decent at $250. Street prices according to PriceGrabber seems to be around $225 as of this writing.

Source: Business Wire, via Engadget

16:9 LCDs

Size: 18.4″, 16.0″
Pixel Format: 1920 x 1080 (18.4″), 1366 x 768 (16.0″)
Colors: 262,144 for both (6-bit)
Brightness: 300 cd/m2 (18.4″), 220 cd/m2 (16.0″)
Color Gamut: 90% NTSC (18.4″), 60% NTSC (16.0″)
Contrast Ratio: 800:1 for both
Response Time: 8ms for both
Viewing Angle: 140/135 for both
Availability: 1H’08

Active White LED Backlight LCD

Size: 15.4″
Pixel Format: 1440 x 900 (same as one in 15.4″ MacBook Pro)
Contrast Ratio: 10,000:1 or more (dynamic contrast ratio)
Viewing Angle: 120/120 (not very good)
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Color Gamut: 45% NTSC (just average)
Power Consumption: 2.0W or less
Availability: 2H’08

More pictures at Akihabara News

On October 17, 2007, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., (SEC) announced the development of new LCDs for notebook PCs. Two offers a 16:9 aspect ratio, just like a HD TV, and the third features an active white LED backlight that increases picture clarity and reduces power consumption. SEC will unveil these LCDs at FPD International being held in Yokohama, Japan, October 24-26. Mass production is scheduled to commence in 1H’08 for the 16:9 LCDs and in 2H’08 for the white LED backlight LCD. I’m not as excited about the 16:9 LCDs as I am with the “active” LED backlight panel, but it is quite a long ways from now, unfortunately.

The two 16:9 LCDs are 16″ and 18.4″ in size. The color gamut is 60% for the 16″ and 90% for the 18.4″. Quite high considering typical notebooks have about 45% NTSC. Since these two are using CCFL backlights, I will assume that the phosphors have been improved to generate an improved color gamut. The wide color gamut CCFL (WCG-CCFL) can be nice for general movie watching but color matching can be a problem for those serious about color. Contrast ratio for the 16:9 panels is a pretty good 800:1 but the response time isn’t going to be fast enough (8ms) to replace your TV for video viewing. The number of colors (262,144) tell you that these are 6-bit panels. It seems the 18.4″ will have a pixel format of 1920 x 1080 (Full HD, 1080p). I have a 17″ Dell with a pixel format of 1920 x 1200 and it is pretty large. I wonder if consumers will buy into a 18.4″ notebook PC. It might be just a tad bit too big in my opinion. Of course, if it was slimmer, lighter, sexier and lasted many more hours, I wouldn’t mind the extra 1.4″. But please don’t put the keyboard to the left since I have no use for a numeric keypad. By the way, the 1366 x 768 pixel format for a large 16.0″ LCD sounds a bit on the low side.

SEC’s 15.4″ active white LED backlight LCD sounds pretty cool as the company states that it will consume 40% less power than a typical LED backlight. That would mean that it will consume even less than a typical CCFL backlight. I certainly appreciate the improvements in backlight technology as it seems the battery industry is not going to be providing much useful advances soon with batteries exploding and even battery factories catching on fire. The active part of the LED backlight involves illuminated areas of the display with varying degrees of brightness. To make dark areas dark the LEDs for that portion of the display are turned off. When dark becomes more dark and bright areas become more bright, contrast ratio is improved and SEC states that the contrast ratio is 10,000:1. Wow. But other features are just normal: viewing angle (120/120), color gamut (45%) and brightness (300 cd/m2).

Source: Akihabara News