Notebooks: The Best 15’’ to 17’’ Screens

To give you an idea of how the computer screens featured below do in comparison to the rest, here are classification tables for two of the criteria (contrast and deltaE) we use to judge screens, measured for all the laptops tested in 2011.
 
- Contrast: the contrast ratio is the ratio between the readings for brightness on an all white screen and an all black screen (ideally 0). The average contrast ratio reading for laptop panels in 2011 on 15’’ to 17’’ screens was 456:1. For comparison, monitors have an average in the order of 850:1, thanks to deeper blacks.

- deltaE: the value corresponding to the difference in reading between ideal colours and the reading for those displayed. The deltaE of a screen must be less than 3 for it to be considered 'accurate'. This year, only one of the notebooks in this section managed a score of under this threshold. The average deltaE measured on 15’’ to 17’’ laptop computer panels is 8.9, against about 5.5 for desktop monitors.

Other data also comes into play, such as colour temperature (blue-red balance) or the gamma (consistency in variation of greys, from darkest to lightest). Once again, the desktop screens do a great deal better than laptops.

Based on the criteria above, the notebooks with the best screens are:

Editor's Choice

As with the 10’’ to 14’’ screens, Apple once again scores top spot: The MacBook Pro (15-inch version). Its contrast ratio is 670:1 (with a white level of 200 cd/m²). More impressive still, its deltaE is only 2.9, a truly exceptional score that will please the most demanding users. As you can see in the table above, very few models can claim to equal it here!

Two Alternatives