Guide to Laptop Computer Screens

While browsing through laptop computer feature lists you may have noticed all the terms used to describe the various screens and had no idea what any of it means.

XGA, TFT, WXGA, what?! Below is a list a commonly used terms associated with a laptop screen. All the “XGA” terms represent the screen native resolution, meaning what resolution the screen works and looks best at.

XGA

This means the screen has a native resolution of 1024x768, which is the most common resolution on modern laptops and found on many different size screens. (12 inch, 14 inch, etc)

SXGA

Native resolution of 1280x1024. Nice large area to work with, aspect ratio is a little different at 5:4 instead of standard 4:3.

SXGA+

Native resolution of 1400x1050. Great for working on spreadsheets and other tasks where having a larger area is nice to have. Make note that if you play games you will notice many games don't support this resolution.

UXGA

Native resolution of 1600x1200. This is featured on mainly high end laptops which have medium to large screens (15.4 inch or greater). Like SXGA+ this resolution is great for when you need to see more of the screen at once such as with spreadsheets or editing large photos, etc.

WXGA

The native resolution can vary depending on the size of the screen. WXGA basically means wide screen, the aspect ratio is 16:9 or 16:10 versus the more box like 4:3 aspect ratio of a standard laptop. If you're a movie fanatic who wishes you could watch that great DVD collection while on the road/plane/lunch break then you may want to take a look at laptop computers with this type of screen. There are variations on this such as WSXGA or WUXGA which are wide screen versions of the higher resolution modes.

Examples:

Laptop with WXGA 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio wide screen shown above.
Laptop with standard 4:3 aspect ratio screen shown below.

TFT

Stands for Thin Film Transistor, also referred to as active matrix or even used at the same time such as “TFT Active Matrix LCD!”. You would be hard pressed to find a modern laptop that doesn't use this type of screen, it has become the standard for bright and colorful screens, although “bright” and “colorful” may vary from each manufacturer.

LCD

Most people should be familiar with this term by now, it stands for Liquid Crystal Display. LCD's are found in countless gadgets that require a small or flat screens such as cell phones, handheld game systems, computer monitors, etc.

Bigger is not always better! (when it comes to laptop screen resolution at least)

Be nice to your eyes, choosing a 15 inch or smaller screen capable of UXGA or SXGA+ will make many people squint as they try to decipher the puny text from a reasonable viewing distance. I would recommend UXGA and SXGA+ on only the 15.4 inch and larger screens but everyone has different eyesight so it's all subjective.

Although nearly all of the current systems have "ratiometric scaling" (stretching a lower resolution to fit the whole screen), many older or basic non-multimedia laptop computers may not have this feature. What will happen is if you choose a lower resolution like 800x600 on a 1024x768 native screen you will end up with an 800x600 box and black bars around the edges because it didn't stretch to fill the screen.

TFT screens are designed to run at a specific native resolution and provide the best clarity or sharpness at that resolution. Using any other resolution that stretches to fill can have side effects such as a distorted looking screen or blurriness.

One last detail, laptop computer screens are measured diagonally from the corners, this usually does not include the bevel like many desktop monitors (which is a good thing!).

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