Gaming Laptops: What Screen Resolution Should I Get?
Most of the time, this question about screen or screen resolution is often overlooked when a potential buyer is considering a gaming laptop. Everyone is concerned about the type and level of performance of the graphics and the processor or the amount of RAM that the laptop has installed. However, if your laptop is not the best or correct resolution, your viewing enjoyment can be greatly affected.
Screen resolution
Screen resolution means the number of actual pixels that can be displayed in each dimension and is indicated as width times height, the unit being obviously pixels. For example, on laptops, a common resolution is called XGA (Extended Graphics Adapter) and is 1024 by 768 pixels. Just to put this resolution in some context, a device with an XGA resolution has around 796,432 pixels in total or almost 1 megapixel.
Standard LCD screen resolutions:
VGA 640×480
SVGA 800 x 600
QVGA 1280×960
XGA 1024 x 768
SXGA 1280×1024
SXGA + 1400×1050
UXGA 1600×1200
QXGA 2048 x 1536
QXGA + 2800 x 2100
QUXGA 3200 x 2400
WXGA 1280 x 800
WXGA + 1440 x 900
WSXGA + 1680×1050
WUXGA 1920 x 1200
In the above listings, S = Super, U = Ultra, Q = Quantum, W = Widescreen, and as mentioned before, XGA = Extended Graphics Adapter, while the lower resolution VGA = Video Graphics Array.
Aspect ratio
Another very important factor to consider when talking about resolutions is the aspect ratio. This ratio tells or gives you the proportional “ratio” between the width and height of your screen. Take, for example, a VGA screen will have a resolution of 640×480 pixels, but it has an aspect ratio of 4: 3; This picture ratio is often referred to as the old television format, while another very common 16: 9 aspect ratio is generally known as the widescreen film format.
Native resolution
One of the most important factors in your gaming laptop is its native resolution. This is the absolute maximum resolution of your laptop screen. The native resolution is very important because it determines the actual quality of the image / display screen on your laptop. Don’t mistake your laptop screen for a CRT monitor that can adjust the resolution to match the incoming signal. However, on the LCD of your laptop this is not the case, as it has a fixed screen (bitmap) and the reception of the optimal or optimal image quality will only be achieved when the input signal perfectly matches the the native resolution of your laptop.
Therefore, knowing your laptop’s native resolution is extremely important if you want the best display quality when gaming and watching movies. Typically, the native resolution will be listed in your laptop’s specs or specs list. If it’s not on the list, don’t worry, you can always check the native resolution yourself.
How to find the native resolution of your laptop?
Just check by clicking
home -> control panel -> display
Typically, you will get information on how to adjust your laptop’s screen resolution from this location and your laptop’s native resolution will be the maximum that is displayed. You can also modify your resolution from here, but you may need to reboot your machine before the new changes take effect.
Why is your screen resolution so important?
One of the main reasons, besides image quality, that your laptop screen resolution is so important has to do with the “amount” of material that can be displayed on the screen. Remember, a higher resolution will allow you to see much more material on your screen, this is important for running / viewing numerous applications at the same time. However, one of the drawbacks of having this “larger space” sometimes means that the font and text are too small for many people to comfortably read.
Best resolution for games?
Gamers are very fussy, they tend to want to play their games on the highest possible setting. Gamers also want a high definition screen, which generally means at least a 720p screen, but more likely a 1080p screen (while the p stands for progressive scan and is primarily for streaming formats, this has more to do with TV and monitors than the LCD screen on your laptop). Now a Full HD 1080p display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Many high-end gaming platforms that you see on the market today have a resolution of WUXGA (1920 x 1200) or higher.
There’s nothing better than looking at your laptop screen first-hand to see if it meets your expectations, but if you’re looking for an HD display, the following general guidelines can be used. We are giving resolutions to the screen size and these resolutions are high, especially for the smaller screens.
Smallest laptop with 11-13 inch screen: 1366 x 768
Medium laptop with 14 to 15 inch screen – 1600 x 900
Larger laptop with a screen larger than 15 inches – 1920 x 1080
If you find these resolutions too high and your text too small to read, here’s a helpful tip on DPI scaling. You can adjust this scale by right-clicking on your desktop computer and then clicking the “customize” section to find a “Adjust font size or DPI” link. The usual default setting is 96 dots per inch; now you can scale this so everything is bigger and much easier to read. Again, this will affect the appearance of your screen, but keep in mind that regardless of what is recommended, the best resolution for your laptop is the one that you are comfortable with viewing and using.
There you have it, hopefully this screen resolution information will come in handy when shopping for your next laptop, be it gaming or otherwise. Keep in mind that technology never stops. These resolutions, even the highest in Full HD, will continue to increase in the future. Just look at what Apple is doing with its Retina display on the iPad 3 at 2048 x 1536 resolution on a 9.7-inch screen, that’s about 264 pixels per inch. Even more impressive is the new Retina MacBook Pro, which has a 2880×1800 resolution on a 15-inch screen, over 5 megapixels. One would expect other laptop makers to follow Apple’s lead in the future.