"Screen Door" Effect on 1366x768 15" laptops

[Bassman2003]

Hello,

I just purchased a Dell 15R laptop from Newegg and while the computer is great, the screen shows the pixel grid. Circles are not smooth circles as the edges are pixelated.

I thought this was a faulty computer until I visited CompUSA and every computer in there had this "screen door" look to it.

When did this become acceptable?

Do you notice this on laptops?

Does it go away with higher resolutions or is this just the way they make panels these days? I looked at a couple of 1900x1080 screens and they seemed to show the same effect.

My 8 year old Gateway has a smoother graphic look than this.

Sorry for the rant but don't know if this can be improved. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Jynxed]

every computer in there had this "screen door" look to it.

I knew someone that could see a "screen door" effect on DLP tv's. He didn't have bad vision it was just some quarky thing. If every computer has this problem do you think it could be your eyes?

 

[pcgeek11]

My Lenovo E520 Edge doesn't have this at 1366x768.

 

[Bassman2003]

I knew someone that could see a "screen door" effect on DLP tv's. He didn't have bad vision it was just some quarky thing. If every computer has this problem do you think it could be your eyes?

I should have typed 'Every laptop had this effect'. I do not think my eyes are the problem, quite the contrary, my work is photography & video and my eyes might be too picky! (all of my older laptops & desktops at home do not show this).

The laptop resolutions have followed HDTV resolutions so looking around Newegg you mainly get the choice of ~720p or 1080p.

I think it is a proximity thing. I notice I work closer to a laptop screen as the keyboard is right next to the screen. When I get that close to my destop monitor it shows the same "grid" appearance.

 

[kevinsbane]

I should have typed 'Every laptop had this effect'. I do not think my eyes are the problem, quite the contrary, my work is photography & video and my eyes might be too picky! (all of my older laptops & desktops at home do not show this).

The laptop resolutions have followed HDTV resolutions so looking around Newegg you mainly get the choice of ~720p or 1080p.

Just wanted to find out if others are seeing this or are unhappy with what I am seeing.

If the screen door effect is what I'm thinking of, then it's likely an issue with the low resolution combined with a crappy LCD and (relatively) large screen size.

To minimize the effect, look for higher resolutions on smaller screens, using better panels. The first two options are your most obvious strategies, as getting better LCD panels can be very hit and miss. Certain panels are simply better; most (all?) IPS laptop panels will be far better than your typical TN panel in a laptop. Apple TN panels seem good as well.

 

[Bryf50]

What's odd is that I have instantly noticed on a fairly high res 13" 1600x900 laptop and a 14" 1365x768 laptop but, didn't notice it at all on a 13" 1280x800 laptop or my 14" 1365x768. Makes me think that there's is something besides pixel density at play.

 

[Bassman2003]

Bryf50, I hope I did not bring this to your attention and ruin your screen perception!

After looking around, I made the decision that I did not want to pay closer to $1,000 for a laptop, so I am going ot keep it as it was $499 wi th an i5 proc.

 

[podspi]

I think I know what you are talking about. My brother had a Gateway machine with a screen like that. I think it is just what they're using on cheap machines, the type you find in Best Buy.

 

[corkyg]

Ijust checked the display on my 15.6-in Lenovo T510. It is at 1900x800 resolution, NVIDIA drivers. If I use a magnifying glass I can barely make out the pixels on the screen. I took this macro shot of a section of the screen. The camera lens was smackdab against the display glass. The horizonatal size of the "U" was 1/2-inch. Is this what you are talking about?

I can't see that at all with the naked eye. What zoom factor are you using? How close are you to the screen?

 

[imagoon]

I believe the "screen door" effect is simply the result of using pixels that are to small to fit in the grid (smaller is cheaper) than the space provided by (length / pixel count.)

IE

|--------|       |--------|
|        |       ||------||
| |----| |       ||      ||
| | pix| |       || pix  ||
| |----| |       ||      ||
|        |       ||------||
|--------|   vs  |--------|

The first design would show much more "screen door" than the second even though the screen area for each pixel is the same.

 

[Matt1970]

If you can see the screen door effect on every laptop you look at, try looking at them from more than 12" away

 

[Bassman2003]

Corkyg,

Yes, that is what I see but up to 2 1/2-3 feet away from the screen. I saw this effect on pretty much every laptop in CompUSA. Most all had 1366x768 resolution. A few were larger but also looked under resolved.

Imagoon has it correct. The industry has decided to lower the screen quality on most of there offerings.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Yeup. I noticed that too; that's because most laptops come with inferior displays nowadays (much like others have posted).

The weird thing is, all the new phones/tablets coming out use higher quality displays, even the types that are hard to find on higher-end laptops. Next time you wing by a compUSA/any electronics store check out the tablets and see if you notice the same thing.

 

[Bassman2003]

Don't want to go too far with this, but I am guessing this issue is from the screen makers and not the computer makers. I was thinking of returning this laptop and upgrading to a Dell XPS with a 1920x1080 screen but this same issue is being talked about on the notebookreview.com forums - in the XPS forum!

This is not just a "low end" laptop problem. Just think a lot of people don't notice it.

 

[edit1754]

Don't want to go too far with this, but I am guessing this issue is from the screen makers and not the computer makers. I was thinking of returning this laptop and upgrading to a Dell XPS with a 1920x1080 screen but this same issue is being talked about on the notebookreview.com forums - in the XPS forum!

This is not just a "low end" laptop problem. Just think a lot of people don't notice it.

That issue has nothing to do with the Dell XPS 15's 1080p screen. The Dell XPS 15z is the model in question and it uses a very different LCD panel.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/628142-poll-xps-15z-1080p-screen-issues.html

 

[Bassman2003]

Hey Edit,

I guess you are the guy who helped me on the Notebook review forum? Thanks for your input here. I see now that the XPS uses the FHD B+RGLED TL screen and the XPSz uses the WLED screen.

Thanks for clearing that up and I will have more confidence to go with the XPS.

 

[Blue Shift]

I believe the "screen door" effect is simply the result of using pixels that are to small to fit in the grid (smaller is cheaper) than the space provided by (length / pixel count.)

IE

|--------|       |--------|
|        |       ||------||
| |----| |       ||      ||
| | pix| |       || pix  ||
| |----| |       ||      ||
|        |       ||------||
|--------|   vs  |--------|

The first design would show much more "screen door" than the second even though the screen area for each pixel is the same.

This would explain what I noticed on an old 1440x900 monitor a few years ago. The pixels literally appeared to have a light-colored grid between them when displaying dark scenes.