Comparison Dell Inspiron 15 5565 [I55A128S2DDL-80BB] vs HP 15-bw500 [15-BW564UR 2LD99EA]

The technology by which the matrix of the laptop is made.

Matrices of the TN+film, IPS and *VA types are most widely used nowadays; less common are screens like OLED, AMOLED, QLED, miniLED, as well as more specific solutions like LTPS or IGZO. Here is a more detailed description of all these options:

— TN-film. The oldest, simplest and most inexpensive technology currently in use. The key advantages of this type of display are low cost and excellent response time. On the other hand, such matrices are not of high image quality: brightness, colour fidelity and viewing angles of TN-film screens are at an average level. These indicators are quite enough for working with documents, web surfing, most games, etc.; however, for more serious tasks that require a high-quality and reliable picture (for example, design or photo / video colour correction), such screens are practically unsuitable. Thus, TN-film matrices are relatively rare nowadays, mainly among low-cost laptops; more advanced devices are equipped with better screens, most often IPS.

— IPS (In-Plane Switching). The most popular type of matrix for laptops in the middle and top price range; however, it is increasingly common in low-cost models, and for trans...formers and 2-in-1 devices (see "Type") it is almost a standard option. Screens of this type are noticeably superior to TN-film in terms of the quality of the “picture”: they provide a bright, reliable and rich image that hardly changes when the viewing angle changes. In addition, this technology allows to achieve extensive colour gamuts in various special standards (see below) and is suitable for creating displays with advanced features such as HDR support or Pantone / CalMAN certification (also see below). Initially, IPS matrices were expensive and had a slow response time; however, nowadays, various modifications of this technology are used, in which these shortcomings are fully or partially compensated. At the same time, different modifications may differ in practical characteristics: for example, some are created based on the maximum reliability of the picture, others differ in affordable cost, etc. So it's ok to clarify the actual characteristics of the IPS screen before buying — especially if you plan to use a laptop for specific applications where image quality is critical.

— *V.A. Various modifications of matrices of the "Vertical Alignment" type: MVA, PVA, Super PVA, ASVA, etc. The differences between these technologies are mainly in the name and the manufacturer. Initially, matrices of this type were developed as a compromise between IPS (high-quality, but expensive and slow) and TN-film (fast, inexpensive, but modest in image quality). As a result, *VA screens turned out to be more affordable than IPS and more advanced than TN-film — they have good colour reproduction, deep blacks and wide viewing angles. At the same time, it is worth noting that the colour balance of the picture on such a display changes somewhat when the viewing angle changes. This makes it difficult to use *VA matrices in professional colour work. In general, this option is designed mainly for those who do not need perfect colour accuracy and at the same time want to see a bright and colorful image.

— OLED. Matrices based on the so-called organic light-emitting diodes. The key feature of such displays is that in them each pixel is a source of light in itself (unlike classic LCD screens, in which the backlight is made separately). This design principle, combined with a number of other solutions, provides excellent brightness, contrast and colour reproduction, rich blacks, the widest possible viewing angles and a small thickness of the screens themselves. On the other hand, laptop OLED matrices for the most part turn out to be quite expensive and “gluttonous” in terms of energy consumption, and they wear out unevenly: the more often and brighter a pixel glows, the faster it loses its working properties (however, this phenomenon becomes noticeable only after several years of intensive use). In addition, for a number of reasons, such screens are considered poorly suited for gaming applications. In light of all this, sensors of this type are rare these days — mostly in individual high-end laptops designed for professional colour work and with appropriate features such as HDR support, wide colour gamut and/or Pantone / CalMAN certification (see below).

— AMOLED. A kind of matrices on organic light-emitting diodes, created by Samsung (however, it is also used by other manufacturers). In terms of its main features, it is similar to other types of OLED matrices (see above): on the one hand, it allows you to achieve excellent image quality, on the other hand, it is expensive and wears out unevenly. At the same time, AMOLED screens have even more advanced colour performance combined with better power optimization. And the low prevalence of this technology is mainly due to the fact that it was originally created for smartphones and only recently began to be used in laptops (since 2020).

— MiniLED. Screen backlight system on a substrate of miniature LEDs with a size of about 100-200 microns (µm). On the same display plane, it was possible to increase the number of LEDs several times, and their array is placed directly behind the matrix itself. The main advantage of miniLED technology can be called a large number of local dimming zones, which in total gives improved brightness, contrast and more saturated colors with deep blacks. MiniLED screens unlock the potential of High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, suitable for graphic designers and digital content creators.

— QLED. Matrices on "quantum dots" with a redesigned LED backlight system. In particular, it provides the replacement of multilayer colour filters with a special thin-film coating of nanoparticles. Instead of traditional white LEDs, QLED panels use blue ones. As a result, a set of design innovations makes it possible to achieve a higher brightness threshold, colour saturation, improve the quality of colour reproduction in general, while reducing the thickness of the screen and reducing power consumption. The reverse side of the QLED-matrices coin is an expensive cost.

— PLS. A type of matrix developed as an alternative to the IPS described above and, according to some sources, is one of its modifications. Such matrices are also characterized by high colour rendering quality and good brightness; in addition, the advantages of PLS include good suitability for high-resolution screens (due to high pixel density), as well as lower cost than most IPS modifications, and low power consumption. At the same time, the response speed of such screens is not very high.

— LTPS. An advanced type of TFT-matrix, created on the basis of the so-called. low temperature polycrystalline silicon. Such matrices have high colour quality, and are also well suited for screens with high pixel density — in other words, they can be used to create small displays with very high resolution. Another advantage is that part of the control electronics can be built directly into the matrix, reducing the overall thickness of the screen. On the other hand, LTPS matrices are difficult to manufacture and expensive, and therefore are found mainly in premium laptops.

— IGZO. An LCD technology that uses a semiconductor material based on indium, gallium, and zinc oxides (as opposed to more traditional amorphous silicon). This technology provides fast response time, low power consumption and very high colour quality; it also achieves high pixel densities, making it well-suited for ultra-high resolution screens. However, while such displays in laptops are extremely rare. This is explained both by the high cost and by the fact that rather rare metals are used in the production of IGZO matrices, which makes large-scale production difficult.

The specific model of the processor installed in the laptop, or rather, the processor index within its series (see above). Knowing the full name of the processor (series and model), you can find detailed information on it (up to practical reviews) and clarify its capabilities.

The clock speed of the processor installed in the laptop (for multi-core processors, the frequency of each individual core).

Theoretically, a higher clock speed has a positive effect on performance, as it allows the processor to perform more operations per unit of time. However, in fact, the capabilities of the CPU depend on a number of other characteristics — primarily on the series to which it belongs (see above). It even happens that of the two chips, the more performant in the overall result is the slower one. With this in mind, it makes sense to compare by clock frequency only processors of the same series, and ideally, also of the same generation; and the laptop as a whole should be judged by the complex characteristics of the system, as well as by the results of tests (see below).

Processor clock speed achieved in TurboBoost or TurboCore "overclocking" mode.

Turbo Boost and Turbo Core technologies are used by different manufacturers (Intel and AMD, respectively), but they have the same principle of operation: load distribution from more loaded processor cores to less loaded ones to improve performance. The "overclocking" mode is characterized by an increased clock frequency, and it is indicated in this case.

For more information about clock speed in general, see the relevant paragraph above.

The result shown by the laptop processor in 3DMark06.

This test is primarily focused on testing performance in games — in particular, the ability of the processor to process advanced graphics and artificial intelligence elements. Test scores are reported as scores; the higher this number, the higher the performance of the tested chip. Good 3DMark06 results are especially important for gaming laptops.

The result shown by the laptop processor in the Passmark CPU Mark test.

Passmark CPU Mark is a comprehensive test that is more detailed and reliable than the popular 3DMark06 (see above). It checks not only the gaming capabilities of the CPU, but also its performance in other modes, based on which it displays the overall score; this score can be used to fairly reliably evaluate the processor as a whole (the more points, the higher the performance).

The result shown by the laptop processor in the SuperPI 1M test.

The essence of this test is to calculate the number "pi" to the millionth decimal place. The time spent on this calculation is the final result. Accordingly, the more powerful the processor, the smaller the result will be (this SuperPI 1M is fundamentally different from many other tests).

The clock speed of the RAM installed in the laptop.

The higher the frequency (with the same type and amount of memory) — the higher the performance of RAM in general and the faster the laptop will cope with resource-intensive tasks. However modules with the same frequency may differ somewhat in actual performance due to differences in other characteristics; but this difference becomes significant only in very specific cases, for the average user it is not critical. As for specific values, the most popular modules on the modern market are 2400 MHz, 2666 MHz, 2933 MHz and 3200 MHz. Memory at 2133 MHz or less is found mainly in outdated and low-cost devices, and in high-performance configurations this parameter is 2933 MHz, 3200 MHz, 4266 MHz, 4800 MHz, 5200 MHz, 5500 MHz, 5600 MHz and more.

GeForce graphics cards from NVIDIA: RTX represented by RTX 2060, RTX 2060 Max-Q, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Max-Q, RTX 2070 Super, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q, RTX 2080, RTX 2080 Max-Q, RTX 2080 Super, RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, RTX 3050, RTX 3050 Ti, RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Max-Q, RTX 3070, RTX 3070 Max-Q, RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 4050, RTX 4060, R TX 4070, RTX 4080, RTX 4090 ; MX1xx represented by MX110, MX130 and MX150, MX2xx(MX230 and MX250), MX3xx(MX330 and MX350), MX450, GTX which represent GTX 1050, GTX 1060, GTX 1060 Max-Q, GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Max-Q, GTX 1080, GTX 1080 Max-Q, GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Max-Q, GTX 1650 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q and. AMD also offers video cards Radeon 520, Radeon 530(535), Radeon 540X, Radeon 610(625, 630), Radeon RX 550 (550X, 560), Radeon RX 640, Radeon RX 5500M, Radeon RX 6800M and Radeon Pro.

Note that all the above models are discrete. Actually, for a configuration with discrete graphics, it is the model of a separate video adapter that is indicated; if it is supplemented by an integrated module, the name of this module can be clarified by the official characteristics of the processor.

It is also worth mentioning that this paragraph does not give the full name of the model, but only its name within the series (the series itself is given separately - see above). However, knowing the series and model, one can easily find detailed information about the graphics card.