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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 colour gamut of the laptop matrix according to the Rec.709 colour model or according to sRGB.

Colour gamut describes the range of colours that can be displayed on the screen. It is indicated as a percentage, but not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the screen's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

Specifically, sRGB and Rec.709 are the most popular of today's colour models; they have the same range and differ only in the scope (sRGB is used in computers, Rec. 709 is used in HDTV). Therefore, the closer the colour gamut is to 100%, the more accurately the colours on the screen will match the colours that were originally intended by the creator of the film, game, etc. At the same time, note that such accuracy is not particularly needed in everyday use — it critical only for professional work with colour; and even in such cases, it is more convenient to buy a separate monitor with a wide colour gamut for a laptop, rather than looking for a laptop with a high-quality (and, accordingly, expensive) matrix.

The colour gamut of the laptop matrix according to the Adobe RGB colour model.

Colour gamut describes the range of colours that can be displayed on the screen. It is indicated as a percentage, but not relative to the entire variety of visible colours, but relative to the conditional colour space (colour model). This is due to the fact that no modern screen is able to display all the colours visible to humans. However, the larger the colour gamut, the wider the screen's capabilities, the better its colour reproduction.

The Adobe RGB colour model was originally developed for print applications; the range of colours covered by it corresponds to the capabilities of professional printing equipment. Therefore, theoretically, the extensive coverage of this model will be useful to those involved in the design and layout of high-end printed products. However most laptop screens have very limited Adobe RGB values, rarely exceeding 74%; however, you can also find high-end models where this figure approaches 100%. Of course, the cost of such laptops will also be appropriate; therefore, it makes sense to pay attention to them, first of all, when the ability to work with colour “on the go” is of key importance. If this is to be done in one place, it may be more justified to buy a separate monitor with a wide colour gamut (especially since a monitor with such characteristics is easier to find than a laptop).

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 maximum amount of RAM that can be installed on a laptop. It depends, in particular, on the type of memory modules used, as well as on the number of slots for them. Paying attention to this parameter makes sense, first of all, if the laptop is bought with the expectation of and the amount of actually installed memory in it is noticeably less than the maximum available. So laptops can be upgraded in RAM to 16 GB, 24 GB a>, 32 GB, 48 GB, 64 GB and even more - 128 GB.

The total number of slots for RAM modules provided in the laptop; in fact — the maximum number of slats that can be installed simultaneously in this model.

Features for upgrading RAM directly depend on this indicator. So, in low-cost models, there is often only 1 slot, and the only upgrade option is to replace the "native" bar. In more advanced devices, two or even four slots may be provided, while some of them may be free in the initial configuration.

A special case is embedded RAM; it is more compact and cheaper than removable modules, but does not imply replacement at all. At the same time, in some laptops, the “RAM” is only built-in, in others it can be supplemented with one or even two slots for interchangeable strips.

The number of additional M.2 connectors on the laptop motherboard.

In this case, any free M.2 connector is called additional (if there is an installed drive, the connector is considered the main one and its characteristics are given above — see "M.2 connector interface" and so on). There may be several such free slots — therefore, our catalog specifies the number of additional M.2 connectors, and not just their presence.

Anyway, this parameter will be useful primarily if the laptop is bought for an upgrade. It allows you to estimate how many M.2 SSDs (or other peripherals with such a connection) can be additionally installed in the device. At the same time, when choosing specific components, you should also take into account the interface and the size of free M.2 slots (see below for more details).

Connection connectors provided in the design of the laptop.

This paragraph mainly indicates data on video outputs: VGA, HDMI(versions 1.4, 2.0, 2.1 and their varieties), miniHDMI / microHDMI, DisplayPort, miniDisplayPort). In addition, the presence of other types of connectors can be specified here: audio S / P-DIF, service COM port. But information about interfaces such as full-sized USB, USB-C, Thunderbolt and LAN is provided in separate paragraphs (see below).

— VGA. Analogue video output, also known as D-Sub 15 pin. Technically considered obsolete: it has low noise immunity, does not provide sound transmission, and the maximum supported resolution in fact does not exceed 1280x1024. However, VGA inputs are still quite common in monitors today, and are also found in other types of video equipment — in particular, projectors. Therefore, some modern laptops, mainly for multimedia purposes, are equipped with similar outputs — counting on connection to the mentioned video devices.

— HDMI. The most popular modern interface for working with HD content. Uses digital data transmission, allows you to transmit high-def...inition video and multi-channel audio over one cable at the same time. Most modern monitors, TVs, projectors, and other HD-enabled video equipment have at least one HDMI input; so outputs of this type are extremely common in modern laptops.

— microHDMI and miniHDMI. Reduced varieties of the HDMI described above: they are completely similar in functionality and differ only in the size of the connector. They are installed mainly in the thinnest and most compact laptops, for which full-size HDMI is too cumbersome.

The HDMI and mini/microHDMI ports on modern laptops may correspond to different versions:

• v 1.4. The earliest of the commonly used standards, released in 2009. Allows you to transmit a signal in resolutions up to 4096x2160 at a frame rate of 24 fps, and with Full HD resolution, the frame rate can reach 120 fps; 3D video transmission is also possible.
• v 1.4a. The first addition to version 1.4, in which, in particular, two additional 3D video formats were added.
• v 1.4b. The second update of the HDMI 1.4 standard, which introduced only minor clarifications and additions to the v 1.4a specifications.
• v2.0. Global HDMI update introduced in 2013. Also known as HDMI UHD, it allows you to stream 4K video at frame rates up to 60 fps. The number of audio channels can reach 32, and up to 4 audio streams can be broadcast simultaneously. In addition, support for the 21:9 aspect ratio and some improvements regarding 3D content have been introduced.
• v2.0a. First HDMI 2.0 update. A key innovation was compatibility with HDR content (see "HDR support").
• v2.0b. Second update of version 2.0. Key innovations have affected mainly work with HDR — in particular, support for HDR10 and HLG has been added.
• v2.1. One of the newest versions, released in the fall of 2017. Further increases in bandwidth have made it possible to support 4K and even 8K video at frame rates up to 120 fps. In addition, key improvements include enhanced HDR capabilities. Note that to use the full capabilities of HDMI v2.1, HDMI Ultra High Speed cables are required, although basic functions are available with regular cables.

— Display port. Digital high-speed port, allows you to transfer both video and audio in HD quality. It is similar in many respects to HDMI, provides a higher data transfer rate and allows the use of longer cables, but is less common, mainly used in computer technology.

— miniDisplayPort. A smaller version of the DisplayPort described above, designed to make the connector more compact; except for the dimensions, it is no different from the original interface. Some time ago it was a regular video connector for Apple laptops; and even the Thunderbolt interface that replaced it, in versions 1 and 2 (see below), uses a connector identical to the miniDisplayPort connector.

Both full-size DisplayPort and its smaller version may be different versions. Here are the most popular options today:

• v 1.2. The earliest version common in laptops, released in 2010. Among the most important innovations presented in this version are 3D support, the ability to work simultaneously with several video streams for serial connection of screens (daisy chain), as well as the ability to work through the miniDisplayPort connector. Bandwidth v 1.2 is enough to fully support 5K video at 30 frames per second and 8K video — with certain limitations.
• v 1.2a. Update version 1.2, released in 2013. One of the most noticeable innovations is the ability to work with AMD FreeSync (see above). Bandwidth and supported resolutions remain unchanged.
• v 1.3. DisplayPort version released in 2014. Compared to the previous version, the throughput has been increased by 1.5 times for 1 line and almost 2 times for the whole connector (8.1 Gbps and 32.4 Gbps, respectively). This, among other things, made it possible to provide full support for 8K video at 30 fps, as well as increase the maximum frame rate in 4K and 5K standards to 120 and 60 fps, respectively. In daisy chain mode, this standard makes it possible to work with two 4K UHD (3840x2160) screens at a frame rate of 60 Hz, or with four 2560x1600 screens at the same frequency. In addition, Dual-mode support was introduced in this version, providing compatibility with HDMI and DVI interfaces through the simplest passive adapters.
• v 1.4. Version introduced in March 2016. Bandwidth, compared to the previous standard, remained unchanged, but some important features were added — in particular, support for Display Stream Compression 1.2 compression, HDR10 standard and Rec. 2020, and the maximum number of supported audio channels has increased to 32.
• v 1.4a. An update released in 2018 "quietly" — without even an official press release. The main innovation was the update of Display Stream Compression technology from version 1.2 to version 1.2a.

— S/P-DIF. Output for digital audio transmission, including multi-channel. It has two varieties — optical and electrical; the first is absolutely insensitive to interference, but uses rather delicate cables, the second does not require special care in handling, but can be subject to pickups (although the wires are usually made shielded). Laptops use mainly optical S/P-DIF, while for compactness this connector is combined with a mini-Jack jack for connecting headphones. However, anyway, it's ok to clarify the specific features of this interface separately.

— COM port. Universal interface for connecting various external devices — in particular, dial-up modems — as well as for direct connection between two computers. Also known as RS-232 (after the connector). Nowadays it is considered obsolete due to the spread of more compact, faster and more functional interfaces, primarily USB. However, many types of equipment, including specialized ones, use the COM port as a control interface. Such equipment includes uninterruptibles, satellite receivers and communication devices, security and alarm systems, etc. Thus, COM ports, although almost never used in consumer-level laptops, are still found in some specialized models.

Number of USB 2.0 ports provided in the laptop.

USB of all versions is the most popular modern interface for connecting various peripherals to computer - from keyboards, mice and flash drives to very original devices. It can also be used to charge smartphones and other gadgets. The more USB ports laptop has, the more peripherals you can connect to it without using splitters. Specifically, USB 2.0 is the earliest version found in modern laptops. It uses regular full-size connector and provides speeds of up to 480 Mbit. In light of the emergence of faster and more advanced versions of USB 2.0, it is considered obsolete; more and more laptops are being produced that do not have such connectors at all. At the same time, this interface is still far from completely disappearing, especially since its capabilities are quite sufficient for many peripheral devices.