# Why aren't there any PC laptops with high resolution displays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046 "2013-01-22T21:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/1 "2013-01-22T21:48:50Z")
The current generation 15" Macbook Pro has a 2880 x 1800 display. No PC manufacturers even comes close to that. The highest res PC laptop display I could find was 1920 x 1200 on a 15" Panasonic Toughbook. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/2 "2013-01-22T22:35:46Z")
Apple retina display is relatively new. If Apple patented the process, give it time for PC manufacturers to decide if they want to license it from Apple or create their own. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/3 "2013-01-22T22:38:09Z")
[Here’s an article](http://www.extremetech.com/computing/130605-where-are-all-the-high-resolution-desktop-displays)discussing why we don’t see hi-res desktop displays and by extension laptops as well). Its basic conclusion is that screen manufacturers believe that not enough people are willing to pay the higher prices to make it economic to go to higher res screens. Personally I think that’s debatable but there you have it. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/4 "2013-01-22T22:42:49Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Apple retina display is relatively new. If Apple patented the process, give it time for PC manufacturers to decide if they want to license it from Apple or create their own. [Retina Display](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina_Display) isn’t some sort of proprietary tech, it just means the display’s resolution is such that nearly all users are unable to see any pixellation at normal viewing distances. In fact Apple buys its displays from Samsung, Sharp and LG. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/5 "2013-01-22T22:47:23Z")
Another point made in that article, which may or may not be correct, is that Windows software doesn’t tend to scale well at very high pixel densities. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/6 "2013-01-22T22:49:09Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > [Retina Display](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retina_Display) isn’t some sort of proprietary tech, it just means the display’s resolution is such that nearly all users are unable to see any pixellation at normal viewing distances. > > In fact Apple buys its displays from Samsung, Sharp and LG. I was gonna say this (and add Sony) - Retina Display is just a marketing word for high resolution, nothing unique. Here’s another related article from Wired, that might be of interest: [Why Samsung makes Retina displays – but not for its own tablets](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-04/04/why-samsung-makes-retina-displays) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/7 "2013-01-22T22:53:52Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Another point made in that article, which may or may not be correct, is that Windows software doesn’t tend to scale well at very high pixel densities. Very true, although that’s probably a chicken and egg situation - why build in the capability when the vast majority of users would never use it? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/8 "2013-01-22T23:04:24Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Another point made in that article, which may or may not be correct, is that Windows software doesn’t tend to scale well at very high pixel densities. Nonsense. I run three monitors, the center one at 2560x1440, the right one at 1920x1200, and have absolutely no issues with any software. Sometimes the UIs don’t automatically scale to a comfortable size and you have to tweak your desktop font sizes, but that’s a one-time fiddle that takes five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/9 "2013-01-22T23:18:57Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Here’s another related article from Wired, that might be of interest: [Why Samsung makes Retina displays – but not for its own tablets](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-04/04/why-samsung-makes-retina-displays) That article is from April of last year and is obsolete. In November Samsung+Google released the Nexus-10 with a 2560x1600 display, which is higher resolution than the iPad3 “Retina Display” (2048x1536). I think Samsung waited until their Exynos 5250 processor was ready before releasing a tablet with a high resolution display. I used to have an ASUS tablet with a 1920x1200 display and an older Tegra-3 processor, and it was painfully slow. The Nexus-10 is _much_ faster and smoother. As for laptops, I suspect the same reason holds true. Most laptops use “integrated graphics” (graphics processor built into the CPU). Even on the latest Intel Core processors, the graphics processor isn’t good enough to drive 2560x1600 at a decent speed. Apple gets around this by using a discrete (separate) graphics chip, but this adds cost and power consumption, not to mention complexity. Some Windows laptops have discrete graphics, but with emphasis on speed (gaming laptops) or expandability (“mobile workstations” that can be connected to multiple external monitors), and not on high-resolution built-in displays. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/10 "2013-01-22T23:31:27Z")
Screen resolution is a lot like camera megapixels… the huge numbers are becoming as much about marketing and one-upmanship as any useful or perceivable increase in performance. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/11 "2013-01-22T23:31:36Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Another point made in that article, which may or may not be correct, is that Windows software doesn’t tend to scale well at very high pixel densities. Windows can handle DPI scaling just fine; plenty of apps don’t however. Apple did the “safe” thing by making their “Retina” displays exactly 4x the pixel count of the non-“Retina” screens. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/12 "2013-01-22T23:39:17Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Windows can handle DPI scaling just fine; plenty of apps don’t however. That can be true. I’ve been through many eras where last year’s software ran like crap on this year’s hardware because lazy coding made too many assumptions. I’m fortunate enough to run all top-tier software that’s coded well and doesn’t get thrown by something like one more step up in screen size. I do use the odd piece of trialware or freeware that breaks in funny ways, though. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/13 "2013-01-22T23:41:29Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Screen resolution is a lot like camera megapixels… the huge numbers are becoming as much about marketing and one-upmanship as any useful or perceivable increase in performance. Maybe to a point, but I submit we haven’t reached that point yet. Put an iPad 2 next to an iPad 3 and the difference is clearly visible. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/14 "2013-01-22T23:49:39Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Screen resolution is a lot like camera megapixels… the huge numbers are becoming as much about marketing and one-upmanship as any useful or perceivable increase in performance. Bad analogy. Pixel count on cameras is at a point where it’s no longer the limiting factor on image quality. On the other hand, most laptops today have 1280x800, or even 1280x768 displays. The difference between 1280x800 and 1920x1200, for example, is obvious to most users even on a 10-inch tablet. On a 15-inch tablet, the difference is so significant that it’s painful to use the lower resolution once you get used to the higher resolution. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/15 "2013-01-23T04:42:01Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Another point made in that article, which may or may not be correct, is that Windows software doesn’t tend to scale well at very high pixel densities. This is true. Although high resolution, the Retina display displays things at the same physical size. Windows has no such option, all you can do is display font at 200%, or reduce resolution, which defeats the purpose. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/16 "2013-01-23T05:12:26Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > This is true. Although high resolution, the Retina display displays things at the same physical size. Windows has no such option, all you can do is display font at 200%, or reduce resolution, which defeats the purpose. What’s wrong with setting the “Make text and other items larger or smaller” parameter to 200%?? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/17 "2013-01-23T05:36:39Z")
It still won’t be big enough for a 300 dpi display. In addition, icons, buttons and other things won’t scale. The OS must be specifically designed for high density displays. The reason people above can use higher than HD displays is the dpi is still very low - even a 1080p 15" laptop screen is less than 200 dpi. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/18 "2013-01-23T05:47:23Z")
Ok the maximum is 150%, not 200%. My desktop text is 9 pixels high. Just assume it can scale to 20 pixels. On a 300 dpi display, that’s only 1.7 mm high, or less than 5 pont font size. So you have to fiddle with the registry or something to increase the font size to a readable level. On a 220 dpi Retina MBP, 20 pixel high font would be 2.3 mm or 6.5 pont. Also, on programs with text and icons together, the text may scale while the icons may not (e.g. iTunes for Windows). You end up with clipped/misplaced text. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/19 "2013-01-23T09:46:28Z")
It is indeed a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Even the Apple way, all the apps that are not specifically designed for retina just display every singe pixel four times, which tends to look butt-ugly - worse than the same app on the normal-resolution display. To just release a retina display on a Windows machine would be an unmitigated disaster as long as there is no option in the OS to deal with all that screen real estate. If you really want to, you can buy a MacBook Pro Retina and run Windows over Boot Camp. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046/20 "2013-01-23T12:50:25Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > It is indeed a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Even the Apple way, all the apps that are not specifically designed for retina just display every singe pixel four times, which tends to look butt-ugly - worse than the same app on the normal-resolution display. To just release a retina display on a Windows machine would be an unmitigated disaster as long as there is no option in the OS to deal with all that screen real estate. . And if a high res display were to be placed in laptops by the big OEMs all you think they would just leave it for the user to figure out? Drivers and registry adjustments would be handled as part of the OS image at the plant, and if need be, MS will put out a patch/update for windows. Dell, Lenovo, hp, et al, have the pull to get MS to make the effort. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-pc-laptops-with-high-resolution-displays/648046.md?page=2)