PC World - USA 2020-07)

80 PCWorld JULY 2020

FEATURE WHY YOU CAN’T GET A 1440P LAPTOP

bother to produce them. There is, however,

some hope that this might change over the

next few years, especially as PC screens

come in different shapes and sizes that look

less like your TV.

4K LAPTOPS: MOSTLY

FOR MARKETING

Tom Butler, Lenovo’s executive director of

commercial portfolio and product

management, said the prevalence of 1080p

laptops (also known as Full HD or FHD) is easy

There is, of course, a middle ground in the

form of 1440p (2560x1440) displays, also

known as QHD. You just wouldn’t know it from

today’s selection of laptops. Even though

1440p hits the sweet spot between a crisp

picture and long battery life, most laptops

instead make you choose between extremes.

We asked some PC makers why, and the

answers were illuminating. In short, 4K TV

marketing has blinded laptop shoppers to

the benefits of 1440p displays, so display

manufacturers and laptop makers seldom

If you’ve tried to buy a nice Windows laptop in the past few years, there’s a

good chance you’ve agonized over display resolutions. Buy a laptop with a

4K display, and you’ll get a picture so sharp that individual pixels become

indiscernible, but both battery life and performance will suffer as a result. Get a 1080p

laptop instead, and you’ll get more battery life at the expense of that glorious picture.