Keyboard, trackpad, and screen sourcing

[marcstein]

The very best keyboard, trackpad and screen that I've yet seen on a laptop all are to be found in the Google Pixel reference laptop. If fact, I'm using both a 1st gen and 2nd gen version as linux machines still.

From an ergonomic standpoint these are much better than those elements on MacBook Pros or high end PC laptops. If you could produce an i9 32 gb laptop with those components with reasonable thermal transfer and an nvidia GPU it would be truly amazing!

[jonpolak]

Would be great if you could give us stats on the screen like whether it uses PWM or not. High end components would be great!!

[marcstein]

Hi Jonathan,

The base specs are 12.85-inch high resolution IPS (2560 x 1700, at 239 PPI) 400 nit, 3:2 aspect ratio, 178° viewing angle. Not sure on PWM or frequency, but the response is very fast and I'm quite sensitive to screen artifacts and I like the screen much better than a Retina display.

The 12.85-inch glossy touchscreen is the highlight of the hardware that delivers an experience unlike any other traditional offering. The size and aspect ratio are certainly not commonplace for a notebook, but no one is going to argue against a display with over twice the pixels of a fullHD screen and an even higher DPI than Apple’s current crop of Retina MacBooks. The screen even appears to be plane to the display bezel for a greater "pop-up" effect instead of being buried under its Gorilla Glass layer. Texts are fortunately scaled to more legible sizes by default and can be zoomed out quite far if desired without losing visual quality. It’s also important to note that even though the screen size is small, its aspect ratio and high horizontal resolution make transitioning from 720p or 1080p displays to the unusual screen size of the pixel easier than initially expected. [image: Notebookcheck on native 1920 x 1200 resolution] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_migrated/pics/1080p_03.pngNotebookcheck on native 1920 x 1200 resolution [image: Same page as displayed on the 2560 x 1700 resolution Pixel] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Screenshot_2013-04-14_at_1.02.14_AM_02_85fe160e46.pngSame page as displayed on the 2560 x 1700 resolution Pixel [image: Same page as displayed on the Pixel at 50% font size] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Screenshot_2013-04-14_at_1.02.54_AM_02_44009a0bda.pngSame page as displayed on the Pixel at 50% font size

Measured brightness averaged about 365 nits over nine quadrants, which is not quite up to the 400 nit claim by Google, though still more than sufficient for indoor use and most outdoor conditions. The very low black level, measured on a completely dark screen on maximum brightness, paves way for a very high contrast ratio that surmounts most of the competition. Subjectively, it is certainly one of the highest quality displays currently available in the notebook market. 361 cd/m² 367 cd/m² 362 cd/m² 361 cd/m² 376 cd/m² 375 cd/m² 337 cd/m² 351 cd/m² 380 cd/m² Distribution of brightness LG LP129QE1-SPA1 Gossen Mavo-Monitor Maximum: 380 cd/m² Average: 363.3 cd/m² Brightness Distribution: 89 % Center on Battery: 376 cd/m² Contrast: 1106:1 (Black: 0.34 cd/m²)

According to measurements from the X-Rite i1 Basic Pro 2 spectral profiler, color temperature and gamma are almost perfectly at 6500K and 2.2, respectively, which are in line with both D65 and sRGB standards. Colors are generally represented more accurately the more saturated they become with the exception of blue. However, this may simply be due to the cooler color temperature of the screen as all other colors fall well below the 10 percent DeltaE 2000 deviation threshold. [image: Grayscale] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_migrated/pics/pixelgrayscale_02.png Grayscale [image: Color accuracy] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_migrated/pics/pixelcolor_02.pngColor accuracy [image: Color saturation] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_migrated/pics/pixelsat_02.pngColor saturation [image: Use under direct sunlight is possible at maximum brightness] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_IMAG0448_02_bc206c1ecc.jpgUse under direct sunlight is possible at maximum brightness

Outdoor usability is good provided that distracting glare can be reduced or avoided. Luckily, the display allows for a very wide range of viewing angles, so users can adjust the display to almost any position permissible by the hinges and still be able to see onscreen content. Sunny days with bright overcasts will of course demand higher brightness settings. Still, viewability is very good at the cost of some glare and lower battery life. [image: Viewing angles Google Chromebook Pixel] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_IMAG0432_02_8353e8777b.jpgViewing angles Google Chromebook Pixel

Viewing angle stability is excellent due to the underlying IPS panel. Colors and brightness do not radically shift even if viewing from extreme angles, so sharing the display with adjacent viewers is not problematic.

Marc Stein CEO underwrite.ai P. (617) 545-7171 M. (857) 222-3291 E. marc.stein@underwrite.ai W. https://www.underwrite.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-stein-b83b765

On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 9:40 PM Jonathan notifications@github.com wrote:

Would be great if you could give us stats on the screen like whether it uses PWM or not. High end components would be great!!

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/system76/laptop-suggestions/issues/99?email_source=notifications&email_token=AAGEJZNDYFNB47D7STUBJBDQ2VTKVA5CNFSM4J7PYKRKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOEHWNZ3Q#issuecomment-569171182, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAGEJZO2IO4KHK6US42BLX3Q2VTKVANCNFSM4J7PYKRA .

[jonpolak]

Those are all good stats, I don't disagree. What I'm asking about has to do with dimming. What's the process by which dimming is accomplished? If it uses PWM (pulse width modulation) to regulate the ON/OFF duty cycle for the LED backlight then that creates flicker. Many good screens don't use that, instead they use a regulated DC current source. You may be able to detect flicker using your cell phone camera. The flicker gives many users headaches after a few hours of use. There is a discussion on this issue at #102

You mentioned NotebookCheck above -- they evaluate this issue more than anyone else -- and they are my goto reference. Here's their explanation

[marcstein]

See if this helps. Here is a blur test at high brightness and low brightness and a shot of the desktop. Sorry for the crappy pics.

high [image: high_IMG_20191227_143147.jpg]

low

[image: low_IMG_20191227_143539.jpg]

desktop

[image: desktop_IMG_20191227_142957.jpg] Marc Stein CEO underwrite.ai P. (617) 545-7171 M. (857) 222-3291 E. marc.stein@underwrite.ai W. https://www.underwrite.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-stein-b83b765

On Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 1:41 PM Jonathan notifications@github.com wrote:

Those are all good stats, I don't disagree. What I'm asking about has to do with dimming. What's the process by which dimming is accomplished? If it uses PWM (pulse width modulation) to regulate the ON/OFF duty cycle for the LED backlight then that creates flicker. Many good screens don't use that, instead they use a regulated DC current source. You may be able to detect flicker using your cell phone camera. The flicker gives many users headaches after a few hours of use

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/system76/laptop-suggestions/issues/99?email_source=notifications&email_token=AAGEJZJPNQIH5G5D4NFJGGDQ2ZD4HA5CNFSM4J7PYKRKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOEHXTBGA#issuecomment-569323672, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAGEJZI5WRAD46Y3HONKZDLQ2ZD4HANCNFSM4J7PYKRA .

[jonpolak]

the refresh rate of the screen and the PWM switching frequency are not related. Here's the complete list of every machine ever reviewed by Notebookcheck you'll see lots of very high-end devices with PWM of 0 (scroll to the bottom). As well as some > 100kHz (100,000 Hz). The issue is flicker not refresh rate.