Why is my laptop screen so much better...

[Ovation]

than the LCD TVs (flat panel or rear projection) that I've seen so far? I just spent a week camping and brought my 3 1/2 year old Powerbook 15" widescreen along for "rainy day" movie watching with the kids (and for myself). I've only used it for movie watching very sparingly, and without any critical viewing in mind, until the other night. I decided to test the screen and see if it had the problems I've seen with LCD TVs. I watched in total darkness, 18 inches from the screen and did NOT notice motion blur (which is the biggest beef I have with LCD TVs so far) nor did I find the blacks to be anything other than very good (very very good in daytime viewing). The laptop doesn't do so well with video based material (anamorphic film sourced DVDs are fine) but that's a limitation in the processor, not the screen itself (unless I am much mistaken).

Is my laptop really that much better than most LCD TVs (even new ones from respected brands)? What's going on?

[Arneson]

I'll pitch this in having taken many of both apart.

Your laptop screen is very thin, it is lit by diffusion.
One or two flourescent tubes top and bottom.

The LCD TV has a light box behind it with rows of tubes, 10, 12 or more now.
There are probably a few things that differ but that's one.

[Dean McManis]

I also think that the scaling makes a big difference. Many consumer electronics displays have relatively inexpensive scalers built-in that de-interlace the image and resize to the display's native panel resolution.

Whereas the computer uses advanced DVD player software, video circuitry, and a VERY fast and capable CPU to handle the scaling. Only the best PC DVD player scaling software can handle the troublesome video based material well, but some packages do.
In addition, laptops usually have accelerated video cards that have special algorithms for high speed, realtime image/video processing. and all of that together conspires to provide a great looking movie picture on your laptop.

I also take my PC laptop or iBook and some DVDs on longer trips as the picture quality looks great, and the movies are certainly better than most TV programming in hotels, and it's free too.

[Nick M]

Pixel Desnity. 1280x720 pixels crammed into a 14" display are going to look much more smoother than 1280x720 pixels spread out over a 40 or 50" display. As the screen gets bigger, you need a higher resolution to increase pixel density for a smoother image and the anti-aliasing quality/features many of those displays bring.

Pixel Response Time. Many PC LCDs have real good pixel response time for gamers... no blur. Some of the cheaper LCDs are god slow.

[Ovation]

So if I was to consider an LCD display for my HT, I should make sure its native resolution can be matched by a good upscaling DVD player exactly, to bypass its internal scaler/de-interlacer? Or buy one that has a good quality internal setup (mucho $$$$, I presume)?

My room is relatively small and while I can accomodate an RPTV, a flat panel would be more convenient. I've recently started considering a projector, but am hesitant about doing my TV watching on a projector. Ideally, an all in one display (TV/movies/future HD content) would be the best solution. It's early in my research (typically I take about a year to research, audition and etc. before buying a major component) but with so many choices out there, I'd like to narrow my focus a bit and then evaluate different products within that category. Right now, projectors, RPTVs, flat panels and all their sub-types are possible. I'd like to narrow it down to one sub-type (DLP, just as an example) and examine the various possibilities from there. LCD, in many ways, would seem to meet my needs regarding no burn in (OAR is OAR to me--I will NOT stretch a picture) and potential flat panel, but it has some limitations. Plasma worries me with its potential burn in issues regarding 4:3 material. DLP doesn't come in a flat panel display. Nor does LCoS as far as I know. Projectors seem too narrow in purpose (unless someone can convince me that they are a viable TV watching solution).