Earlier today, Panasonic announced refreshed models of its long-established Let’s Note laptop series. However, for the first time in its history, we have a Let’s Note portable that doesn’t have a VGA port. According to a report by Nikkei Japan (machine translation), this is probably the beginning of the end for laptops sporting VGA output, with “other companies to follow suit.”
A number of factors have precipitated Panasonic’s removal of the venerable VGA port. The Nikkei report highlights the strong competition from HDMI, which can simultaneously transmit audio. We also see that the new Panasonic Let's Note CF-SC6 models feature a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, which can also be used for video out. That’s three separate ports remaining on the Let’s Note to drive external displays.
Another disadvantage of VGA highlighted was that it is a rather bulky port for thin and light designs like the Let’s Note. At the refreshed laptop product launch today, size and weight were confirmed to be key considerations driving forward Panasonic’s consumer designs. The newest Let's Note laptop is just 919g in its 12-inch edition, and Panasonic Connect Executive Officer Kiyotaka Yamamoto said, "In addition to durability and long operating times, we will continue to focus on reducing the weight by even one gram."
In its favor, the Nikkei report cites the ruggedness of the VGA port. Moreover, a university professor it talked to indicated that turning to VGA can often be the answer when connection problems with HDMI occur. It seems like the educational market is one of the few remaining segments that appreciates the inclusion of a VGA port.
The 15-pin VGA port is a very old standard, originally arriving with the 1987 IBM PS/2 PC. This analog output doesn’t support as high resolutions and refresh rates as its modern rivals, of course, with the maximum specs 2048×1536px (QXGA) @85 Hz. Naturally, VGA is also losing support from visual output peripheral makers releasing new monitors, TVs, and projectors.
VGA ports long-gone from western brand laptops
Mainstream laptop brands available in the West mostly phased out VGA ports in the 2010s. Usually, HDMI took its place. More recently, popular American brands have sought to minimize laptop ports and standardize on Thunderbolt / USB-C for everything. This offers simplicity, standard docking equipment, and facilitates thinner/lighter portables.
Reading this news from the West, we are again struck by how ‘futuristic’ Japan seemingly clings to the oldest technologies. For example, we reported on Japanese bureaucracy still requiring floppy disks and/or optical media in the 2020s, despite efforts to phase them out.
Nikkei reports that Panasonic was basically the last bastion of support for the VGA port in consumer laptops. Fujitsu phased out the port in 2019, and NEC too. Yet both these rivals appear to retain some designs with VGA ports for corporate markets.
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