Lenovo's Super Bright Outdoor X200 LCD

By Marcus Yam
published

400 nits could be bright enough to stay with you to work while you play.

Those who work with laptops in uncontrolled lighting environments know that glossy screens aren't fun to work with. Thankfully, Lenovo knows this and that's why ThinkPads all have matte screens. But sometimes just having a matte screen just isn't enough.

In addition to the new multitouch screen for the ThinkPad X200 Tablet, Lenovo is also giving it an optional "super bright" screen that's better for outdoors.

Lenovo says that the optional screen features a 400 nit screen, which is nearly as bright as the HP Radiance screen on the HP Envy 13, but the X200 features a matte coating with a 1.2-percent reflectivity and wide viewing angle.

ThinkPad X200 Tablet with the multitouch screen and outdoor screen currently sells for $1,704.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jellico
    I guess it's not always bad to nit pick. :>
    Reply
  • thomaseron
    Matte displays rule! :)
    Reply
  • Major7up
    This will be obsolete when that other screen comes to market, I forget the name of the company, but Toms had an article/video of it a month or two ago. It turned off the color and backlight when outdoors for easy viewing in direct sunlight.
    Reply
  • I prefer glossy screens! Better contrast ratios, and sharper imaging.
    Reply
  • doc70
    major7upThis will be obsolete when that other screen comes to market, I forget the name of the company, but Toms had an article/video of it a month or two ago. It turned off the color and backlight when outdoors for easy viewing in direct sunlight.I know what you're talking about, it is the Pixel Qi technology screen and it's awesome. I've been posting about it on this forum and does not use any power when in direct sunlight because it turns off the backlighting and uses the e-paper mode. Sure, not colors (or at least not good ones), but who cares, if you are outdoors you probably need a good map/gps solution to run or something like that, not high def gaming stuff... That, in my opinion, is the future of outdoors laptop screen, not increasing the nits at the expense of battery time.
    Reply
  • liemfukliang
    I think first thing the made is should be true 8 bit / channel or true 24 bit LCD. I don't like to be cheated with interpolate 6 bit / channel or 18 bit LCD.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    NegativeX400 nits, while better, is not 100% sunlight readable.Sunlight readable generally only starts til around 500nits and even then, you have to worry about glare, to which you then need a matte screen in place. Preferably, 750-1000nits is what is considered sunlight readable in aviation.400 nits will never cut it in direct sunlight. (I've been developing portable computer systems/displays for general aviation for about 6 years now... 400nits doesn't cut it)
    Yeah, but aviation equipment is expensive...
    Father's old boss spent $15,000 on a pentium 3 and 512MB of DDR to use on his jet, just because it was certified (this was only a year or so ago...).


    1000 nit screen and I would no longer need lightbulbs at night. =D
    Reply
  • Andraxxus
    This looks like a nice buy.
    Reply
  • Boycott Chinese products! Don't support lenovo's junk and the Chinese gov.
    Reply
  • thomaseron
    ProDigit80I prefer glossy screens! Better contrast ratios, and sharper imaging.
    What about fingerprints? I know, I know, "don't touch the screen", but still...
    Reply