By Joonyoung Ryu, ZDnet Korea, and CNET Asia staff (products@asia.cnet.com)
Feb 01, 2007
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/hd-world/0,3800011581,61968888,00.htm

What is an HD notebook?
The High-Definition (HD) notebook, which has recently been attracting considerable attention, may be regarded as “a secret weapon” that embodies hidden strategies by computer laptop makers.

	The Toshiba Qosmio G30 is HD video-ready with its HD-DVD optical drive.

In particular, the performance of the HD notebook's core components including the CPU has been improved to the level of high-end desktop computers. The LCD panel and graphics processor of the HD notebook have top-class performance, which consumers can easily confirm. In some cases, users can enjoy video on a notebook whose quality is as sharp and as good as an expensive HDTV. In short, the HD notebook is a "PC and TV", on which you can perform various tasks and enjoy entertainment features.

The HD notebook is equipped with a dual-core CPU (Intel's Core Duo and Core 2 Duo, and AMD's Turion (64x2)) as an essential component, enabling it to display high-quality video which was difficult on traditional notebooks.

The most compelling characteristic of the HD notebook is the LCD panel. The resolution of the HD notebook's LCD panel is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, which is superior to that of ordinary LCD TVs. As a result, you can even clearly see the skin pores of an actor displayed on the notebook.

Sony's Vaio VGN-AR18GP packs in a high-capacity Blu-ray drive.

The strongest point of a laptop is mobility. You can take the notebook with you anywhere, which is something you cannot do with an HDTV due to its size. If you can use the wireless Internet service Wibro or the wireless LAN service of high-speed Internet service providers, you can enjoy high-quality video content while on the road.

Currently, there are four or five computer makers that are producing or set to produce high-end HD notebooks. The market for notebooks is undergoing great cuts in prices, which negatively affects the desktop PC market, so there are so many low-priced notebook computers in the market offered at less than 1 million won.

We expect the market share of the HD notebook will increase gradually. Alongside that, the market for notebooks will be subdivided more specifically. These developments will further draw in a significant number of users who enjoy viewing or editing HD digital video or playing 3D games, which were impossible to do on existing notebooks.

Differences between Blu-ray and HD-DVD Blu-ray technology is supported by electronics giants such as Sony, Samsung, Phillips, and Panasonic. The storage capacity of Blu-ray media is at least 50 gigabytes (GB), which is six times higher than any existing DVD. Blu-ray DVDs can store a 13-hour normal-quality video or 2-hour high-quality video. HD-DVD, which is supported by Toshiba and NEC, and is compatible with the current DVD standard and cheaper than Blu-ray. HD-DVD's storage capacity is about three times that of the DVD disk (4.7 GB), which is 15GB for single-layer discs and 30GB for double-layer discs. It can support recording and playback of existing CD or DVD discs. You can enjoy high-quality video at 1080p resolution, which is about six times sharper than the existing DVD. Blu-ray’s advantage is its huge storage capacity, whereas HD-DVD is comparatively cheap. So these two products are leading the market with equal influence.

What can you do with an HD notebook?

A HDMI port is required to stream HD videos to external displays. (Click for larger image)

It is possible to implement perfect A/V through the HD notebook’s HDMI port. The HD notebook can support full-HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and has a dual-core CPU and enough RAM/HDD capacity. You will be satisfied with its home theater features.

If you use a large-sized screen such as LCD or PDP, an A/V receiver, and 5.1-channel speakers, you can convert them into a perfect AV system through an HDMI connection. Therefore, through a simple sync cable connection, you will enjoy high-quality digital video and audio which are excellent in quality and not compressed.

You can play 3D games requiring a high-end system and edit digital video, which are things not easily done on ordinary notebook PCs. Although standard notebooks can play 3D games or edit video, they can't efficiently perform such power-hungry computing tasks. But HD notebooks, which are available now or will be available in the near future, come with dual-core CPU support and are equipped with an excellent fast graphics core.

Having a 1GB memory is more than enough for existing high-end desktop PCs. In other words, you can easily use applications such as Adobe Premiere for editing digital video even while you are on the road.

With embedded high-performance graphics chipset:
Generally, notebooks have integrated graphics cores in the mainboard’s chipset for various reasons, such as due to limited internal space. However, the integrated graphics chipset is not sufficient for high-resolution video required by full-HD-class displays. To solve this, the integrated advanced graphics chipsets for mobile applications use powerful Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 in HD notebooks. The graphics chipsets used in current HD notebooks are ATI Mobility Radeon X1800/X1600/X1400/X700/X600 and Nvidia Geforce Go 7900/7800/7900/6600).

A Blu-ray disc has a storage capacity which is six times more than existing DVDs. (Click for larger image)

In addition, the 3D performance of notebooks has greatly increased in portables with SLI technology, which maximizes performance by connecting two graphics cards in parallel.

Employing next-generation storage:
Blu-ray has a storage capacity of at least 50GB, which is six times more than existing DVDs. On the other hand, HD-DVD is the same size as the existing DVD, but the storage capacity is three times than the DVD. Using both sides of an HD-DVD disc ups the storage capacity to at least 30GB.

Dual-core CPU:
All HD notebooks are high-performance PCs capable of multiple processes such as running anti-virus applications or encoding a motion picture while playing an HD video. Accomplishing these power-hungry tasks requires a dual-core processor. As a result, most HD notebooks use Intel’s Core Duo and Core 2 Duo and AMD's Turion 64X2.

Differences between HD and ordinary notebooks

	Ordinary notebook	HD notebook
CPU	Single core	Intel's dual-core CPU (Core Duo and Core 2 Duo of Intel and AMD's Turion (64x2))
Memory	256–512MB	1–2GB
LCD resolution	1,280 x 1,024	1,920 x 1,200
LCD size	12.1–15.4 inches	17-inch widescreen LCD
Graphics core	Mainboard has onboard graphics core	Equipped with separate graphics core (ATI Mobility Radeon X1800/X1600/X1400/X700/X600, Nvidia Geforce Go 7900/7800/7900/6600)
ODD	Combo, DVD±RW	HD-DVD, Blu-ray
HDD capacity	40–80GB	100–200GB
Weight	1–3kg	3kg or more
HDMI support	Not supported	Supported