Reading a DSTN display may be harder work in poor lighting conditions than with a TFT display, and a viewing angle of around 20 degrees is important for best results, but if you only need your notebook for normal office tasks, fax and e-mail, DSTN technology is perfectly adquate. However, fast movements will appear blurred, so graphics applications and games are not really an option.

Why are TFT displays more expensive?
Production of TFT displays is technically demanding and very expensive, with tiny individual transistors responsible for controlling each pixel. Since colour information is needed, there are three transistors for each pixel for red, green and blue (RGB mode). In a 12.1" display with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, that amounts to a staggering 1.44 million transistors.
Brightness adjustment is an important feature, allowing the right setting to be selected to suit different lighting conditions, which is why Toshiba includes a display brightness setting in the Control Panel. This function also supports the definition of different scenarios which can be saved and retrieved later for rapid adjustment to changes in lighting.
Although a larger screen always offers higher resolution, the physical dimensions of a notebook obviously limit the size of the display. However, a TFT display with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels will provide a good working environment.

Cutting-edge technology: polysilicon displays
In the future, all display technology will offer the ultra-crisp images, faster redrawing of the display and outstanding contrast of polysilicon displys. In addition, these new screens will be considerably more reliable, use less power and allow slimmer designs. Toshiba set a new benchmark in notebook technology when it introduced these new technologies on the Portégé 3110CT. In the meantime, polysilicon displays have also been deployed on the high-end Portégé 3440CT model.