Apple and HP are both poised to introduce notebooks in 2007 that use LED-backlit LCDs, according to new rumors. Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes reports that the two computer makers are expected to launch these notebooks in the second quarter of the year. LED-backlit displays have slowly been making their way into consumer electronics lately, with Samsung leading the way with some of their LED HDTVs—the company has also claimed that all of their LCDs will be LED-based by 2008. However, LED-backlit displays have been criticized for their high power consumption (and often higher cost), therefore making them less suitable for portable use.
Despite this, companies like Apple and HP could be interested in promoting their notebooks as multimedia machines as well as portable workstations. If so, they would likely benefit from LED displays that offer better color reproduction and uniformity throughout the display, as well as improved contrast ratio and brightness uniformity. DigiTimes' sources claim that the HP notebook will run Windows Vista and "will aim at high-end, multimedia uses," but there are no details on the Apple notebook. Fact or fiction? Apple has had a knack for introducing new technology to the consumer-level buyer in the past, so it wouldn't be shocking to see them launch an LED-based MacBook Pro sometime in the near future. The long-anticipated $100 laptop is also expected to make use of a dual-mode display that will be LED-based, so perhaps it may not be long before notebooks with LED displays make it into the hands of consumers.
