Notebook screen sizes are getting bigger, but many find 17in displays too big so the display manufacturers are working on bringing out 15.6 and 16in displays to allow for slightly bigger screens.

There's no word on the resolution of these new panels, but considering the current resolutions of 15.4 and 17in panels, we'd expect just as wide range of options for the new sizes.

Samsung is already shipping 16in panels and AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectrnics are both developing 15.6in panels. The 15.6in panels shouldn't cost any more than the current 15.4in panels, which is good news, although the question is how much of a difference 0.2in makes.

HP should be one of the first companies to ship 16in notebooks, followed closley by Acer. Acer is also looking at doing 15.6in models and so does Asus.

In related news  it looks like LED backlight is becoming more popular and you can expect to see this on more notebooks and on larger screen sizes over the next couple of years.

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