Smart TV

A bezel is the frame around a screen. “Bezel-less” rarely means there is no frame at all. It usually means the frame is so thin that the display seems to reach the edges of the device. Put an older phone or laptop next to a new one and the difference is obvious: the screen fills far more of the front. Thinner bezels are a big part of that change. But bezels are not just decoration. They protect the panel, hold cameras and sensors, and give your hands somewhere to rest. Whether thinner is better depends on the device and how you use it. What Is a Bezel? A bezel is the border between a device’s screen and its outer edge. On a phone, it is the strip around the touchscreen. On a laptop, it is the frame around the panel in the lid. On a monitor or TV, it is the visible edge around the picture. The bezel is not part of the screen. The screen, or active display area, is where the image appears. The bezel surrounds it, and it can be thick, thin, or colored to blend in with the rest of the device. What Does Bezel-Less Mean? “Bezel-less” describes a screen with a very thin border, not one with no border. The goal is to fit a larger screen into roughly the same size body, which raises the screen-to-body ratio: the share of the front surface taken up by the display. Manufacturers use several names for the same idea: The border you see when the screen is on Many modern displays have two borders: the physical frame you can see when the device is off, and an inactive black strip inside the glass, around the edge of the panel, that never lights up. In product photos and when the screen is off, the two can look like one thin line. When the screen is on, the inactive strip becomes visible, so the border looks thicker than it did in the marketing images. To judge the real border, turn the screen on and measure from the outer edge of the device to the first lit pixels, or look for reviews that measure it this way. Why Do Devices Have Bezels? Bezels exist for three practical reasons. Advantages of Thin Bezels The main benefit of thin bezels is more screen for the same size device. Disadvantages of Thin Bezels Thinner bezels involve trade-offs, and they are not right for every device. How Bezels Differ Across Devices How much bezel size matters depends on how you hold, carry or view the device. Device What the bezel usually holds Main benefit of a thinner bezel Main reason to keep some bezel Smartphone Front camera, sensors, earpiece Bigger screen in a pocketable body Fewer accidental edge touches Tablet Front camera, display edge More screen area Room to grip with your thumbs Laptop Webcam, microphones, hinge structure Larger screen in a smaller lid A better-placed, better-quality webcam Monitor Display edge and housing Smaller gaps in multi-screen setups Little reason beyond cost TV Display housing and frame More immersive picture Little reason beyond cost Smartphones and Tablets Early smartphones had wide top and bottom bezels for physical home buttons, speakers and cameras. Over the past decade, home buttons disappeared, speakers shrank, and front cameras moved into notches, punch-holes, and in some phones under the display. Thin bezels are now common on smartphones, though their thickness still varies by model and price range. Tablets are the exception. They are held in two hands, often by the edges, so a modest border prevents stray touches. A tablet with slightly wider bezels is often more comfortable than one that pushes the screen to the edge. Laptops On a laptop, the top bezel matters most because it holds the webcam and microphones. Thin side bezels let manufacturers fit a bigger screen into a smaller lid, which helps portability. Bezel size tells you nothing about the panel itself. Judge a laptop display by its resolution, brightness, color accuracy and refresh rate, and check where the webcam sits before you buy. Monitors Thin bezels pay off most when you place monitors side by side. Two thick-bezel monitors leave a wide dark strip down the middle of your workspace, while thin bezels keep the gap small. This helps for coding, editing, trading and gaming setups. Monitors sold as “borderless” still show an inactive black edge when switched on, so compare the measured gap, not the marketing name. TVs TVs can have the thinnest bezels of all because nobody holds them. Samsung, for example, markets its Infinity Screen TVs as nearly bezel-less. Still, bezel size should be a minor factor when you buy a TV. Picture quality, panel type, brightness, HDR support, viewing angles and software matter far more. If you want to get more from the TV you already own, see our guide to boosting Smart TV picture quality. How to Choose the Right Bezel Design Treat bezel size as a design preference, not a measure of quality. A thin bezel improves some devices and makes others harder to use. Buyer checklist Frequently Asked Questions What is a bezel on a screen? A bezel is the border around the display of a phone, tablet, laptop, monitor or TV. It sits between the active screen area and the outer edge of the device. What does bezel-less mean? Bezel-less means the border around the screen is very thin. It does not mean the device has no frame at all. Are bezel-less screens better? Not always. Thin bezels give you more screen in a smaller body, but they can cause accidental touches, leave less room to grip a tablet, and push laptop webcams into worse positions. What is a bezel on a laptop? It is the frame around the screen in the laptop’s lid. The top bezel usually holds the webcam and microphones. Why do monitors have thin bezels? Thin bezels reduce the gap between screens placed side by side, which makes multi-monitor