Earlier quoted context omitted.
> No, it's caused by modern desktops being composited. Changing a single pixel in a window requires a full surface flush of that window to the GPU. So evolution. Does this mean that a laptop with lower screen resolution has better battety life ? It explaines why Win 10 is so crappy with screen and cursor updates.
A laptop with a lower screen resolution has entered battery life but that has more to do with the fact you need brighter backlights to get the same brightness from a more dense panel. Pretty common to see 1080p versions of laptops that also have 4K options have significantly more battery life.
Exactly why I hate how laptop manufacturers shove 4K displays into laptops just because it sounds impressive. 4K is more dense than any laptop needs (maaayyyybe 17" ones benefit, but at that size they're optimized for performance at the expense of battery life anyway). Would be great if more laptops had resolutions between 1080p and 4K so things can look sharp without being too hard on battery life.