Privacy and security are major concerns for most PC users. Not only do many users endeavor to protect their vital data and personal information from malware and other potential threats, both locally and in the cloud, but also from prying eyes glancing at their screens. As such, many users – especially road warriors and those in corporate environments -- have opted for add-on privacy filters that obscure the contents of their displays when being viewed off-axis. With privacy filters installed, the display’s contents remain fully visible to the user when being viewed straight-on, while prying eyes off to the side are unable to easily discern what is on-screen.

Add-on privacy filters don’t always offer proper fitment, however, and can be cumbersome on today’s thinner-and-lighter notebooks. To that end, some notebook manufacturers have begun integrating their own privacy technologies into their product’s display panels. Just like add-on filters, these technologies are designed to obscure the displays during off-axis viewing, though they don’t add any additional bulk and can be enabled or disabled at the touch of a button.

In this paper, we evaluate three laptops that feature various integrated privacy panel technologies, not only for their effectiveness and the overall user experience, but to measure their impact on battery life.