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sat24

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2019
230
146
Can anyone comment how is the ghosting compared to a 2015 MacBook Pro?
I was indeed comparing the 16" with my 2014 MBP - the latter is very similar to the 2015 in terms of panel. The "text smearing" is more pronounced on the 16" compared to the 2014 MBP. The smoother the scrolling is and the text being white(r) on black(er), the more pronounced this effect happens to be.

That said, I am finding that if you are focused on the content and not looking for this flaw, it grows on you :D. And here's the weirdest thing - the moment I started noticing this on my 16", I ended up also seeing this on my Surface Book 2 which was perfectly fine in the past.

Weird...

I mean me, I mean I am weird. :)
 
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katastropoulos

macrumors member
Dec 8, 2019
33
35
Germany
Yes, this is something that you cannot "unsee" once you noticed it ;-P
But it does not bother me. What drives me crazy is that Safari does only smooth scroll via the touchpad. When you scroll a page up or down with the cursor key the scrolling is very jerky. Chrome on Mac OS too.
Maybe I am weird, too ;-)

Janni
 

vinegarshots

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2018
937
1,294
Someone should test this on the iPhone11 too, as this is something I noticed on my phone from day 1 .
 

StONE_ROdGEr

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 23, 2019
89
74
2012 at work and then a 16 so yeah, I haven’t been used to the 2015+ models ?
[automerge]1575837428[/automerge]
Any way you can also quote the values for the previous generation - pre-2016?

I ask for that because I think there was a marked change (in the negative direction) in response times from the 2014/2015 models to 2016+ models.

I also believe that the folks that are complaining here (myself included) are coming from the pre-2016 models and are noticing the biggest change, whereas the folks that came from the 2016+ are fine - either because
1) they got adjusted a while back [1-3 years is a long time :)] when they got the 2016+ laptops OR
2) they have never owned the pre-2016 models (i.e. "new" users).
 
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Sanpete

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2016
3,695
1,665
Utah
Any way you can also quote the values for the previous generation - pre-2016?

I ask for that because I think there was a marked change (in the negative direction) in response times from the 2014/2015 models to 2016+ models.

I also believe that the folks that are complaining here (myself included) are coming from the pre-2016 models and are noticing the biggest change, whereas the folks that came from the 2016+ are fine - either because
1) they got adjusted a while back [1-3 years is a long time :)] when they got the 2016+ laptops OR
2) they have never owned the pre-2016 models (i.e. "new" users).
I'm not aware of any measurements for the earlier models, so it's possible they were faster, though I don't recall this being a major complaint about the 2016 15" when it came out. Maybe the keyboard kept people from focusing on it as much.
 

sat24

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2019
230
146
...
What drives me crazy is that Safari does only smooth scroll via the touchpad. When you scroll a page up or down with the cursor key the scrolling is very jerky. Chrome on Mac OS too.
Maybe I am weird, too ;-)

Janni
This is very likely a software issue that can be fixed.
 

canadianmacguy

Contributor
Apr 8, 2002
42
24
San Diego
That's not a bug, just how they've coded it - the cursor keys are going up and down by say 10 points, while using the trackpad to scroll it would go up and down by 1 point, but is getting sent really quickly (faster than the keydown rate of the arrow keys), so it looks a lot smoother.


This is very likely a software issue that can be fixed.
 
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-narcan-

macrumors regular
Sep 29, 2011
174
207
Now have two 2019 16" MBP. First one was made 11-11, new one just arrived. Think new one has worse ghosting...

Made this image to test / compare the ghosting. Dragging this image around smoothly will produce a trail behind the dots (I see it most pronounced on the red and blue). See it on both MacBook Pros, I think pretty similar after testing. But no ghosting on the LG 5k.

ghost.png
 

works

macrumors newbie
Dec 5, 2019
2
1
23.666778,116.631775
I made a simply keynote with auto text scroll. For me the issue is pretty severe. In fact you can I can feel the problem just scrolling this thread.
 

Attachments

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Chrisjmv

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2016
301
60
I was in a German Apple Store today and tested two MacBook Pro 16s both had ghosting, stronger than my old 2017 model. the ghosting was not that extreme but for me to recognize.

is it really that it can be fixed by software or is it a hardware problem? did you test with Intel graphics card or with the AMD GPU?
 

stephanc

macrumors newbie
Dec 9, 2019
21
9
Hi all,

Received my 16" yesterday. After some playing around last night and today I've noticed a potential issue I'd like to compare. When using the launch pad and moving between apps, the display seems to have ghosting - its not smoothly transitioning between each page of apps. Ive noticed the same thing for stuff like text when scrolling, its blurry until you stop still. Has anyone else noticed this at all?

I'm using the 16" MBP as is.

I do have a 165hz monitor that I am used to, however I use an older 15" 2012 at work and this doesn't display the same thing I've noticed here :/

Cheers.
396/5000


I was just about to order an MBP 16 "then I read about the pop sound and ghost screen. I took my bike and visited the local Apple retailer. To my surprise, I had a very hard time distinguishing my MBP 15" mid 2015 and MBP 16 " The ghost problem is either very exaggerated or it is a problem with a certain batch. I raised the volume at high volume and it was absolutely no pop sound.

I don't doubt those who think they have problems but it seems to vary between different individuals.

I will postpone my order and follow this thread.

Stephan
Norway
 
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StONE_ROdGEr

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 23, 2019
89
74
I was in a German Apple Store today and tested two MacBook Pro 16s both had ghosting, stronger than my old 2017 model. the ghosting was not that extreme but for me to recognize.

is it really that it can be fixed by software or is it a hardware problem? did you test with Intel graphics card or with the AMD GPU?


Both, doesn’t seem to make a difference.
 

7even

macrumors 65816
Jan 11, 2008
1,048
79
396/5000


I was just about to order an MBP 16 "then I read about the pop sound and ghost screen. I took my bike and visited the local Apple retailer. To my surprise, I had a very hard time distinguishing my MBP 15" mid 2015 and MBP 16 " The ghost problem is either very exaggerated or it is a problem with a certain batch. I raised the volume at high volume and it was absolutely no pop sound.

I don't doubt those who think they have problems but it seems to vary between different individuals.

I will postpone my order and follow this thread.

Stephan
Norway

I do see occasional moments when there seems to be a bit of ghosting on the 16" screen, but they come and go so I'm not sure if it's me or the screen. Most of the time to my eyes it looks identical to the 2018 15" MBP I use daily, certainly in the ufotest.com tests as well as one of the other test images above.

I would upgrade in a heartbeat if Apple introduced a 120hz screen in a future model though.
 

brokenpc

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2019
19
9
Funny, I was annoyed by ghosting on a XPS13, switched to a MBP15 a while ago, and now with the 16 I was not even thinking about ghosting when I read the news about it. Suddenly I can see it :( :D

Enough joking though, I have sever ghosting too, while trying to see it in videos, it appears to be more annoying when scrolling or going through launchpad :/
 
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sat24

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2019
230
146
Funny, I was annoyed by ghosting on a XPS13, switched to a MBP15 a while ago, and now with the 16 I was not even thinking about ghosting when I read the news about it. Suddenly I can see it :( :D

Enough joking though, I have sever ghosting too, while trying to see it in videos, it appears to be more annoying when scrolling or going through launchpad :/
Are you saying you can see the ghosting effect in videos? I have been unable to. Been watching 4K60 videos and they are butter smooth (to my eyes). The only place this text ghosting bothers me is with white text on black background - which unfortunately are becoming all too common with dark mode for apps and websites.

And like someone said, one really weird thing is that this effect seems to come and go - I swear I can so easily reproduce it at times, and other times I struggle to see this effect even when trying explicitly. Ugh.
 
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brokenpc

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2019
19
9
Are you saying you can see the ghosting effect in videos? I have been unable to. Been watching 4K60 videos and they are butter smooth (to my eyes). The only place this text ghosting bothers me is with white text on black background - which unfortunately are becoming all too common with dark mode for apps and websites.

And like someone said, one really weird thing is that this effect seems to come and go - I swear I can so easily reproduce it at times, and other times I struggle to see this effect even when trying explicitly. Ugh.

It may be some kind of energy saving thing, like there is e.g. overdrive for some displays to have faster response times a.s.o.
Also, somebody somewhere wrote that the ghosting stops when setting the refresh rate to 47,95hz - this causes the display refresh rate to be less obviously, so it gets sluggish and the ghosting less seeable due not that much pixels during "a move", that's what I think at least.

It's most noticeable in launchpad though, because one cannot change the scrolling speed of the icons when swiping, when you scroll text you sometimes scroll slower a.s.o.

Anyway, maybe there is some power saving functionality, something like safe mode or so with only a terminal and no drivers would be interesting. Or windows :D

Edit: Just tested against a MBP13 2016 with an iPhone 11 Pro with Slo - Mo, it seems its worse on the 13. Interesting.

Edit: According to Notebookcheck the MBP 13 2016 has a 48% slower black to white response time.
 
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_Kiki_

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2017
961
281
It may be some kind of energy saving thing, like there is e.g. overdrive for some displays to have faster response times a.s.o.
Also, somebody somewhere wrote that the ghosting stops when setting the refresh rate to 47,95hz - this causes the display refresh rate to be less obviously, so it gets sluggish and the ghosting less seeable due not that much pixels during "a move", that's what I think at least.

It's most noticeable in launchpad though, because one cannot change the scrolling speed of the icons when swiping, when you scroll text you sometimes scroll slower a.s.o.

Anyway, maybe there is some power saving functionality, something like safe mode or so with only a terminal and no drivers would be interesting. Or windows :D

Edit: Just tested against a MBP13 2016 with an iPhone 11 Pro with Slo - Mo, it seems its worse on the 13. Interesting.

Edit: According to Notebookcheck the MBP 13 2016 has a 48% slower black to white response time.

looks like you aren't Mac user, because there is a safe mode in MacOS
 

mightyjabba

macrumors 68000
Sep 25, 2014
1,586
328
Tatooine
The only place this text ghosting bothers me is with white text on black background - which unfortunately are becoming all too common with dark mode for apps and websites.
That's an interesting point. I wonder how many people complaining about ghosting are using dark mode. I generally don't, and I do think I see the effect a bit more when it is enabled. Still not that big of a deal IMO.
 

brokenpc

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2019
19
9
looks like you aren't Mac user, because there is a safe mode in MacOS

Wow, what a helpful post, thank you. Shift or -x at boot time...

Please delete /var/db/.AppleSetupDone on your Mac an try again. :D

I think you misunderstood my sentence there, I was giving funny examples which one could consider.
 

Chrisjmv

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2016
301
60
Somewhere in a German forum a member posted with the latest Catalina Dev Beta the ghosting should be gone!?

I don’t know cam anyone test it maybe ? I’m unsure to buy the 16 MacBook Pro. If ghosting is like it is and seems so far it’s absolutely a no go compared even to the 2017 Model.
 

brokenpc

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2019
19
9
Are you saying you can see the ghosting effect in videos? I have been unable to. Been watching 4K60 videos and they are butter smooth (to my eyes). The only place this text ghosting bothers me is with white text on black background - which unfortunately are becoming all too common with dark mode for apps and websites.

And like someone said, one really weird thing is that this effect seems to come and go - I swear I can so easily reproduce it at times, and other times I struggle to see this effect even when trying explicitly. Ugh.

One thing to try is using the screen for a longer time and to see what happens. Like a mobile LCD panel outside during winter time, they usually ghost more then.
Somewhere in a German forum a member posted with the latest Catalina Dev Beta the ghosting should be gone!?

I don’t know cam anyone test it maybe ? I’m unsure to buy the 16 MacBook Pro. If ghosting is like it is and seems so far it’s absolutely a no go compared even to the 2017 Model.

I immediately installed the beta when I read that, the popping noises disappeared, ghosting is still there.
 
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