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Are macbook screens good?
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when put side by side, the MBA or MBP LED screens are better, but I wouldn't notice the difference otherwise. MB displays are fine 
For one thing, I believe that matte displays are better. Looking at my old MacBook's display, the viewing angle was much narrower than on my MacBook Pro matte. The color saturation on the MacBook would shift as you moved your head in any direction, while the screen of the MBP remains consistent almost however I move my head.
My screen is okay. I MUCH prefer the matte screen of my old iBook though. It could be all in my head, but it seems to give me a headache when I'm looking at it too long. Eye strain perhaps? My matte iMac causes no issues, but then it is also larger.
So I guess my answer is, meh. For me, it will do, but the very second I have a matte option, I will take it.
Oh and viewing angles are also poor!
So I guess my answer is, meh. For me, it will do, but the very second I have a matte option, I will take it.
Oh and viewing angles are also poor!
I've had a PowerBook G3 Pismo, iBook G3 (700MHz and 900MHz), and iBook G4 (900MHz, I think). I feel the display of my MacBook is far better than any of those.
Define "good"? The MB screen is fine, I have no problems with it. When compared to the MBP and the MBA of course those screens are better, they are more expensive machines! But, for what the MB is as a mid level laptop the screen is great. I've seen much worse on HP and other machines.
The viewing angle on the MacBook is horrible in my opinion. I wish Apple gave the option for a matte screen.
I must have gotten two "lemons" in a row, since I've now had two MacBooks with horrible backlight bleed at the bottom. The viewing angle is not great either, but at least (somewhat) adjustable - although the tilting angle on Apple laptop screens is quite limited.
Do you think an LED upgrade for the MacBook (if there is one in June) is worth waiting for? (I've been waiting for quite a while now) Will there be less backlight bleeding?
Do you think an LED upgrade for the MacBook (if there is one in June) is worth waiting for? (I've been waiting for quite a while now) Will there be less backlight bleeding?
As far as the 13" Macbook, I have seen better. The viewing angle isn't too great. I have a 3 year old el-cheepo Windows E-Machine laptop that actually has a better display.
I'm hoping that Apple upgrades the display on the regular Macbook soon. It really is outdated.
I'm hoping that Apple upgrades the display on the regular Macbook soon. It really is outdated.
Agreed. I went down on Sunday to actually buy a MB. Once I saw the screens, I was disappointed and bought an iMac instead. The screen was the only thing I disliked about the MacBook.
To me, the screen seemed to be washed out. The colors seemed very pale. I didn't think to see if the brightness was turned down to make it look like that.
When I went over and looked at the iMacs, the displays on those seemed 100 times better than the MacBooks so I got one.
I went to the Apple store over the weekend and tested the MB, MBP, and ACD with the tests on this site:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
The MB did OK, but not great. The MBP (LED) did a bit better, but still wasn't perfect--on the quick contrast test (colored bars), the 32 bar was too bright compared to the difference between the rest of the bars. The ACD (I think it was a 20") was almost perfect. I don't remember all the results, but it is very easy to do in the store. It is probably a good idea to look at the ACD first and use it as a reference for other monitors.
The tests above can't test color accuracy, but they are good for contrast and viewing angle. I'm guessing that all of the displays could be improved with calibration. Also, I ignored the inversion test and the response time test because they seem to have unpredictable results.
The quickest way to tell if you are looking at a good LCD is to look at it from the bottom. If the color doesn't change noticeably (or at all), it is most likely one of the better panel types (IPS, MVA, or PVA) instead of the more common TN type. Another indicator is response times. Low response times, while good for gaming, usually indicate a TN panel (but not always, and slow response times don't necessarily mean a good panel).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#Types
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
The MB did OK, but not great. The MBP (LED) did a bit better, but still wasn't perfect--on the quick contrast test (colored bars), the 32 bar was too bright compared to the difference between the rest of the bars. The ACD (I think it was a 20") was almost perfect. I don't remember all the results, but it is very easy to do in the store. It is probably a good idea to look at the ACD first and use it as a reference for other monitors.
The tests above can't test color accuracy, but they are good for contrast and viewing angle. I'm guessing that all of the displays could be improved with calibration. Also, I ignored the inversion test and the response time test because they seem to have unpredictable results.
The quickest way to tell if you are looking at a good LCD is to look at it from the bottom. If the color doesn't change noticeably (or at all), it is most likely one of the better panel types (IPS, MVA, or PVA) instead of the more common TN type. Another indicator is response times. Low response times, while good for gaming, usually indicate a TN panel (but not always, and slow response times don't necessarily mean a good panel).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#Types
Coming from a last gen 12 inch Powerbook, I can confidently say my blackbook's screen is significantly brighter and clearer. I am not a professional, however, but you will get a more color accurate screen on the MBP with higher resolution, no qiestio about that. But for a consumer, I love my screen.
i love the screen. People complain about it not being big enough. Maybe for them its not, but when I went back onto my old pc with the 17" screen, i literally had to move back, it was just too big. The macbook screen is bright, clear, and very "crisp".
My MacBook screen is nice and clear, and bright enough that I have never had a moment where I have said "Gosh, this is too dim".
As far as the viewing angles go, I can practically turn my system 90 degrees and I can still see the screen just fine. However, if you are talking about tilting the screen forward or back, then you run into problems quickly.
As compared to a desktop LCD, it is a piece of tin. There is not a single laptop LCD display that can display 8bit color, they all use 6bit panels, so color reproduction is obviously going to be better on a desktop panel, contrast ratio too.
But, the screen works for me, so I am sticking with it.
As far as the viewing angles go, I can practically turn my system 90 degrees and I can still see the screen just fine. However, if you are talking about tilting the screen forward or back, then you run into problems quickly.
As compared to a desktop LCD, it is a piece of tin. There is not a single laptop LCD display that can display 8bit color, they all use 6bit panels, so color reproduction is obviously going to be better on a desktop panel, contrast ratio too.
But, the screen works for me, so I am sticking with it.
I'm talking about vertical viewing angles--horizontal is not usually a big problem, although it can be if you frequently need to show several people the screen at the same time. On my old laptop, there is an extremely narrow range where the viewing angle is right across the whole screen, and if I tilt it even a little the color at the top or bottom changes. When I look at the purple viewing angle test image on the page above, it actually looks like a gradient from purple at the bottom to blue at the top. I can tilt the screen to be all purple or all blue, but tilted towards me (purple) washes out the screen and tilted away from me (blue) over darkens the screen. It is only about right in the middle 1/3, and none of it is as saturated as on my CRT.
I just got a macbook to replace my powerbook. I must say the screen is a pretty big disappointment. If you're looking at the thing straight on it's ok, but the viewing angle is just horrible. I'm honestly wondering if I should sell it and keep the powerbook and wait and see if an update fixes it. When the $400 dell your friend just got has a much better LCD then your $1100 macbook it's a little annoying