Macbook Air 2012 - LG vs Samsung LCD

[bizack]

Originally Posted by Jobsian

Do you notice any immediate difference between the AUO and Samsung panels?

Superficially it appears more vibrant. I'll post a follow up after I've used the replacement for a bit. Glad I caught this now thanks to the color calib...

[Moshe1010]

13" MBA i7/8/256 from B&H. I have LG display.

[jmgag03]

I have an LG and a Samsung 2012 MBA sitting next to each other. You guys have ruined my new one. I ordered an i5 4GB of RAM and upgraded to a i7 8GB version when I realized I could customize it from MacMall and get 3% off. The i7 version is LG. I used the color profile, which helps, but now I just have a real or perceived wash out feel. I put them next to each other after applying the custom profile and there is still a difference.

[Jobsian]

Originally Posted by bizack

Superficially it appears more vibrant. I'll post a follow up after I've used the replacement for a bit. Glad I caught this now thanks to the color calib...

To the Apple store we go!

If the difference isn't huge I'm not going to ask for a replacement because of the minor hassle of Time Machine backup/restore/7-pass erase.

Can't wait to see what everyone's talking about. Part of me wishes that I'll not see a huge difference and just walk home with mine.

[mattopotamus]

Originally Posted by Jobsian

To the Apple store we go!

If the difference isn't huge I'm not going to ask for a replacement because of the minor hassle of Time Machine backup/restore/7-pass erase.

Can't wait to see what everyone's talking about. Part of me wishes that I'll not see a huge difference and just walk home with mine.

i think the difference is much greater pre color profile. Once you have a profile on it is much better.

[SoIsays]

Originally Posted by dcorban

My new 13" Air says: LTH133BT01A03

A quick duckduck search tells me this is a Samsung panel.

Mine is this as well for my 13" i5/4/256 from Best Buy

[usmaak]

Just thought I would join in on the conversation. Mine is a 13" base model i5/256GB/4. It has a Samsung panel and a Samsung SSD. I was considering returning it and ordering one with 8GB of RAM. I was also considering getting the MBP with the faster processor and 8GB of RAM for the same price as this model. But I'm not sure what to do. I like having the SSD. I have an SSD in my Windows computer, and it is MUCH faster than anything with a HDD. And I'm not really excited about the resolution difference, which I noticed long before I found out that there was actually a difference.

I'll probably just stick with what I can get from BB. Either the MBA that I have, or the MBP that costs the same. I'm not really sure if I even need the 8GB of RAM.

One other thing that I noticed is that along the very bottom of my screen, it is slightly darker than the rest of the screen. But I noticed that on all of the 11" and 13" ones that I saw at the Apple store and Best Buy. It's only noticeable on white screens.

[Hichisky]

Originally Posted by dyn

Depends on the person: what they say and whether they like it or not. Some people like more darker pictures while others like brighter ones. Same for colour temperature: some like cool, some like hot (cool can be too blueish, hotter looks more white; the other way around: hot looks yellowish, blue looks more white).

I agree with this; however, a panel with a higher gamut would be more capable of this. Thats not really my intended point right now though and regardless of that, there are color standards of which a wider gamut would be more capable of.

Originally Posted by dyn

What the colorimeter does at least is take out the subjectiveness of the individual. It doesn't favour a particular colour, or colour temperature. It just sees what it sees.

Ok, so maybe this is where the problem is. Maybe I am simply different from most others - because I judge with reason - which removes the subjectivism including something like liking one color temperature more than another.

So you could say, my definition for a "better" panel is one derived to be so by reason. Subjectiveness does come in when it simply comes to looking at a monitor - Yes; however, for the sake of a debate - like this thread - people should think rather than just say "I like it better" So "it is better" Or "the other is not better." From that, we will never get anywhere with this thread because of what you say. So yes, you are correct, but that being said, this thread might as well go in the trash.

I am trying to make a reasonable approach to defining the better panel.

Originally Posted by dyn

That would be a rather difficult survey because of all the possibilities. With the Pro you have various screen sizes as well as glossy vs antiglare and normal resolution vs high resolution. That is more like comparing every car there is and picking the best one out of the lot.

I was speaking rather lightly to get a point across. It would have to be modified in order to actually perform it. For example, you could focus on one primary aspect at a time. This could be, for starters, color gamut. You would have all other major parameters the same like, panel type, pixel density, contrast ratio, etc.

Good talk.

[bizack]

Originally Posted by bizack

Superficially it appears more vibrant. I'll post a follow up after I've used the replacement for a bit. Glad I caught this now thanks to the color calib...

Without getting too descriptive, I'd say the best word is 'warmer.' It's much more noticeable when the display is at half brightness. I honestly would've kept it if the display didn't end up having serious banding issues... but that leads me to believe they're on the cheap, so I think the 'swap paranoia' is somewhat warranted. Kinda lame they hid the banding with a modified calibration.

[Haust]

13" MBA i7/8/256 from Education Apple Store

I noticed the washed out display immediately. No surprise, I have the LG display. I took it to my local Apple store for comparison. All 4 floor models have the Samsung display. The color and contrast superiority of the Samsung is undeniable, both in text and images. Calibration helps, but is not sufficient mostly with respect to the text.

It's a shame, but this MBA is getting returned. If anyone can answer these questions I'd appreciate it:

1. Can a customer demand the Samsung Display?
2. How many times can a customer return a technically undefective product to Apple?

Apple, I love your stuff when you get it right, but it should be (and probably is) a crime to display a product in your store and then deliver a different, inferior, product to customer.

[bizack]

Originally Posted by Haust

13" MBA i7/8/256 from Education Apple Store

I noticed the washed out display immediately. No surprise, I have the LG display. I took it to my local Apple store for comparison. All 4 floor models have the Samsung display. The color and contrast superiority of the Samsung is undeniable, both in text and images. Calibration helps, but is not sufficient mostly with respect to the text.

It's a shame, but this MBA is getting returned. If anyone can answer these questions I'd appreciate it:

1. Can a customer demand the Samsung Display?
2. How many times can a customer return a technically undefective product to Apple?

Apple, I love your stuff when you get it right, but it should be (and probably is) a crime to display a product in your store and then deliver a different, inferior, product to customer.

I don't think you can demand components. If you can prove the display is defective in some way, that would help. I got lucky... I was past the 15 day return period (not by much... 23 days) but they still replaced it because of the banding.

[Haust]

I just got mine today. Pretty disappointed. It's kinda weird cause I'm usually all worked up about the image quality, but with this LG display I notice the poor text quality more.

[Moshe1010]

Originally Posted by alexeismertin

Here are 3 profiles created using Apple's calibration wizard, let me know what you think.

The "cool" profile is the best so far from the entire thread. Thank you!

[mayuka]

Originally Posted by Stingray454

The article is here, though it compares air vs pro overall, so not that deep look onto the screens. But feel free to check it out for more info (you'll probably need google translate if you're not swedish).

Thank you very much. Tack so mycket.

[Hichisky]

Originally Posted by bizack

Foot in mouth. After using the calib file for AUO that was posted, I immediately saw banding on every single piece of scrollable content. Took it to the Apple Store and swapped for a new one. Now have Samsung Display and Samsung SSD.

Interesting. What calibration profile did you use? Also, what exactly do you mean by banding on scrollable content? Like banding while scrolling?

[Jobsian]

Anyone made any direct comparisons between the AUO and LG panels?

[tim100]

Originally Posted by Jobsian

Anyone made any direct comparisons between the AUO and LG panels?

yes. i find the AUO much better than LG.

Samsung
AUO
LG

[thehopscotch]

Has anyone tried calibrating the LG and/or Samsung screens with real calibration software and colorimeter (e.g. - Spyder 3 Pro)? (as opposed to just calibrating by eye with the step by step options in the settings on the MBA)

My 2012 MacBook Air arrives today and thanks to this thread, I'm worried about getting an LG screen! I have Spyder 3 Pro that I used to calibrate my 2009 MacBook Pro, and I plan to use it on my MacBook Air. I'm wondering if the disappointment in the LG screen is just based on the factory settings/default profile, or if it really is lacking when compared to the Samsung and if, even after calibration software, it still is subpar compared to the Samsung.

[tim100]

Originally Posted by thehopscotch

Has anyone tried calibrating the LG and/or Samsung screens with real calibration software and colorimeter (e.g. - Spyder 3 Pro)? (as opposed to just calibrating by eye with the step by step options in the settings on the MBA)

My 2012 MacBook Air arrives today and thanks to this thread, I'm worried about getting an LG screen! I have Spyder 3 Pro that I used to calibrate my 2009 MacBook Pro, and I plan to use it on my MacBook Air. I'm wondering if the disappointment in the LG screen is just based on the factory settings/default profile, or if it really is lacking when compared to the Samsung and if, even after calibration software, it still is subpar compared to the Samsung.

i find the lg screen really bad.

[thehopscotch]

Originally Posted by tim100

i find the lg screen really bad.

After calibrating with software and a colorimeter or just based on factory settings? I realize a lot of people find the LG screen bad, but that wasn't what I was asking. I'd like to know if anyone has actually attempted to calibrate with real calibration software vs just trying to calibrate with their eyes.

[hbtd]

Originally Posted by thehopscotch

My 2012 MacBook Air arrives today and thanks to this thread, I'm worried about getting an LG screen!

It's amazing that so many people are worried about getting a non Samsung panel with a new MBA. What are you going to do, rip open the box, immediately fire up Terminal and either experience joy or despair? Then if it's not a Samsung return it for a cycle to get the "better" panel.

I have a 2011 11'' with an LG panel and I tried the MacRumors profile and I actually prefer the stock. As much as I want to hate the LG based on these posts, I can't. It's a great screen.

[NutsNGum]

Originally Posted by tim100

yes. i find the AUO much better than LG.

Samsung
AUO
LG

Agreed, it has far better contrast.

[thehopscotch]

Originally Posted by hbtd

It's amazing that so many people are worried about getting a non Samsung panel with a new MBA. What are you going to do, rip open the box, immediately fire up Terminal and either experience joy or despair? Then if it's not a Samsung return it for a cycle to get the "better" panel.

I have a 2011 11'' with an LG panel and I tried the MacRumors profile and I actually prefer the stock. As much as I want to hate the LG based on these posts, I can't. It's a great screen.

No, actually I plan to open it and calibrate the screen with my calibration software and colorimeter (Spyder 3 Pro) and test it out with some of my photos. I'll likely compare it to my current computer (2009 MBP) and see how the calibration worked...see if it fits my needs for photo editing, and if it does, I don't really care if it is LG or Samsung. I was just saying I'm worried about getting an LG based on this whole thread and that people have me paranoid, but nowhere did I say that I'd "rip it open and immediately check and return if it is an LG." You shouldn't jump to conclusions.

I DO care about the appearance of the screen, likely more than you're average run of the mill "check email/surf the net/play games MBA user" as I'll be using it to edit photos. If Spyder calibrates it to my needs, great...I won't care who manufactured it. If it is subpar, though, then yes...I'll take it to the Apple store to compare to other screens.

[NMF]

Dammit. I have ordered a 13" i7/8gb/256 from the online Apple Store. LG display + Samsung SSD. I'd been disappointed by the MBA screen (switched from a 27" iMac) but I figured they all looked bad. I didn't realize there was a better screen available.

I'm still within my return windows but I don't know what to do... I really don't want to order another BTO model and not have a computer for another week. Ugh.

[kodeman53]

Originally Posted by NMF

I'm still within my return windows but I don't know what to do... I really don't want to order another BTO model and not have a computer for another week. Ugh.

Why do you think another BTO model would have a different screen and/or SSD?