Glossy vs. Matte - let's settle it w/a vote!

Brendon Bauer said:

You can discuss it if you like, but I'm sure most of us have heard all the pros and cons of both. Just vote and lets tally up a count of what is most preferred . They both have their strongpoints and both will be defended to the death, no doubt

I personally can't decide between the two, but I haven't seen the new MBP's just yet.

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the verdict of your poll is going to be overwhelming for matte.

I personally like the matte screens better, I've used both and I despise the reflections in the glossy screen. I'm distracted easily, so whenever see a reflection in the screen, my eyes are drawn to it and it bugs the heck out of me. Sure things at first look better, but there are way too many cons for me to even consider a glossy screen.

I like glossy on screens as small or smaller than a MacBook (13.3) but anything higher I want Matte because if there is too much surface area, you see too many reflections.

One more vote for glossy. Reflections are not an issue here ....

FJ

sure. here's a poll with over 120 votes cast.


http://forums.macnn.com/powerbook-and-macbook-pro-69/2869/whats-your-display-like/


no need to keep rehashing old topics

amd4me said:

the verdict of your poll is going to be overwhelming for matte.

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Possibly .......

FJ

I prefer Glossy displays.

glossy because i find them easier to clean
matte because the reflections in bright light on a glossy display is a P.I.T.A.

i like matte

also, can this thread becomes a sticky so we don't have these threads floating around? There have been at least a dozen Matte vs Glossy display threads made.

EDIT; two dozen, it seems; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. This thread was closed because of the repetition.

Glossy all the way, the display on my new 2.4GHz 15" SR MBP looks awesome with a glossy finish and the LED backlighting.

The "its too reflective!" crowd must purposefully angle their screens at a heat lamp or something, I don't have any noticeable problems unless I sit with my back to a bright light source and angle the screen directly at it. Any laptop screen, matte or glossy, is going to appear dimmer outdoors because of the bright natural light from the sun.

But then again, to each his own.

.

Matte.

Glossy looks nice at first glance, and then you keep looking, and you realize how tiresome it gets.

quietmind said:

Matte.

Glossy looks nice at first glance, and then you keep looking, and you realize how tiresome it gets.

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I disagree - having used a 17" 2.33 Matt MBP and now using a SR 15.4" 2.4 Glossy, Personally I much prefer the glossy option.

While I use my MBP for some Graphics work, I do most of that on a 24" external monitor anyway, so its not a big deal for me - for regular use though I much prefer the glossy display - I've had no problem with glare whatsoever.

Glossy. Most computers get used indoors and the difference between my dell's glossy 'truelife' and my acer matte is very visible. Gives much nicer/brighter colours.
Having said that, it does reflect. But so what?

I prefer my glossy MacBook. When I compare that to my older matte iBook, I don't even understand how I ever managed to live with the iBook for three years (nor the Pismo for 3 years before that). They're just so... matte**...

** which is also the Norwegian word for weak and colorless...

How is it that most replies are for glossy but matte has way more votes

I am gonna order a SR MBP this week with a matte screen...

I've had a Macbook for a year now, and I've got a bit tired of the glossy screen. For general browsing and the odd movie, it's great. But for when you're looking at it for many hours a day it can get annoying. So I'm gonna get a matte MBP.

Apart from reflections and unrealistic colour, glossy finishes are just so tacky on almost anything...

Matte is phat, gloss is dross. 'nuff said.

rrijkers said:

How is it that most replies are for glossy but matte has way more votes

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Good question. Maybe a majority of owners on this forum have matte screens and have already had this discussion a thousand times over here and elsewhere. Don't know.

I strongly prefer matte. While the Apple glossy screens don't seem as reflective to me as a lot of other ones, I just can't stand all those reflections. That said, I'm writing this response on a 13" MacBook, but all my other displays are matte.

On the upside, the glossy display reminds me when it's time to shave.

I was just looking yesterday at the new MBPs at the store in midtown Manhattan. Even with the sunlight that comes in through that big glass cube (not a lot), the glare was enough to be annoying. Matte FTW.

Matte of course.

Glossy == Pentium 4, ie. marketing garbage.

Fascinating watching how people respond to this issue.

I wonder how many people who are voting are basing their vote on the experiences of other people, not on personal observation. The second thing that I would question is comments that indicate that they didn't like the gloss on an [insert computer brand X] therefore they now discount glossy completely.

Personally I have used both a matte PB G4 and a glossy MBP. I have also used glossy Toshibas and Acers (PCs running Linux NOT Windows). I do professional audio engineering. I have found that for waveform editing that I prefer glossy for the crispness and clarity and contrast of the colours. I have used a matte screen for over 4 years and have used glossy for about 1 year (concurrent).

For general use (i.e.: watching a movie or browsing) I have not had any issues with either screen type. The 'glare' that some people report as being an issue has not been noticeable with the exception of the Acer. (which is why I think that some people base their comments off of observations of other brands) The Acer seemed to have a higher level of "sheen" to its screen than the other computers that I have used but even there it did not bother me after about 5 minutes.

I have not experienced eye strain or fatigue with either screen type even after hours long editing sessions (4-5 hours at a time).

I think that a lot of people make a decision to go with matte because "professionals" mostly choose matte therefore matte must be superior.

In the PC world most of the laptops that I have seen have glossy screens and they are used by a lot of professionals as well. (I would be referring to audio, video, and photographic pros here) Not all "pros" use mac systems. (It would be nice if they did though )

My thoughts and musings, I hope they help someone.......

Sopranino