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mbp 13 inch screen model quality

J

jpma

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 31, 2009
254
3
Hi
I just got a mbp 2.26Ghz 13inch

with screen model 9C9E

I've read some got screen model 9C9F and more.
But I find my screen is not very impressive at all
infact, I think it's not much different form the UMB.

is there any difference between the 2.26 & 2.53's screen?

and some with the same 2.26Ghz model yet having different model of screen
of different screen quality.

Yet mine have a bad color saturation as well as a very low brightness.
 
I feel your pain.
I want to buy a 13in MBP and in looking at it at the store, I also feel the screen is not very different from the old model and pretty much sub standard.

I think colors/contrast did improve, but the main problem I had with this line of laptops was that the screen itself is very low brightness, even at its highest settings. And this is preventing me from buying one. (much to my dismay).

-Mike
 
yes,
if everyone pay the same price
we should all be having the same model of screen.
 
After calibration it does look bit richer but not what I expect to be called improve screen for MacBook pro would be
 
I always found the white MacBook and original Unibody MacBook screens appeared a bit faded, however my 13" 2.26GHz MBP is lovely. Very punchy color and very bright. As its at home now, I don't know what model my monitor is

pac
 
I've done a very long calibration
and also do a side by side compare from my early 09 15 inch mbp.

I found the my 13inch is not as bright as my 15inch
however it produce a better red, the red on my 15'' is somewhat dark amber.

I also went to apple store to check out the MBA screen.
It is better than my 13'', MBA have brighter probably better in colors too after calibration that is.

But now it bothers me to find my 15'' can't even do a good red.
I wonder is there something I can do about it.
 
i've the the 9CBD screen on my 13" 2.53 MBP and after calibration it looks freaking awesome...too bad there is not a way to see what screen model you are getting b/f you buy it.
 
Being a relative newb are there any particular calibration software packages people are using or just changing their original settings?

Regards
CR

p.s what settings are working for you guys?
 
jpma said:
Hi
I just got a mbp 2.26Ghz 13inch

with screen model 9C9E

I've read some got screen model 9C9F and more.
But I find my screen is not very impressive at all
infact, I think it's not much different form the UMB.

is there any difference between the 2.26 & 2.53's screen?

and some with the same 2.26Ghz model yet having different model of screen
of different screen quality.

Yet mine have a bad color saturation as well as a very low brightness.
Click to expand...

I have the exact screen model as yours and with some color profiles from these forums, it looks great!
 
Calibration does make a difference. Mine is a 9CBD screen, and I'm happy enough with it although I would prefer a 9C9F, I won't be returning this macbook pro. Problem is with colour sensitive applications, it's not going to be colour accurate. Video and photography apps will look different on the screen no matter the calibration. My 9CBD has a yellow push which gives everything a yellow tint, and affects the greens too. On the desktop you can't tell the difference but in video you can.
 
tdream said:
Calibration does make a difference. Mine is a 9CBD screen, and I'm happy enough with it although I would prefer a 9C9F, I won't be returning this macbook pro. Problem is with colour sensitive applications, it's not going to be colour accurate. Video and photography apps will look different on the screen no matter the calibration. My 9CBD has a yellow push which gives everything a yellow tint, and affects the greens too. On the desktop you can't tell the difference but in video you can.
Click to expand...

Aren't the 9CBD and 9C9F displays the same model/manufacturer? (LG/PHILLIPS)?
 
tdream said:
Calibration does make a difference. Mine is a 9CBD screen, and I'm happy enough with it although I would prefer a 9C9F, I won't be returning this macbook pro. Problem is with colour sensitive applications, it's not going to be colour accurate. Video and photography apps will look different on the screen no matter the calibration. My 9CBD has a yellow push which gives everything a yellow tint, and affects the greens too. On the desktop you can't tell the difference but in video you can.
Click to expand...

I have the same screen model (9CBD) and I definately have to second your observations. I really can't get this screen to display neutral colors. Otherwise the screen is rather good (bright, uniformly lit, acceptable viewing angles ).

But especially video material exhibits unnatural looking skin tones (very saturated yellow/orange) and nature scenes (fluorescent greens). Also, in-room scenes with low lighting tend to look brown/yellow-tinted and a bit grainy and washed out.

Calibration using the OSX integrated tool didn't really help the color tint/shift but at least improved visual appearance otherwise. Switching to sRGB makes video look more neutral but introduces a blue tint everywhere else. The spider2 Profile for the 9CBD posted by a user on this board is so far the best compromise to me, although colors still aren't perfect.

I think these problems basically come down to wide color gamut (WCG) screens being fed with normal RGB values and Apple not providing suitable support for WCG in OSX. First thing for apple should be to provide better factory screen profiles that accurately describe the colorspace of the particular panels mounted. Maybe also someone with an officially WCG aware colorimeter such as spyder 3 will be able to do a better calibration profile.

But even then, as I understand the whole WCG issue, there still is application / OS support needed to accurately map the RGB values of a particular source to the wide colorspace of the screen.

cababah said:
Aren't the 9CBD and 9C9F displays the same model/manufacturer? (LG/PHILLIPS)?
Click to expand...

Yes, from what I gathered, terminal app reveales "LP133WX3-TLA1" for both the 9CBD and 9C9F. Hhm, would be interesting if someone compared them side by side....

regards,

kybernaut
 
kybernaut said:
I think these problems basically come down to wide color gamut (WCG) screens being fed with normal RGB values and Apple not providing suitable support for WCG in OSX. First thing for apple should be to provide better factory screen profiles that accurately describe the colorspace of the particular panels mounted. Maybe also someone with an officially WCG aware colorimeter such as spyder 3 will be able to do a better calibration profile.

But even then, as I understand the whole WCG issue, there still is application / OS support needed to accurately map the RGB values of a particular source to the wide colorspace of the screen.
Click to expand...

Note that what you are calling WCG really has been the standard gamut display for desktop LCDs for several years. Laptop LCDs traditionally supported ~45% of the NTSC gamut, and these new ones are supposed to support ~72% of the gamut. This is the standard gamut on even the cheapest desktop LCDs. What is called "wide color gamut" typically refers to a 100% or larger gamut coverage found in newer/expensive desktop LCDs.
 
it lead me to think that there is a screen difference between the 2.26Ghz & 2.53Ghz

can you please tell me what which model and which screen model of your 13'' mbp?

I'm with the 2.26Ghz screen is 9C9E
 
ankit said:
Note that what you are calling WCG really has been the standard gamut display for desktop LCDs for several years. Laptop LCDs traditionally supported ~45% of the NTSC gamut, and these new ones are supposed to support ~72% of the gamut. This is the standard gamut on even the cheapest desktop LCDs. What is called "wide color gamut" typically refers to a 100% or larger gamut coverage found in newer/expensive desktop LCDs.
Click to expand...

That's correct, of course! But isn't the general problem still the same? Especially because every panel manufacturer seems to have its own understanding of what a "wider" gamut panel is. When every single screen model (9CBD, 9C90, 9CA0, ...) extends the gamut in different areas, they can all cover ~72% of NTSC gamut by still having a completely different color triangle. This could explain why some people are reporting purple pushs and other green or yellow ones...
 
jpma said:
it lead me to think that there is a screen difference between the 2.26Ghz & 2.53Ghz

can you please tell me what which model and which screen model of your 13'' mbp?

I'm with the 2.26Ghz screen is 9C9E
Click to expand...

I have a 2.53 GHz, with a 9C9F screen.

I am also curious to know if there is a correlation between the lower/higher end 13" MBP and screen used.
 
cababah said:
Dang..how did you get so many screens?

Was it the "best looking" pre or post-calibration?
Click to expand...

After reading here about all the issues I exchanged the MBP until I got one that looked good to me. I calibrated them using SuperCal to the best of my ability. It was a close call between the 9CBD and 9C9F but the 9C9E wasn't as good. I had them side by side at one point so it helped me make an informed choice. It was a pain to get the right screen and it kinda sucks on Apple's part that not all of them are the same quality.
 
pr33tz said:
it kinda sucks on Apple's part that not all of them are the same quality.
Click to expand...

Seriously. Don't you think it is kind of unfair that all of us pay the same price for the computer yet some have lower-quality screens. I think that is major garbage that people have to lottery quality parts instead of have the peace of mind knowing we are all getting the same quality across the board. We should not have to be "lucky" to get a product with optimal components.
 
cababah said:
Seriously. Don't you think it is kind of unfair that all of us pay the same price for the computer yet some have lower-quality screens. I think that is major garbage that people have to lottery quality parts instead of have the peace of mind knowing we are all getting the same quality across the board. We should not have to be "lucky" to get a product with optimal components.
Click to expand...

Exactly which is why I ended up buying and exchanging until I got the right screen. It's unfair and if everyone made a fuss then Apple would do something about it but we are a minority. Two Apple store I went to, they didn't even know the MBP had different LCD manufacturers. Oh well...
 
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