aristobrat said:
I'm just curious as to "why" others can see lines in something that I can't. Maybe "can see" isn't as good of a term as is "are bothered by".
Right, and as I expected, the "lines" in your pictures look the same (to me) as the ones from pubwvj's new PowerBook.
I was asking for pictures from older PowerBooks because somehow, after reading all of the posts in the umpteen threads about the "horizontal line issue", I expect a shot from an older PowerBook screen to look different from what you and pubwvj have posted.
Hi Aristobrat,
As promised, here is a photo of my Pismo. It looks essencially the same as the new PB15, that is to say there are the intercell 'lines' on the LCD cells and like the newer machine it has no 'lines' (although my Pismo does have one stuck pixel). The newer screen is much sharper, crisper and brighter. I've included the PM answers below as I said along with the photo I couldn't send via private message.
aristobrat said:
My new 15" PB is my first PB, so I have no other Apple experience to compare it to.
I, too, can't see any lines on my screen, but some of the Mac users in our graphic arts dept saw them. But those folks have been using PB's for the last 10 years.
I've been using notebook computers since they first came out and we've had dozens of different ones here in our home and work. I do a lot of work with layout and photographs. The current generation, including my new PB15", look the best I have ever seen. There are no flaw lines.
Examining the photo in Photoshop to check the luminocity and color of the LCD cells shows they are fine. There are no 'lines' in the LCD cells. That is a scientific test of it. My screen does not have any lines. The only lines are the intercell spacing and those have always been there.
Note that the original 'lines' problem that I saw people describing was that one row of LCD cells would be bright and the next row down dimmer, etc. The only 'lines' on my screen are the intercell lines between the pixels. That is not the same thing.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the people who are seeing the 'lines' are seeing the microscopic spacing between the LCD cells. The very fact that they insist on looking at macro closeup photo to see the 'lines' says it isn't a real issue. The actual LCD cells are fine. If they are looking at the spacing (black lines) then they need to back off. The proper viewing distance for a screen is something like 18" or more.
My best guess is that a few people had real problems with the screens (alternating rows of lighter and darker LCD cells) and then other people have looked too close (step back and peel your eyeballs of the screen please!) and started seeing the trace lines on the LCD between the cells. Then they began freaking out that they too had a problem when their screens were fine. The fact that some people have looked at my photos of my screen which has no problem and seen 'lines' tells me those people are not seeing a real problem. They are seeing the intercell spacing, not alternating lines of dark and light LCD cells (pixels).
Is there any way you could take a close-up of your old PB screen like you did of your new one?
Good question. I can't send it via this private message so I'll just post it to the discussion list along with this text. Note that my Pismo is a five and a half year old machine based on older LCD technology so it doesn't look as good as a new PB15" by far. The new one is crisp, clear and bright. My five year old Pismo is rather dim and dingy in comparison. I see no lines on my Pismo screen other than the intercell spacing nor on my son's iMac G5 Rev. B nor on my other son's brand new iBook G4 nor on my wife's PBG3 nor on any of our other LCD displays. All of them show the intercell spacing both horizontally and vertically but that is not a flaw - that is how the screens are made. It's a digital world.
Even expensive high quality CRT's have interpixel spacing. Every LCD in our work and home has those 'lines'. None of them are 'flaws'.
Cheers,
-Walter
in Vermont
with no lines
on his screens.
