Here with the same problem, I agree with you completely.
It's bright, but somehow colors are not punchy, and a little washed out, not crisp. Funny went to Apple store and two other 13.3" models also had the same display 9CF0 which looked fine.... at least in that setting.
A little disappointed...
The 13" 9CDF definitely looks a lot nicer than my current 15" MBP... really bright at max, excellent contrast, really nice deep blacks.
I'm amazed how losing the glass cover removes reflections - the screen is glossy yet it almost feels like a matte screen minus the fuzziness I don't like on the Apple matte displays. Not totally reflection-proof, but quite a difference.
Hey you two, I wonder if we're on to something here (catdog has similar sub-perfect impression as I do, neteng says it's BETTER than 15" MBP)!
Now the question is, how can we test it?
One way is to expand on the subjective evidence by having more people with both displays (9CF0 versus 9CDF) post here. An objective way would be for one of us to bring our MBA's to an Apple store and see if they have the other model display in stock, then take a comparison photo of both displays in the same exposure and both displays set to same calibration profile as well as brightness. Optimally this would be a zoom-in focusing on small parts of the pictures so they show contrast and pixel-bleeding well. As test image the NYT title page might be good as it has various size fonts as well as images. Or other test images better?
neteng, I have a question: are you referring to the high or low resolution 15" MBP?
I hope to figure this out within the next week or so so I can exchange my Air in case the 9CDF display is significantly more contrast-rich and crisp.