13" Late 2013 Retina Screen Request

[NocturnalJazz]

Could someone take a picture of their late 2013 13" in a dark room with the following?

Black full screen image
Screen at 100% brightness


I have done the same with my 15" and see the colors of the rainbow with lots of bleeding. Considering just buying a 13" instead in hopes of getting a better screen.

Thank you!

Noc

 

[teotuf]

Here you go, taken with iphone 4S.

A018

Next to Samsung P2570HD:

Even though, I have to say this is a pretty horrible way to decide which laptop to buy.

1) There is no consistent way to take this kind of photo, especially not by the different people using different cameras in different rooms.

2) When would you actually use your computer as a black screen on max brightness in a dark room??? How is this going to affect your experience with the laptop?

3) Going from 15 inch to a 13 inch because "13 inch has a better screen" would be just about the most stupid argument I heard today. Get the laptop based on if you need the extra screen size, if you need the quad core/dGPU, if you need the portability, what your budget is, etc...

 

[laurihoefs]

Could someone take a picture of their late 2013 13" in a dark room with the following?

Black full screen image
Screen at 100% brightness


I have done the same with my 15" and see the colors of the rainbow with lots of bleeding. Considering just buying a 13" instead in hopes of getting a better screen.

Thank you!

Noc

Let me quess: you only see the 'colors of rainbow' in the photos, but not with bare eyes?

It's most likely just the noise your camera produces with long exposure times. To fix the issue, take shorter exposures.

 

[AT06]

Let me quess: you only see the 'colors of rainbow' in the photos, but not with bare eyes?

It's most likely just the noise your camera produces with long exposure times. To fix the issue, take shorter exposures.

No, taking shorter exposures will not solve the issue.

In short, you want to take a picture with a low ISO setting which in turn will actually require a longer exposure time.

Detail on why this is the solution is below for anyone interested.

-----------------------------

The reason for the rainbow effect is image noise. In a dark room, your camera set to auto mode will increase the ISO speed (basically the sensors sensitivity to light) to help you take pictures at a decent shutter speed to minimise blur but still get a good exposure. By increasing the ISO however, this introduces image noise (the grainy-ness).

To help to reduce this and get good pictures with low noise at night, photographers use a tripod and set the camera to either shutter priority or full manual allowing them to select a lower ISO (and thus lower noise). However because a lower ISO has been chosen, so the camera is not as sensitive to light, it requires a much longer shutter/exposure time to 'collect' all the light - this is where the tripod comes in, to keep the camera rock steady and stop the image becoming blurred.

 

[laurihoefs]

No, taking shorter exposures will not solve the issue.

In short, you want to take a picture with a low ISO setting which in turn will actually require a longer exposure time.

You are correct, so was I. Small sensors tend to be very noisy in long exposures even with low ISO. So lowering the ISO alone might not help much.

Edit: To be a bit more specific, taking a 2s exposure with ISO 400 and taking a 1s exposure at ISO 800 should result in similar noise levels. Both raising the exposure time, or the amplification (ISO level) will introduce noise to the image.

Better cameras take a separate sample of the noise, and use this to reduce the noise in long exposures (usually called something like Long Exposure Noise Reduction, or similar, depends on manufacturer). But this is not always the case with compact cameras or smartphones. Add to that the noise caused by the small sensor, and packing the camera module in a tiny space with RF devices, or price related compromises in the camera design (bad shielding, bad filtering, etc.), and you'll see rainbows in the dark, no matter what.

 

[AT06]

You are correct, so was I. Small sensors tend to be very noisy in long exposures even with low ISO. So lowering the ISO alone might not help much.

I find that small sensors tend to suffer from the 'hot pixel' issue more - although I never usually have to worry as I have a Canon 6d with a full frame sensor that can cope better.

People need to calm down over this issue - a screen with as many pixels as the macbook retina, especially being IPS, will never be 100% perfect.

 

[laurihoefs]

I find that small sensors tend to suffer from the 'hot pixel' issue more - although I never usually have to worry as I have a Canon 6d with a full frame sensor that can cope better.

People need to calm down over this issue - a screen with as many pixels as the macbook retina, especially being IPS, will never be 100% perfect.

Agree 100%, on both points

I think a lot of the screen issues stem from unrealistic expectations. I know there are people with real issues too, but faulty screens are much easier to replace than expectations..