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17 inch brightness--- yes, it is dim.

R

rroback

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 29, 2007
77
0
Although I'm sure most of you have read comments about the 17'' being dim, I finally was able to see it in person. I checked out both matte, and glossy, at the Spectrum Apple Store ( Irvine, Ca). It's way less dark then the other models, and it was actually bad enough I wouldn't purchase the laptop until a definite fix was coming.

I'm not a super picky person, and I've never returned an apple product ( I don't care about slight little marks/alignments etc), but the screen was dim.

On another note, I was impressed by the matte display. I like the black border around the display better, but I'd sacrifice that for the matte option. Once they get the brightness fixed, I'd like to play a movie on both computers, and then make my final selection.
 
rroback said:
Although I'm sure most of you have read comments about the 17'' being dim, I finally was able to see it in person. I checked out both matte, and glossy, at the Spectrum Apple Store ( Irvine, Ca). It's way less dark then the other models, and it was actually bad enough I wouldn't purchase the laptop until a definite fix was coming.
Click to expand...

You could have just added your thoughts to one of those threads you mentioned.
 
My 17" is brighter than my 15" unibody when set to max brightness, so i dont understand why people are complaining. Perhaps its locational a thing? (i live in the UK, and i haven't met anyone complaining about the screen brightness over here), and my colleague who i work with also has one, without any screen brightness issues, i also heard its a firmware issue so Apple must be using software to control the brightness, probably the SMC, perhaps even to extend the battery life as we all know the screen brightness is one of the most power draining components on the battery, and it makes them look good.
 
Interesting, but I was just looking at one of the new 17" MBPs in the store and it was brighter than the 15" next to it.
 
Pagga said:
Go into System choice -----> Select Screen -----> Adjust brightness bar to full

Many of the new 17" MBPU comes with a pre set of 75% brightness.
Hitting the keyboard buttons alone (f1+f2) won´t help.

P
Click to expand...

A) Theres no menu called system choice

B) Theres no selection in System Preferences called Select Screen

C) Actually F1 and F2 do put the screen to its maximum brightness.
 
Ok I keep hearing about this Dim 17" thing.. From all the threads I've read this seems to be what's going on..

1. The screens are fine.
2. In some Apple stores the install of the os they have (that plays all the marketing stuff, etc) is broken and limits the brightness for some reason. No idea why.
3. Some people have had a dim screen, but when they reinstall the OS they are fine again.

To Sum up I really don't think there's any problem at all with the screens.


Regards,
Simon
 
I didn't try fooling with the settings too much, except for using the keyboard keys and making sure the brightness was set to full. I did compare it to the 15'', and it seemed very similar ( wasn't the best comparison since it was 17'' matte, to 15'' glossy), but compared to my gen 1 air, it was less bright.

I'm not saying it's a big problem, but I do believe it is an issue, at least in the laptops on display.

If they could just make it a touch brighter, and someone could buy my powermac.. I'd be ready to buy one!
 
kastenbrust said:
My 17" is brighter than my 15" unibody when set to max brightness, so i dont understand why people are complaining. Perhaps its locational a thing? (i live in the UK, and i haven't met anyone complaining about the screen brightness over here), and my colleague who i work with also has one, without any screen brightness issues, i also heard its a firmware issue so Apple must be using software to control the brightness, probably the SMC, perhaps even to extend the battery life as we all know the screen brightness is one of the most power draining components on the battery, and it makes them look good.
Click to expand...

You can stop exaggerating. While I do believe that the 17" unibody's mbp's screens are dim due to the wrong os or color profile but there is no way the 17" screen is brighter than the 15" unibodys.

I just hate people that exaggerate things because they want to make their product look good.
 
jjahshik32 said:
You can stop exaggerating. While I do believe that the 17" unibody's mbp's screens are dim due to the wrong os or color profile but there is no way the 17" screen is brighter than the 15" unibodys.

I just hate people that exaggerate things because they want to make their product look good.
Click to expand...

I'm not exaggerating, i reinstalled my Leopard OS as you should with all new Apple machines and externally calibrated my screen, increased the Gamma to 2.2 which it should be and toned down the white balance to almost the minimum to deal with some blue mid tone issues the screen has, making it appear dim, and now its brighter than my 15".

Please don't talk about things you have no idea about, its rather childish and makes you look silly.
 
kastenbrust said:
I'm not exaggerating, i reinstalled my Leopard OS as you should with all new Apple machines and externally calibrated my screen, increased the Gamma to 2.2 which it should be and toned down the white balance to almost the minimum to deal with some blue mid tone issues the screen has, making it appear dim, and now its brighter than my 15".

Please don't talk about things you have no idea about, its rather childish and makes you look silly.
Click to expand...

Every single picture I've seen side by side comparisons (and yes with osx reinstalled) that I've seen the 15" looks much brighter.

Ok then why dont you show your 17" unibody and your 15" unibody mbp side by side at full brightness (with proof that its both at the fullest) and take a picture side by side. I bet you'll always see that the 15" is much brighter and will have trouble posting the picture trying to make it look the way you want it to look. :rolleyes:
 
This is ridiculous, everyone I've heard say it's not as bright has said this from looking at in a store(including the OP). I have yet to hear an owner of the 17" say this. I've owned mine for over two weeks now and I can say it's plenty bright, if it was brighter I would be complaining it's TOO bright and I leave mine 2-3 dashes from the brightest setting.

It just shows people will find anything to complain about, especially if they don't have one because it makes them feel better about the one they do have. This computer is the best computer I've ever owned.
 
detz said:
This is ridiculous, everyone I've heard say it's not as bright has said this from looking at in a store(including the OP). I have yet to hear an owner of the 17" say this. I've owned mine for over two weeks now and I can say it's plenty bright, if it was brighter I would be complaining it's TOO bright and I leave mine 2-3 dashes from the brightest setting.

It just shows people will find anything to complain about, especially if they don't have one because it makes them feel better about the one they do have. This computer is the best computer I've ever owned.
Click to expand...

Well that one doesnt work for me since I dont have a macbook pro any more. But what I can say is that from past experiences with the macbook pros when it comes to the led backlighting, the 17" mbp has always been a couple notches dimmer than the 15".
 
Yes it is dimmer... I have both... here is the irrefutable proof.

IMG_0453.jpg


Thats exactly how much brighter it is... Those macs are both mine.

I ran some tests today... and theres no way I can make my 17'' as bright as my 15''

Now... the question is why is this? and what should we do about it then??
 
James Cole said:
Yes it is dimmer... I have both... here is the irrefutable proof.

IMG_0453.jpg


Thats exactly how much brighter it is... Those macs are both mine.

I ran some tests today... and theres no way I can make my 17'' as bright as my 15''

Now... the question is why is this? and what should we do about it then??
Click to expand...

i assume you caibrated them both? preferably externally?
 
kastenbrust said:
i assume you caibrated them both? preferably externally?
Click to expand...

No I should warn you I am no expert, thats how both came from the factory and its very very clear that one is much brighter than the other, thats the best picture I could take that reflects that.

Still if the 17'' problem is calibration can somebody tell me where to find the correct calibration (preferably for both) so that I can recheck?

Let me know,
JC
 
James Cole said:
No I should warn you I am no expert, thats how both came from the factory and its very very clear that one is much brighter than the other, thats the best picture I could take that reflects that.

Still if the 17'' problem is calibration can somebody tell me where to find the correct calibration (preferably for both) so that I can recheck?

Let me know,
JC
Click to expand...

OS X includes calibration software, although not professional, it will do for you.

1) Resinall OS X on your 17" (the factory version thats preinstalled has issues, the SMC is making the maximum brightness dimmer than it should be, you need to install the version that came on the DVD's with your 17")

2) System Preferences --> Displays --> Colour --> Calibrate
Choose Expert Mode
You can choose what you want from the following choices in the Calibration quiz thing, but basically always choose Gamma as 2.2, and move the White Point around until you feel comfortable, but it needs to be away from Blue as these 17"s are showing an excess of it for some reason.

Finish calibration questions, Save Calibration Profile, Choose it as Default.

Done :)
 
Why is reinstalling Leopard OS helpful?

kastenbrust said:
I'm not exaggerating, i reinstalled my Leopard OS as you should with all new Apple machines and externally calibrated my screen, increased the Gamma to 2.2 which it should be and toned down the white balance to almost the minimum to deal with some blue mid tone issues the screen has, making it appear dim, and now its brighter than my 15".

Please don't talk about things you have no idea about, its rather childish and makes you look silly.
Click to expand...

:confused:Why is reinstalling the OS so helpful for new Apple computers? I would like to know since I am about to buy a new MBP.

As far as 17 MBP brightness, I saw store models which were much darker than all the 15 MBP in the store. I set brightness to max and calibrated the monitor with no improvement. It was so dark it made me hesitate in ordering one.

An Apple employee in the store who I have gotten to know said Apple would be releasing a firmware update to correct this issue. I have know idea if he is correct. Some have proposed that the OS image used for the display models is not optimized for the 17 which makes the display models appear darker than those ordered. I bet this is correct. So I have decided to go ahead and order one.

Mick
 
kastenbrust said:
i assume you caibrated them both? preferably externally?
Click to expand...

Calibration has really nothing to do with backlight brightness. As for the gamma in factory default settings is set the same as well.

Besides setting gamma higher just makes things look more washed out as to just being brighter. In this case you set the gamma higher on both and the 15" will still be brighter.
 
jjahshik32 said:
Calibration has nothing to do with brightness. As for the gamma in factory default settings is set the same as well.
Click to expand...

obviously it does, higher gamma is going to give you a dimmer screen, everyone knows that.

The factory setting gamma on all Macbooks is 1.8 when it should be 2.2, check your calibration profile.
 
kastenbrust said:
obviously it does, higher gamma is going to give you a dimmer screen, everyone knows that.

The factory setting gamma on all Macbooks is 1.8 when it should be 2.2, check your calibration profile.
Click to expand...

I actually prefer the higher gamma than the lower. On every occasion the lower gamma washes out the colors.
 
Yeah, I knew about the OS re-install. And already did it also to remove the languages and drivers that I wasn't going to use.

Brightness is still the same... (Actually the pic that I posted was before the re-install)

I tried to calibrate the screen, maybe Im not good enought but I can only manage to change the tint and not much the brightness in expert mode.

So, what do you guys think? Im getting tired of these problems...

I wish I just could return this 2 products and have apple let me know when they can work out CONSISTANT QUALITY, since I think we can all agree the haven't managed quite that.
 
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