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

Those photos from Mr. Cole, purporting to be "proof" are worthless I'm afraid.
Tip one screen forward or back a couple of degrees and it will look darker or lighter than the other. If I had both screens here, I could produce a photo with the computers in apparently the exact same position, but with the 15" looking "dimmer" than the 17".
 
Sir Cecil said:
Those photos from Mr. Cole, purporting to be "proof" are worthless I'm afraid.
Tip one screen forward or back a couple of degrees and it will look darker or lighter than the other. If I had both screens here, I could produce a photo with the computers in apparently the exact same position, but with the 15" looking "dimmer" than the 17".
Click to expand...

Well you could say what you want... BUT I can vouch for how the screen looks in that pic... THE BRIGHTNESS DIFFERENCE THAT SHOWS IN THAT PIC IS EXACTLY AS IT LOOKS TO ME IN REAL LIFE WITH BOTH COMPUTERs IN FRONT OF ME.... I would say its a 15-20% difference
 
kastenbrust said:
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 :)
Click to expand...

What kind of issues does the pre-installed version of OSX have, and where can I read about them? I don't have a problem with reinstalling OSX but I'd rather not if I don't have to. I got rid of most of the languages and printer drivers without a reinstall. I don't have any personal issues with the brightness, maybe because I'm usually in low lighting conditions.
 
jjahshik32 said:
Every single picture I've seen side by side comparisons (and yes with osx reinstalled) that I've seen the 15" looks much brighter.
Click to expand...

While I did think the same at first, there have been enough people here who actually own both machines and say that they're equally bright that it may actually be true in some cases.

Perhaps there is some variation in the brightness of the screens that explains the variation in the answers we're given by people.

But no, that couldn't be it. This is the internet. Someone must be right, and I'm sure you'll be here until you convince everyone that you're right. ;)
 
you guys are a bunch of freaks..
just looking for something to complain about.
15" at full brightness is going to burn your eyes.
i have never ever used it at full brightness, not even outside..
i keep it in the lower half 95% of the time
 
Ploki said:
you guys are a bunch of freaks..
just looking for something to complain about.
15" at full brightness is going to burn your eyes.
i have never ever used it at full brightness, not even outside..
i keep it in the lower half 95% of the time
Click to expand...


Well said. Perhaps they should change the name of the site from MacRumors to MacGloomers.
 
Sir Cecil said:
Well said. Perhaps they should change the name of the site from MacRumors to MacGloomers.
Click to expand...

I prefer MacOCD. People keep looking for things to find wrong. Before anyone smarts off I have both machines and the 17" display is not dim. If you think the 17" display is dim I have a Thinkpad from work that will change your mind.
 
If this is really an issue, it can just be fixed with a firmware update, correct? You wouldn't need to buy a whole new MBP?
 
All I know is
  • my 17" unibody screen is far too bright to be used at 100% brighness
  • Installing the OS from the 17" Leopard DVD did wonders to both colour quality as well as to brightness handling (before, most steps exept the last one between brighness settings did not do much, now they're very well equalized)
I'll check brightness against a 15" unibody MBP later today - I'd be surprised if it was much brighter.
 
It may be dim...but it's bright enough for me.

OH NO IT'S 100 NITS DIMMER! CALL THE NATIONAL GUARD!

Take the extra gamut and stop making threads that are painfully redundant.
 
Well I will be doing my 2nd return today... if this one doesn't work... then I'll have to ask for my money back. And wait till apple can get the 17'' model right.

For the guys joking around that we complain about everything let me explain something to you. And I only speak for myself here... I like to have my computer working at 100% and it does bother me that the are 17'' MBP models that are equally brighter as the 15'' and if I paid 3k for a laptop and think I would like to have actually one that works as it was meant to, even if its dimmer by a tiny percent (wich it clearly isn't) I would like to have the full working model.

Is that too much to ask? or what?
 
I am definitely agree with you. We paid over 3000$, and we have rights to deserve at least working conditions machines.
 
Went to the Apple store in Bristol, UK yesterday to check out the new 17-inch macbook pro and was disappointed to see the poor screen brightness, I spent about 20 mins comparing screen quality between all macbooks and the 17-inch model was worse than all the others. I came away thinking I'd go for the 15-inch instead as it looked so much better. Anyway I though I'd check it out online and discovered lots of comments about the dimmer screen issue on the 17 inch model, so this morning I phoned the store and asked them what's the poor screen on the 17-inch macbook pro. They immediately knew what I was talking about and confirmed it was due to the incorrect disk image/install on their display models (both glossy and matte). They said if I purchased one it would be fine and should have the same brightness as the 15-inch model. I haven't bought one yet, but now considering the 17-inch again.
 
sjma said:
Went to the Apple store in Bristol, UK yesterday to check out the new 17-inch macbook pro and was disappointed to see the poor screen brightness, I spent about 20 mins comparing screen quality between all macbooks and the 17-inch model was worse than all the others. I came away thinking I'd go for the 15-inch instead as it looked so much better. Anyway I though I'd check it out online and discovered lots of comments about the dimmer screen issue on the 17 inch model, so this morning I phoned the store and asked them what's the poor screen on the 17-inch macbook pro. They immediately knew what I was talking about and confirmed it was due to the incorrect disk image/install on their display models (both glossy and matte). They said if I purchased one it would be fine and should have the same brightness as the 15-inch model. I haven't bought one yet, but now considering the 17-inch again.
Click to expand...

What Apple told you its just not true... I owned the 17'' and currently own a 15'' as well, I reinstalled the OS from disc in the 17'' and the screen was still about 15-20% dimmer than in the 15''
 
James Cole said:
What Apple told you its just not true... I owned the 17'' and currently own a 15'' as well, I reinstalled the OS from disc in the 17'' and the screen was still about 15-20% dimmer than in the 15''
Click to expand...

Agreed. I had to reinstall the OSX because I put in a new HDD as soon as I got the 17" UMBP. Its still dimmer than my march 2008 17" MBP.
 
BTW I just came from the Apple Store, they wanted to swap my laptop for a new one... again... I just refused and got a full refund, no point in getting another laptop just to find it has the same screen problem...

When Apple fixes the dim screen issue I will be the first to buy one... but for the moment guess Im going to have to wait...
 
Re: 17 inch brightness--- NO, it is not dimmer

After reading so much about this 17" vs 15" brightness issue, since I have both 15" and 17" unibody MBPs, I took my properly calibrated photometer and took the measurement of the display brightness.

I took the measurement under the following conditions:

- Measurememt taken with Photometer, exactly 1 foot a way from the display surface.
- No other light source were available other than a dispaly in test.
- Same, exact gray solid color desktop on the screens.
- Display brightness set to maximum.
- Turned off birhgtness adjustment in system preference
- Took measurement 3 times per system.


Result:
17":
45 Luxes, 45 Luxes. 46 Luxes

15":
47 Luxes, 46 Luxes. 46 Luxes

So there is really no difference at all. I think reflection on the screen as well as type of background is fooling your eyes.
 
redeyeflight said:
After reading so much about this 17" vs 15" brightness issue, since I have both 15" and 17" unibody MBPs, I took my properly calibrated photometer and took the measurement of the display brightness.

I took the measurement under the following conditions:

- Measurememt taken with Photometer, exactly 1 foot a way from the display surface.
- No other light source were available other than a dispaly in test.
- Same, exact gray solid color desktop on the screens.
- Display brightness set to maximum.
- Turned off birhgtness adjustment in system preference
- Took measurement 3 times per system.


Result:
17":
45 Luxes, 45 Luxes. 46 Luxes

15":
47 Luxes, 46 Luxes. 46 Luxes

So there is really no difference at all. I think reflection on the screen as well as type of background is fooling your eyes.
Click to expand...

Very Very Interesting Mate, thanks for taking the trouble of doing this... What are the specs of your 17'' and when did you buy it?

Just looking at boths screens you cant see any difference in brightness...??? Colors are different and much better on the 17'' but Brightness on my 17'' is about 15-20% dimmer mate wich is REALLY NOTICEABLE to the naked eye.
 
Interesting, but perception is what counts. If everyone in the shop looks at the 17-inch screen and thinks it's not as good as the 15-inch with both at full brightness, then it isn't as good.

I think this is just affecting some of them. The literature implies the screen is better than the 15-inch (colour range) and as good as the iMac's. Also, looking through the forums, I notice some have different screen models. I've seen some online video reviews and the 17-inch screen looks fine (much better than the one I saw)...

http://blog.laptopmag.com/17-inch-macbook-pro-mini-review-and-video
 
sjma said:
Interesting, but perception is what counts. If everyone in the shop looks at the 17-inch screen and thinks it's not as good as the 15-inch with both at full brightness, then it isn't as good.

I think this is just affecting some of them. The literature implies the screen is better than the 15-inch (colour range) and as good as the iMac's. Also, looking through the forums, I notice some have different screen models. I've seen some online video reviews and the 17-inch screen looks fine (much better than the one I saw)...

http://blog.laptopmag.com/17-inch-macbook-pro-mini-review-and-video
Click to expand...

Is the one on the right a macbook pro or a macbook?

the 17'' does look much brighter weird...
 
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