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17" MBP LED Screen - comparison please.. i beg you all PLEASE!!

bronksy

bronksy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 5, 2006
735
469
London
Hi folks.
I have now hit my FOURTH replacement 17" MBP. Its doing my head in.. I just dont think the screens on the MBP's I have are even.

Can people PLEASE do me a massive favour and do a really simple test..

Set the background to black in sys prefs.. OR download the black background i've attatched.

pump up the screen brightness to full.

Look at the screen head on in a dimly lit room..

What do you see?

Do you see a solid black background? I see small patches of difference with black and patches of grey.. i see feint lines, I am thinking this is where the LED's are.. but I just dont get it.

Am i being TOO picky, surely the 4 replacements i've had cant ALL be faulty??

Can you good people let me know your findings? I would REALLY appreciate this!
 

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Black as night on my MBP 15in matte. Sorry. On my Blackbook it has concentric rings coming from the centre of the screen just above the keyboard.
 
Im on a 17" high res glossy and mines black as black too

Sorry bud - seem like you got a poor one - speak to apple - i just switched mine out for having vertical stripes down screen (very faint) but mainly becase the lid wouldnt shut flush - about a 6mm gap on left side!
 
too picky?

So am i expecting TOO much, that there shouldbe a uniform backlight when the LED backlight is on full and you look at the screen? Has anyone looked at the black background thing?

Still dont know whether i have patience for another swap..
 
it looks to me that you don't have LED but you have normal LCD. LED should be uniform and not like yours
 
As many will testify, I'm among the pickiest screen people around. However, your screen looks great to me! I've had countless 15 MBP LEDs over the past year and all of them have had worse unevenness and bleeding than yours, at least based on your photos. I've had all manufacturers and so far the worse bleeding has been the Chimei, followed by LG, AUO an Samsung. The samsung has very little bleeding, but has a little bit of yellowing instead.

I would be happy with what you have because I doubt you're going to get a better one one.

Also, do you see the lines when there are white backgrounds too, or just when you have a black desktop in a very dark room? My experience has been that the bleeding can't really be seen in everyday work situations, but becomes noticeable when you watch DVDs in dark environments - but only against the pitch black backgrounds. If you notice it everyday in regular lighting, I'd recommend getting it replaced, otherwise I'd live with it.
 
thanks

In response to the other poster.. the uneven screen can really ONLY be seen when the backlight is on full and on the black background.. not any other time.

I have a 30 ACD and it's so uniform.. i realise its a different screen etc but perfection can happen, and when i spend 2500 quid on the top spec laptop Apple make, then i expect perfection especially as this is critical to my work.
 
I know what you're saying about perfection, and I hate to be the one to tell you that you will not find an Apple laptop with a perfect screen. In fact, I doubt you'll find any laptop with a screen that equals or even comes close to a good desktop display. Some thinkpads used to have a display that was close (called flexview) with great viewing angles, even illumination and good color gamut, but they were quite dim and very expensive. IBM/Lenovo discontinued them because they couldn't get sufficient quantity at a reasonable price.

It's easy to think that there are perfect ones out there if you go by what you read here, but trust me when I tell you that the only reason somebody would say their display is perfect is that they aren't critical users. that may come across as arrogant, but I've seen LOTS of MBP displays and owned LOTS and not one was 'perfect' if perfect means 99% even illumination, no color hues, excellent viewing angles, excellent color gamut. It's just not available today....
 
bronksy said:
the uneven screen can really ONLY be seen when the backlight is on full and on the black background.. not any other time.

i expect perfection especially as this is critical to my work.
Click to expand...

Exactly how much work do you do with the backlight on full and a completely black screen?? :confused:

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
That screen is unacceptable. But the apple standard for screens is quite low: I had my 15in screen replaced two times and I ended up with one "just fine".

thistle
 
"I see nothing wrong with that screen. Maybe it's the poor lighting of the picture, but it looks fine. Take it back again if you're OCD enough (we're all a little OCD) that it bothers you to see little columns of light. Haven't you been through enough already, though? Don't be so picky."
 
fair point

Ok.. fair point people.. but this is what i dont get..
Why should we be so apathetic? What has become of the world when you are not getting what you pay for.

For some reason this seems to have been a trait that we have gotten more apathetic to over the years and as we get newer tech.

I dont like to feel punished for (b)leading edge purchases. These machines are sold as pro machines (the clue is in the name) and aimed at professionals. I dont think that its satisfactory to just say 'oh well' and then accept this as the status quo.

If i use my laptop in a dimly lit room with the black screen on thats my prerogative, and irrelevant to the fact that the screen should not look crappy.

So why are you folk so easy to sit there and accept what is essentially (in my opinion anyway) unacceptable.
 
I agree, I think Apple should give the user the option to upgrade to a grade A screen, which might be substantially more pricey, but worth it to some people, like you for example, who expect the screen to be perfect.

However I don't think that getting another replacement is going to get you a better screen, what's more, MBP's are known for their various screen issues.
 
You can't tell anything from such a photograph as there are too many variable. The chances are that you have the well known obsessive apple perfection syndrome. I've had it myself, on a bender I once returned 4 emacs. In the end I just accepted that perfect does not exist and stopped obsessing. Enjoy your computer, put a picture on the desktop and stop taking pictures of black screens in the dark. my 2 cents:)
 
but i paid..

more for an HD screen also..

Annoys me that we have to accept this.. so much apathy. so little time!
 
Exchange it. It's going to continue to bother you, and make you feel like you've been ripped off. Do you have an Apple Store locally? Perhaps after your having to exchange numerous times, they will allow you to test in store? Sorry you're having these issues, I can tell you're pretty upset by them. I hope you get one that fits your needs.
 
I'm not upset, more fustrated. I have decided to keep the one in the photo. I didnt mention the one i was sent before had an 'ok' screen BUT the trackpad button wasn't working.

I admire peoples admiration and support of Apple and their products, but in my opinion, and after owning most of the Mac range, the QC on these MBP's is very very poor!
 
bronksy said:
I'm not upset, more fustrated. I have decided to keep the one in the photo. I didnt mention the one i was sent before had an 'ok' screen BUT the trackpad button wasn't working.

I admire peoples admiration and support of Apple and their products, but in my opinion, and after owning most of the Mac range, the QC on these MBP's is very very poor!
Click to expand...

I'm generally a very picky person as well but in the last few years I've learned to take it easy and sometimes, just to accept things for the way they are. Case in point: If you've gone through 4 laptops, its probably just the way it is and no laptop will meet your expectations.

If you can't live with it, then return it. A laptop should not cause you frustration or stress.
 
bronksy said:
I admire peoples admiration and support of Apple and their products, but in my opinion, and after owning most of the Mac range, the QC on these MBP's is very very poor!
Click to expand...

On the other hand, I am very happy with my MBP and I have no problems with the quality

There are certainly other choices for you out there
You are not forced to use a MBP if the quality is not up to your demanding standards


Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
bronksy said:
Hi folks.
I have now hit my FOURTH replacement 17" MBP. Its doing my head in.. I just dont think the screens on the MBP's I have are even.

Can people PLEASE do me a massive favour and do a really simple test..

Set the background to black in sys prefs.. OR download the black background i've attatched.

pump up the screen brightness to full.

Look at the screen head on in a dimly lit room..

What do you see?

Do you see a solid black background? I see small patches of difference with black and patches of grey.. i see feint lines, I am thinking this is where the LED's are.. but I just dont get it.

Am i being TOO picky, surely the 4 replacements i've had cant ALL be faulty??

Can you good people let me know your findings? I would REALLY appreciate this!
Click to expand...

whoa that's some bad backlight bleeding there, I have a black background as well and its clean as night.
 
Uniformly pitch black. But I'm on a 19" CRT, lol.

Laptop screens are also only 18-bit color, so I hope your work isn't uber-color critical :D

It's black on my Toshiba laptop, too.
 
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