I was at the Apple store today and saw them both side by side. Disabled the ambient light thing and turned both displays to max. The 17" looks about 10% dimmer than the 15". You don't really notice it unless they are right next to each other though and I'm still quite happy with the brightness level of mine.
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17" UMBP definitely dimmer than 15"
- Thread starter ayasin
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This was the same with the previous gen mbp's. I remember the 15" was a notch brighter than the 17".
kastenbrust
macrumors 68030
Wierd thing happened to me today. My max brightness on my 17" Unibody got about 15% Dimmer than it was for my first day using it out of the box. Funny thing is, i had just finished an update and restarted when this occured. Im 100% sure its dimmer than it was previously, before it was as bright as my 15" Unibody, but now on max brightness its much less, wonder whats going on, its still perfectly useable, just...dimmer.
Apple must be controlling it using firmware, I know a lot of people complained to them the 15" is too bright, but i always thought thats stupid because you can simply turn down the brightness if you dont like it.
Loving The Resolution. Disappointed By The Brightness.
Just got my new 17 MBP. Was planning to replace my Unibody 15 MBP but having second thoughts. When I look at the two laptops side by side, the 17 feels like reading a Kindle 2, very neat, but dim. Bright is better for most Baby Boomer's eyes...
Just got my new 17 MBP. Was planning to replace my Unibody 15 MBP but having second thoughts. When I look at the two laptops side by side, the 17 feels like reading a Kindle 2, very neat, but dim. Bright is better for most Baby Boomer's eyes...
I work in a relatively dimly lit room (by design) so more than 3 dots on the brightness burns into the back of my brain lol. I guess if you work in a well lit environment or outdoors then you'll need to pump the brightness.
duffyanneal
macrumors 6502a
I have to LOL about all the threads about the "dim" 17" display. First and foremost my 17" display is not dim. It is true that the 17" display is not as bright as the 15" but I would never classify it as dim. Using that same criteria I could say the 15" MBP is dim since the MBA is noticeably brighter than any other Apple portable. Here are some pictures I just took of the two machines. Both machines are set for maximum brightness. Judge for yourself. BTW, the 17" MBP has a 9C99 display and the 15" MBP has a 9C84 display.
In this picture the 15" MBP was a bit cooler and brighter in appearance. The 17" MBP's whites lean a little on the warm side.
The 15" MBP didn't look quite as washed out in person. I believe this picture shows the greater color gamut of the 17" MBP.
In this picture the 15" MBP was a bit cooler and brighter in appearance. The 17" MBP's whites lean a little on the warm side.
The 15" MBP didn't look quite as washed out in person. I believe this picture shows the greater color gamut of the 17" MBP.
Any extra brightness on the 15" is probably due to its plentiful amounts of glaring light bleed. The 17" screen is superior in every way.
A big hats off to you for taking the time to do this! I was starting to wonder if I was gonna be sorry for going from the 15 to the 17...
Similar to the 15", there are two different models of LCDs used in the 17". One is the 9C88, the other the 9C89. I went to the Apple store to check it out, and it seems that the 9C88 has a very blue tint to the screen. The 9C99 looked much more color accurate out of the box. I'm sure a color calibration would fix the 9C88 color. But it's possible that people are having different impressions due to different screens.
I never said it was dim. I said one was dimmer relative to the other, this doesn't mean either is dim. An arc wielder is dimmer than the sun but I wouldn't say either is dim.
Abstract
macrumors Penryn
Well that sucks, doesn't it. On the other hand, you can't really expect all laptop displays to be equally bright. They're different....different size, pixel density, colour gamut, and everything. If they're going to be different, then one has to be brighter than the other. The 17" MBP loses out, but in reality, these differences are just relative differences, and expected.
And I think the 1st photo (with all the green) is where the difference is most obvious. You can tell by comparing the left side of both screens. The 17" is definitely dimmer, but the difference appears miniscule.
And I think the 1st photo (with all the green) is where the difference is most obvious. You can tell by comparing the left side of both screens. The 17" is definitely dimmer, but the difference appears miniscule.
I have to LOL about all the threads about the "dim" 17" display. First and foremost my 17" display is not dim. It is true that the 17" display is not as bright as the 15" but I would never classify it as dim. Using that same criteria I could say the 15" MBP is dim since the MBA is noticeably brighter than any other Apple portable. Here are some pictures I just took of the two machines. Both machines are set for maximum brightness. Judge for yourself. BTW, the 17" MBP has a 9C99 display and the 15" MBP has a 9C84 display.
In this picture the 15" MBP was a bit cooler and brighter in appearance. The 17" MBP's whites lean a little on the warm side.
The 15" MBP didn't look quite as washed out in person. I believe this picture shows the greater color gamut of the 17" MBP.
The 15" mbp is definitely brighter.
kastenbrust
macrumors 68030
No, the 15" MBP has definitely lower color gamut, look how washed out it is compared to the 17".
Only the last photo looks washed out but the other 2 I actually like the look of the 15" and it looks brighter/vibrant.
I'm sure it has something to do with the posters screen on his 15" but on the color red and orange like on that flower its never washed out like that on my 15".
Either way, their both crappy TN panels to me~ Nothing compares to the 24" LED ACD with H-IPS panel. Now thats eye candy. @_@
S-Man
macrumors regular
Duffyanneal, I don't intend to question your knowledge of your camera, (according to a previous post, you have D300) but what mode did you shoot in?
The reason I ask is because if it was in any type of auto mode (Av, Tv etc.), the camera's auto metering may have thrown off the brightness/color in the 15" in one shot.
Did you shoot in Manual, and if so, which screen did you meter to in the last shot with the washed out 15"?
Thanks, that D300 is a great cam!
The reason I ask is because if it was in any type of auto mode (Av, Tv etc.), the camera's auto metering may have thrown off the brightness/color in the 15" in one shot.
Did you shoot in Manual, and if so, which screen did you meter to in the last shot with the washed out 15"?
Thanks, that D300 is a great cam!
Observations Confirmed! (17" UMBP dimmer then 15")
I purchased a 15" Macbook Pro Unibody 2.66 Ghz last week and almost immediately had some buyer's remorse over choosing this model rather than the 17" UMBP so I searched the discussion boards to get some user opinions. The topic regarding the 17" UMBP screen observed to be dimmer than the 15" UMBP caught my particular attention. I figured the only way to put any validity to the issue was to check it out for myself. I met up with a friend who had purchased the 17" UMBP in Feb and had both comps placed side by side with the "rocks" wall paper in backdrop. It took about 30 seconds for the both of us to realize the 15" UMBP was SLIGHTLY BRIGHTER than the 17" UMBP, and that the 17" screen definitely had a BLUE overtone. You don't need to implement any mathematical calculations or use special equipment to come to this conclusion - (check out the photos and let me know what you think...) Also, something that may be difficult to detect in the attached photos, the 15" UMBP seemed to have a crisper picture. With all this, the higher res in the 17" along with the 8 hour battery life still has me debating whether or not I should exchange. 🙂
I purchased a 15" Macbook Pro Unibody 2.66 Ghz last week and almost immediately had some buyer's remorse over choosing this model rather than the 17" UMBP so I searched the discussion boards to get some user opinions. The topic regarding the 17" UMBP screen observed to be dimmer than the 15" UMBP caught my particular attention. I figured the only way to put any validity to the issue was to check it out for myself. I met up with a friend who had purchased the 17" UMBP in Feb and had both comps placed side by side with the "rocks" wall paper in backdrop. It took about 30 seconds for the both of us to realize the 15" UMBP was SLIGHTLY BRIGHTER than the 17" UMBP, and that the 17" screen definitely had a BLUE overtone. You don't need to implement any mathematical calculations or use special equipment to come to this conclusion - (check out the photos and let me know what you think...) Also, something that may be difficult to detect in the attached photos, the 15" UMBP seemed to have a crisper picture. With all this, the higher res in the 17" along with the 8 hour battery life still has me debating whether or not I should exchange. 🙂
Attachments
Wow.. that 17" unibody's screen looks gorgeous! Now that I look at them side by side, they look nearly identical in brightness with the 17" unibody if not the 17" actually looks a tad bit brighter to me and looking so much sharper (I wonder how crisp it'll look and how much brighter it'll be on the matte version, usually matte led screens are brighter than the glossy variant).
I would definitely get the 17".
One thing to note, the 15" unibody mbp looks like its a little yellowish in tone to me. I prefer the slight blue push as it neutralizes the color whites and looks much whiter to me. 😀
I agree that the 15" is only slightly brighter - nothing to really get worked up over. (I wouldn't give a percentage to it though - especially not from visual observations).
Regaring the color overtone - I guess we'll have to find those same rocks and to see whether they look blueish or yellowish in real life 🙂 otherwise use some other photo you can compare.
You do bring up a good point regarding the blue neutralizes the white color.
But, at the end of the day, the 15" UMBP just seemed to have a crisper image overall.
It's washed out only because the photo is overexposed.
The first images make the computers seem almost equally bright (the MBP a tad brighter). The last image is very embarrassing. This is clearly a sign of the brighter display. You should use exposure compensation on the same situation : dial down to -1 and take the picture. Then you'll see the 15" looks normal.
I confirm, the 15" is warmer. Were the 2 computers using their default color profile ? It could be down to the kelvin temperature used for the white point of their respective screens.
Do you still have that 15" ? what's the panel number (9C84 or 9C85 or something else) ? I'm currently fighting hard to get a 9C85 panel but I'm on my 3rd MBP and all 3 were 9C84, all three had rather blue colors 🙁
YahonMaizosz
macrumors regular
Can anyone tell me the "Nits" of each MBP screen brightness? I am going to purchase the 17" MBP but in the Apple stores, their "demo" 17" MBP seems to be so dim and dark that made me change my mind...