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2016 15" MBP Screen uniformity

Farsider

Farsider

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 30, 2014
630
308
London, UK
I just seem to have the worst luck when it comes to retina display devices. New 15" MBP arrives, very excited. Open it up, go through initial setup and everything is fine. Open Safari and go to my favourite Mac news site (hint: Macrumors). Start scrolling through the news and notice that the top and bottom of my screen only have a yellow tint. Nice and white in the middle but muddy at the top and the bottom....particularly the bottom. Its like 2 horizontal brownish stripes.

Anyone else see this on their screens?

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My 2014 rMBP for comparison

31123792351_2ed44dfbb9_b.jpg
 
Farsider said:
Anyone else see this on their screens?
Click to expand...
It's not bad luck. It's you. I don't even see it on your screen. All I see is a useless white screen. When you use the computer, the screen isn't entirely white like that, so why would you try to make a judgment on it in such a configuration?
 
You don't see it? Look at the top and bottom thirds of the screen. There's a clear yellow line going across.
 
kevinkyoo said:
You don't see it? Look at the top and bottom thirds of the screen. There's a clear yellow line going across.
Click to expand...
I really don't see anything. It's yellower than the screen next to it, but it can be calibrated to match.
 
No LCD is uniform. It's impossible. Here is a quote from Displaymate

"The brightness and color of an LCD can vary over the screen. First, it's difficult to backlight the panel uniformly over the entire screen, so there may be hot and cold spots that are brighter or dimmer than average. There may also be shading irregularities that affect the corners or portions of the screen that go from top to bottom, left to right, or from the outside to the inside. Variations inside the glass panel itself may produce additional irregularities."

And here is a CNet article on LCD uniformity.

https://www.cnet.com/news/is-lcd-and-led-lcd-hdtv-uniformity-a-problem/

Panels vary. Either you can live with it or not. I am suggesting that just because it might not be uniform with a plain white display doesn't mean it's not suitable for everyday use.
 
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Well in the real world, when I scroll through a PDF or a webpage with a white background, the text moves from a white to a muddy yellowy white background. It's distracting and to be honest stings a little considering this machine cost me £2300.

Of course other activities like watching video or editing photos don't display the problem. Only white backgrounds do. Unfortunately for me, a lot of the activities I perform involve white backgrounds. This makes everyday use for me an issue.

I'm wondering if this could be the fabled 'wet bonding glue that needs time to dry' issue?
 
My 13" looks like yours :( I have tried to live with it the last few days but it is driving me nuts on websites with a lot of white.
 

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chabig said:
No LCD is uniform. It's impossible. Here is a quote from Displaymate

"The brightness and color of an LCD can vary over the screen. First, it's difficult to backlight the panel uniformly over the entire screen, so there may be hot and cold spots that are brighter or dimmer than average. There may also be shading irregularities that affect the corners or portions of the screen that go from top to bottom, left to right, or from the outside to the inside. Variations inside the glass panel itself may produce additional irregularities."

And here is a CNet article on LCD uniformity.

https://www.cnet.com/news/is-lcd-and-led-lcd-hdtv-uniformity-a-problem/

Panels vary. Either you can live with it or not. I am suggesting that just because it might not be uniform with a plain white display doesn't mean it's not suitable for everyday use.
Click to expand...
Yep, agreed. However, when it is visible to the naked eye, most people will not live with it. There is no such discoloration on my 2015 MBP, or at least not visible.
 
chabig said:
No LCD is uniform. It's impossible. Here is a quote from Displaymate

"The brightness and color of an LCD can vary over the screen. First, it's difficult to backlight the panel uniformly over the entire screen, so there may be hot and cold spots that are brighter or dimmer than average. There may also be shading irregularities that affect the corners or portions of the screen that go from top to bottom, left to right, or from the outside to the inside. Variations inside the glass panel itself may produce additional irregularities."

And here is a CNet article on LCD uniformity.

https://www.cnet.com/news/is-lcd-and-led-lcd-hdtv-uniformity-a-problem/

Panels vary. Either you can live with it or not. I am suggesting that just because it might not be uniform with a plain white display doesn't mean it's not suitable for everyday use.
Click to expand...

Old articles and the second is discussing TV panels. I would hope LCD tech might have improved a little in the past 5 or more years. I can see the color variations on the OP's screen and have some on my own new 15" MBPtb, but since I have been buying Apply products (2009) I've also seen a lot of perfect or near perfect screens so one shouldn't have to settle for a bad screen because a "uniform LCD screen is impossible".
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Farsider said:
Well in the real world, when I scroll through a PDF or a webpage with a white background, the text moves from a white to a muddy yellowy white background. It's distracting and to be honest stings a little considering this machine cost me £2300.

Of course other activities like watching video or editing photos don't display the problem. Only white backgrounds do. Unfortunately for me, a lot of the activities I perform involve white backgrounds. This makes everyday use for me an issue.

I'm wondering if this could be the fabled 'wet bonding glue that needs time to dry' issue?
Click to expand...

I think the wet bonding glue that needs to dry theory has been debunked, but it doesn't hurt to give the screen a little time to see if it improves or if you can get used to it. If not I would definitely return/exchange it. I'm on my second 15" rMBPtb. The first was returned because of uneven color. The second is better but not nearly as even as the screen on my 2012 rMBP and I'm still deciding whether to try again. I really don't want to exchange it again and in every other way it is perfect and a pleasure to use.
 
I've initiated the return process. I've lived with the issue for a few days now trying to ignore it. I've decided for £2300 I shouldn't have to accept or make peace with a screen where parts of it are yellower in places than others. Sorry to see it go but these things are too expensive not to be 100% happy with it.

Didn't select replacement as I don't want to wait another 5 weeks.

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
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bab5139 said:
@Farsider - Can you mark where you see the lines in the picture? I can't see them
Click to expand...

Unfortunately not as I've only got my phone at the moment.

Basically, it's a horizontal band left to right along the top third and bottom third of screen. It's browner/muddier than the middle.
 
Farsider said:
I just seem to have the worst luck when it comes to retina display devices. New 15" MBP arrives, very excited. Open it up, go through initial setup and everything is fine. Open Safari and go to my favourite Mac news site (hint: Macrumors). Start scrolling through the news and notice that the top and bottom of my screen only have a yellow tint. Nice and white in the middle but muddy at the top and the bottom....particularly the bottom. Its like 2 horizontal brownish stripes.

Anyone else see this on their screens?

30870253350_a2b75f66a5_b.jpg


30870253720_a465a3810d_b.jpg


My 2014 rMBP for comparison

31123792351_2ed44dfbb9_b.jpg
Click to expand...


Damn I was hoping these 2016 might have better screens.
And for people saying all LCD panels are uneven, that's rubbish!
I have never ever had to replace a windows laptop for uneven screen uniformity or colour, but I've swapped my IMac 4 times and my previous macbook pro 3 times! All of them had terribly uneven screens.
Apple, what the hell are you playing at????
 
Obagleyfreer said:
Damn I was hoping these 2016 might have better screens.
And for people saying all LCD panels are uneven, that's rubbish!
I have never ever had to replace a windows laptop for uneven screen uniformity or colour, but I've swapped my IMac 4 times and my previous macbook pro 3 times! All of them had terribly uneven screens.
Apple, what the hell are you playing at????
Click to expand...

I just picked up a MBP 13 TB, same issues, but only on the bottom and somewhat on the sides.

IMG_0350.JPG
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IMG_0354.JPG
 
That looks fine... some brightness decrease in the lower half, but you're not likely to find a single one that's perfect in that respect. Most importantly the color on yours looks real good.
 
xmonkey said:
That looks fine... some brightness decrease in the lower half, but you're not likely to find a single one that's perfect in that respect. Most importantly the color on yours looks real good.
Click to expand...

It's certainly not fine. How can you tell if the color is good from a white screen? I feel like I have a small gradient at the lower part of my screen. I do webdev, and having an accurate screen is important, especially at $1800+. I'm returning this for sure.
 
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Cheese808 said:
It's certainly not fine. How can you tell if the color is good from a white screen? I feel like I have a small gradient at the lower part of my screen. I do webdev, and having an accurate screen is important, especially at $1800+. I'm returning this for sure.
Click to expand...

that looks abs horrible, like a cloud on the btm.
 
Farsider said:
I've initiated the return process. I've lived with the issue for a few days now trying to ignore it. I've decided for £2300 I shouldn't have to accept or make peace with a screen where parts of it are yellower in places than others. Sorry to see it go but these things are too expensive not to be 100% happy with it.

Didn't select replacement as I don't want to wait another 5 weeks.

Thanks for the input everyone.
Click to expand...

You don't have to get in line if your MBP is faulty and you want a replacement. I get mine exchanged for another reason and they put me on a priority list so it won't take 4 weeks. Apple is very forthcoming in These cases because they want their customers to be 100% happy.
 
Here's mine, not perfect but I can live with it.

Looks worse in a picture than real life.
IMG_0924.JPG
 
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