2016 15" MBP Screen uniformity

[jonnyr78]

Just got a 15" in the UK. Slightly bluer screen on the right. I don't care! I have spent far too long with far too many IPS screens, it's just a fact of the technology that this is inherent; some kind of combination of 'dirty screen door' and less than perfect white/gray uniformity.

IMHO if you have screen that like those pictured in this thread, and no dead pixels, and your machine is cosmetically OK, exchanging it because of screen uniformity is a fools errand; all will have some uniformity problems, it's the nature of the tech. In the future OLED will help, but for now looking for perfection? Good luck as you'll need it!

 

[Newtons Apple]

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.

People do not want to hear this. They expect perfect and nothing less

 

[James.K.Polk]

Just got a 15" in the UK. Slightly bluer screen on the right. I don't care! I have spent far too long with far too many IPS screens, it's just a fact of the technology that this is inherent; some kind of combination of 'dirty screen door' and less than perfect white/gray uniformity.

IMHO if you have screen that like those pictured in this thread, and no dead pixels, and your machine is cosmetically OK, exchanging it because of screen uniformity is a fools errand; all will have some uniformity problems, it's the nature of the tech. In the future OLED will help, but for now looking for perfection? Good luck as you'll need it!

Agreed completely. It's one of those things you just have to get past, or buy a different computer. Go the Apple store, pull up all-white images on all the machines, and pan around. There is always some of that dirty screen effect. I exchanged my 2015 15" once and am glad I did - went from a really uneven panel (dead pixels to boot, which was the real reason) to one that I could live with. I knew it wasn't perfect, and guess what - it hasn't bothered me since.

 

[Cheese808]

Agreed completely. It's one of those things you just have to get past, or buy a different computer. Go the Apple store, pull up all-white images on all the machines, and pan around. There is always some of that dirty screen effect. I exchanged my 2015 15" once and am glad I did - went from a really uneven panel (dead pixels to boot, which was the real reason) to one that I could live with. I knew it wasn't perfect, and guess what - it hasn't bothered me since.

I'm sorry, but my previous 3 MBP's NEVER had ANY gradient in my screen. I show off work to clients with this laptop, even asking others if they can see it, indeed they do. I can take a picture of my 2015 13', she looks consistent. I've never boughten a monitor either that had this problem. Stop trying to say this is acceptable.

The last SS looks 10x better than mine. My 2016 13' NTB I returned for this looked fine.

 

[James.K.Polk]

I'm sorry, but my previous 3 MBP's NEVER had ANY gradient in my screen. I can take a picture of my 2015 13', she looks consistent. I've never boughten a monitor either that had this problem. Stop trying to say this is acceptable.

From experience (personal vs. work computers) I do think the 15" tends to have more issues. Keep in mind, this is an extremely small sample set (2 and 2 for each).

As for any 'boughtened' monitors, I can't speak to that... my experience is only with the old Cinema Displays that look even to my eyes!

 

[Farsider]

@Farsider - Can you mark where you see the lines in the picture? I can't see them

I've attempted to illustrate what my screen looks like:


Without tint

With tint

Top and bottom 3rd are muddy/yellow, middle 3rd is white as expected.

 

[Cheese808]

From experience (personal vs. work computers) I do think the 15" tends to have more issues. Keep in mind, this is an extremely small sample set (2 and 2 for each).

As for any 'boughtened' monitors, I can't speak to that... my experience is only with the old Cinema Displays that look even to my eyes!

My laptop with the problem is 13". I think Apple's QC isn't what we usually expect due to a new design/first gen status of the MBP.

@OP your pics sum it up perfectly.

 

[Farsider]

My laptop with the problem is 13", I think Apple's QC isn't what we usually expect due to a new design of the MBP.

@OP your pics sum it up perfectly.

It's not normal or acceptable at all is it! £2300 for this? No thanks.

 

[jonnyr78]

It's not normal or acceptable at all is it! £2300 for this? No thanks.

Hate to break it to you, but it is normal for IPS.

If you are saying "for £2300 Apple should have used OLED" I'd agree.

But, for £2300, using IPS, what you demonstrate with the latest picture IS what IPS is like. If your picture is accurate I would say it is what one should expect with this sort of display. If you exchange you might get slightly better, or you could get slightly worse. But, it is impossible to get one without some of this. EVERY IPS based screen has this problem.

Given the physical design of the laptop, and the screen tech, the problem is not Apple QC, it's inherent to the nature of the screen.

I would say the best you could hope for is a drop of maybe 15% less 'yellow' on the bottom area you demonstrate. Better than that and you have just about the best IPS screen possible.

I'm not defending Apple! IMHO for the cost they could have used OLED. But, I have had tens of IPS screens, they all have it. You just have to decide if the other advantages; general colour quality, lack of OLED 'dark pixel patches' are worth the tradeoff.

Folks, if you want to really scare yourselves with your new Macs, get a notepad app open window about 1/4 the size of the screen. Then drag it around fairly quickly. You'll notice some darker patches than others. THAT's IPS. I don't look anymore, it'll just drive you mad
[doublepost=1480192182][/doublepost]p.s. the iPad Pro 9.7 (whihc I have) is the only screen I have seen with, say, better than 80% gradient consistency but...

1. It changes colour temp and
2. It is a smaller screen.

YES Apple could put huge effort and extra QC into getting it a bit better, but frankly they would be the only company selling displays like this (some professional monitors have techniques to hide IPS 'dirty screen / inconsistency' but they are not much less cost than the Macbook Pro itself!
[doublepost=1480192610][/doublepost]P.p.s. This is the best link: http://uk.rtings.com/tv/tests/picture-quality/gray-uniformity-dirty-screen-effect-dse

And before people claim "the link is about TV's", First, it's the same tech, second look at their idea of 'good!'. To them good/excellent is better than most screens posted under "Apple screen gate pt.457!!".

 

[DMoggo]

Here's mine, not perfect but I can live with it.

Looks worse in a picture than real life.
View attachment 674773

I think you will never get a totally uniform screen, it's what is acceptable to you really. You can see from mine I posted above it is not perfect but some in this thread are worse and I'm sure some are slightly better but chasing around is not for me. Individual decision I guess.

 

[xmonkey]

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.

Um, its fairly easy to see if you have non-uniform color when you throw up a white screen. If it wasn't uniform I'd be able to see a blue/yellow/red/green subtle tint at parts. What yours seems to show is some brightness drop-off at the bottom. You exaggerate it by putting up an entire white screen (how often do you do that in real use?). No IPS screen is perfect.

If it really bothers you that much then return it if you want, I'm just saying it doesn't look bad to me especially compared to others posted here and it's entirely possible you'll get a worse one.

 

[GoodOne]

I'm curious, what do you guys think about mine? It's a 2016 15" tbMBP.

Interestingly, it Looks way better in reality than the photos suggest.

Like others said, all LCDs are flawed so it's pointless to ask for perfection but rather for near-perfect as much as the LCD Technology allows.

I'll get a replacement unit (blown Speakers) so I hope the new one is on par with my current one or even better. All in all, I love the Screen.

 

[MH01]

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?

It is £2300. And you have till the 8th Jan to see if it comes good

 

[ressac]

from this photo i can see that your old rmbp 13" is whiter than new TB mbp 15", is in real life it's also noticeable?

 

[bab5139]

I've attempted to illustrate what my screen looks like:


Top and bottom 3rd are muddy/yellow, middle 3rd is white as expected.

Ok, I totally see it now. I do not have that on mine. I wouldn't accept that.

 

[Alicia1]

I am taking mine back to the store today and have placed another order online. The wait continues.

 

[Scott G.]

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????

I've personally had a Razer Blade with uneven colors on whites. I've also noticed it pretty badly on a display unit XPS 15.

 

[mrex]

I've attempted to illustrate what my screen looks like:


Top and bottom 3rd are muddy/yellow, middle 3rd is white as expected.

exchange it! you wont ever get used to that. i had a device looking like that, and never got used to the yellowish part on the screen. i finally started to use an app that added a blueish gradient over it to get it to look like the rest of the screen.

 

[GoodOne]

I am taking mine back to the store today and have placed another order online. The wait continues.

Just talk to Apple Support, I'm getting a replacement and they put me on a priority list so I don't have to get in line again.
My experience has been that they do whatever it takes to make their customers happy, you just Need to talk to them.
Without even asking, they proposed to deliver the new one first, so I can set it up and then give the old one back so I won't have any downtime as I Need my MBP daily for my work.

If something goes wrong Quality-wise, they do everything to fix it.

 

[seadragon]

For those that keep asking how often one displays a white screen during normal usage, I'd say quite often. Many websites use what as the primary background color. In fact this very page in the forum is a good example. As one scrolls up and down it is very easy to notice screen uniformity issues. Look at the light blue area to the left of the screen where user info is. It will change significantly from top to bottom if uniformity is not good.

I've bought and returned several iPads over the years due to this. I had an iPad 2 that had excellent uniformity and the 9.7 Pro I'm typing this on is also excellent.

That all said, it is true that uniformity issues are somewhat inherent with LCD technology. It then comes down to subjective opinion as to what one is willing to accept.

 

[Alicia1]

After taking mine back to the store, a few days later I managed to pick up the standard config with the 512gb ssd. It isn't 100% perfect as no screen is and it seems to have a slight pinkish tinge to parts of the screen but at least there isn't any dirty yellow patches top and bottom.

 

[maka344]

You can test your screen by using the solid white screen saver in settings, I suspect most to have issues. Mine is better than the purple hue I had in the left hand corner but not perfect.

Are there any other ways to test? I prefer a perfect as possible screen.

 

[WhiteWhaleHolyGrail]

I wonder what display profiles people use and whether it can make IPS inconsistencies more/less prominent...

 

[nonm]

How is that guys?

 

[maka344]

Looks a lit

How is that guys?

Looks a little blotchy.