ALL matte monitors look 'WET'

[crisito]

I am used to glossy screens but I want to get a matte monitor but all of the ones I've tried and seen (low and highly priced) have a sort of 'wet' look. It's as if you can the see matte coating texture on the screen and it really affects the quality and is distracting. It could also be described as the screen looking as if there's dust on it, but I have seen it when monitors are brand new or cleaned thoroughly. I've tried to photograph it but it's too difficult.

I have asked about this a few times in other topics but no-one has had the same view..

Anyone have the same issue with matte screens?

 

[crisito]

I've just found someone else with the same problem with an ACD:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/443770/


I've also noticed it in the Apple Store on a 30" Apple Cinema Display (matte)

 

[xlii]

There is really no right or wrong to this. The screen type you prefer is a matter of preference. I've always used matt screens UNTIL last July when I got a 13" glossy MBP. It took me some getting used to but now I love it. If I was to get another laptop down the road that had both glossy or matt as options... I don't know which one I would pick.

 

[Makosuke]

I know what you're talking about, but it certainly doesn't bother me, and that's pretty much the price of a matte screen--you can't make the surface rough without having SOME effect on how the image looks.

Apple's latest matte screens (I'm specifically thinking of the matte version of the MBP) are rather nice in terms of minimizing "grain" (or wetness, or whatever you want to call it), but frankly it just isn't an issue to me on the screens I use, nor I expect is it to most people who use matte.

If you don't like it, get glossy--I generally prefer matte, but the 27" iMac is gorgeous so long as there isn't a window behind you.

You can probably minimize the appearance by sitting farther away, though depending on the resolution of the screen and its size this might not be realistic.

 

[CubeHacker]

That "Wet" look is part of the anti-glare properties of the matte coating. It helps reflect light in a random way so that its not directed back at you. The downside is that it looks a bit strange, especially when you move your head slightly and see it "sparkle".

I would personally prefer a glossy glass display, but one with an anti-glare coating, similar to what CRT's used to use, and similar to what most eyeglasses have.