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Anti Glare on my Thunderbolt display?

R

RiverDonkey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hallow guys.

I have recently bought a 27" Thunderbolt display for my Macbook Pro, and i must say i love it. But the glare in the monitor is giving my eyes a hard time 🙁, i have been looking around the internet for a solution and found this
http://www.radtech.us/Products/ClearCal-Displays.aspx

So i was wondering if any of you had tried something like this on your Display? Or maybe you got some other solution?

Regards
RiverDonkey
 
This films work very well, I used one on my old Samsung Notebook. Never wanted to get it off again although it wasn't a perfect fit on the edges.
Fit is not the problem with the glass panel but what I hear is that,
the space between the AG film and the actual panel is really bad for the end result. For best results the film needs to sit as closely to the panel as possible and with the thick glass in between the end result is okay at best.

It certainly will reduce glare in any case but the picture quality is worse than with an actual matt screen or a glare screen without the glass.
You should have bought a different display. Dell has very good ones matte and bit cheaper too.
 
you could have bought the old apple monitor, the 30". I would say rearrange or change the lighting in the room when you are using it. don't ruin the $1000 monitor with a cheap ag film.
 
you can but you lose the crisp vividness of the display

just put it in an angle and position where it dosnt recieve a direct shine of light

ur problem for purchasing a 1000 dollar monitor LOL
 
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@k007 hmm not really much for giving up quality for it, just such a shame to use the computer for 2 hours and have my eyes all messed up. 🙁
Moving around it not really a solution, as i live in a 1 room apartment, so its very limiting.

Cound a solution be to get some glasses lol ?
 
The anti-glare film is a relatively inexpensive way to deal with the reflective display. I use Power Support anti-glare film on my iPad and 13" MacBook Pro and it significantly improves the display and totally removes reflections. Be aware that some films can introduce artifacts and color-shifts; the Power Support does not have this problem but it doesn't come in size large enough for your display.

Unfortunately, the "glassy" display and its reflective surface may not be what is bothering your eyes. Some people are sensitive to the LED backlighting that Apple uses in its displays. If that is what is happening you can try calibrating the display and turning down its brightness. It may make it better to use or it may not; LED sensitivity is a very subjective experience. Many people do not appear to be bothered by it but if you are one of the sensitive ones like me then it can make an LED display unusable.

Here is a lengthy thread at the official Apple forums regarding user problems with Apple displays. Within the first four pages there is a suggestion for how to adjust your display, including using Shades to dim your display. When I did this with my MBP it really helped a lot.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1677617?start=0&tstart=0

If you still have problems using your display then the only alternative is too get a CCFL backlight display. There are a number of companies that still manufacture them, including NEC which makes high-quality displays. Display specs usually indicate the type of backlighting.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you.
 
I heard that before but I cannot imagine how it actually affects one.
For me the most important part to work long ours without any problems is simple brigthness and color tones.
The default 6500k which is usually even a bit higher is IMO way to cold for anything but outside work. Indoors lower is so much more comfortable.
This freeware tool F.lux is amazing.

I have only matte screens. Never had any eye strain with glare it was just so annoying that you never were perfectly happy with your setup especially when watching movies I could see myself a brighter shirt, always some annoying reflection.

If it is so bad for you op I would definitely do something.
Those films are not that expensive and they do what they are supposed to do very well even better than native matte screens. They often come with better AR which is rarely used in native matte screens probably because the color shift when looked at from an angle is odd, but it helps and increases contrast.
 
@Mojo1 Thx for your time. Actually its a bit strange, as i have no problem what so ever sitting with my macbook pro alone, which is glossy aswell.
I have read some of the post in the thread you linked, but i don't get headeac more like dry eye, if you know what i mean. I have actually experienced this before on a Fujitsu 24" Monitor, but this is worse, i get feel it after about 5 minutes. However, i had no problem using my LED 24" Samsung monitor.

I'm gonna try changing the colors a bit, see if it helps.

@dusk007 i'm a programmer myself, so i will using it many hours in row, offen with no breaks. I will take a look at the program you writing about. thx 🙂.
 
In my experience it doesn't happen with all LED backlit displays. My 2008 15" MBP anti-glare display was LED and I never had a problem using it. But both the 11"MBA and my 13" MBP caused me problems. While the MBA was unusable I was able to mitigate most of the problem with the MBP.

My hunch is that Apple has changed its displays since I purchased the 2008 MBP and that the MBA displays cause more problems than the MBP. (The high-resolution displays may have something to do with it.) This is based on my own experience and reading many posts online. Some people who could not use current Apple displays used for the MBA and MBP report switching to a Lenova anti-glare laptop solved the problem. Assuming the Lenova also uses LED, that would provide some support for my suspicion.

Regarding dusk007's comment, I have read that the LED backlight sensitivity may be due to the color of the LEDs used in the display. There may be other factors involved. Apparently all LED displays are not created equal...
 
FuNGi said:
Use two suction cups to pull off the glass. Then just be careful and remain dust free.
Click to expand...

i agree, although it will look ugly. that was the first thing that came to my mind.

op, try using the quote button when replying to someone specific.
 
Mojo1 said:
I have read that the LED backlight sensitivity may be due to the color of the LEDs used in the display. There may be other factors involved. Apparently all LED displays are not created equal...
Click to expand...
I once heard a eye doctor in an interview say that most modern LCD screens have too much blue than they should or to put it differently the blue is to bright or the color to cold. Apperantly it helps keep awake longer because we have some receptors that respond mostly to the visible part of the blue end of the spectrum and keep us from getting sleepy. But it is unhealthy and not good for the eyes too though I forgot how it actually hurts eyes. I remember the argument went in the direction of too much continous noise also hurts your hearing.

Also there is the simple fact that all white LEDs have an color spectrum that puts out significantly more brightness in the blue spectrum and much less in yellow/green and red. Manufactures therefore prefer cold colors for the simple reason that the screen looks brighter because well it is measrueably brighter if set colder. It is more eye catching in a Best Buy or such.
Warmer tones need to dimm the blue pixels to match them to the generally low output of the red end of the specturm. Screen looks dimmer.
Also it increases contrast and that is what our eyes respond to primarily. We do see colors but compared to contrast color is a rather unimportant information for our visual system. We are rather poor in seen color differences compared to brightness differences which technically wouldn't have to be that way. That is why most people prefer would regard a high contrast but less colorful picture as much sharper and more of better quality than a lower contrast more colorful one.
But that doesn't mean it is healthy, natural or comfortable to sacrifice comfortable color spectrum for higher contrast. Also the contrast difference is rather minimal. Only side to side in a store it is a difference you always notice.

F.Lux is the perfect remedy somebody in this forum posted a link to it first. It lets you easily set the color tone and lowers it automatically at night (based on the hour of the day and the set location). You don't even notice it changing but it is worlds more comfortable imo.

I only like full 6500k if I work outside or in a café. The cold colors fit there and the extra brightness is useful.
 
Last edited:
dusk007 said:
F.Lux is the perfect remedy somebody in this forum posted a link to it first. It lets you easily set the color tone and lowers it automatically at night (based on the hour of the day and the set location). You don't even notice it changing but it is worlds more comfortable imo.

I only like full 6500k if I work outside or in a café. The cold colors fit there and the extra brightness is useful.
Click to expand...

Its a great program will def use it, but i doesn't fix my eye strain. That be i don't really think this could be caused by brightness of the Monitor.
As i said i don't have a problem using my Macbook pro alone, could it be because that the Monitor is that much bigger? I don't really think its the reflection either, as i still get strain using it at night, where almost none reflection is.
This got me thinking, i don't have issues watching tv on my 42" LCD tv, but offen i get eye strain when i play on it using my PS3, which is wierd?
 
FuNGi said:
In this instance you should use "too" instead of "to". Just a friendly tip.
Click to expand...
I have never been the most careful with correcting errors. I do know enough English though to know when to use "too" and when "to". 🙂

This got me thinking, i don't have issues watching tv on my 42" LCD tv, but offen i get eye strain when i play on it using my PS3, which is wierd?
Click to expand...
Maybe you just don't like fast moving pictures. Technically a PS3 puts out a synced frame rate that should not be any different than a TV picture. Unless you TV has some special gaming settings that change certain characteristics.
 
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