Anyone have a very uniform 16" display?

[SBruv]

My screen is nice and even on a white background, but having been through four of them now (stuck pixels on the first one, then the issue I’m about to describe on the second and third, before coming to terms with it for the fourth), it appears that there’s a strange new display thing to deal with with the 16”.

With a full-screened dark grey background (Safari’s ‘Empty page’, for example) and the brightness cranked right up in a low-light setting, all of them have had very faint blotches and geometric looking shapes of a different tint, with quite discrete borders, in various sections of the screen, but generally extending in from the corners.

It’s hard to describe: very faint, looking a bit like water damage or some sort of lamination problem. and you really have to look for it, but once you know it’s there, it can be noticeable at times on certain backgrounds. I think it’s a little more obvious with TrueTone on.

Having seen it on three consecutive 16”s (and I didn’t look for it in the first one, which went back immediately because of the obvious stick pixels), it’s clearly common to all of them, so I guess it’s the new normal or an early production issue.

The joys of Apple ownership.

 

[sebpettersson]

With a full-screened dark grey background (Safari’s ‘Empty page’, for example) and the brightness cranked right up in a low-light setting, all of them have had very faint blotches and geometric looking shapes of a different tint, with quite discrete borders, in various sections of the screen, but generally extending in from the corners.

Safari's "empty page" is slightly transparent with a frosted glass effect, so that would the worst place to check screen uniformity.

 

[SBruv]

Safari's "empty page" is slightly transparent with a frosted glass effect, so that would the worst place to check screen uniformity.

Not when it's full-screen, it isn't. Plus it's the same with any dark grey background, and the 'anomalies' don't move with the background. It's definitely as I described it.
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Here's a photo of one of them, with another photo showing where the problem is. To be clear, the positioning, amount and visibility of the issue seems to vary from screen to screen, but it's 3/3 so far in my experience.

 

[sebpettersson]

Not when it's full-screen, it isn't. Plus it's the same with any dark grey background, and the 'anomalies' don't move with the background. It's definitely as I described it.
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Here's a photo of one of them, with another photo showing where the problem is. To be clear, the positioning, amount and visibility of the issue seems to vary from screen to screen, but it's 3/3 so far in my experience.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that what you were seeing was actually the frosted glass effect, just that Safari would be a bad place to look. And it's still not opaque even in full-screen, I just see the desktop background instead of whatever window that's currently underneath (at least on Mojave).

 

[Spudlicious]

No wonders these devices are so expensive, with people returning them multiple times for trivial non-issues.

But presumably it will lead to early availability of refurbs?

 

[SBruv]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that what you were seeing was actually the frosted glass effect, just that Safari would be a bad place to look. And it's still not opaque even in full-screen, I just see the desktop background instead of whatever window that's currently underneath (at least on Mojave).

I'm definitely not seeing anything of the desktop behind mine when it's full-screen (pic attached). But yeah, Safari, Path Finder, Scrivener… it's the same no matter what the background (or the desktop).

 

[Honumaui]

Did you use a colorimeter or a Spectro ? Or you doing this with your eye only which you can’t trust

Use a proper tool then post the actual calibrated numbers in cd/m2 on say a 9 grid and post the difference

 

[Donnation]

My screen is horrible

It looks like that old, musty, yellow page of a book that's been sitting the library for 35 years

But I'm not keeping my 16" so

You literally started a thread titled "My impression of the 16" MacBook Pro" and not one time in all of your postings did you ever mention anything about a yellow, musty screen. In fact you mostly talked about how much you liked it but couldn't justify keeping it because you just bought a 2019 15".

I look forward to when someone posts that their screen has dead pixels and you chime in with "My screen looks like a picture of space it has soooo many dead pixels."

Just be consistent man, you post stuff across these forums that is all over the place.

 

[SBruv]

Did you use a colorimeter or a Spectro ? Or you doing this with your eye only which you can’t trust

Use a proper tool then post the actual calibrated numbers in cd/m2 on say a 9 grid and post the difference

View attachment 878586 View attachment 878586

Why can't I trust my eyes? Why do I need to produce a series of numbers to back up what I can clearly see on every 16" MacBook Pro I've been able to look for it on? It doesn't matter what proper testing would or wouldn't reveal – it's a clearly visible issue, not a 'sub-clinical' one, just like DSE, dead pixels, uneven tint or whatever.

No matter what the results of testing would or wouldn't reveal, I'm seeing what Im seeing. Look hard enough and it seems very likely that you'll see it too, unless I've just been spectacularly unlucky with three machines.

 

[esaelias187]

brightness on these screens are quite dim

 

[nudoru]

I can't see any issues with uniformity on mine. They may be a difference between what I can see with my eyes and what a camera would capture. But I don't want to start looking for problems that I can't see in normal usage.

 

[SBruv]

I can't see any issues with uniformity on mine. They may be a difference between what I can see with my eyes and what a camera would capture. But I don't want to start looking for problems that I can't see in normal usage.

Absolutely – I wouldn't go looking for it. It seems to be 'normal' anyway, I guess.

 

[Ploki]

tbh of all screens i bought in 2018-2019, 15" MacBook Pro was the worst.
13" looks better. XR looks better. Ultrafine 4K looks better.

 

[kbhooper]

tbh of all screens i bought in 2018-2019, 15" MacBook Pro was the worst.
13" looks better. XR looks better. Ultrafine 4K looks better.

I've tried three 15" since 2015 and they were all worse than 13" and Ultrafine 4K. Maybe it's the cost of having a larger screen that's really thin. I can kinda see the same thing on my 13" just to a lesser extent.

 

[whiteonline]

Not when it's full-screen, it isn't. Plus it's the same with any dark grey background, and the 'anomalies' don't move with the background. It's definitely as I described it.
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Here's a photo of one of them, with another photo showing where the problem is. To be clear, the positioning, amount and visibility of the issue seems to vary from screen to screen, but it's 3/3 so far in my experience.

Did you take that photo with the flash active? Try without.

 

[SBruv]

Did you take that photo with the flash active? Try without.

Nope, no flash, but you're kind of missing the point…

 

[whiteonline]

Nope, no flash, but you're kind of missing the point…

Yes - realized the mouse pointer looked like flash in the thumbnail.

Though, what you point out looks like moiré. You can see that with your eyes (not via camera)?

 

[baypharm]

No wonders these devices are so expensive, with people returning them multiple times for trivial non-issues.

Think of it like this: the Apple refurb store will be full

 

[Ploki]

No wonders these devices are so expensive, with people returning them multiple times for trivial non-issues.

i mean, it's your main window into your computing, on a rather expensive device to begin with, and apple brags about screens all the time.

 

[obargy]

Mine is fine. If it bothers you I would suggest go return it and get a new one.

 

[matram]

This is what I get, if I measure uniformity with my X-Rite I1 Display colorimeter. The screen is calibrated for 100 nits Luminance.

What you see objectively is a fall off in the lower corners.

Subjectively I find it difficult to see this on a full white screen.

 

[kbhooper]

This is what I get, if I measure uniformity with my X-Rite I1 Display colorimeter. The screen is calibrated for 100 nits Luminance.

What you see objectively is a fall off in the lower corners.

Subjectively I find it difficult to see this on a full white screen.

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So on a white background, the parts of the screen that are darker - that's because of a difference in the luminance? I'd love to test one of these and know what the actual accepted deviation tolerance is.

 

[bevsb2]

But presumably it will lead to early availability of refurbs?

I've been told on several occasions recently at the Apple store that all devices, even new computers, that are returned go straight to recycling and not for refurbs.

 

[Vally1945]

You need to get some actual measurements. Is there a way to calibrate?

 

[Sanpete]

I've been told on several occasions recently at the Apple store that all devices, even new computers, that are returned go straight to recycling and not for refurbs.

Where do they get the ones to refurb, then?