Attention new MBP owners: Please perform this Yellow tint test

[verveshen]

We can officially close this thread now, just about everyone that has done this test with the new MBPs have NO issues with their screens. Including myself.

I don't know how you come to this conclusion, however, from my own experience, each and every 15" MBP SR (5 in total!) I owned suffers from yellowish issue! As I cannot disclose the communication between me and the Apple Customer Relation Executive, all I can say here is that there EXISTS yellowish issue in LED TFT monitor.

Maybe you are so lucky that all the machines you bought had no such issue. Maybe you just haven't noticed the issue yet!

 

[bcaslis]

Of course I understand that. I wish I could switch to another manufacturer because I've wasted so much time over the past few years trying to get a satisfactory computer from Apple. Unfortunately, I realize that at this stage it is probably impossible to get one with a first rate display. I know people will claim that theirs is perfect, but I don't believe it. I have yet to see one that doesn't have an issue once you look at it and work with it. And I've looked at many at the Apple Stores here in NYC too.

So, I agree, who has the time to keep replacing when the outcome is really uncertain? I've become obsessed with it all after I went through a series of replacements and problems (ten or more!) when they first came out. Now it's hard for me to accept any screen. It seems Apple is no longer committed to using good quality displays in their pro laptops. Before the LED LCD introduction, everybody was assuming that the LEDs would solve the huge problems with the old technology - the grain, the terribly uneven backlighting, but it just introduced more problems and barely solved the uneven illumination problem at all. Oh well....

I agree completely with these points. I will say however that the new 17" highres LED display is very much improved over the 15". I don't see any yellowing issues with it, even when viewed at an angle. However it is a BIG laptop compared to the 15". Maybe there's hope this technology will trick down to the 15".

Heck I'd pay the $100 premium they charge for the 17" hires option to get a 15" high-quality option.

 

[mox123]

here's a thought. Does anyone know what the little color circle sticker is for on the box of new MBPs? I picked up mine last Friday, and there's a little blue circle sticker on the spec sheet. Is it a color code for something?

I have a 9C83 screen and, knock on wood, am very happy with it....

i wonder if the staff would check the machines and label it somehow internally...

 

[Digital Skunk]

I don't know how you come to this conclusion, however, from my own experience, each and every 15" MBP SR (5 in total!) I owned suffers from yellowish issue! As I cannot disclose the communication between me and the Apple Customer Relation Executive, all I can say here is that there EXISTS yellowish issue in LED TFT monitor.

Maybe you are so lucky that all the machines you bought had no such issue. Maybe you just hasn't noticed the issue yet!

Well, from what most people are saying, the issue is with the 15" model and mainly with the SR generation so that's probably where it stems from. Most of the posters here have been commenting on their Penryn models which don't seem to have the issue.

As for the ones the paper bought, they just don't have the issue. Even before color calibration we tested them and there wasn't any yellowing at all, unless of course you viewed it at an angle with the brightness set halfway...

here's a thought. Does anyone know what the little color circle sticker is for on the box of new MBPs? I picked up mine last Friday, and there's a little blue circle sticker on the spec sheet. Is it a color code for something?

I have a 9C83 screen and, knock on wood, am very happy with it....

i wonder if the staff would check the machines and label it somehow internally...

If anything it's probably just to differentiate where the machines came from, or if they are refurbished or not. When I worked at Ritz Camera, YUCK!!!, we got our processing chemicals with color labels on them. One told us which chemical it was, another told us where in the machine to put it, and another told us how old the chemicals were.

 

[PDE]

Well, from what most people are saying, the issue is with the 15" model and mainly with the SR generation so that's probably where it stems from. Most of the posters here have been commenting on their Penryn models which don't seem to have the issue.

As for the ones the paper bought, they just don't have the issue. Even before color calibration we tested them and there wasn't any yellowing at all, unless of course you viewed it at an angle with the brightness set halfway...



If anything it's probably just to differentiate where the machines came from, or if they are refurbished or not. When I worked at Ritz Camera, YUCK!!!, we got our processing chemicals with color labels on them. One told us which chemical it was, another told us where in the machine to put it, and another told us how old the chemicals were.

I think that if people calibrated to neutral 6500K, rather than native white point, many more would notice that the whites on top are not the same as the ones at the bottom. If you use the COlorLCD profile, or any other profile that uses native white point, whites will be slightly warmer -even yellowish - and that masks the problem at the bottom. Our eyes adapt to the overall yellowish tone of the native white point and we only notice the yellowish white if we see 6500k white next to it and then it becomes very apparent.


Once the entire LCD is calibrated to 6500k, the yellow tint will stand out and easily identified.

 

[mox123]

JUST bit the bullet and did the test....i think mine is fine from best that i could tell....i hope my screen won't degrade over time with the yellowing problem manifesting itself after my 14-day free return warranty!!

 

[dallas112678]

I think that if people calibrated to neutral 6500K, rather than native white point, many more would notice that the whites on top are not the same as the ones at the bottom. If you use the COlorLCD profile, or any other profile that uses native white point, whites will be slightly warmer -even yellowish - and that masks the problem at the bottom. Our eyes adapt to the overall yellowish tone of the native white point and we only notice the yellowish white if we see 6500k white next to it and then it becomes very apparent.


Once the entire LCD is calibrated to 6500k, the yellow tint will stand out and easily identified.

Thats true about the yellow tint with the calibration, my new samsung display has the same tint as my others except it is much harder to notice, but after using a Native White calibration for the display its practically invisible so im happy with it. Do you guys think that it is possible that Apple knew about this yellow bottom problem on the new penryns before the released them and thats why the default colors overall have a yellow tint to them to try and mask the real problem at the bottom? Im not much of a consipiracy theorist but i find it hard to believe apple wouldnt know about this problem and thats what i would do if i was apple.

Whenever it is possible to do that 1900x1200 mod on the new LED penryns ima just bite the bullet and make the mod, that way i get higher resolution and no more retarded yellow.

So everyone out there with this problem, the native white point calibrations and even the standard default color tone help mask the yellowing and also if you run your display on full brightness really helps alot in masking the problem.

 

[mcbeej]

here's a thought. Does anyone know what the little color circle sticker is for on the box of new MBPs? I picked up mine last Friday, and there's a little blue circle sticker on the spec sheet. Is it a color code for something?

Dunno, I haven't seen that on any of the boxes I've had, but it might indicate whether the screen is glossy or matte, perhaps? I don't think that info is printed on the actual box, so the only other way of knowing would be by looking up the serial number on the system...

Do you guys think that it is possible that Apple knew about this yellow bottom problem on the new penryns before the released them and thats why the default colors overall have a yellow tint to them to try and mask the real problem at the bottom?

I'm certainly amazed that after a year, the profiles shipped with the MBP's are still overly yellow - I can't think why Apple haven't changed it, other than that it conveniently masks the yellowing issue which, although not endemic on all machines, certainly seems to be relatively widespread (and is still happening on machines in stock).

So, I wouldn't necessarily say that's the reason, but it's certainly crossed my mind as an explanation....

 

[pennymac]

is Matte screen has less yellowing problem?

I have a pervious MBP2.2G with samsung glossy screen. Both of the samsungs i owned have the yellowing issue. (Got my display repaired from apple which is worst).

And right now i am asking them for the second repaired since my samsung diplay has not only has the yellowing issue but also has some tints (looks like some pixels get burned inside). They agree to repaired for my screen only because of the tints. They won't repaired for the yellowing since they have got some msg from apple not to due with the yellowing issue.

My concern is, is the matte screen better ?( less yellowing problem).
That's what i hear from the reparied guy, but he is unenable to ask apple to ship me a matte. But he did mention about some customers get their glossy repaired with the matte screen in some big local apple store.( i get the repaired in the campus tech shop. Anyone have any ideas ? Just totally unsatisfied with the glossy. Nice customer service tho.

 

[dallas112678]

I have a pervious MBP2.2G with samsung glossy screen. Both of the samsungs i owned have the yellowing issue. (Got my display repaired from apple which is worst).

And right now i am asking them for the second repaired since my samsung diplay has not only has the yellowing issue but also has some tints (looks like some pixels get burned inside). They agree to repaired for my screen only because of the tints. They won't repaired for the yellowing since they have got some msg from apple not to due with the yellowing issue.

My concern is, is the matte screen better ?( less yellowing problem).
That's what i hear from the reparied guy, but he is unenable to ask apple to ship me a matte. But he did mention about some customers get their glossy repaired with the matte screen in some big local apple store.( i get the repaired in the campus tech shop. Anyone have any ideas ? Just totally unsatisfied with the glossy. Nice customer service tho.

Well both mattes and glossies have the yellow, and some matte screens have more obvious yellow than others but it may not be as bad as glossy if the glossy makes it more saturated...so im not really sure, i only have a matte and havnt looked at any glossies.

 

[dallas112678]

Once again i have to send my MBP in because the replacement samsung still has the slight yellow, it was better than my last one but i can still notice it while using it regularly. I even sent the person who i was initially talking to at apple to this site since he hasnt heard of this problem, i got him to come look at this thread so he could see others are also having this problem.

 

[pennymac]

Screen quality comparison. Samsung vs LG

LG http://www.flickr.com/photos/1436851...n/photostream/
Samsung
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1436851...n/photostream/

I don't know should i start a new threat or not, but just want to know how the new LED manufacture performed (other then Samsung and LG).
I remembered when the 1st generation LED came up, some people did mention about the screen quality beside the yellowing issue. Although LG seems to have less yellowing problem, the Samsung's tend to have better color quality. And i am the one prefer better color over the yellowing problem. Haven't had a chance to check out the new ChiMei and others. Can anyone own more then two do a comparison plz.

This is the old post from jjahshik32
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/343219/

"
I actually owned the samsung mbp glossy for a month before I sold it because I wanted the sony vaio tz ultraportable laptop. But after owning the tz for a bit I hated the size it was just too small and I missed osx... So I sold the vaio tz and bought the mbp again in glossy but this time I have the lg screen. While there is no backlight bleeding and no dead/stuck pixels or yellowing on the bottom (samsung I remembered had a slight yellow on the bottom but colors seemed more saturated and more vivid), this lg seems washed out to me. I just remember what the samsung screen was like and it was a pleasure to look at pictures and reading websites as well. Check out the comparisons.

LG http://www.flickr.com/photos/1436851...n/photostream/

Samsung
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1436851...n/photostream/

their both on the highest brightness setting and both have the adobe 1998 color profile.

check out how the green on the samsung looks more saturated and the orange looks deeper as well. Seems like the lg's just has a light look to it and more washed out.. i'm thinking about exchanging it but scared to because if I get another lg... then i'd pay the restocking fee for nothing..
"

 

[mcbeej]

Ok, MBP #5 (BTO) has just turned up. Like the other guy earlier with a similar serial number, my screen is also a 9C80 (AUO) - thank goodness it wasn't another ChiMei - the gamble paid off..!

While I've only had a quick look, things look good so far and it doesn't look like any obvious yellowing (certainly nowhere like the other ChiMei's I've had).

While the bottom is still a little darker than the top, I think this is more to do with the narrow vertical viewing angle than anything else.

I'll see as I set it up and work with it for a while, but I think, at last, this one's a keeper...

 

[Dragonforce]

I got the AUO 9C80 too, just a little yellowish but way better than the others. I can barely notice it with the test images - a keeper for me as well.

Production Week 12, Shanghai

 

[mcbeej]

Yeah - my AUO (week 13) definitely has slight yellowing, and while I'd prefer it wasn't there at all, I can live with it...

 

[Dragonforce]

After messing around for almost 2 hours with SuperCal, I got a pretty decent profile for the AUO 9C80 display. Maybe you want to try it out...

Here's a screenshot of a plain white screen from SuperCal and the profile I made... good luck to everyone trying to exchange the MBP for a non-yellowish display. I'm gonna keep this one.

 

[DanD81]

Thanks for the profile!
I also got an 00009C80 display in my MBP replacement today.. however, I am not quite happy with the display! The shadows of any window under Mac OS are VERY harsh... there is no smooth gradient! Do you guys have the same problem with yours?

 

[jraneses]

Here's a few pics of my 9C80 that arrived a few days ago. When viewed straight on, I'm pretty pleased with the display. On off angles, especially while standing above the panel and looking down, I can clearly see uneven backlighting, sort of a splotchy effect when there's a block color background, such as gray or black. There's also some slight bleed on the top and bottom of the lcd as well.

For others with the 9C80, do you see the same thing when looking at the panel from the top down?

 

[DanD81]

Yes, I have the same effect here with my 9C80!
Is your screen in total quite yellowish (I am not talking about the yellow tint at the bottom)?
Also, how good are the shadow gradients of the window shadows in Mac OSX?

 

[jraneses]

Yes, I have the same effect here with my 9C80!
Is your screen in total quite yellowish (I am not talking about the yellow tint at the bottom)?
Also, how good are the shadow gradients of the window shadows in Mac OSX?

I'm going to run the yellow tint test right now. I'll report back my findings. In all honesty, I have mixed feelings on the whole matter. When I sit and use the machine under typical conditions, using a background image with a straight on viewing angle, I am content. Yet, during setup of bootcamp and XP, I'll walk out of the room during reboots to refill my coffee, and walk back in while the MBP is displaying the initial gray background, then XP's black boot screen, and the display looks horrendous. When sitting down right in front of it, the problem doesn't appear as severe, yet my heart really sinks each time I see the uneven backlighting and bleed.

The majority of the time, I will have the MBP hooked up to a 24" Dell monitor, so I hardly will make heavy use of the display on the notebook itself, with the exception of using it as a secondary monitor. With my day to day requirements, I could have easily chosen a cheaper MacBook instead, yet I went with the MBP because of the better battery life gained by the LED backlighting and supposed better display quality, even though I won't be actually staring at that "quality" all day long.

At this point, I'm regretting dropping the extra money on the MacBook Pro over the MacBook. At least with the MacBook, you know up front that the display isn't going to be awesome, yet you're not paying more for it either.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

At this point, I'm regretting dropping the extra money on the MacBook Pro over the MacBook. At least with the MacBook, you know up front that the display isn't going to be awesome, yet you're not paying more for it either.

I gave up on the MBP and bought a Macbook for that very reason. Sure the viewing angle on the Macbook is terrible but it was almost 2K cheaper.
I'm missing the DVI port and backlit keyboard but the rest is tolerable.

My Macbook has a 2.4 GHz, and I installed 4GB RAM and a 250GB drive so that will keep things running along for the time being. I'm using it until the MBP redesign comes out, then I'll see if Apple made some progress with the screens and I'll see about upgrading.

 

[jraneses]

I gave up on the MBP and bought a Macbook for that very reason. Sure the viewing angle on the Macbook is terrible but it was almost 2K cheaper.
I'm missing the DVI port and backlit keyboard but the rest is tolerable.

Until then my Macbook has a 2.4 GHz, and I installed 4GB RAM and a 250GB drive so that will keep things running along for the time being. I'm using it until the MBP redesign comes out, then I'll see if Apple made some progress with the screens and I'll see about upgrading.

I love your logic there, my thoughts exactly. While not as sexy, a MacBook will definitely hold me over until at least the end of the year, or whenever they have the kinks worked out in the next MacBook Pro revision. At that point, I'll either sell the MacBook, or hand it down to my wife.

 

[markrivers]

I love your logic there, my thoughts exactly. While not as sexy, a MacBook will definitely hold me over until at least the end of the year, or whenever they have the kinks worked out in the next MacBook Pro revision. At that point, I'll either sell the MacBook, or hand it down to my wife.

nobody is certain that there'll be a case redesign..
people have been talking about it since last yr.
even if there was, let say tom.
i don't think they'll change the screen.. because clearly, there's no problem from their standpoint

 

[mikey.f]

No yellowing on my brand new penryn 2.4GHz macbook pro.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

i don't think they'll change the screen.. because clearly, there's no problem from their standpoint

the benefit of a retooling of the MBP would probably mean they have to change just to keep up.

Adding Blu-Ray drives etc. would mean the inclusion of a 1080 res screen at least, otherwise it would look stupid on a spec sheet and also be outclassed even more by cheaper Windows laptops with higher res screens than the MBP already is.

So even though they are ignoring the issue market forces may force them to better panels whether they like it or not.