Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Attention new MBP owners: Please perform this Yellow tint test
- Thread starter TheBigApple2006
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Is 9C81 the best?
Is there any consensus at all regarding which screen is best?
9C81 (LG) ?
9C83 (Samsung) ?
The only thing that seems clear is that the ChiMei is bad. Most of the reported problems seem to be on 9C81 (LG), but also most of the reported successful replacements are using this screen too. Did LG change?
Maybe the date info is critical here?
Rich
Is there any consensus at all regarding which screen is best?
9C81 (LG) ?
9C83 (Samsung) ?
The only thing that seems clear is that the ChiMei is bad. Most of the reported problems seem to be on 9C81 (LG), but also most of the reported successful replacements are using this screen too. Did LG change?
Maybe the date info is critical here?
Rich
My impression is that there are bad ones among Samsung, LG and AUO and that getting a good one is just a matter of luck. Having said that, the LGs I've seen (quite a few!) have all had a few issues: the lighter strip at the bottom, shadowing in the lower part, backlight bleed and an overall yellowish cast both straight-on and from the side. I'd prefer a good samsung over a good LG because the samsungs seem to not have the overall yellowishness that the LGs have. The AUO I have is the best I've seen in terms of viewing angles and absence of yellow, but it is dimmer at the bottom than the top. In other words, they all have issues so it's just a matter of the degree of the issue and whether whatever defect they have is acceptable to the individual user. For example, I prefer that the entire lower part of the screen is dimmer than if just one part is since it's easier to work around.
If I had to rate them - and if I'm rating good samples of each - I'd rate them:
1. Samsung
2. AUO
3. LG
4. Chimei
That's just my opinion based on what I've seen. Chimei displays have all looked terrible to me while he other ones seem pretty good but not perfect.
Cannot really back up the statement about the Chi Mei display.. I have had a Chi Mei and an AUO here and send the AUO back.. the Chi Mei is pretty good BUT has a slightly darker bottom and some bleeding from the sides with a dark display background. In all other terms, the Chi Mei is really good!
I also have a chimei screen and besides the "normal" darkening on the lower bottom, it's rather a good screen.
I've seen worse LG screens.
I've seen worse LG screens.
I really think they all vary individually so as much as we all try to find some kind of patter, there probably isn't any. I've seen bad and good samsungs and LGs, but I've only seen really bad Chimeis. Other people's experience will vary, as will subjective preferences too.
It's all luck and it shouldn't be.
just exchanged 9c83 for 9c81
I just got back from the Apple store where I exchanged my MBP 9C83 (samsung) for a 9c81 (LG). There was no problem getting them to agree to the exchange (A+ for service). The Samsung had very minor yellowing on the bottom, the LG does not. at least not that I could see in the store.
There was a big difference in the gradient test patterns. The Samsung had very distinct lines in these color patterns (LCD_test), but the LG was totally smooth as it should be. When the tech saw this he was impressed with the test.
With the LG I can turn the monitor further sideways before the color goes bad. The Samsung got pinkish/yellow pretty fast.
Neither had any dark/bright spots.
The LG has one stuck blue pixel. The Samsung none.
When I go home tonight I will run a calibration on this display using an EyeOne D2 colorimeter and see how the gamma curve and contrast ratio compare with the Samsung data (which I saved). I was able to achieve a deltaE of roughly 2-4 and contrast ratio of about 540:1 on the samsung at D6500 gama 2.2 target.
btw, while in the store I tried the color profile I generated for the samsung on the LG and it was not a good match at all. I expected this, since in general measured calibration profiles are specific to each individual display and can not be exchanged with good results. Still it was fun to try.
I just got back from the Apple store where I exchanged my MBP 9C83 (samsung) for a 9c81 (LG). There was no problem getting them to agree to the exchange (A+ for service). The Samsung had very minor yellowing on the bottom, the LG does not. at least not that I could see in the store.
There was a big difference in the gradient test patterns. The Samsung had very distinct lines in these color patterns (LCD_test), but the LG was totally smooth as it should be. When the tech saw this he was impressed with the test.
With the LG I can turn the monitor further sideways before the color goes bad. The Samsung got pinkish/yellow pretty fast.
Neither had any dark/bright spots.
The LG has one stuck blue pixel. The Samsung none.
When I go home tonight I will run a calibration on this display using an EyeOne D2 colorimeter and see how the gamma curve and contrast ratio compare with the Samsung data (which I saved). I was able to achieve a deltaE of roughly 2-4 and contrast ratio of about 540:1 on the samsung at D6500 gama 2.2 target.
btw, while in the store I tried the color profile I generated for the samsung on the LG and it was not a good match at all. I expected this, since in general measured calibration profiles are specific to each individual display and can not be exchanged with good results. Still it was fun to try.
HCFR calibration tool for EyeOne or Spyder
They said I could only take the first one they brought out, and there is no way to tell before opening the box. They let me compare them side by side as much as I wanted before deciding to make the exchange though. They also said if I don't like this one I can bring it back again within 14 days from today.
Regarding the EyeOne D2. I use the *excellent* freeware program HCFR on my PC to take a set of measurements after calibration. (The calibration itself I do using the Match SW that comes with the EyeOne.) I got this for the purpose of calibrating HDTV displays originally. I also have a test DVD called "getgrey" which I playback in the unit under test. It steps through 0-100% luminance range in 10% intervals and I take an RGB measurement at each step. Then the HCFR SW plots the gamma curves and computes the contrast ratio. It also computes the deltaE, which is a widely used metric of color accuracy. It basically tells you how close to the target color temp and gamma your monitor was able to achieve, in this case I was calibrating for 6500 K and gamma = 2.2
The HCFR homepage is here:
http://www.homecinema-fr.com/colorimetre/index_en.php
You can read what others are saying about HCFR here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=983943
You can see my posted calibration data comparing MBP/MBA glossy and matte here to give you an idea of just how good these MBP displays are.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5154999/
They said I could only take the first one they brought out, and there is no way to tell before opening the box. They let me compare them side by side as much as I wanted before deciding to make the exchange though. They also said if I don't like this one I can bring it back again within 14 days from today.
Regarding the EyeOne D2. I use the *excellent* freeware program HCFR on my PC to take a set of measurements after calibration. (The calibration itself I do using the Match SW that comes with the EyeOne.) I got this for the purpose of calibrating HDTV displays originally. I also have a test DVD called "getgrey" which I playback in the unit under test. It steps through 0-100% luminance range in 10% intervals and I take an RGB measurement at each step. Then the HCFR SW plots the gamma curves and computes the contrast ratio. It also computes the deltaE, which is a widely used metric of color accuracy. It basically tells you how close to the target color temp and gamma your monitor was able to achieve, in this case I was calibrating for 6500 K and gamma = 2.2
The HCFR homepage is here:
http://www.homecinema-fr.com/colorimetre/index_en.php
You can read what others are saying about HCFR here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=983943
You can see my posted calibration data comparing MBP/MBA glossy and matte here to give you an idea of just how good these MBP displays are.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5154999/
I don't have a picture but there was one in another thread that shows the brightish strip at the bottom - I think it was on an older AUO display though. Here's are pictures of three LG displays I had.
#1 had this terrible dark area when watching DVDs. I tried to capture it best I could.
#2 had relatively minor, but annoying alternating shadows/light areas at the bottom. You can also see that there is what looks like a dark line a little way up from the bottom - that's because the area underneath is brighter.
#3 had an area of quite bad bleeding on top - it extended a whiter/brighter area all the way down to the bottom. When watching DVDs it was particularly noticeable, but also when there were any solid backgrounds (word processing docs, for example) on the display there would be a lighter strip down the middle.
I'm sure a lot of people would not notice these issues, but I do and I refuse to accept these defects when I know that it's just because of sloppy quality control and cost-cutting on my expense. If this were the limit of technology, I'd accept it and deal with it, but it isnn't. It's just companies being cheap while milking their customers.
Attachments
Yes, I posted a link on dpreview because my interest is in photography and there was so much discussion there about glossy vs matte and people were saying that glossy was not as accurate but had no data to back it up. I wanted to know for sure so I took these measurements at a local bestbuy that had both.
I read that HCFR will be releasing a mac version if they haven't already. Check their site.
It's more about increasing their profit margin than anything else. That's fine, but not by skimping on one of the most important parts of a 'pro' laptop! Apple has among the highest profit margins in the industry so they can afford to improve quality control without sacrificing much of their margin. I really think that they've lost interest in trying to provide the best products for pro photo and graphics use - there's more money in all the macbooks, iphones, ipods and Macbook Airs, I guess.
You're right, most people don't notice these issues, and I'm sure by the time they do, they're well past the 14 day return period. I've been through 4 MacBook Pros over the past month or so, and all exhibited similar issues to yours at various levels. Apple expects we'll all run those colorful sexy desktop wallpapers and won't spot the uneven backlighting, the backlight bleed, or the yellow tint.
I'm still in the market for a new MBP, but I'm having a tough time convincing myself to take yet another chance on getting a notebook with a low quality display. It might be time to give up on the MacBook Pro altogether, or pay a premium and get the 17" high resolution model. Yet with that, I'm not excited about throwing more money Apple's way, in effect reinforcing their sub-par standards when it comes to $2,000+ notebooks.
To me, the worst part is not being able to enjoy the experience of buying a new Mac, as I almost expect to be disappointed by it when I get home and power it on.
I agree with this somewhat. But I think part of the problem is what "most" people are willing to accept. Just look at the number of replies in this forum from people with "perfect" displays. Or the bizzare posts in other threads about their MBP being "silent". I'm willing to accept that many/most MBP have good/acceptable displays and are quiet, but perfect and silent they are not.
I have to say that they do seem to be getting better quality displays in general on the 17" hi-res. One I have is pretty stunning (no it's not perfect but the closest I've seen in person yet). But I really want the size of the 15" and none I've had or seen in the stores falls in the acceptable range yet.
If i choose a color profile based on 6500K instead of native, would it make the screen not last as long?
Like would there be an advantage for sticking with the native color profile based on the LCD specs?
I have a 9C83 Samsung screen....the 'native' color profile does look a bit more yellow than the D65 one...
Like would there be an advantage for sticking with the native color profile based on the LCD specs?
I have a 9C83 Samsung screen....the 'native' color profile does look a bit more yellow than the D65 one...
The color profile only changes the screen appearance. It has nothing to do with longevity. Yes on all the 15" screens I've tried the native white balance is more yellow than the D65 one. This may be different on different screens, for example the LG hi-res 17" screen is more blue with the native white point than with D65 instead of yellow like the 15" screens.
Since every lcd screen is different the profile from one machine may not look right on another machine. Unless Apple took the time to individually calibrate every display there is no reason to expect the profile called D65 to actually set your color temp to 6500 K. The only way to do this right is to calibrate it yourself with a colorimeter.
This is true, although if two machines are using the same screen type, then a profile calibrated to 6500K on machine should be close for another machine with the same screen type. I posted a number of profiles for the 9C83, so I assume that was what he was talking about. But you are right for something accurate you need to do it on your machine. But most people don't have colorimeters.
Even worst LG screen !!!!
Just back from my display repaired today.. came up with a worst LG with
the obvious blacklight problem on the bottom!! i even can tell the color quality is not as good as my pervious two samsungs. although this one doesn't have any yewllowing problem .(there is a little bit, but hard to tell)
They have send another part tomorrow to get do the 3rd repair on my MBP! I learned one thing at least , if you get a screen doesn't have any obvious problem (not too yellow) just stay with it. U dont know what the next one gonna be unless you really have the time and energy. I want a samsung ,although with the yellow is fine . I am tired with this.
BTW is a 9C67 ( the pervious SR LG screen num )
Just back from my display repaired today.. came up with a worst LG with
the obvious blacklight problem on the bottom!! i even can tell the color quality is not as good as my pervious two samsungs. although this one doesn't have any yewllowing problem .(there is a little bit, but hard to tell)
They have send another part tomorrow to get do the 3rd repair on my MBP! I learned one thing at least , if you get a screen doesn't have any obvious problem (not too yellow) just stay with it. U dont know what the next one gonna be unless you really have the time and energy. I want a samsung ,although with the yellow is fine . I am tired with this.
BTW is a 9C67 ( the pervious SR LG screen num )
