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MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
CT
True Tone will change the color of the screen based on lighting conditions.
 

sat24

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2019
230
146
Wait this is actually a thing? Multiple people say the 16" has worse color than the 15"?

That's really disappointing.

I'll do a side-by-side when I get mine. If the 2016 model has better color, I'm returning the 16" for sure.
Yikes. I have a 2014 rMBP that I love the display of. Will be doing a side by side as well.

One thing though - I suffered thru a period of time on the 2014 MBP as well with "washed out" colors and lower contrast. And then one day stumbled upon the Color menu for my Display. I chose Apple RGB instead of Color LCD option and voila! Much contrasty display and much less "washed out"-ness.

Can a 16" owner with the "washed out" problem try this trick out and report back if it "fixes" it?

Screen Shot 2019-11-16 at 9.51.02 AM.png
 
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dan9700

Suspended
May 28, 2015
3,347
4,824
Apple displays are always bad yellow tints whites are never white and brightness is always different on every model I’m bored of the screen lotterys
 

kp98077

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 26, 2010
4,151
2,655
I honestly think it is because apple owners of these high end products have extreme expectations.... but I tried all settings on my model from yesterday and nothing helped! it was a faulty machine for sure... swaped out no issues, the box looked ruffed up too... strange....
 

Whackman

macrumors regular
Oct 23, 2012
180
75
I honestly think it is because apple owners of these high end products have extreme expectations.... but I tried all settings on my model from yesterday and nothing helped! it was a faulty machine for sure... swaped out no issues, the box looked ruffed up too... strange....
It's good that you mentioned it. Now we can be aware of it and now we also know we can change it and have better luck. Thanx!
 
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tbeaumont

macrumors member
Nov 19, 2014
81
26
Atlanta
I had a similar conclusion about the screen. I purchased the 16" 2799 model today and compared it to my early 2019 15" 2799 model and felt the 16" had a warmer screen and the colors appeared to be more washed out. Considering returning the 16" MacBook Pro.
I just swapped out my MacBook Pro and received a newer build date and the screen is much better.
 

0906742

Cancelled
Apr 11, 2018
2,313
612
I honestly think it is because apple owners of these high end it was a faulty machine for sure... swaped out no issues, the box looked ruffed up too... strange....
It could be possible they use lcd panels from different manufacturers, so maybe your second unit had different brand panel. Or the panel was from different batch. There tend to be differencies from panel to panel and you will likely notice more or less differencies when you put two same model machines side by side.

How 16" panel white/gray uniformity on solid color full screen patterns looks like? Any backlight bleeding with black image?
 
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Paapaa

macrumors regular
Nov 7, 2013
105
73
According to the release news, the display on 16" MBP is factory calibrated. Was this the case with previous models? I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere. It might suggest that your old display is just over-saturating. And the new one is showing the correct colors.
 
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nikster0029

macrumors 6502a
Jul 21, 2010
696
454
According to the release news, the display on 16" MBP is factory calibrated. Was this the case with previous models? I don't remember that being mentioned anywhere. It might suggest that your old display is just over-saturating. And the new one is showing the correct colors.

very possible. Also can be resolved with software if it is most likely a problem
 

BODYBUILDERPAUL

Suspended
Feb 9, 2009
1,773
1,438
Barcelona
It could be possible they use lcd panels from different manufacturers, so maybe your second unit had different brand panel. Or the panel was from different batch. There tend to be differencies from panel to panel and you will likely notice more or less differencies when you put two same model machines side by side.

How 16" panel white/gray uniformity on solid color full screen patterns looks like? Any backlight bleeding with black image?

LG Display is the sole supplier for the 16" MacBook Pro.
[automerge]1573940690[/automerge]
Probably just panel lottery. Any idea what companies made panels for the 16" model?
LG Display. They are the sole supplier.
 

0906742

Cancelled
Apr 11, 2018
2,313
612
LG Display is the sole supplier for the 16" MacBook Pro.
OK. Then it could be simple variation between batches and/or calibration adjustments made at the factory.
Two panels put side by side often look noticeable different, it is more or less the nature of the lcd panels. Calibrating them with the same calibration equipment minimize the difference.
 

kp98077

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 26, 2010
4,151
2,655
this new unit however, is much better - just amazing how washed out the other one looked almost like an air!...lol
 

Sanpete

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2016
3,695
1,665
Utah
this new unit however, is much better - just amazing how washed out the other one looked almost like an air!...lol
Assuming your screen shot was accurate, that was a matter settings or something, not the screen itself. Screen shots don't capture what the screen colors are, only what colors the screen is being told to show.
 
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kp98077

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 26, 2010
4,151
2,655
Assuming your screen shot was accurate, that was a matter settings or something, not the screen itself. Screen shots don't capture what the screen colors are, only what colors the screen is being told to show.
nope I tried re-setting all settings, it was the screen I am sure... was dull as he**.... very odd...
 

Smigit

macrumors 6502
Feb 21, 2011
403
264
Assuming your screen shot was accurate, that was a matter settings or something, not the screen itself. Screen shots don't capture what the screen colors are, only what colors the screen is being told to show.
Yep, definitely not a display issue. Not saying there wasn't an issue with the original unit, but a screen shot will not show a fault with the display. Its not how screenshots work.

Put it this way, if you plug in two other displays into your laptop where each monitor has its own configuration, you'll end up with the same image three times all looking different. What you get when you take the screenshot isn't a reflection of each display (which would need 3x screenshots), but rather the image the system is attempting to output to each of the displays.

Could have connected to an external display, closed the lid and thus turned off the laptop display, and have got the exact same screenshot.
 
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Sanpete

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2016
3,695
1,665
Utah
nope I tried re-setting all settings, it was the screen I am sure... was dull as he**.... very odd...
That makes your screen shot a great mystery, because it can only show the colors the screen is told to show. Even if you disconnected the screen (and knew how to take a screen shot with keyboard shortcuts) you could take a screen shot, and it would look the same as if the screen were working. Something was telling it to show washed out colors.

Looks like Smigit posted a similar point while I was writing this.
 

ozziegn

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2007
1,294
831
Central FL Area
well, not sure I'd return it to keep the 15", keyboard alone is enough for me... oh and the speed...

I actually returned the 16" today. I used it for one day and I realized the .6" increase in screen size wasn't worth the large expense. I could care less about the higher numbers in the specs department simply because all I use my 2015 mid 15" MBP is web browsing and watching YouTube videos. And even then my laptop is way overkill for those two reasons. Plus, the thought of losing MagSafe charging isn't something I'm willing to depart from.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,808
Munich, Germany
A screen grab or print screen is showing us what your computer is telling your screen to display, not what you are seeing. Think of it like this. You have a computer > display/screen > then your eyes. A screen grab shows us between computer and display/screen. For us to determine if your screen is messed up, you would need to take a photo of your screen, so we seen between display/screen and your eyes. Does that make sense?
The fact that this needs to be explained shows the level (or the lack of) of some threads...
 
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Paapaa

macrumors regular
Nov 7, 2013
105
73
That makes your screen shot a great mystery, because it can only show the colors the screen is told to show.

On my MBP 2017 15", the colors on Chrome and Firefox don't match. For example, the frontpage of Macrumors has slightly more saturated reds on Firefox than on Chrome. No idea, if OP used the same app with the same color profile to test this thing.
 
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0906742

Cancelled
Apr 11, 2018
2,313
612
The fact that this needs to be explained shows the level (or the lack of) of some threads...
Yeah, sometimes the same thing worries me when I read these forums.

Anyway back to the topic and about mentioned possibility (read impossibility) to take a screen grab to compare image seen on the display. It would mean that the display panel front should have some kind of camera integrated in it that takes the actual screen grab. Otherwise it just cannot work work. :D As far as I know there are no such panels ever made... ;) There are a lot of differencies how each panel actually show the image they are inputted and variances come from many different things like backlight and assembly of different layers when panel it put together and all sorts of manufacturing tolerances to name of few.
 
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