Faint "mesh" pattern on moving images?

[kolax]

I have learned to just live with this "defect" and I'll tell you why.

I looked at not only MacBook Pro displays... but my trusty 3 year old Apple Cinema Display does the same thing, but I never noticed it before because I don't sit as close to it as a laptop. Also, the LCD displays at work do it (on the same side too... weird) and the iMac displays do it too.

I also looked at various PC displays and other standalone LCD displays and those too also had the same meshing when moving windows around.

I think it just might be the way LCD technology is. I barely notice it anymore and if I don't think about it, I don't see it. It's kind of a mind game really.

Just try not to think about it.

Sure you are thinking of the same mesh issue? While LCD screens don't provide fluent 100% movement and cause faint tearing, they shouldn't have a mesh grid over any moving object. This is a defect, not a general "LCD factor".

I got my uMBP anti-glare swapped for another one because of the mesh and this one doesn't have that issue at all.

 

[TheSpaz]

Sure you are thinking of the same mesh issue? While LCD screens don't provide fluent 100% movement and cause faint tearing, they shouldn't have a mesh grid over any moving object. This is a defect, not a general "LCD factor".

I got my uMBP anti-glare swapped for another one because of the mesh and this one doesn't have that issue at all.

I believe you, but I know the mesh pattern you're talking about and I see it here on my Apple Cinema Display bought in 2006.

I had my MacBook Pro swapped out at Best Buy and the new one doesn't do it as much, but it's still there slightly. I'll live with this one because I've lived with this Apple Cinema Display for so long without even knowing there was a problem with it.

Also, it seems to be worse on left side on almost all LCD displays I looked at. A lot of LCD displays must be defective then. Count yourself lucky to have gotten one with no problem at all, because from what I've seen, it's rare.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[kolax]

Also, it seems to be worse on left side on almost all LCD displays I looked at. A lot of LCD displays must be defective then. Count yourself lucky to have gotten one with no problem at all, because from what I've seen, it's rare.

I've never owned an LCD display that's done that before, nor have I seen it before. From displays in the labs at uni, to displays on the screens at where I work, to the 3 generation of MBP I've owned, to friends laptops.

I think it is rare to find one that has the mesh issue/defect. It's great that you have gotten used to it and don't find it much of a problem, but it definitely isn't normal behaviour for an LCD, and I think you should have swapped your ACD for one that didn't do that.

Any video professional who ends up with an ACD that exhibits that behaviour would definitely not tolerate it.

Just my 2 pence.

 

[TheSpaz]

I've never owned an LCD display that's done that before, nor have I seen it before. From displays in the labs at uni, to displays on the screens at where I work, to the 3 generation of MBP I've owned, to friends laptops.

I think it is rare to find one that has the mesh issue/defect. It's great that you have gotten used to it and don't find it much of a problem, but it definitely isn't normal behaviour for an LCD, and I think you should have swapped your ACD for one that didn't do that.

Any video professional who ends up with an ACD that exhibits that behaviour would definitely not tolerate it.

Just my 2 pence.

It's barely noticeable on my Apple Cinema Display and I only saw it because I saw it on the MacBook Pro and wanted to see if any other displays showed this issue... sure enough... if you look, you can see it.

I think my first MacBook Pro display was the worst... the new one isn't so bad, so yeah, I'll deal with it since I've used my Apple Cinema Display up until now without a problem.

 

[montom]

I can confirm that this mesh pattern is definitely the "pixel walk" effect, also known as "pixel inversion".

It's due to a badly adjusted common voltage driving the pixels.

How it works: sinusoidal voltage sent to each pixel does not have a perfectly adjusted zero line. So for instance, the top peak is +5.5V and the bottom peak -4.5V, instead of +5 and -5 as it should be. Therefore with the two peaks being unequal, during one half of the 60Hz monitor rate cycle the pixel will be brighter than the other half.

Thus you get a 30Hz sub-pixel flickering. When you move your eyes across the screen, it's just like moving your eyes past a flickering LED light -- a pattern appears. The larger the pixel size, the more noticeable the effect. Thus on a non-high-res 15" matte screen, it's quite noticeable.

This is not uncommon on LCD monitors today, although my older 12" powerbook and even an older Dell are free of this effect. But they are 1024x768 and maybe pixel count has something to do with it. I've seen it on the iMacs and some other manufacturer laptops as well, but not all screens.

However, I think on the 15" I had temporarily, it's particularly bad. Now, if there were a way to custom adjust the common voltage yourself, then problem solved. But I can't find any info on how to do that. Probably in the EFI firmware settings somewhere, but I don't know how to get in there and adjust it. I had a case open with Apple about this mesh pattern, and the Apple Engineers didn't seem to know anything about this, so they weren't of help.

The common voltage deviation seems to vary from model to model, screen to screen, therefore the safest bet is comparing a few identical models before you buy one, choosing the one with the lowest mesh effect. As others have said, the 9CB2 panel doesn't seem to have this.