Yes, there are many threads about glossy vs. matte. However, I wanted a thread to show pictures comparing glassy, glossy, and matte and explain what I see. Your opinion may differ, but judge for yourself.
Apple's lineup has gotten rid of glossy in favor of glassy (except the MacBook Air). Personally, I prefer glossy over matte. Glassy, however, I cannot tolerate. IMO, glassy sucks and is needless when glossy in the previous MBP was just perfect in bringing out some extra zing and clarity compared to matte. Glassy, on the other hand, is extra reflective to the point of being unusable.
This thread will also compare the matte (9CAC screen) vs glossy 17" MBP (9C98) and present a data point in comparison to all the other posts about the 17" MBP. Both are running OS 10.5.6 build 9G2141.
Where necessary, the camera aperture and shutter speed are identical to allow direct comparison when notebooks were not in the same picture.
Both screens at max brightness in a medium lit room with no light facing the notebooks. The matte on the left may appear washed out compared to the glassy. This, however, is not the case.
Max brightness on the glassy, one notch down from max on the matte. They are now very similar in terms of contrast, saturation, and color.
Max brightness on the glassy, two notches down from max on the matte. Now it seems the matte has better colors. But as in the picture above, they are practically identical.
Comparing white levels. Both are at max brightness, and the matte is brighter. The matte also has better white color whereas the glassy looks a bit dingy, though this difference is exaggerated in the picture. It also appears that the matte screen is more even whereas on the right side of the glassy it's dimmer, but that's not really apparent in real life.
Comparing black levels. Both are at max brightness, so the black on the matte is brighter, but the difference disappears if I dim it down two notches to match the glassy.
Matte screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away.
Glassy screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away. The sconce is reflected over the same area of the webpage as in the picture above. Glassy ends up being terribly reflective and distracting for viewing websites that are dark, such as dpreview.com.
Matte screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away.
Glassy screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away. Here, the LCD is bright enough to mostly drown out the reflections, but even then it may not be enough. Personally it was enough, but unfortunately not everything I look at is bright.
Matte 17" vs glossy 15" MBP. The 17" is indeed brighter as reported. Also, it is true that if I put an older build of OS X 10.5.6 on the 17" MBP, the screen becomes very blue, washed out, and dim. The copy of OS X on the install DVD does not have that problem.
Glassy 17" vs glossy 15" MBP. The 17" screen is much better in real life and the picture does not do it justice.
Comparison of 15" glossy vs. 17" glassy. That extra layer of glass makes the screen much more reflective compared to glossy. You can see that the reflection is so strong in the glassy that it blocks out the white text, whereas the white text is still visible and readable on the glossy.
Another comparison to characterize the reflection. It is much brighter in the glassy.
A close up. If you look carefully, you can see that in addition to the reflection being brighter, the 17" actually has two reflections compared to the 15". I believe that this is due to the glass on top of the glossy LCD: the glass creates a bright reflection, and the glossy LCD beneath it creates a dimmer reflection similar to that of the glossy 15" MBP.
In ideal conditions (a dim room with no light behind me), the glassy is also distracting when watching movies. I often see my reflection clearly in the display, such that i can make out the whites of my eyes. The glossy MBP, on the other hand, is not so reflective and you can't see my reflection in it. Obviously, the matte doesn't produce a reflection at all.
I can't capture it in on camera, but even if the room were completely black, when watching a movie light from the LCD shines on me and then reflects back at the glassy LCD, and it is still distracting.
So in (my) conclusion:
1) There is a clear distinction between matte, glossy, and glassy. Matte doesn't produce reflections. Glossy gives the LCD some extra zing in terms of color saturation and sharpness compared to matte.
2) Glassy, as far as I'm concerned, has no advantage over glossy. It crosses that threshold in which the reflections become so strong and distracting that it becomes unusable. Moreover, it doesn't provide any extra zing that glossy can provide. Glass also adds weight, and it can be cracked just as easily. Since the LCD is sealed inside the MBP lid, breaking the glass will still be expensive to fix since it requires replacing the entire lid.
I should note that during daylight hours, the room gets brighter and though there is no window where that sconce light is, the reflections are much greater as that back wall gets completely lit. Overall, in daylight there is reflection over a greater area, though not as intense as a single lamp, but is still very distracting.
3) When viewing bright images or web pages, the reflections can be drowned out by the backlight on the glassy screen. However, the problem is that not everything you look is bright. This is true especially for movies with dark scenes. Even sitting in the dark, there are reflections from the backlight shining on you and then reflecting back.
4) The 17" MBP is bright as or brighter than the previous gen MBP (which is similar to the unibody MBP) if the correct build of OS X is installed.
5) The matte 17" MBP has just as good color, contrast, saturation compared to the glassy version. In my case, the matte display can actually go a bit brighter than the glassy.
6) Black levels are fairly good and similar on both.
Apple's lineup has gotten rid of glossy in favor of glassy (except the MacBook Air). Personally, I prefer glossy over matte. Glassy, however, I cannot tolerate. IMO, glassy sucks and is needless when glossy in the previous MBP was just perfect in bringing out some extra zing and clarity compared to matte. Glassy, on the other hand, is extra reflective to the point of being unusable.
This thread will also compare the matte (9CAC screen) vs glossy 17" MBP (9C98) and present a data point in comparison to all the other posts about the 17" MBP. Both are running OS 10.5.6 build 9G2141.
Where necessary, the camera aperture and shutter speed are identical to allow direct comparison when notebooks were not in the same picture.
Both screens at max brightness in a medium lit room with no light facing the notebooks. The matte on the left may appear washed out compared to the glassy. This, however, is not the case.
Max brightness on the glassy, one notch down from max on the matte. They are now very similar in terms of contrast, saturation, and color.
Max brightness on the glassy, two notches down from max on the matte. Now it seems the matte has better colors. But as in the picture above, they are practically identical.
Comparing white levels. Both are at max brightness, and the matte is brighter. The matte also has better white color whereas the glassy looks a bit dingy, though this difference is exaggerated in the picture. It also appears that the matte screen is more even whereas on the right side of the glassy it's dimmer, but that's not really apparent in real life.
Comparing black levels. Both are at max brightness, so the black on the matte is brighter, but the difference disappears if I dim it down two notches to match the glassy.
Matte screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away.
Glassy screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away. The sconce is reflected over the same area of the webpage as in the picture above. Glassy ends up being terribly reflective and distracting for viewing websites that are dark, such as dpreview.com.
Matte screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away.
Glassy screen with a sconce light facing the notebook about 18 feet away. Here, the LCD is bright enough to mostly drown out the reflections, but even then it may not be enough. Personally it was enough, but unfortunately not everything I look at is bright.
Matte 17" vs glossy 15" MBP. The 17" is indeed brighter as reported. Also, it is true that if I put an older build of OS X 10.5.6 on the 17" MBP, the screen becomes very blue, washed out, and dim. The copy of OS X on the install DVD does not have that problem.
Glassy 17" vs glossy 15" MBP. The 17" screen is much better in real life and the picture does not do it justice.
Comparison of 15" glossy vs. 17" glassy. That extra layer of glass makes the screen much more reflective compared to glossy. You can see that the reflection is so strong in the glassy that it blocks out the white text, whereas the white text is still visible and readable on the glossy.
Another comparison to characterize the reflection. It is much brighter in the glassy.
A close up. If you look carefully, you can see that in addition to the reflection being brighter, the 17" actually has two reflections compared to the 15". I believe that this is due to the glass on top of the glossy LCD: the glass creates a bright reflection, and the glossy LCD beneath it creates a dimmer reflection similar to that of the glossy 15" MBP.
In ideal conditions (a dim room with no light behind me), the glassy is also distracting when watching movies. I often see my reflection clearly in the display, such that i can make out the whites of my eyes. The glossy MBP, on the other hand, is not so reflective and you can't see my reflection in it. Obviously, the matte doesn't produce a reflection at all.
I can't capture it in on camera, but even if the room were completely black, when watching a movie light from the LCD shines on me and then reflects back at the glassy LCD, and it is still distracting.
So in (my) conclusion:
1) There is a clear distinction between matte, glossy, and glassy. Matte doesn't produce reflections. Glossy gives the LCD some extra zing in terms of color saturation and sharpness compared to matte.
2) Glassy, as far as I'm concerned, has no advantage over glossy. It crosses that threshold in which the reflections become so strong and distracting that it becomes unusable. Moreover, it doesn't provide any extra zing that glossy can provide. Glass also adds weight, and it can be cracked just as easily. Since the LCD is sealed inside the MBP lid, breaking the glass will still be expensive to fix since it requires replacing the entire lid.
I should note that during daylight hours, the room gets brighter and though there is no window where that sconce light is, the reflections are much greater as that back wall gets completely lit. Overall, in daylight there is reflection over a greater area, though not as intense as a single lamp, but is still very distracting.
3) When viewing bright images or web pages, the reflections can be drowned out by the backlight on the glassy screen. However, the problem is that not everything you look is bright. This is true especially for movies with dark scenes. Even sitting in the dark, there are reflections from the backlight shining on you and then reflecting back.
4) The 17" MBP is bright as or brighter than the previous gen MBP (which is similar to the unibody MBP) if the correct build of OS X is installed.
5) The matte 17" MBP has just as good color, contrast, saturation compared to the glassy version. In my case, the matte display can actually go a bit brighter than the glassy.
6) Black levels are fairly good and similar on both.
