glossy- any glare or eye strain problems?

[gwsat]

best bet is to compare them, or maybe borrow a friends glossy laptop and see how you get on? I have the high res AG one and had to help my parents out this weekend and use their dell which has a glossy screen... I was really happy with my AG screen before, but after using the glossy screen today I became even more sure I had made the right choice.

A cynic might say that many of those who minimize the glare problems caused by the glossy display have never used a Mac with a matte finish and so don't know what they are missing. Of course, I'm not a cynic, so I would never say such a thing.

 

[diablo2112]

other concern is outdoor use. the AG is almost useless as it gets all whited out where as the glossy just gets amplified sun laser gun in your eye and you can adjust the angle.

Huh? I've heard a lot claims about glossy and AG, but this has got to be the first that says the glossy is the ONLY screen you can use outdoors. You're kidding, right? I use my AG outdoors frequently. It's never been "whited out".

 

[peapody]

Huh? I've heard a lot claims about glossy and AG, but this has got to be the first that says the glossy is the ONLY screen you can use outdoors. You're kidding, right? I use my AG outdoors frequently. It's never been "whited out".

I am pretty sure that poster has never used an AG outdoors.. haha.

 

[JerseyBill]

Your definitely incorrect about quite a few things again. The matte display is the bare LCD panel. Then the glossy does have a bezel; I have seen videos of the glass being removed. And the black border around the display is either plastic glued to the glass or a dyed/painted area of the glass, because the LCD panel is rectangular and does not extend to the edges of the lid. I am a little surprised you think this as well. And I think the older iPhones and iPod touches use a type of plexiglas as well. I have not seen an iPad and the iPhone 4 is made with gorilla glass.
It really seems from your comments that you are making quite a few assumptions based on no real information. Furthermore you sound like you have never seen a LCD panel outside of it's frame. Well I will give you a clue, they are all rectangular and have ninety degree corners. Then there is no way apple would use resources to made LCD panel extend from edge to edge then just disable a percentage of the display around the border. LCD panels are becoming cheaper, but it should be obvious why this would not be economically sound versus using a plastic bezel or dying/painting the edge of the glass cover.
Finally if you have ever seen the "glass" on the MacBook pro break, it does not shatter like glass but rather cracks and splits like an acrylic.
Plexiglas
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)?wasRedirected=true

Thanks for the response and I remind you that I admitted I have no particular technical expertise in LCD displays - but it seems quite odd to me that any "bare LCD panel" would comprise the AG display because the surface treatment leading to that AG property would eliminate that display from being used on any glossy monitor (with either glass/plexiglas on top). Why would any company spec out TWO separate LCD displays for a common laptop when they can elect to alternate display covers to achieve the glossy or AG effect? Sounds like a lot of cost to offer us two options - and I can't buy that.

In all of my encounters with plexiglas over 30 or 40 years, it has routinely been a material much more prone to scratching and surface deformation than any glass. Maybe there is a breakthrough I am not aware of. I am remembering all my house screen doors and even cheap cell phone screens that look like milk after a period of time. This is not the experience of MBP users (there are threads on this) so either we have a better plexiglas material or - heaven forbid - we actually have glass on these things.

As for the bezel, I think we both agree and disagree. I am at this very moment putting my thumbnail between the glass/plexiglas screen and the aluminum ridge (part of the top cover shell) that contains it. A bezel is an overlay that sits on top of a surface - that is not happening. the glass/plexiglas sits into the trough defined by the aluminum ridge surrounding it. Whether the glass is adhered to an inactive part of an LCD panel or some other dead material is irrelevant - to argue that is to worry about angels on pinheads. The point is that the glass / plexiglas is attached by means of adhesive to a flat black surface, holding it in. The AG screen (and matte cover) is held in place by a silver bezel - which many here have railed about because it just collects dust and provides a niche for dirt and grime to collect. The glossy screen offers a completely flat surface that is less prone to dirt collection - and much easier to clean. And it doesn't scratch...

You seem to have a strong need to be right on this matter so i will give you bragging rights that you are right on everything. But I will retain my own opinions on the correctness of my choices.

Thanks !

JB

 

[cryer]

I'm curious to know if anyone else has an opinion on eye strain concerning glossy vs antiglare. I went to the store today and both look good, although glossy has better colors and antiglare is a bit more washed out. But antiglare has no glare... But I do like the black border on glossy more.

But what about eye strain? I'll mostly be doing reading and software development on it with some graphic design using adobe software. If using it for these purposes for hours everyday is going to make my eyes sore then it's not worth it for black border or better colors.

 

[magamo]

Personally I don't have any major problem with glossy screens. I don't feel eye strain after extensive use either.

The only thing I notice is the reflection on the screen when I watch movies and whatnot in a fairly bright place. In a complete dark scene, it always reminds me of how cute I am.

 

[entatlrg]

new opinion:

i got the glossy. i f'd around with the AG. My eyes do hurt after a while for sure (on glossy), but I like glossy because it's more protected and doesn't gather dust around the edges of the screen. i think the AG looks cooler too, but not worth the dust problem for me.

other concern is outdoor use. the AG is almost useless as it gets all whited out where as the glossy just gets amplified sun laser gun in your eye and you can adjust the angle.

You're saying the AG screen is almost useless to use outdoors?

I thought it was the other way around, people buy AG screens so they CAN use them outside ??

What screen is better for outdoor use, AG or Glossy?

 

[tim100]

You're saying the AG screen is almost useless to use outdoors?

I thought it was the other way around, people buy AG screens so they CAN use them outside ??

What screen is better for outdoor use, AG or Glossy?

ag outside and inside around windows.

 

[kny3twalker]

but it seems quite odd to me that any "bare LCD panel" would comprise the AG display because the surface treatment leading to that AG property would eliminate that display from being used on any glossy monitor (with either glass/plexiglas on top). Why would any company spec out TWO separate LCD displays for a common laptop when they can elect to alternate display covers to achieve the glossy or AG effect? Sounds like a lot of cost to offer us two options - and I can't buy that.

Well you are wrong. They are different LCD panels. The AG panel does have a coating, but it is bare (meaning no 'glass' covering).
The glossy does not have a AG coating on the LCD panel and is covered by the 'glass'.

Here is a close-up of the AG display. You can see the aluminum bezel is exposed and sits slightly higher than the LCD, itself.

In all of my encounters with plexiglas over 30 or 40 years, it has routinely been a material much more prone to scratching and surface deformation than any glass. Maybe there is a breakthrough I am not aware of. I am remembering all my house screen doors and even cheap cell phone screens that look like milk after a period of time. This is not the experience of MBP users (there are threads on this) so either we have a better plexiglas material or - heaven forbid - we actually have glass on these things.

I will agree here, and this is quite reasonable. It could be glass for all I know.

As for the bezel, I think we both agree and disagree. I am at this very moment putting my thumbnail between the glass/plexiglas screen and the aluminum ridge (part of the top cover shell) that contains it. A bezel is an overlay that sits on top of a surface - that is not happening. the glass/plexiglas sits into the trough defined by the aluminum ridge surrounding it. Whether the glass is adhered to an inactive part of an LCD panel or some other dead material is irrelevant - to argue that is to worry about angels on pinheads. The point is that the glass / plexiglas is attached by means of adhesive to a flat black surface, holding it in. The AG screen (and matte cover) is held in place by a silver bezel - which many here have railed about because it just collects dust and provides a niche for dirt and grime to collect. The glossy screen offers a completely flat surface that is less prone to dirt collection - and much easier to clean. And it doesn't scratch...

If you are still arguing that the LCD on the glossy display extends from edge to edge, here is a picture.

you can clearly see it does not.

Here is the glass, black bezel is part of the glass as I said.

Here is a good link where you can see a broken piece of 'glass' and the LCD separate from it.

http://www.missionrepair.com/Articles.asp?ID=177

You seem to have a strong need to be right on this matter so i will give you bragging rights that you are right on everything. But I will retain my own opinions on the correctness of my choices.

Thanks !

JB

All you had to do was google this, and you could have found some answers/pictures yourself.

 

[Garrus]

This is definitely not true. I do not know where you got this from, but first this is not glass. It is a plexiglas like material. Then the displays are not the same. The Anti glare display is a matte LCD screen, while the glossy is a glossy LCD panel covered by the plexiglas like material. The LCD panels are easily distinguished as different for they use different model number panels. Then if apple just put plexiglas over a matte LCD panel, it would be terrible, muted colors and glare from the plexiglas.
Also I believe the glossy LCD's bezel is part of the plexiglas and not aluminum like on the matte display.

By the way, glare is especially bad under flourescent lights like at college. I have much fewer issues with glare at home.

I still love my MacBook pro, but the glare caused by the "glass" on top of the already glossy LCD panel is ridiculous.

This can't be a plexiglass since plexiglass loose transparency overtime...
It's more likely to be a glass like used on the ipad / iphone / ipod touch

 

[kny3twalker]

This can't be a plexiglass since plexiglass loose transparency overtime...

I said plexi glas like. It clearly is not just silicon dioxide, whatever it is. And I do believe it is an acrylic glass of some type.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)