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Glossy vs Anti-Glare

DrFu79 said:
Dont Cherry-Pick. I wrote more than that.
"The argument that the colors are more intense on a glossy - has some truth to it. BUT: The AntiGlare really "washes" the colors out in exactly the OPPOSITE direction. So that argument is moot."
And no: most customers dont care about "Color Accuracy" like we talk about in this forum. They dont even know what color profiles are. They want their Pics, Games and Videos to look great, not "accurate". That is hard to understand if you are a professional, but you have to look beyond one's own nose.

One thing to your very first thread though: i think the 2011 Antiglare displays are definitely better than the 2010 ones. And even they were really good.
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What does it matter if most "un-informed" MacBook users like Glossy? It is proven by this thread that the real apple fans go with Anti-Glare most of the time.
 
MultiMediaWill said:
What does it matter if most "un-informed" MacBook users like Glossy? It is proven by this thread that the real apple fans go with Anti-Glare most of the time.
Click to expand...

Wait what? Really?

Hah my PC is better than your Mac! Oh whoops wrong forum. But one could take most of th posts in this silly thread and replace anti-glare/matte and glossy with PC and Mac. Seriously wow.

There are some good posts in this thread. Kudos to those that attempt to provide non-emotional attachment posts.

To assist with situational usage for those that are trying to decide on which one to purchase (referring to Matte vs. Glossy) I will try to be objective and lay out my thought process. The following is MY HUMBLE OPINION.

My work: Proffesional Photography, Videography, and avid gamer. Oh and I write proposals in Word and utilize Keynote for presentations. I normally work indoors but have utilized my portables in the field.

1. Both displays are outstanding. Asthetics aside - I like both the silver bezel and the black bezel. Honestly though, if you are concentrating on the screens content, both meld into the background and do not distract. It it distracts you... welp.

2. I have both a matte and glossy display on my laptops.

3. I use my glossy screen indoors mostly. My anti glare usually accompanies me in the field but not for the reasons you may surmise. The glossy screen is great for most if not all aspects of my work. Reflections are not noticable unless my 4 year old shines a flashlight over my shoulder to garner my attention. Then I see the light beam and ya my eyesight is shot to hell for a few minutes. When in the field, the glossy screen provides some challenges to overcome. It is usable but can be problematic depending on the enviroment. The matte screen works a bit better but it has it's own issues in a highly lit enviroment. Honestly if you are performing color accurate work in a brightly lit enviroment it matters not an iota what screen you have available to you. You're doing it wrong.

4. I find the contrast on my anti glare is lower. Colors are not "washed-out" but is more muted. Subjectively, I find myself liking the deeper colors on my glossy. This is VERY subjective and most likely very slight.

5. I find that even with a Matte screen you will get reflections in a high lit enviroment. The difference between the glossy and matte is the reflections will be easier to discern on a glossy screen whereas on the Matte display it is an amalgomous blob. This leads to a definate "wash out" in colors on the Matte display. On the glossy you end up fighting through the reflections. Either way both screens become "unusable" for serious work under these conditions. Again YMMV and your standards will likely be different.

6. I find the matte screen is not as sharp as my glossy. Again it is a purely subjective observation.

7. I find that the matte display has a less tendency to "nuke" my colors when working in Aperture or Photoshop. On the flip side I have learned to lay off the saturation adjustment and curves when working with the glossy screen. If you can afford it or already have extra computers/monitors, checking your color on different OSs and monitors can save you heartache when trying to match fleshtones or any color for that matter. Again most people that care about the nitty gritty color matching will already have a good process to correct the deep exagerrated colors of a glossy screen.

6. Finally, I prefer the glossy screen under my work conditions. Let me say that again - under my working conditions I find the glossy screen to provide me with what I need. I have nothing against the matte screen under my working conditions but I tend to prefer the glossy over the matte.

As stated before, it appears many users are willing to die on their purchase decisions on the internets to the point of being ridiculous. No one here can tell me that I made the wrong decision (...with me taking that response seriously). I did my research and found out what works best with my needs. This PC vs. Mac; glossy vs matte argument (with a poll even) harkens to the base human need for justification in being right. So if you base your purchase decision purely on these forums without addressing your needs then you are a fool who will soon part with his money for all the wrong reasons.

I hope I added positively to the discussion. Ok continue the flame war :D
 
I went to Apple Store to see those 2011 models if they are improved over 2010 display-wise but no! Way too much reflections on glare screens to be of any real use.. even if brightness is cranked to max I can see my face in shop lightning conditions.. it's simply unacceptable. Apple thinks the laptop users sit in darkened rooms all day long or what? I thought people in California would know better. 15" MBP with anti-glare costs that insane 2000€ and is way above my budget and preferred size.

I'm likely going to order the new 13" Sony Vaio S-series now (unless reviews tell it's bad). Almost like MBP 13" except Vaio has better specs, resolution, connectivity, user-replaceable battery, expandable battery, docking possibility, HDMI, 2 years basic warranty and it's lighter and most importantly has anti-glare screen. A bit lower price than MBP as well, so it's a steal.
 
MultiMediaWill said:
Which one is better? I know this has been asked before but with the new release we might have some new opinions.
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Glossy is much much better in some circumstances.

Anti-Glare is much much better in some circumstances.

I hope this information is helpful to you! :D
 
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Even though the glossy can be impossible to deal with at times, I cannot use Apple's anti-glare due to blurred text combined with the higher resolution.

I tried the anti-glare on 2 MBPs, but both went back. Tried all of the tricks to help with readability etc. - nothing my eyes were seriously straining (myopic), so for me personally, I deal with the glossy.

I love the idea of anti-glare but for Apple displays, just doesn't work for me.
 
People who have glossy will tell you glossy is the next best thing since slice bread.

People who have anti-glare will tell you anti-glare is the next best thing since slice bread.

People who make purchase decisions based on the opinions of others as it pertains to screen type will at some point inevitably question that purchase decision.

Go out, look at the two side by side and make the comparison and decisions for yourself based on what *YOU* see.


Threads with questions like do this one thing very well .... stir up controversy!



This Poll is flawed and thus invalid - it is based on the premise that one must be better than the other.

If Anti-Glare was that much better it would sell more and thus be the 'standard' display on store stock. Truth is glossy is the most popular seller and anti-glare is a cost added option.

I own both anti-glare and glossy displayed computers.

.
 
Personal I dont like antiglare.First off all dont need it."Just to have" is not my shoping guideline.
Antiglare is for people who need for editing pictures, videos etc, people who work outdore and need to have a good quality display.
Its not for someone who sit home and do normal everyday work.You have HiRess for that if u wont better resolution/display.
 
MultiMediaWill said:
What does it matter if most "un-informed" MacBook users like Glossy? It is proven by this thread that the real apple fans go with Anti-Glare most of the time.
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What does it matter if real apple fans go with Anti-Glare most of the time. It is proven by Apple's sales and profits figures that most MacBook users prefer Glossy.

Please define the term " real apple fan "?

I have a friend who prides himself as being an Apple Fanboy. To him Apple can do no wrong, yet on his two computers ( Mac Pro and MBP ) he sports glossy screens.

Some people say the glossy screens do not show true colors, but that's really not true.

I do a lot of photo editing and printing on a Mac Pro, it has dual displays one glossy one anti-glare ( frosted is what I like to call it ). Both have been calibrated to render true colors as far as printing is concerned. Which one do I use??? Depends on the print media.
 
i sat beside someone on a train yday with a glossy 15'' and it was hillarious. whenever we passed out of a tunnel to the sunshine, the reflections were attrocious lol...

i dont know whether this is because he had the brightness low or what but it didnt seem like he did have it on low at all. whenever this happened, he'd just start drinking his drink until we were out of the sun haha.

also for the videos+gaming better on glossy: IMO no unless u only do them in a dark room. lots of gmes and movies use black which is reflection heaven.

im still undecided until i go to a store because my friends glossy in his room seems fine tbh. however, my house at home is has sooooo mcuh natural light everywhere that glossy might be inpractical.
 
l

I just got my new MBP 17"...in glossy.

I have been buying computer hardware and laptops for a long-time, including Macs which I usually buy from the AppleStore. This time I actually went to a brick and mortar Apple store to try the matte one, as I was 99.999% set on getting one, even though I didn't quite like its basel.

Testing both of them side-by-side I was surprised at how "fuzzy" the matte one looked, the matte filter coupled with the relatively high-res of the 17" panel, made it more difficult to read small fonts than the glossy one.

I have owned two Sony Vaio Z in the past, and their small high res matte screens were more readable. I don't know if it's because they had better quality filters, or just that the fonts in WinXP (with AA off) were easier to read.

So I ask for a glossy one, and the Apple guy came back from the stock with the unit, and asked me if I wanted to go to the bar to try it out. I didn't really need it but as it was free, I took the opportunity to just get the machine out of the box, inspect it and see if it was DOA from the factory.

Going through the OS install, I had a few minutes to chat with 4 of the guys at the bar. I mentioned why I took the glossy over the matte - even though I was dead set on getting a matte. The guys told me they usually don't discuss clients choices, but did mention with a grin that they all had 17" and took glossy for the same reason. They also asked me what SSD I would put in it and if I bought a OptiBay - which I did beforehand indeed. :)

After a week with it, I'm quite happy with it and don't have any issues with the glossy display, which I can't fix by moving the unit slightly in worst cases.

OT, but I had a fabulous experience at the Apple store, with staff both knowledgeable and friendly.
 
harcosparky said:
What does it matter if real apple fans go with Anti-Glare most of the time. It is proven by Apple's sales and profits figures that most MacBook users prefer Glossy.

Please define the term " real apple fan "?

I have a friend who prides himself as being an Apple Fanboy. To him Apple can do no wrong, yet on his two computers ( Mac Pro and MBP ) he sports glossy screens.

Some people say the glossy screens do not show true colors, but that's really not true.

I do a lot of photo editing and printing on a Mac Pro, it has dual displays one glossy one anti-glare ( frosted is what I like to call it ). Both have been calibrated to render true colors as far as printing is concerned. Which one do I use??? Depends on the print media.
Click to expand...

Well duh the glossy will sell better because it is the standard display. If matte was the standard display and glossy was the upgrade then matte would sell better. Also "real apple fans" are the people that go to a forum and discuss apple products on their free time.
 
for me personally

I tried both types of screen at several of the Apple stores in NYC. That was a mistake since I wasn't working the lighting conditions I'm used to.

When I'm ready for another Apple computer (please not for at least 5 years) , I'll definitely test and trust under my lighting conditions rather than those at the stores.

I almost bought a 17" glossy but my 21.5" iMac has the same resolution, so I realized it would be best to get as a low resolution as I could for my laptop. Glad, I went with the 13" standard.

And the glossy isn't a problem on the 13" screen go figure.
 
3603552_636699.jpg


Under the right conditions, the difference between glossy and matte screens is negligible. Nothing left to debate. Move along. :D


edit: above photo was doctored
 
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I am on the Acela heading to NY. The guy sitting across from me is mighty jealous of my AG display as he is struggling to see on his glossy MBP. It's not even sunny out.
 
Anti-glare by far.

I've been using my mil glossy 27" imac and it's like working with a mirror. In a daylight lid room forget about it. Not to mention if the sun gets it's way inside one of the windows. Absolutely terrible.

I will never buy myself a glossy screen.
 
currins said:
DayinLife - you grabbed a doctored photo from another thread. That's not the real picture.


Here's the original:

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/mac/MacBookPro2011/DSC_1597.jpg
Click to expand...
Still think people should actually used them to make up their minds, because on that photo the matte one looks like s h i t.

In the end both screens are perfectly usable, it's a matter of taste really or of extreme usage - i.e. you constantly work outdoor under the sun or something.

It cracks me up to read people trashing glossy screen as been "unusable". I have used almost all screen panel technologies put in laptops from the last 30 years, from TRS-80 Model 100 LCDs, SX-64 tiny CRT to take-no-prisoners plasma-based and electroluminescent (i.e. GRID) monstrosities, somehow I don't think my standards have gone down over time to settle on unusable low tech.

The only real display tech that was really horrible (slow and washed out colors), was the 1st passive color LCDs.
 
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