Is my display defective?

[henrik-s]

Hi MacRumors, please welcome a new user

I've owned my aluminium MacBook for a week now, and the black levels are really getting to me. I realize there are different opinions; for every person saying his is terrible, one is saying it's great, but I think mine is defective.

I tried to take some pictures, but I couldn't get them right. Imagine a gradient going from grey to black (bottom to top), that's how my screen looks while "black" with an optimal viewing angle. This is especially annoying when watching a movie, one bar is grey and the other is black.

How does this compare to your experiences with your new Mac's display? I would greatly appreciate some help.

 

[clyde2801]

Where have you been?

There's only been ninety nine threads on this subject in the last couple of weeks. A few people have been saying their displays have problems similar to yours, others swear they're fine.

Look on some other threads for screen profiles, find some for your model display, and download it to your system. See if that helps. If it doesn't, take it into the applestore for a genius to exchange your system. Take the movie that's driving you nuts with you to the store.

Good luck!

 

[Luvion]

I tried to take some pictures, but I couldn't get them right. Imagine a gradient going from grey to black (bottom to top), that's how my screen looks while "black" with an optimal viewing angle. This is especially annoying when watching a movie, one bar is grey and the other is black.

Mine is like that as well. Unfortunately this is normal for the Macbook display.

 

[henrik-s]

Mine is like that as well. Unfortunately this is normal for the Macbook display.

How would you rate it against a 1. gen MacBook? A friend of mine has one of those and it's so much better than mine.

 

[mcdj]

How would you rate it against a 1. gen MacBook? A friend of mine has one of those and it's so much better than mine.

what's the difference how anyone else would rate it against an older macbook? if YOU think the older one is better, then it's better. return yours and get an older one if that's what it takes to make you happy. what you described is what my new one looks like, but I can live with it. If you watch a good enough movie, you will forget all about it.

 

[clyde2801]

like my alum better

Sorry, no offense, but even the 2.0 alum MB I returned had a better display than my friends 2.4 white mb. Both were equally crappy on dark colors, but mine was bright and crisp on whites and lights.

 

[henrik-s]

Sorry, no offense, but even the 2.0 alum MB I returned had a better display than my friends 2.4 white mb. Both were equally crappy on dark colors, but mine was bright and crisp on whites and lights.

This is why I'm wondering if mine is defective (backlight issues or something), not just a mediocre display. My friend's MB looks good to me. I will take a tour through the premium resellers where I live (no Apple Stores in Norway) and check their demo machines.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Luvion]

How would you rate it against a 1. gen MacBook? A friend of mine has one of those and it's so much better than mine.

I would rate it the same, except for the brightness. The new MacBook has a higher brightness, which is better for whites as noted by clyde2801. But dark scenes in movies, and especially the band either below or above the movie (depending on the viewing angle) turn grey due to some kind of blue tinted backlight bleed. My gen1 Macbook has that as well, but a bit less blue.

Also noted by Gizmodo. Mine is the same.

 

[Jollins]

This is why I'm wondering if mine is defective (backlight issues or something), not just a mediocre display. My friend's MB looks good to me. I will take a tour through the premium resellers where I live (no Apple Stores in Norway) and check their demo machines.

Thanks for your replies.

My advice: It sounds like you might have a defective display if the display looks distinctly worse than your friend's macbook. Its bothering you enough that you wonder if its defective, so you should probably take it back for a refund/exchange.

 

[HoldFastHope]

This is why I'm wondering if mine is defective (backlight issues or something), not just a mediocre display. My friend's MB looks good to me. I will take a tour through the premium resellers where I live (no Apple Stores in Norway) and check their demo machines.

Thanks for your replies.

Might be worth checking to see if your friend is using a custom colour profile too.