MacBook Pro Screen Gotten DARKER - Anybody Else?

[TakeManhattan]

My MBP with 17" glossy screen is about 15 months old.

I had so far been using it with screen brightness level set at 7 bars out of 16.

But, since the past few days, I've noticed that 7 bars is too dark. I have to set the level at 9 or 10 bars to feel comfortable.

Nothing else in the MBP settings or the environment have changed. I don't use any of the auto dimming features.

I'm wondering whether it's the MBP or my eyes that are deteriorating.

Has anyone experienced or heard of gradual dimming of MBP screens over time? Can anyone suggest causes for dimming?
(LED failure?)

BTW, I use isopropyl alcohol to clean the screen. I doubt this could be a cause because I had been doing it for the past 15 months. But a warning: The little black cleaning cloth that comes with the MBP leaks blue-black ink. I never used it.

 

[SPNarwhal]

did you change your settings at all?
maybe auto lighting, or battery reserve?

 

[TakeManhattan]

did you change your settings at all?
maybe auto lighting, or battery reserve?

Thanks. I should have mentioned the situation is the same whether I run the MBP off battery or the adapter.

Dimming depending on ambient light or power source or before sleeping are all disabled.

 

[puma1552]

LEDs in theory aren't supposed to dim over time.

My guess is it's psychological but I guess it's possible for an LED to fail, though I think an LED would just quit altogether if it failed?

 

[TakeManhattan]

LEDs in theory aren't supposed to dim over time.

My guess is it's psychological but I guess it's possible for an LED to fail, though I think an LED would just quit altogether if it failed?

Is there just one LED for the backlight of the MBP? That'd be one giant LED. The light leaks around the edges of screens of other MBPs I've seen might indicate that there're many LEDs.

Also, could not a change in voltage to the LEDs affect their brightness? (even though I've disabled all auto dimming features.)

Yes, I'm afraid the dimming could be a result of the condition of my eyes. I wish I had a light meter to confirm.

Is there no one else (as Brad Pitt said in Troy) who's experienced or heard of MBP screens getting dimmer?

 

[chris2k5]

I'm using a MBP 13" and I find 7 bars kind of dark and mine is brand new...

9 bars is perfect I think. Any brighter and my eyes hurt from brightness.

 

[lucoweb]

different than a cinema display

I've just bought a cinema display and its max brightness hurts my eyes. IIRC, that's pretty much what happened when I got my MBP roughly 12 months ago.

but now, about 8/16 for the brand new cinema display roughly equals 12/16 for the MBP.

seems like it DOES decay over time, but I'm hoping not too much... anyway that's the sort of fine print Apple shouldn't make us bear, especially when Steve Jobs disses the competition every chance he gets. ¬¬"

I'm curious about calling Apple's support line. hope they fix this for MBPs purchased overseas, or else I'm screwed.