MBP: Glossy or Matte?

[iBorg20181]

WELL SAID. I had a Macbook Pro Core Duo (Matte) before I purchased the C2D(Glossy). I also have a 24" iMac. Everytime I would use the iMac (which also has Matte but it's vivid, beautiful sharp colors) and go back to the Macbook Pro, I had to check if my brightness was all the way up because I could not believe how dull the screen was (Desktop Matte is beautiful, but on a laptop it is dull) . I even went as far as exchanging my first Macbook Pro thinking that the screen was defective.

Also people comparing the Macbook Glossy to the Macbook Pro Glossy. I am sorry but there is no comparisson. I had a white Macbook for a week and the screen was subpar(compared to the Macbook Pro).

I now have a C2D Macbook Pro with Glossy Screen and I can seriously say WOW. The screen is vivid and I don't have to be checking my brightness anymore.

For the people in doubt, don't be, it's not as glossy as Sony Vaios and HPs, but yet extremely beautiful.

BTW, if the Macbook used matte screen it would have a horrible, dull picture. That's the reason why Apple chose Glossy on all Macbooks.
Macbook Pros use a higher quality LCD which can be used by Professionals who choose Matte and Glossy for the Consumer. The only reason why photographers use Matte is because they want their picture as accurate as possible because of the finished printed material which is sometimes unnoticed by the consumer.
If you buy/rent a DVD nowadays, all the colors are a bit more saturated, plasma TVs are usually more saturated than LCDs. HD Channels are more saturated than regular channels. People nowadays prefer a little bit more saturated picture than the 90's look on their pictures and movies...Just my opinion...

Well said, thiagofl! Your experience with these screens confirms what I've found in comparing the glossies vs. matte screens in Apple stores! The glossy has vibrant, sharp colors, with excellent blacks and minimal "glare" from other lighting in the room, while the matte screens look too dark, washed out, and have poor black color reproduction.

Can't wait for mine to come!



iBorg

 

[giggity goo-ru]

yay for glossy!! Mine will be here by the 14th of Nov.

 

[millerrh]

I just did a color calibration on my matte MBP and my 23" cinema display last night. Even thought it is matte, the cinema display is noticeably more contrasty and saturated (after the calibration) than the matte MBP. The whites and neutral grays are the same now, but there is just better color out of the cinema display. I had thought they would match better for some reason. Now I am wondering if a glossy would actually match better once they are both calibrated. The "artificial" boosting of blacks and saturation actually might be closer to what a good matte desktop can display after all.

Anyone else with a matte and cinema display experiencing this difference? How about anyone with a glossy and cinema display? Do they match well?

This could also be due to my color calibrator being a cheap Pantone Huey.

 

[thiagofll]

I will be uploading my Macbook Pro Glossy pictures later on today or tomorrow as soon as I get home. I will put it side by side with my 24" iMac

 

[thiagofll]

I just did a color calibration on my matte MBP and my 23" cinema display last night. Even thought it is matte, the cinema display is noticeably more contrasty and saturated (after the calibration) than the matte MBP. The whites and neutral grays are the same now, but there is just better color out of the cinema display. I had thought they would match better for some reason. Now I am wondering if a glossy would actually match better once they are both calibrated. The "artificial" boosting of blacks and saturation actually might be closer to what a good matte desktop can display after all.

Anyone else with a matte and cinema display experiencing this difference? How about anyone with a glossy and cinema display? Do they match well?

This could also be due to my color calibrator being a cheap Pantone Huey.

I have a 24" iMac which has a brighter screen and a bit more colorful than the Cinema Displays (I had a Cinema Display+Macmini for a while until the new iMac came out).

If you are noticing that much difference from the Cinema Display, wait until you use the iMac.

If I didn't have the iMac, I probably would have not noticed the brightness and color issues from the MBP, but it is bothersome when you use both computers back and fourth.

 

[millerrh]

I have a 24" iMac which has a brighter screen and a bit more colorful than the Cinema Displays (I had a Cinema Display+Macmini for a while until the new iMac came out).

If you are noticing that much difference from the Cinema Display, wait until you use the iMac.

If I didn't have the iMac, I probably would have not noticed the brightness and color issues from the MBP, but it is bothersome when you use both computers back and fourth.

It is bothersome since one of my plans when getting the new MBP was to use it for photo editing both at home (with my cinema display) and on the road where I hoped to get consistent results between the two

By the way...anyone have this wierd issue? Everytime I try to respond to a message from these forums and link to it through my email, when I hit "submit reply" Safari goes blank. But if I navigate to the post, repost what I wrote and hit "submit reply" it works. What's up with that?

 

[thiagofll]

Here are the pictures I promised.

BTW I don't understand how people talk s*** all the time about glare on the glossy screens, when the worse glare was from the Matte Screen and not just that, the Matte Screen goes completely dull when a strong light hits it...

Here are the pictures to proove it:

15" C2D Macbook Pro (Glossy Screen) vs. 24" C2D iMac (Matte Screen)

24" iMac:

15" Macbook Pro:

24" iMac and 15" Macbook Pro side by side:

 

[Zadillo]

Some people have noted that the new C2D MBP's have an anti-glare coating as well on the glossy screens, so it might be natural to expect improvements over the previous MBP and MacBook.

 

[thiagofll]

Some people have noted that the new C2D MBP's have an anti-glare coating as well on the glossy screens, so it might be natural to expect improvements over the previous MBP and MacBook.

It is just as glossy as the Macbook Pro CD I saw in the store...

 

[Maximus434]

Here are the pictures I promised.

BTW I don't understand how people talk s*** all the time about glare on the glossy screens, when the worse glare was from the Matte Screen and not just that, the Matte Screen goes completely dull when a strong light hits it...

Here are the pictures to proove it:

15" C2D Macbook Pro (Glossy Screen) vs. 24" C2D iMac (Matte Screen)

24" iMac:

15" Macbook Pro:

24" iMac and 15" Macbook Pro side by side:

That is AWESOME. So glad I went for glossy now

 

[thiagofll]

Glossy is the closest you will get to a desktop screen...

 

[Carguy172]

Is there any difference in the 'newer' Matte screens on an MBP vs. the 'older' matte screes on a Powerbook?

I had a 12" BP a while ago, and while I loved it, I often found myself wishing the colors were brighter and crisper. I look at it, and just felt it seemed....flat.

Then I got my 13" MacBook with the glossy screen. The sun shined brighter, the grass seemed greener, the water seemed clearer (metaphorically speaking...). The dust also seemed thicker. The smudges seemed more magnetic (literally speaking).

Now, I'm looking to go for a 15" MBP - and I no longer can leave it up to the hardware to decide for me - its my choice...

If the MPB Matte screen is the same as the 12" Powerbook, then I don't think I have a choice - glossy it is.. If the MBP's have an improved screen, then maybe its a split decision.

I do plan on making my way to an Apple store this weekend or early next week - but was wondering if anyone had some insight on this, so I don't get my hopes up that the matte is any better than it was.

Can you take a picture of glossy and matte beside each other im sorry I dont live near an apple store

 

[Drewy]

Oh wow, just wow... those pictures totally make me want to change my order from matte to glossy. I've already changed it once, Apple's gonna get annoyed at me! But for $3000, it's worth it.

 

[chileno123]

Here's my story...and I admit, I don't know much about computers, or screens.

My Bro-in-Law told me to go for matte. After hanging out at the store for like an hour, I liked glossy better, but since he suggested the other, I went with matte. I got home charged the MBP, went out, came home a few hours later, and when I opened the MBP, I saw that it was a glossy screen (the sales person had given me the wrong box). I contemplated going back and exchanging it, so I didn't even turn it on. Ater 30 min, I said F it, and started enjoying my first apple.

No way am I going to exchange my MBP from a glossy to a matte.

The glossy looks great... very clean look. Now from reading this thread, many seem to have very strong opinions, and I guess it is because they are defending what they have decided to buy ($$$). But it all comes down to preference.

I've done a lot of work with B&W photography, and I always leave the darkroom with 85% of my prints on glossy paper. That is just because for most of my images, I prefer glossy paper, and for others I prefer Matte.....

So, for those looking for advise, go to the store and decide for yourself!!! I will tell you this -- I haven't had much trouble with reflections...... and so far i've used it from complete darkness (watching a dvd), to using it in my sunroom (reading the news during breakfast).

 

[Digidesign]

Thanks for this thread and for those of you who provided comparison pictures.

I just wanted to toss in my two cents here and say that I visited an Apple sstore yesterday and checked out both glossy and matte displays on their MBPs. The glossy is very well done and does not detract like i thought it would. Matte is still classic and has its place, but the colors and the vibrancy of the glossy screen seemed to be much higher than the matte.

I'm going with glossy when the time comes to purchase.

 

[Hls811]

Can you take a picture of glossy and matte beside each other im sorry I dont live near an apple store

Unfortunately, I went right from work tonight and didn't have my camera w/ me - but heres my analysis FWIW.

Let me start by saying, I ordered my MBP on Sunday with matte, but after reading these posts the last 2 days I went to the store expecting to call and switch my order to glossy..

The only thing I can say to people wondering which one to get (and this has been said hundreds of times before) - Go look for yourself. I was EXTREMELY impressed and pleased with the matte finish - so much more than I was anticipating after reading alot of the pro-glossy comments. Last week when I went and compared an old MBP to new MBP (both matte) I was convinced they changed something w/ the display, cause the newer looked so much better. Today when I looked at both new MBPs - Matte vs Glossy side by side, I can honestly say the brightness in the images was nearly identical, the clarity was nearly identical and the overall niceness of the pictures was nearly identical. The only reason I'm prefacing this with 'nearly' was because I could obviously see a difference in the "shine"of the glossy. (I don't want to say reflection, because I think that takes on a negative connotation in this situation) - "shine" seems more appropriate.

Luckily, someone had loaded identical pictures on both MPBs and they were side by side - I was able to look at a few of them and really compare - the blacks look black on both screens. The white looked white. The water along side the base of the mountains looked like beautiful water, and the sky looked as blue as could be. Looking head on at both the only thing I could see to tell me which was matte and which was glossy was the shine...

I'm very satisfied with my decision to go with Matte - I had a MacBook (obviously glossy) and my only gripe with it was the way it tended to collect dust and show smudges... I don't feel I'm giving up on any quality by getting the matte screen - my personal opinion is I'm better off since I'm so anal about looking at dirt on the screen. (Before I get ripped for that comment, I'm not implying the matte doesn't' get dirty, I think it just hides it better!)

I have a 20" Dell widescreen monitor connected to my PC - when I get my new MBP delivered I'll take a picture side-by-side, I'll really be surprised if the MBP doesn't look just as bright and clear...

Finally, I think one thing I've learned from this thread is those who've used glossy Macs before tend to stick with them - I think I'm one of the only ones who had glossy and is going back to matte, and as I mentioned, thats solely because the dust/smudging - NOTHING to do with the picture quality) and those who haven't used them before seem to be afraid of them, or hesitant about changing to the unknown - its human nature I suppose.. I don't think you can go wrong with either one - but I really do suggest if at all possible to take a trip to an apple store and comparing for yourself as only your eyes will tell you which of the wonderful screens you will be happy with...

 

[Zadillo]

Yeah, that's the thing that still gets me. From some of the comments here you'd think that one of the screens was absolute garbage and the other was the most beautiful display in the world.

The truth as I see it is that they are actually both really excellent and high quality screens. Whichever one you choose, matte or glossy, you're getting an absolutely top-notch screen.

 

[xfiftyfour]

I've been going back and forth, back and forth on this one. I love the glossy on the MB, but if the matte was brighter and nicer than what I remember of my old PB, then that would be good, too.. and was it worth waiting longer for the BTO glossy? I was going crazy!

buuuuut.. one picture made up my mind. the glossy is just *too* sexy to dismiss because of an extra few days waiting time (edit: this is of course personal preference, and everyone has to decide for themselves, but I thought I'd post this for those that are swaying back and forth as I was!).

can't wait to place my order tomorrow... !

 

[BII]

Not a clear apples to apples (heh heh) comparision, but I used to work on a dell with a glossy screen, and under the lighting in my cubicle, it was literally impossible to work on. I ended up having to move to another cube and turn off the light above me.

Now is the MBP better? I have no idea, they wouldn't let me take it from the store to my office to find out. So I went with matte, every matte MBP I've seen looks great, so that's what I went with.

 

[brikeh]

I'm very satisfied with my decision to go with Matte - I had a MacBook (obviously glossy) and my only gripe with it was the way it tended to collect dust and show smudges... I don't feel I'm giving up on any quality by getting the matte screen

Right on, I feel ya on the smudges and marks thing, I went with matte and I dont think I´ll regret it.

 

[daneoni]

I think this picute here (not mine) pretty much ends the discussion about glossy vs. matte outdoors.

Not a fair comparison, the brightness on the MB is like 60% more so the PB WILL look dull from the get go. When you get a laptop with similar brightness as the MB then its a fair comparison.

A fair comparison shot would be a MBP Matte and a MBP glossy simple as.

 

[adiosk8]

well I got my glossy macbook pro yesterday...and I was so impressed by the screen and how well it looked, I forgot that it was a glossy even! everything that people claimed with the glares and everything else is FAR exaggerated, I haven't stopped using it yet and IMHO both are good choices, but the glossy is superior

 

[thiagofll]

Not a fair comparison, the brightness on the MB is like 60% more so the PB WILL look dull from the get go. When you get a laptop with similar brightness as the MB then its a fair comparison.

A fair comparison shot would be a MBP Matte and a MBP glossy simple as.

The point here is that the Matte Screen doesn't matter how bright it is, when outside will be extremely dull and not as easy to see as the glossy would be. I took some pictures and it is extremely obvious that the Matte Screen even on the iMac (which is extremely bright) become dull when direct light hits it, period.

 

[Hls811]

The point here is that the Matte Screen doesn't matter how bright it is, when outside will be extremely dull and not as easy to see as the glossy would be. I took some pictures and it is extremely obvious that the Matte Screen even on the iMac (which is extremely bright) become dull when direct light hits it, period.

Here are the pictures I promised.

BTW I don't understand how people talk s*** all the time about glare on the glossy screens, when the worse glare was from the Matte Screen and not just that, the Matte Screen goes completely dull when a strong light hits it...

Here are the pictures to proove it:

I still don't agree thats a fair test - for one, the picture of the iMac is alot closer, could be just a shadow from you causing it, or because you're closer the camera could be reading the lighting differently than it actually is.

If you look at the 3rd picture you posted "24" iMac and 15" Macbook Pro side by side:" - if you ask me, the iMac in that looks brighter (and better), there. Yes - theres more of a reflection, but again, thats the angle of where the camera is, thats not indicative of the reflections you get with overhead lighting. (If you look at the pictures that Jaxon and xfiftyfour took, you can clearly see lights reflecting.- I still think its exaggerated, it wasn't that noticeable on a 'normal' day with my MacBook when I had it - but still.. its more noticeable).

As far as outside goes - I honestly can't comment because I never used it there, but just seeing how much brighter the MBP matte screens are over the old PB screens, I don't think it'll be as hard to see as in the pictures above.. it won't be as good as indoors, but I don't think its that bad either - Apple does try to make improvements when they see issues.

I'm not knocking the glossy (see my post above) - but I don't think the difference is anywhere near as drastic as you're trying to imply with your pictures.

 

[ntsapp3]

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