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kis

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 10, 2007
1,702
767
Switzerland
I received my matte MBP today (sold my glossy one the second the matte version became available). Man, the difference is MASSIVE. That screen is absolutely perfect - very evenly lit, excellent viewing angle, great colors. I can only recommend it. I also like the silver frame. Makes the whole device look less cheap.
 
The black bezel around the Glossy display does not look "cheap", in fact it does two things. It makes the MBP look like a more professional product, and it improves color reproduction and color balance for the human eye. The glossy display has greater color balance, better black reproduction, better contrast, and provides a sharper picture than the matte option. Believe me, you do not know more than Apples engineers. The matte display is certainly a downgrade.

It's quite humorous to watch though....
 
The black bezel around the Glossy display does not look "cheap", in fact it does two things. It makes the MBP look like a more professional product, and it improves color reproduction and color balance for the human eye. The glossy display has greater color balance, better black reproduction, better contrast, and provides a sharper picture than the matte option. Believe me, you do not know more than Apples engineers. The matte display is certainly a downgrade.

It's quite humorous to watch though....

Keep trying to convince yourself fella. ;)
 
To be honest guys, and I'm saying this as a photographer...I am growing to like the glossy screen more and more. The only thing I like more about the matte screen is the lack of glare. Otherwise, the glossy is absolutely by far more pleasing to the eye. The sharpness alone is what makes it pop. I had a non-unibody matte MBP, and going to the glossy display was like night and day.

I'm certainly glad they listened and brought the option back though. I use a matte NEC external for any serious editing, so the matte on my MBP was unnecessary at the time.
 
The black bezel around the Glossy display does not look "cheap", in fact it does two things. It makes the MBP look like a more professional product, and it improves color reproduction and color balance for the human eye. The glossy display has greater color balance, better black reproduction, better contrast, and provides a sharper picture than the matte option. Believe me, you do not know more than Apples engineers. The matte display is certainly a downgrade.

It's quite humorous to watch though....

Ignorance is such a bliss.
 
The only thing I like more about the matte screen is the lack of glare. Otherwise, the glossy is absolutely by far more pleasing to the eye. The sharpness alone is what makes it pop.

Agree 100%. I love and prefer the glossy display as it the contrast appears much higher and the picture more sharp.
 

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I have a matte 15" MBP silver surround and a glossy 15" MBP black surround - the glossy wins hands down for clarity and quality of image - the glare gets annoying occasionally but guess what... it's a laptop so I can move it :eek:
 
The black bezel around the Glossy display does not look "cheap", in fact it does two things. It makes the MBP look like a more professional product, and it improves color reproduction and color balance for the human eye. The glossy display has greater color balance, better black reproduction, better contrast, and provides a sharper picture than the matte option. Believe me, you do not know more than Apples engineers. The matte display is certainly a downgrade.

It's quite humorous to watch though....

I'm happy the OP is happy but I have to agree with the above poster. Unless you really want to kid yourself colors are bolder and blacks are richer on a glossy screen.

I do a TON of photography and print on glossy paper most of the time. The only way to get the color accuracy I'm after is to edit on my glossy monitor (I have a matte monitor for matte prints, and a glossy monitor for editing glossy prints).

Glossy definitely has the bolder richer colors.
 
I received my matte MBP today (sold my glossy one the second the matte version became available). Man, the difference is MASSIVE. That screen is absolutely perfect - very evenly lit, excellent viewing angle, great colors. I can only recommend it. I also like the silver frame. Makes the whole device look less cheap.

I knew you'd love it.

The matte LED backlit screens are brighter, more vivid and the colors looks so much more natural than the led glossy displays. Enjoy!!
 
For the glossy vs matte debate:

While laptop makers are going glossy crazy, check out the external LCD market. How many glossy screens are out there? Few; if you look, you can buy a glossy 20-odd inch screen or whatever, but almost all of them are matte! And there's a reason for that.

And other than Apple, there are no IPS/PVA glossy screens! Not a single one. You can only get crappy TN.

Or lets look at professional screens -> does Eizo make glossy screens? No. Does LaCie make glossy screens? No! See a pattern here?
 
I love glossy so much, if I'm forced to use matte I leave my laptop outside and use it through the living room window. (just kidding..)

Glossy screens produce richer colours. Matte screens have less glare. Depending on which factor is more important to you, you'll prefer one over the other. Can't we all just accept that, and get along? :p
 
The black bezel around the Glossy display does not look "cheap", in fact it does two things. It makes the MBP look like a more professional product, and it improves color reproduction and color balance for the human eye. The glossy display has greater color balance, better black reproduction, better contrast, and provides a sharper picture than the matte option. Believe me, you do not know more than Apples engineers. The matte display is certainly a downgrade.

It's quite humorous to watch though....

I quote:

A conversation with an Apple spokesman familiar with the MacBook Pro line supports this (we're complying with Apple press policy by not identifying the spokesman by name). He says the standard glossy and optional antiglare versions of the MacBook Pro 17 inch do in fact use the same LCD panel, share the same LED backlight technology, the same colour filtering, the same resolution and other attributes that define a laptop's screen. They differ, he says, only in the panel's outer surface, which has either a glossy or matte finish. And as the article's photos of the MacBook Pro 17 inch reveal, the antiglare version features a silvery display bezel rather than a full glass front.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-10041-10146

So you tell me how you are gonna get better contrast and black reproduction with the same panel although glossy finish and a 0.55mm glass panel on it?


I'll sure be happy with my MBP 15" with matte option in a week or two! Though I'd love the looks of the black bezel and the glass, I just can't imagine working on that thing without the reflections irritating me. Plus I need atleast 4-6 hours of battery life a day without charge, I don't think I'm gonna get that with the glossy one, since I'd have to turn up the brightness a lot more to keep it convenient. With the matte screen, having a lower brightness, would be still perfectly doable, you can't do that with a glossy I think. Turn a glossy on less than half the brightness and I think it's simply undoable in a lot of situations, whereas with the matte you'd still be able to work fine.
 
You all sound like a bunch of kids arguing, you know?

It's all about personal preference.
 
I find it interesting that when the glass screens first came out they were dismissed as being "non-pro" and Apple was criticized heavily for appealing to consumers as opposed to visual professionals. (Because the idea I'm used to seeing around these boards is: gloss = consumer, matte = pro)

However, from what I gather from this thread (and ones like it), it seems like the sentiment has changed o_O. I guess a lot of people have changed their mind?
 
I'd like to add that while the glossy display does look good in its own way, it looks tacky to me. :D
 
However, from what I gather from this thread (and ones like it), it seems like the sentiment has changed o_O. I guess a lot of people have changed their mind?

It's just Apple marketing. A lot of the people who bought a unibody before the matte option was out just feel F'ed in the A and just wanna come defend their purchase on these forums without any decent arguments, that's what it is :).
 
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