So you don't know the difference between 10-bit and 8-bit screen in actual real use? And you only want 8-bit or 10-bit written in system preferences? Ok...I don't know how do it, sorry
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No 10 bits panel MacBook Pro 15 1018?
- Thread starter ferbandie
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This thread got me thinking. Six years ago, what got me into purchasing my first Macbook was the retina screen. I wanted the best screen available and the retina was absolutely in a class of its own. Nothing else on offer even came close.
It's still a good screen today (lucked into a Samsung panel), and newer panels Apple use are even better. Some of the best available no doubt.
Still. I expected more from a company that pushes (or at least used to push) the envelope like Apple. 2018 MBP screen is slimmer, more vibrant and power-efficient. It's a fantanstic panel, but that's where the novelty ends. Same tech, resolution and refresh rate, bezels, no freesync/gsync/Apple?sync. Little has changed in 6 years.
Competition meanwhile got much better, and Apple somewhat is resting on its laureals. Heck, flux-inspired TT is a featured feature now. Wow?
Screen will be a major factor deciding my next laptop purchase. If the field offers something decidedly better, say, a combination of HDR, higher RR and GPU to match? that might be enough, just enough, to persuade me to vote with my money elsewhere.
It's still a good screen today (lucked into a Samsung panel), and newer panels Apple use are even better. Some of the best available no doubt.
Still. I expected more from a company that pushes (or at least used to push) the envelope like Apple. 2018 MBP screen is slimmer, more vibrant and power-efficient. It's a fantanstic panel, but that's where the novelty ends. Same tech, resolution and refresh rate, bezels, no freesync/gsync/Apple?sync. Little has changed in 6 years.
Competition meanwhile got much better, and Apple somewhat is resting on its laureals. Heck, flux-inspired TT is a featured feature now. Wow?
Screen will be a major factor deciding my next laptop purchase. If the field offers something decidedly better, say, a combination of HDR, higher RR and GPU to match? that might be enough, just enough, to persuade me to vote with my money elsewhere.
Well, they do ship wide-gamut monitors and if I am not mistaken, they also have the only OS with systematic APIs for working with wide-gamut, high-dynamic range colors. And of course, they still have the brightest laptop display on the market, which is at the same time one of the most power-efficient ones. I did hope to see adaptive display sync though...
As to resolution — personally — I don't think there is any reason to go beyond 220PPI at this point. At those pixel densities, the human eye loses the ability to discriminate pixels anyway, so you are paying high cost (memory consumption, GPU processing time) for very little or no gain in visual fidelity. So I think that Apple made a right choice by freezing the PPI and instead tackling the other limitation of display tech — narrow colors.
True, they do support WCG and are an improvement over older panels. Also, color support in MacOS is something I can find little fault with TBH. Windows is catching up fast but OSX is still the benchmark when it comes to that.
With that said, I was thinking specs that meet the Dolby Vision HDR standard, that would put MBP screen back on top. Right now, the 15" Surface Book 2 has the most well-rounded laptop screen, it's brighter, has higher contrast and covers more colors in sRGB mode than the MBP's screen. MBP on the other hand has native DCI-P3 support so naturally gains an advantage in that mode, so naturally would be the better choice if your workflow exclusively or mostly relies on it.
Resolution has never been an issue for me personally, just stating a fact en passant. I expected a slight bump in resolution over the years, didn't happen, no biggie. Does give SB2 edge resolution-wise though. I'd never consider a 16:9 4k laptop screen just because it's got more pixels but 3:2 is palatable.
All things considered, Book 2 is almost a year old machine, so remains to be seen if there're any planned changes for its screen specs. I'm hoping MS ups the ante again and adds true HDR and 10bit support, just so Apple raises their game next year and gives us a product that justifies the brand's label and price tag.
I know the difference between 8 bits and 10 bits panel and the number of colors that can be displayed.
The thing that I don't know is how to do the ramp test that new_mac_smell says.
I know that is a bug and I don't see any difference in color or quality when show 8 bits or 10 bits in system preferences because is the same screen, but I don't know if the bug is because it have 10 bits panel and sometimes shows 8 bits in system information or the opposite.
It doesn’t have to be a bug. It’s entirely possible that macOS switches the pixel format when an application requests wide color. We simply don’t know. But as others have pointed out, there is no evidence that the MBP ever had 10bit displays.
It's a gradient ramp test, you can load an image into photoshop and turn it into 10bit mode. If you can see banding, then it's not a 10bit display. There are various websites detailing the steps to do this.
A true 10bit display has many more colours than an 8bit, what this means is it can display more colours. Specifically with a gradient test, you can see vertical lines in the image (One I added), this is because it cannot display enough colours and so you see a visible line. This doesn't happen with full 10bit - which again, are very expensive and not destined to any laptop soon.
Again, you do not have a 10bit panel. It's quite possible a software emulated thing, MacOS uses advanced dithering to give you a better colour experience than a standard 8bit, perhaps this is why it's displaying as it is at times.
Id did not know about this till I read your post. Testing the difference on my 2015 Mac Book Pro by deactivating 10 bit in Photoshop and comparing it to active 10 bit colors on a 8 bit display is stunning!
I really don't understand why on earth apple is not promoting such technical advantages.
As I also not find a reference to this searching the web, I'd like to ask you for some. Just in case you can provide some...
Thanks,
Andreas
Could this explain why I can't stand to use the screen on the 2018 MBP having tried numerous 13 and 15 inch models. I get sore eyes and headache and find it difficult to focus. I assumed they were using PWM and I was sensitive. My 2017 (and 2015 before that) have never given me any issue and continue to be fine in 8hrs+ per day use. I tried at least 3 x 15 inch models and 2 x13 inch and all gave me problems. No issues with 2017 or with a Surface Pro 2017 I also have access to. Could Intel be doing something different in 2018 models ??
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I doubt it's the dithering I mentioned that is causing your issues. PWM has always been used to adjust the intensity of the backlight, and that's where all light from your screen is coming from. (The LCD just modulates each pixel; the light comes from the backlight.)
So I have no idea what could be causing your issues. Try a larger font maybe?
Could be a lot of reasons, blue light, pulse width modulation, even glossy screens bother some people.
Calibrate your screen using expert mode in display settings.
Try using your MBP at max brightness. Preferably in a bright room to prevent eye strain from working on a bright laptop in a dark room.
Try turning off true tone.
Try using f.lux
https://justgetflux.com
All those things have seemed to help people but everyone is different.