Not too happy with MBP 15" HR Antiglare

[C64]

I received a new MBP with a 15" HR Antiglare screen. Because of reflections in the office and around the house I have with my black MacBook now I didn't want a glossy/glass screen.

Thing is.. compared to my old MacBook this screen is -really- different. The older one has a very soft/'easy to look at' feel to it, while this is either so bright it burns out my eyes, or it's too dark and everything is just grey-ish.

I also can't really use most of the brightness settings. When I set it to the 5th from the right it's basically the first usable setting. Everything below it is way to dark, a few up is OK too, and the last two settings are too bright. So only 3-4 from the 16 or so brightnesses are usable.

I've been playing around with the calibration tools, but I can't really find anything that's actually comfortable. I primarily changed the white balance because it was too bright for my eyes, but I can't say other settings are all that better.

I know it's very subjective, but I'm just wondering if anyone recognizes this.

I do like the 1680x1050-screen, although it's giving me some eye strain at the moment. Don't know if it's the resolution or these colors/brightness though. Will see how it goes the next few days, but every time I look back at my old MacBook I wish I'd look like that.

 

[sadcamper]

Only 3 or 4 of the brightness settings should be useable at any given time...when you're outside, the super-bright settings come in handy, and I agree that the some of the lower settings are kinda useless, but probably not to everyone.

 

[entatlrg]

Some AG screens for whatever reason give me strained, dry tired feeling eyes. It could be the AG film, even as invisible as it is in the MBP's it's still there and along with the no reflection I think some notice a sheen to the screen, others say fuzziness or dullness to the screen, more so in artificial light the screen settings seem either to bright or too dull ... it's hard to explain in words but I can relate to the OP's post.

I've had similar concerns with Lenovo, Dell and Sony AG screens .... Apple out of all them did a MUCH better job by a long stretch.

Keep in mind many posters here feel the AG screen on the 15" MBP is the best in the industry ... I don't doubt that, maybe the glossy screen suits your eyes more, softer, richer colors?

 

[sadcamper]

Adding that downloading and testing various Colour Profiles might make a big difference in how you perceive the quality.

 

[revelated]

I received a new MBP with a 15" HR Antiglare screen. Because of reflections in the office and around the house I have with my black MacBook now I didn't want a glossy/glass screen.

Thing is.. compared to my old MacBook this screen is -really- different. The older one has a very soft/'easy to look at' feel to it, while this is either so bright it burns out my eyes, or it's too dark and everything is just grey-ish.

I also can't really use most of the brightness settings. When I set it to the 5th from the right it's basically the first usable setting. Everything below it is way to dark, a few up is OK too, and the last two settings are too bright. So only 3-4 from the 16 or so brightnesses are usable.

I've been playing around with the calibration tools, but I can't really find anything that's actually comfortable. I primarily changed the white balance because it was too bright for my eyes, but I can't say other settings are all that better.

I know it's very subjective, but I'm just wondering if anyone recognizes this.

I do like the 1680x1050-screen, although it's giving me some eye strain at the moment. Don't know if it's the resolution or these colors/brightness though. Will see how it goes the next few days, but every time I look back at my old MacBook I wish I'd look like that.

Perception of the screen brightness and its comfort level really depend on ambient (surrounding) lighting. If you're in an office with max fluorescent, the max brightness doesn't seem so bright. If you're in pitch black or even closer to sundown, midway is pretty darn bright.

If I'm working in darkness, I can only have it one notch above the bottom.

 

[C64]

Hm.. that's odd. The first 10 or so dots are useless here, whether I'm in a pitch black room or when it's a sun filled room, way too dark. I can see everything, but there's just this dark haze covering everything. I'm guessing this might be the washed out colors some people talk about. And when I'm going too bright the colors are good, but the white is blinding.

It's all perception and personal of course, but I don't think I want to spend a lot of time looking at this screen. At least not for this price. I tried some calibration profiles posted on these forums for the 2010 MBPs as well, but apart from slightly different colors nothing changed about the brightness probs.

I'm going to compare it against a few glossy screens to see how and what exactly is different. Stores here only have the stock (glossy) models on display. Too bad though.. really want to love this machine, but not feeling it yet.

 

[vbman213]

I love the high resolution. I used a friends 1440x900, and it felt HUGE! I couldn't stand it. I've been using a 1680x1050 for two weeks, and it feels just right.

 

[revelated]

Hm.. that's odd. The first 10 or so dots are useless here, whether I'm in a pitch black room or when it's a sun filled room, way too dark. I can see everything, but there's just this dark haze covering everything. I'm guessing this might be the washed out colors some people talk about. And when I'm going too bright the colors are good, but the white is blinding.

It's all perception and personal of course, but I don't think I want to spend a lot of time looking at this screen. At least not for this price. I tried some calibration profiles posted on these forums for the 2010 MBPs as well, but apart from slightly different colors nothing changed about the brightness probs.

I'm going to compare it against a few glossy screens to see how and what exactly is different. Stores here only have the stock (glossy) models on display. Too bad though.. really want to love this machine, but not feeling it yet.

Maybe it's an issue with the antiglare coating; not sure. I've only owned glossys, and I speak from experience when I say - right now, I'm sitting under a flood light, the screen has set itself to 4 notches. 4 more and it's too bright. Max feels like it's going to burn my eyeballs or something.

What I would suggest to you: Compare it to the screen brightness of one of the 15's at the Apple Store and see if they are identical.

 

[vant]

Try using ALT+Shift+Brightness to adjust your brightness.

 

[animan]

Try using ALT+Shift+Brightness to adjust your brightness.

Never knew that, thanks for the tip!

 

[ozreth]

Try using ALT+Shift+Brightness to adjust your brightness.

whoa. thanks.

 

[Smultie]

Try using ALT+Shift+Brightness to adjust your brightness.

What does it do different than "normal" F1-F2?

 

[Ivan P]

What does it do different than "normal" F1-F2?

It lets you 'fine tune' the brightness. Instead of the brightness going up/down one block each time, it goes up or down only one quarter of a block instead (therefore the brightness only changes very slightly).