Retina MacBook Pro Screen Brightness

[Arkious]

I was in the apple store today with a friend whilst having a look at the new Retina MacBook Pro, I've heard mixed reviews about it but i have to say it looks fabulous! well and truly a work of art. But i did notice that the screen seems awfully dim in comparison with the standard MacBook Pro and then when i compared it with my iPad 3, it looked quite dim compared with that too. I did check that it was max brightness, but just thought i would ask if anyone else has thought the same? I wasn't sure if it was just the light in the store, unfortunately i didn't take a picture.

But wow they are quite a machine, they make the Air look less Air like haha

 

[Spicedham]

those little pixels makes it hard for the light to shine through as brightly

 

[mac jones]

Mine is brighter than any notebook i've ever used.

BTW, I have both Airs presently, a MBP HD, 2 Samsung 400 nit laptops, etc.

It's also about as bright as my 27 LED Cinema Display.

But than again, all of these things ain't hurting for the brightness

BTW, gauging from my temp gauge, this thing apparently isn't even on. It's currently at around 29 degrees Celsius. It must be broken. Yet i'm typing this. go figure.

 

[Arkious]

those little pixels makes it hard for the light to shine through as brightly

i would have thought it to be similar if not the same as the iPad 3 though, just seems odd that it seemed quite dim.

no

it must just be me then, i tiled the screen back and even picked it up to eye level to see if it were any better but i was disappointed at its brightness

 

[eba]

Definitely seems dimmer to me too.

 

[TheMacBookPro]

It is about 20% less bright than the regular display, but the black levels are improved so contrast is higher compared to the old models (Retina: 1:900, Hi-Res AG Pro: 1:590).

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/5

 

[mac jones]

It is about 20% less bright than the regular display, but the black levels are improved so contrast is higher compared to the old models (Retina: 1:900, Hi-Res AG Pro: 1:590).

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/5

That seems inexplicable. I guess if you use a tool, or see them side by side you will see this.

But my 'subjective' experience says the opposite. This may be from other things involved. I don't know.

 

[Auzburner]

The rMBP is not built to be quite as bright... Nothing specific to the one you looked at. Also, keep in mind that if you are in a high light setting, it may not be a huge issue to have less brightness because there is no reflective glass panel on the retina display. Therefore, when you find sunlight, the lesser brightness should be adequate.

 

[Vctr]

i would have thought it to be similar if not the same as the iPad 3 though, just seems odd that it seemed quite dim.



it must just be me then, i tiled the screen back and even picked it up to eye level to see if it were any better but i was disappointed at its brightness

You aren't wrong ... Anandtech did a display analysis and the new Retina Display is 20% less brighter. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/5

This is presumably to conserve on battery since the new Retina Display requires a lot more battery to power all of the additional pixels.

 

[sahot]

You aren't wrong ... Anandtech did a display analysis and the new Retina Display is 20% less brighter. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6023/the-nextgen-macbook-pro-with-retina-display-review/5

This is presumably to conserve on battery since the new Retina Display requires a lot more battery to power all of the additional pixels.

Or it might have something to do with it being IPS? Or some other tech trade off.

In anycase, mine seems pretty bright and vibrant, I don't think i could imagine a situation where i'd think, "gee, I wish it was 20% brighter"

 

[darwin022]

I also noticed the dimness on all 6 of the demo units they had in the store. I also notice it quite plainly when my MBP.R is sitting right next to my 2011 MBP 17". That said, I used the MBP.R outside in the sun over the weekend and it was readable at native 2880x1800 mode. Difficult, but usable.

I'd probably switch it back to simulated 1920x1200 mode next time though.

At first the dimness/lack of brightness concerned me. However, the clarity, color, depth, black levels of the screen, and sheer number of pixels far outweigh any drop in brightness.

 

[klover]

Definitely seems dimmer to me too.

+1

It was immediately obvious to me that the panel was dimmer than any other Mac I've used. I kept hitting the brightness buttons on all the demo models and was surprised by how hard it was to see.

 

[doh123]

at max brightness its barely noticeable that its not quite as bright as my previous Macbook Pro models... its really close.

 

[heritagehog]

mine is bright

 

[IPlayFair]

I was in the apple store today with a friend whilst having a look at the new Retina MacBook Pro, I've heard mixed reviews about it but i have to say it looks fabulous! well and truly a work of art. But i did notice that the screen seems awfully dim in comparison with the standard MacBook Pro and then when i compared it with my iPad 3, it looked quite dim compared with that too. I did check that it was max brightness, but just thought i would ask if anyone else has thought the same? I wasn't sure if it was just the light in the store, unfortunately i didn't take a picture.

But wow they are quite a machine, they make the Air look less Air like haha

Maybe a customer adjusted the settings from the factory recommended one.

 

[Arkious]

Maybe a customer adjusted the settings from the factory recommended one.

There was 4 in a row directly facing 4 Standard and they were all dull. Never mind though just thought I would ask due to the iPad screen being so bright

 

[leftywamumonkey]

It does seem to be dimmer than the 27" iMac and ACD, which is what I'm used to.

 

[tillsbury]

To be fair, my ipad3 is way too bright at max brightness...

 

[burningrave101]

It does seem to be dimmer than the 27" iMac and ACD, which is what I'm used to.

Yup I agree, I have a 27" iMac which I've been used to on fairly high brightness and just opened my rMBP from Amazon tonight and was noticing it seemed a little dimmer than I was expecting which is why I Google'd it and found this thread just to make sure there wasn't a differentiation in the brightness between different panels in the rMBP's.

 

[leftywamumonkey]

I've also recently noticed that the backlight is dimmer than the 11" MBA's backlight.

 

[Arkious]

It does seem to be dimmer than the 27" iMac and ACD, which is what I'm used to.

Yup I agree, I have a 27" iMac which I've been used to on fairly high brightness and just opened my rMBP from Amazon tonight and was noticing it seemed a little dimmer than I was expecting which is why I Google'd it and found this thread just to make sure there wasn't a differentiation in the brightness between different panels in the rMBP's.

Yeah thats what im used to, the screen on the iMac 27" is a beauty, nice and bright too. but i guess somthings got to give when the screen is so thin

 

[Fortimir]

If you calibrate your displays, you'll find that you'll almost never come close to the max brightness of the screen

 

[Arkious]

If you calibrate your displays, you'll find that you'll almost never come close to the max brightness of the screen

quite possibly, but when you calibrate your screen its calibrated for the conditions in that room at that time. i usually run my iMac at full brightness all the time as it makes reading so much clearer

 

[Fortimir]

quite possibly, but when you calibrate your screen its calibrated for the conditions in that room at that time. i usually run my iMac at full brightness all the time as it makes reading so much clearer

Unless you are in a room entirely of windows in the middle of the day, your room calibration will never suggest max brightness. Of course it really only matters if you're doing visual design (graphics, photos, videos).

As far as max brightness making reading better, it's still dependent on ambient. I mean, you can't tell me in a pitch dark room that max brightness is easier. It's super hard on your eyes... and the converse, I think we can agree that minimum brightness isn't easiest in bright conditions.

The bottom line is that optimal brightness changes based on your environment... but only the brightest daylight conditions call for the brightest setting in a perfect world.

 

[Arkious]

Unless you are in a room entirely of windows in the middle of the day, your room calibration will never suggest max brightness. Of course it really only matters if you're doing visual design (graphics, photos, videos).

As far as max brightness making reading better, it's still dependent on ambient. I mean, you can't tell me in a pitch dark room that max brightness is easier. It's super hard on your eyes... and the converse, I think we can agree that minimum brightness isn't easiest in bright conditions.

The bottom line is that optimal brightness changes based on your environment... but only the brightest daylight conditions call for the brightest setting in a perfect world.

The computer is mainly used infront of a window during the day so i guess thats why its on max brightness. but what i was trying to get at is the callibration of the screen takes into account the brightness and because the retina display seems dim, it may not be easy to calibrate in bright conditions much like the apple store.