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RMBP display lottery still going on?

M

macbook123

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 11, 2006
1,869
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I bought the first generation RMBP when it came out two years ago. At the time there was a lot of talk on the forums about LG displays being inferior (in particular with regards to image retention) to Samsung ones used at the time. I got lucky in that I got a Samsung display, but over the first few months developed 12 dead pixels and ended up going to a Mac Genius to have it examined. He said they'd replace it and when I asked if he had heard about the different quality displays he emphatically responded that "Here we only use the good display (made by Samsung) as replacements!", and indeed put a new Samsung display in (which hasn't had a single dead pixel in the years since).

Now that I'm upgrading to the latest generation I see that there are currently good sales at B&H and other stores, but these stores don't allow to return laptops at all. So I'm wondering if purchasing this laptop is still very much a lottery between superior and inferior screens?
 
macbook123 said:
I bought the first generation RMBP when it came out two years ago. At the time there was a lot of talk on the forums about LG displays being inferior (in particular with regards to image retention) to Samsung ones used at the time. I got lucky in that I got a Samsung display, but over the first few months developed 12 dead pixels and ended up going to a Mac Genius to have it examined. He said they'd replace it and when I asked if he had heard about the different quality displays he emphatically responded that "Here we only use the good display (made by Samsung) as replacements!", and indeed put a new Samsung display in (which hasn't had a single dead pixel in the years since).

Now that I'm upgrading to the latest generation I see that there are currently good sales at B&H and other stores, but these stores don't allow to return laptops at all. So I'm wondering if purchasing this laptop is still very much a lottery between superior and inferior screens?
Click to expand...

I don't believe it is still a lottery as you describe...
 
I've had two LGs that have been perfect. Most here like the LG color better. There is no longer a lottery.
 
ColdCase said:
I've had two LGs that have been perfect. Most here like the LG color better. There is no longer a lottery.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that now all the screens are LG, or in what sense is it not a lottery anymore? No ghosting on the LG screens?
 
As far as I know, the screen lottery has a lot to do with the specification of the machine you buy... with the low-end machines generally receiving LG displays.
 
I think for the most part LG has largely corrected the issues, so even if you get an LG screen the chances are good that it will be defect free.
 
benguild said:
As far as I know, the screen lottery has a lot to do with the specification of the machine you buy... with the low-end machines generally receiving LG displays.
Click to expand...

The highest end BTO machines are typically LG.

----------
macbook123 said:
Are you saying that now all the screens are LG, or in what sense is it not a lottery anymore? No ghosting on the LG screens?
Click to expand...

No, they seem to be using both, but ghosting seems to be no longer an issue for over a year now. Currently its only the cooler blue LG color which most prefer vs the warmer yellow Sansungs. So if you want a particular brand screen for one reason or another, it still seems to be a lottery.
 
i have an LG (May'14 build) and it's great. my only concern is when watching movies. for example, on netflix, Jack Reacher, 13 Assassins, the blacks are way too black and it's hard to see anything in dark scenes. i hate to say this, but the villain in Jack Reacher (spoiler alert) is african american. however on the rMBP, it's fairly difficult to see the details on his face/neck because of his skin color. it's much more detailed on my 27" apple external or 2011 MBA. if i want to watch Jack Reacher on the rMBP, i need to change the gamma setting in the color profile. however when i shut down the movie and, say, surf safari, the whites seem too washed out and i have to change the profile back to standard.
 
ColdCase said:
The highest end BTO machines are typically LG.
Click to expand...

I've experienced the opposite... my maxed out rMBP from October 2013 is Samsung and on past variants my friends' maxed out models are also Samsung.

Only the in-store base models and mid-model machines that I've seen are LG. I was under the impression that it was a less expensive part.
 
It's still a lottery. Though I last had one 6 and a half months ago so for me it was a lottery (went through 5) your mileage today may vary although I doubt it'll be any better until they physically change the model of display offered.

benguild said:
I've experienced the opposite... my maxed out rMBP from October 2013 is Samsung and on past variants my friends' maxed out models are also Samsung.

Only the in-store base models and mid-model machines that I've seen are LG. I was under the impression that it was a less expensive part.
Click to expand...

I had five of the fully 100% maxed out ones. 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM, 2.6GHz CPU, 750m etc

I had both LG and Samsung, you definitely don't get a specific display for the high end model. And to be honest across the five I had they all varied an incredible amount even the Samsung to Samsung and LG to LG they varied wildly. It was impossible to tell which display was used at any time without checking the model number. I had an LG that was very white and incredibly bright then I had a samsung that was quite dim then I had another samsung that was ultra bright etc backlight and display quality is wildly varied.
 
calderone said:
I am getting the panel in my 2012 replaced this week, will report back.
Click to expand...

By Apple? I bought a used 2012 rmpb and the screen ghosting / retention is ridiculous!

Would apple do a screen replacement and how much would it cost?
 
No. I have had two different 15" Retina screens and both have been fine. You dont notice that most are good since people dont post things on the forum like "Help, my Macbook Pro 15 inch Retina Screen does not have any problems?".

No lottery, LG is fine, Samsung is fine.
 
I can definitely confirm that there is still a massive display lottery and I'm genuinely surprised it doesn't get more coverage then it does. These displays vary wildly both from LG to Samsung and within the Samsung and LG displays.

My 15" 2012 had a Samsung. The display was a slightly warm yellow but quite nice. A whole heap of pixels died recently. I took it in for a replacement and got an LG. I could then notice image retention that I never noticed with the Samsung. The colours are actually in my opinion better on the LG though, with very bright accurate whites. Unfortunately the LG display was pink on the right hand side so I got that replaced.

The replacement was the worst screen I have ever seen of any maker. It was yellow. Not like, nit-picking forum member yellow, totally yellow. This screen was a Samsung.

I had this replaced with another which was white in the top left hand corner and then yellow tinted through out the rest. Really again not a nice screen to look at (Samsung).

So I've had 4 screens, all completely different. They are even completely different to the ones in the apple store which also vary. If I had my time again I'd never buy one of these because I am obviously picky with screens.

Now I'm getting sent out a top-spec 2013 model as a replacement but it doesn't really solve anything because I'm just in the display lottery for the new one. Disappointing that my original developed dead pixels as that was great right out of the box.

I have a i1 display pro calibrator and there's nothing you can do with these tinted screens. You can improve them but never get the tint out.

This has all been going on over the last month. So definitely a display lottery is in full effect. My 2 cents; samsungs are more yellow without image retention, LG are brighter and much more white but have varying degrees of retention. I'd probably lean to preferring an LG for the colour despite the IR, I couldn't work on a yellow screen. That's not to say there aren't good ones, some of them in the apple store were as good a display as you'll ever see. There are heaps of bad ones though.

Buy from an apple store so you have the 14 day return window.
 
davidb8 said:
By Apple? I bought a used 2012 rmpb and the screen ghosting / retention is ridiculous!

Would apple do a screen replacement and how much would it cost?
Click to expand...

Yes by Apple. Mine is under AppleCare. The problem has been there since I had it, but only recently have I started using the display on the laptop.

Cost? I think I grabbed a glance at the number on the screen. I think in the neighborhood of $900 or so. I am dropping it off Saturday morning. I will ask about the cost.
 
benguild said:
I've experienced the opposite... my maxed out rMBP from October 2013 is Samsung and on past variants my friends' maxed out models are also Samsung.

Only the in-store base models and mid-model machines that I've seen are LG. I was under the impression that it was a less expensive part.
Click to expand...

My BTO, that was purchased in 11/2013, has an LG Screen.
 
I had 4 displays installed on my rMBP around Jan-Feb/2014. I could even ask for a new Macbook, but I didn't because I thought I could get an even worse display -- which is the case when you start to play the screen lottery.

The thing is, LG and Samsung panels are consumer commodities, they are far from Pro panels used and tweaked by NEC and Eizo. If at least Apple used some kind of individual pixel calibration, then you could attenuate the uniformity issues.
 
I have bought a top spec 15" Retina & it has the LG panel. Still under the 14 day return. I'm testing it to see if it has any retention but none at all. Colour is uniform & no tints. For the first few hours after I first turned it on the screen was dull & dim but seems now to be bright, white & uniform.

Reading all these post has me concerned it will start to play up after my 14 day period... risk is if I return it for a new one I might get a bad one. Considering nothing seems wrong with my LG I might take my chances with this one.
 
Picked up a high end 15" rMBP recently that has an April build date. It has an LG display. Colors are great on it, and there is 0 ghosting. It is magenta in the upper right corner, and yellow in the lower right, only visible in a dark room with the brightness up on a full black screen. I was really bummed at first, and would have never though to check for that but had seen all the threads on the displays so had to poke around. I believe this is just a coating on the display however, as moving it further away reduces the effect, and if you look at it from an upper, or lower extreme angle the whole display will go yellow, or magenta respectively.

Checked my iPad Air whose display I have been thrilled with and the same effect is there. Not noticeable under any normal use circumstance, and I hadn't noticed it previously. Decided to keep it and haven't thought about it since as it is perfect beyond that. Super tight hinge, perfect keyboard etc. Makes me wonder how many people mistake this effect for discoloring, and actually have a good display beyond that. I do know there was an actual issue with yellow spots/corners but that is not present at all here. It is unnoticeable on anything but a full black screen, and even then only with the brightness up in a very dark room. It is extremely uniform with any sort of white or color. So I would consider it a good display :)
 
Just got back with my machine.

They replaced my LG LP154WT1-SJA1 with an LG LP154WT1-SJA2. Retention is gone. Panel looks good, they let the laptop battery get low, so I will need to charge it up a bit to look it over in more detail.

Here is they breakdown I was sent of the charges.

Parts and Services
Item Number Description Price Amount Due Customer KBB
661-7171 LCD DISPLAY CLAMSHELL RETINA $ 623.86 $ 0.00
S1490LL/A Hardware Repair Labor $ 39.00 $ 0.00
Total (Tax Not Included) $ 662.86 $ 0.00
 
This is the LG panel I have in my new MBP

LP154WT1-SJE1

Does anybody know if this is good or bad? Again I would ideally like to change it before my 14 days runs out, if the panel is from a bad batch.

Thanks in advance if anybody can shed some light.
 
Mooseiah said:
Picked up a high end 15" rMBP recently that has an April build date. It has an LG display. Colors are great on it, and there is 0 ghosting. It is magenta in the upper right corner, and yellow in the lower right, only visible in a dark room with the brightness up on a full black screen. I was really bummed at first, and would have never though to check for that but had seen all the threads on the displays so had to poke around. I believe this is just a coating on the display however, as moving it further away reduces the effect, and if you look at it from an upper, or lower extreme angle the whole display will go yellow, or magenta respectively.

Checked my iPad Air whose display I have been thrilled with and the same effect is there. Not noticeable under any normal use circumstance, and I hadn't noticed it previously. Decided to keep it and haven't thought about it since as it is perfect beyond that. Super tight hinge, perfect keyboard etc. Makes me wonder how many people mistake this effect for discoloring, and actually have a good display beyond that. I do know there was an actual issue with yellow spots/corners but that is not present at all here. It is unnoticeable on anything but a full black screen, and even then only with the brightness up in a very dark room. It is extremely uniform with any sort of white or color. So I would consider it a good display :)
Click to expand...

It's good to read words from someone who is aware of a widespread issue, but doesn't care with. I'm getting used to that weird non-uniform yellow fog, but I'm sure that still there.
 
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