Samsung vs. Toshiba vs. LG

[jackyyeow]

But why do people keep arguing about this when the science is out? Either be happy with your objectively slightly inferior (though subjectively probably hardly noticeably so) Samsung display or not.

It's the matter of taste. Some may find Samsung inferior and some find the opposite.

Personally, I can tell the differences between LG and Samsung panels, and while I have the LG, I prefer my friend's Samsung on his 2011 MBA 13".

By the way, I wonder how many people actually look a the last few digits of the display model numbers - on the LTH models, some end with 04 (just like the one Anand reviewed) and some end with 03. My friend's panel end with 03, and definitely slightly better than my LG (which I didn't really check out the entire model number, just noticed when people posted the model number for their Samsung and I noticed it right away on my friend's Samsung).

 

[radiohead14]

Anandtech tested the displays thoroughly and clearly proved that the LG one is measurably better in terms of contrast and color accuracy. End of story. I've used both displays thoroughly individually and compared them side-by-side and didn't notice a difference. But why do people keep arguing about this when the science is out? Either be happy with your objectively slightly inferior (though subjectively probably hardly noticeably so) Samsung display or not.

sorry, but i don't see anyone arguing.. looks like your usual discussion. it sounds more like you're the one trying to convince yourself something by using the words "measurably better", "end of story", and "inferior".. when you yourself said you can't notice a difference. you seem to be on a mission on the other threads also. do you happen to have the LG panel?

 

[madKIR]

Anandtech tested the displays thoroughly and clearly proved that the LG one is measurably better in terms of contrast and color accuracy. End of story. I've used both displays thoroughly individually and compared them side-by-side and didn't notice a difference. But why do people keep arguing about this when the science is out? Either be happy with your objectively slightly inferior (though subjectively probably hardly noticeably so) Samsung display or not.

yeah, and you forgot to mention that the color gamut and the brightness have been proven to better on the Samsung panel

 

[macbook123]

yeah, and you forgot to mention that the color gamut and the brightness have been proven to better on the Samsung panel

By like 1% or a few? That's NOTHING. It could easily just be a measurement error. The advantages of the LG in the other categories are in the tens of percents. In any event, obviously the differences are too small to matter, since some people who compare side-by-side keep believing that the Samsung displays have better contrast, etc. So even a 20% improvement in the LG, as reported by Anandtech, is not readily seen by the human eye.

 

[squaremon]

i stop by a store that sale apple products today and check on their air. All the 11" and 13" airs are 2010. The display did seem a bit more colorful and better off angle view. I'm not sure if it's because the brightness is turn up under the strong lighting inside the store. I checked both 11 and 13 and both are samsung. That kinda made me wanna exchange mine..... ~_~

 

[radiohead14]

The advantages of the LG in the other categories are in the tens of percents.

Anand: "However I do believe that there may be an explanation for the perceived inferior quality of the LG panel. The LG panel exhibits vertical color/contrast shift more readily than the Samsung panel... On the LG panel that classic TN panel distortion seems to come a bit sooner than on the Samsung panel."

those reasons might be why people perceive the Samsung as better. since the earlier color shift/distortion negates the LG's contrast "advantage".

 

[taeclee99]

i stop by a store that sale apple products today and check on their air. All the 11" and 13" airs are 2010. The display did seem a bit more colorful and better off angle view. I'm not sure if it's because the brightness is turn up under the strong lighting inside the store. I checked both 11 and 13 and both are samsung. That kinda made me wanna exchange mine..... ~_~

I exchanged my air for a new one (Samsung) right after I compared the LG and Samsung side by side. The samsung panel did appear more vibrant than the LG one.

 

[littvay]

Here's why

Dear All. OK. Now that I searched the forum for answers and finding none. I will put in my vote. Based on what I read and heard I guess the samsung is on the left. I'll tell you why. I hear the two screens are practically capable of the same thing. Both have advantages. Side by side angle is about the same but, the LG is known to have more discoloration the other direction (opening and closing the lid). If you look at your picture that was taken dead on from bellow, there are two give away points of more discoloration at this angle. One is above the eyes of the lion. On the screen on the left, the colors look right while on the screen on the right you see a blueish glow. Above the ear the discoloration looks the same but in the top right corner you see more detail on the left (though clearly distorted). I guess it is probably minimal difference, but it could be important for me. Such discoloration bothers me so I fidget with the angle. I also found that I kill an Air hinge much quicker than most. The two could be related. It is possible that having the Samsung would be less hand on my hinges (short of a behavioral change). Then again, I could be wrong. Let us know one of these days.

 

[L0s7man]

Went to Apple Store today to have a look. And I managed to find 2 MBAs 11", one Samsung one LG.

Well, the LG screen is horrible! It might be a calibration issue but side-by-side the contrast on LG sucks. The text looks a bit fuzzy.

Now, I have 2010 MBA with LG screen and it has exactly the same problem. I got used to it, but seeing LG and Samsung screens side-by-side, I want a new MBA with Samsung screen and will keep returning them until I get one!

 

[pollaxe]

I had a look at three 2011 13" MBAs over the weekend - two Samsungs and one LG. To my eyes, there was no discernible difference at all. Text, contrast, vibrancy all appeared to be uniform as far as I could tell. Perhaps there are some bad batches or less-capable versions circulating out there or it could be that I don't know what I'm looking for but I'm beginning to think that the majority of this is just FUD.

Disclaimer: I'm nearly 40, so perhaps my eyes don't work as well as some of the more perceptive members of the forum (though I don't wear glasses and have some experience of working with graphics.) Also, I own a 2011 13" MBA with an LG screen and I have no intention of returning it; I'm actually very happy with my purchase. I occasionally use my MBA on a 30" HP monitor and it looks very nice on that too. My MBA is used mainly for web/office/writing type stuff though I also watch the occasional video.

 

[Ashtangi]

I just picked up a 13" i5 from an Apple Store in Toronto.

I'm generally pleased with the LG screen, but I notice a subtle flickering of solid color graphics on certain sites. For example, right here on Macrumors - the light grey bar in the message threads (that displays the date and time of post) will flicker if I slowly scroll down the page with the trackpad. It isn't completely obvious, but it's enough for me to notice. Is this common? Is this related to the crosstalk issue?

I've visited http://www.techmind.org/lcd/ - and I get serious flickering on the first 3 of the crosstalk tests.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[rbn]

i took in my 13" MBA with LG into apple store and compared to a 13" MBA with samsung screen.

I easily noticed the difference in contrast. Colours looked richer, images had added 'pop' and text was much more pleasant to read on the samsung display. LG screen looked more 'washed out' in comparison. Very easy to tell the difference if compared side by side.

I have changed the display profile of the LG screen to make it more 'samsung' like. This is great for general use such as browsing and viewing pictures. Interestingly, I do not like watching movies with this 'samsung like' display profile. I find dark areas of the movie lack detail so I now watch movies with the default display profile.

It would be interesting to see if dark areas of movies lack detail on the samsung display on its default display profile. If this is the case, i'm sure calibration could fix this, just as how it has made my LG screen better.

 

[Artmuzz]

I recently bought the MacBook Air i5 with the Samasung SSD and Samsung display. I thought I was lucky getting the model with the Samsung display until I found that there is a slight grey tinged thin line running horizontally on the top of the screen It is barely noticeable but it is there.