What is Digg?88 Comments
- NSResponder, on 10/26/2007, -4/+37What's to debate? Go to a store, look at them next to each other, pick the one you like.
-jcr - Pharaoh777, on 10/26/2007, -5/+27In 2006 people buy things online.
- tomi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Yeah, it appears you can't even ask a question without getting dugg down. Thanks for your answer, anyways.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13I feel that my laptop's glossy LCD is great for everything. As you mentioned, movies particularly shine, but overall it feels as if you're looking through a crystal-clear glass of some sort that makes everything look more brilliant. And that's not just in a side-by-side comparison. I've had my glossy-screen laptop for over a year now and I still am amazed by its glossy screen.
As for the reflection problem--it's really only bad when you try to look at it under direct sunlight, but virtually all LCDs wash out under the sun anyways.
Thus, my recommendation: glossy FTW. - wedges, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9exactly.... what good is a blog post that doesn't show evidence either for or against either of the screen types.
- zephc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9glossy = shiny (like normal glass), Matte (pronounced 'mat') = not shiny
That said, it looks like someone is going on a down-digging spree - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"...haven't looked back"
That is the hidden benefit of glossy, also works as a rear-view mirror! - fenixconnektion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8please, for the love of god, do not use windex to clean lcd screens...glossy or matte.
glossy screens typically have an anti-reflective coating on them, and using windex (or anything with ammonia for that matter) will degrade the screen more quickly, dull the plastic, and it might even etch your screen a bit. - tomi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Someone help an idiot (me) out, what's the difference between matte and glossy? I've never been able to figure it out.
- node3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@Funky
You are 100% wrong. LCD's are, as mediaphile said, glossy by default. The problem is that glossy screens reflect light by their very nature. To correct this, a matte coating is applied to the screen. The matte coating diffuses reflections. This is why matte LCD's appear to "fade" under bright light (esp. outdoors).
Unfortunately, the light coming out of the LCD must also pass through the matte coating, which degrades the image quality. But the degradation is better than having sharp, bright reflections on your screen.
Enter modern coating techniques and materials. Recently (in the last few years), a coating has been developed which diminishes reflections without resorting to the diffusion technique of a matte coating. Just look at a MacBook display, and while you will see reflections, they will not be anywhere *near* as bad as they would have been using traditional methods.
Additionally, the MacBook LCDs are also much brighter, which helps diminish the visibility of reflections.
So, in reality, matte LCD's alter the image, resulting in dimmer, less sharp, more washed out colors, and glossy LCD's allow the image through with dramatically less degradation, which is why they appear more vibrant. - radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6There's a debate because people are assigning qualities as to which is "better". I don't care which is better, I'm never buying a matte screen again. Glossy FTW. I know what I *like* and that's a lot more important to me than which is "better".
- rbvmusic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I lost all respect in the article when he said "it's just me, what the ***** do I know?"
Seriously, you're posting on freakin' blogspot. To us you don't know anything, hell we don't even know your name. Sure you might be more informed than the average consumer but you're not in a official magazine or website dedicated to research therefore you shouldn't be dispensing remarks like "what the ***** do I know?" - noeljohnhoward, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7uh that didnt solve anything.
He just said told us its our opinion. hahah no ***** man. - Yggdrasil42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"What the hell does a glossy coating have to do with rich colors and contrast ratios?!"
Well, the matte screen's top layer diffracts the light rays coming out of the screen. This is what makes it look matte and reduces the glare. However this scattering of light is also what causes lower contrast and colors.
It's quite logical once you know how it works. Check out http://www.screentekinc.com/pixelbright-lcds.shtml for that. - streak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Actually, the matte surface diffuses both the reflected light and the transmitted light. Because of the latter, the image is not quite as crisp as a glossy display's. Because of the former, the image is not as high contrast as a glossy display's. Apple's glossy displays do have an antireflective coating, which you can detect by noting the purplish tint imparted to the image of a "white" light reflected off the display.
- shibbay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've had my MacBook now since it came out, and transferring from a matte powerbook to this glossy screen has been absolutely awesome. Comparing the two side by side in an Apple store makes the decision pretty obvious. I'll sum it up for you:
Matte - Great from all angles, little to no glare. Colors look okay, nothing super spiffy.
Glossy - Some angles yield a little glare (overhead lighting in the Apple Store, for example), Colors are VIBRANT, easy on the eyes (as long as there isn't a huge amount of glare)
I personally think the glossy is great for everything, including browsing/text reading. I do papers on this thing all the time, and I've never had a problem of eye fatigue.
Just my input :) - mediaphile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@FunkyWitDaSysTm:
it is blurry. any form of diffraction will be blurrier than a clear piece of glass. you are a moron for believing otherwise.
stop spamming the same ***** over and over again throughout this thread. once is enough. - aaronlidman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It really isn't that big of a deal, like they've said above me, "pick the one you like".
- fungke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Why was this even posted? Why did people even digg this?
Some guys opinion on his personal blog is hardly news. Just goes to show that some people don't look before they digg.
As for the topic in hand... common sense prevails, go check them both out and make up your own damn mind.
Dugg down as lame. - lolwtfhaha, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7When you paint your room, do you use matte or glossy paints? When you order photos, do you choose matte or glossy film? Tangible advantages aside; it's all about aesthetics, like pretty much everything else in life. Of course, matte is always better.
- mediaphile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4you all do realize that to make a screen matte, you have to diffuse the light coming from it. in other words, there is a coated layer that manipulates both the light reflecting from it and the light it emits. this means you'll never have as much contrast as you would with a completely clear pane of glass, which by default is glossy.
side by side, a glossy screen renders color and contrast better than a matte screen. anyone who needs true color calibration uses a CRT.
My money went to a regular MacBook, because I like my blacks to be black and my whites to be white. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3actually it would work the other way round, glossy screen with a matte film overlay. If you put glossy over matte you still have the diffusion layer in both instances.
And glossy is not any more an "enhancement" for color and contrast than matte is a "workaround" for glare. - ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4No but, buy a piece of thin mylar at any art supply store. Fit and cut it to the size of your display and put it over. You'll think the picture looks better. Put it side by side with all the other identical laptops and you'll see a difference.
I used to do that with all my IBM T series laptops by placing it inside the bevel and people would say "Wow thats a awesome screen!". Yes it does seem to look better. In actuality its not better at all.
Kind of like how movies are actually in lesser frames, they don't go at 30fps and people think it looks better. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4The consensus with the people in my dorm is that the glossy screen on the Macbook Pro looks much better. My Macbook Pro is the only one with the glossy screen out of the 5 others near my room (somehow I'm by a lot of Apple fans). All 5 of those kids wish that they had ordered the glossy screen.
- gregorypierce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I keep trying that, but the sun moves along with me :)
- badtz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In terms of color reproduction and accuracy, which one is better? I'm still unsure. I've always thought that glossy may 'look' better for day-to-day use, but in terms of absolute accuracy, the matte is better. true?
- JohntB, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Just get a microfiber cloth. They're only around $2, and they're amazing at removing gunk and dust from screens.
- gregorypierce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2For me there was really no debate. I went to my local Apple store and sat in front of each of them for a good 30 minutes a piece. In the end, the overhead lighting on the glossy was bothering the heck out of me. Since I can't always get away from light sources and the glossy screen was reflecting a lot of light back - I ended up going with the matte. Personally I'm not sure why I'd really want the glossy after dealing with the matte - it seems to work in every environment including seats on flights where you can't just "move away" from the light source :)
- node3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In bright sunlight, you can't see a matte LCD, while on a glossy LCD you will have a readable display with (if the sun is behind you) a small portion of the screen which is unreadable.
- CrankyMcGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@rbvmusic ~ Exactly. The moment I read that I lost all interest in the article. It's unprofessional and therefore in the realm of just some guy's opinion. To make it worse, his article is a small puff piece that doesn't add to the debate in any meaningful fashion. Once he dropped the f bomb, I skimmed to see how long the article went on and found out it ended a few paragraphs later. What a waste of time.
- SpoBo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I have some experience with laptop screens and at the moment I have a regular MacBook ... with a glossy screen. My previous laptop had a matte screen with 1400x1050. I have studied in a school that requires everyone to purchase a laptop and there where some people with glossy screens. Everytime I looked at them it had this horrible reflections and I said to myself .. no way in hell I'll every buy a reflecting piece of glass as a screen. But then I tried it myself in a store. Honestly, if you sit right in front of it, it looks perfect. The reflections just aren't there when you are in front of it. It's brilliant. Everything looks much brighter and much more "alive". I seriously recommend it. Perhaps not to someone who has to rely on the accurateness of colors in his/her day to day job .. but then again I would only recommend a serious CRT.
The fact of the matter is glossy rules. Just try it in a shop or something before you tell yourself you hate it. Sometimes I feel my MacBook screen is twice as sharp as the one in my previous laptop. Absolutely love it :) - sancho320, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I don't think it works that way.
- malliemcg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Ultimately such things are about personal preferences.
I know for myself I spend time focusing on the reflection on occasion and not what is behind it, brain is just wired that way, so I naturally tend to prefer matte screens.
The article could be summed up as:
Look at both types of screen and pick the one you like best, ignore the crap on the forums. - spr33, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5It's down to personal preference. I personally don't understand why there's a 'debate'.
- streak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ShrimpCrackers, fitting a glossy film over a matte finish display *will* improve the image quality, as long as you're not viewing from such an angle that you see reflections off the film. What you'll see is improved contrast, because some ambient light that would otherwise be diffused into your eyes will instead be reflected out of view.
@Boondoggle, if you place a matte film tightly over a purely glossy display, you'll get the same effect as just having a matte-finish display. An Apple MacBook/Pro glossy display is not purely glossy, though -- it also carries an anti-reflective coating, which reduces brightness somewhat and can alter the color. If you place a matte film over an Apple glossy display, you'll still see diffusion of both ambient and transmitted light, but the image will not be as bright or as color-correct as an original matte display or as a purely glossy display fitted with a matte film. - badtz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm not asking which mac users need it.
My question is pretty simple. Matte or Glossy. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1microfiber is not a cure for the matte screen cleaning issues.
- streak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The antireflective coating on Apple's glossy displays can alter the color. If you really care about color accuracy, you'll want to calibrate the display.
- bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've owned three laptops before my MacBook, none of which had glossy screens. My first impression upon seeing someone else with a glossy screen (on a Compaq laptop I believe) was "Why?" After owning my MacBook, and using it almost every day with overhead lighting, and once or twice while outdoors, I still have some what of a "Why" feeling, but I haven't had any glare issues, and I rarely notice I'm in front of a glossy screen other than when looking at a distance.
If given the choice, I'd probably go for matte; but then again I'm a guy who tends to abhor drastic change. In the long run, it hasn't really bothered me, and I doubt it will for most people. - rtini, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The gloosy screen is nice if you're using it in the dark, otherwise the massive glare will drive you crazy. Basically your Gollum-types prefer glossy screens.
- MoofTheStoof, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4I recently spent a day configuring my Mom's new MacBook Pro with glosssy screen, and the glossy does provide a crisper, more beautiful display (which, for PowerBooks, is saying something). I think that matte ends up scattering the light in all directions and a fair amount comes directly at you dulling the picture from the display. Glossy reflects ambient light away and you just get picture. If you end up positioned where you get a light source (glare) reflected off the screen at you, just move.
- ivassilis, on 10/12/2007, -7/+8Personally: glossy for movies and games. Matte for all the rest- including heavy surfing, writing or just staring at a beautiful picture on the screen for long... Think what you'll do with your Mac most of the time, then choose screen- not vice versa...
- Yggdrasil42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The reason there's a debate (however stupid that is), is that glossy screens have advantages as well. It's not as simple as saying: gloss = glare = bad. The vibrant colors and deeper blacks of a glossy screen vs. the glare create the debate.
- Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1how many macbook users need accurate color?
If you NEED accurate color, there are specialized tools for that - XeRoX2k2, on 08/22/2008, -0/+1i just bought a macbook pro matte,the guy at the campus store say most people that by the glossy end up not being happy with it.
the way i see it..*see it get it see it sorry bad pun.my Lcd monitors are all matte and they work great, I'm going to be taking it everywhere and traveling with it and i won't be able to control the lighting in some places so i won't be able to say can we move that desk light/over head lamp/street light/sun/etc i'm getting glare - FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4the matte screen diffuses light shining onto it, not out of it. otherwise the screen would be a giant blur. the purpose of diffusing thatlight is to maintain correct color rendition, which is impossible for the glossy screens which actually amplify the effect.
- Yggdrasil42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"A couple of hundred dollars" is a bit much. I you care enough about accurate color than spending 89 dollars doesn't seem too bad: http://www.pantone.com/products/products.asp?idArea=2&idProduct=103
I mean, if your going to spend 2500 on an MBP and really need more than a manual colorsync, this won't make a hole in your wallet. - sox11, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1right i needed someone to tell me that it would be a smart idea to go in a see for myself. This was pointless
- mediaphile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@FunkyWitDaSysTm:
well if apple said so then obviously it's universally true.
if you really have an application for a calibrated lcd monitor, you would never trust something that comes straight from the manufacturer as being perfect. you would calibrate it. pixar has their monitors calibrated weekly. all of them. glossy, matte, doesn't matter. if you need color calibration, you need it to be calibrated regularly.
that said, the idea that the screens have monitors in them that change to adjust to reflection is absolutely bunk. maybe that's true in high end standalone monitors, but it's not the case on this MacBook. -
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