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MacBook Pro LED Display

My just delivered 2,4 GHz MacBook Pro Led display has:

1) A very small band of increased brightness at the base of the screen;

2) A tendency to change tint at a 45° viewing angle toward the greenish-yellow; this improves somewhat with profiling.

My question is : is this what I should be expecting or do I have one of the initial bad lot of screens that were quite frequently reported?
 
Hello Asher,

I'll be dropping off the portable tomorrow but will only take delivery of the new one when I return from a trip at the end of Sept. I'm actually in no rush as I want to be sure that Apple has the necessary time to iron out the quirks of this new technology. I had thought that this was the case, but apparently I was mistaken. The Apple representative that I spoke with couldn't have been more helpful, completing my statements before I could, leading me to believe that these were fairly common problems.

And by the way, thanks to you and other participants for this fine site.
 

Stan Jirman

New member
I am glad that they offered to replace it, but I am afraid your new one will be just the same. The viewing angle color shift is an inherent problem with this type LED design.
 
I am glad that they offered to replace it, but I am afraid your new one will be just the same. The viewing angle color shift is an inherent problem with this type LED design.

Not exactly encouraging information, but I hope something that I shall be able to live with. It would seem that there have been some good write-ups of the screen, and if it is as good as my present laptop screen (which it is reported to be, if not somewhat better), I shall be happy (1.5 Ghz 15 inch PowerBook). The band of increased brightness at the bottom of the screen is not, I believe, a part of the new technology.
 

Stan Jirman

New member
White band, no. Color shift, yes, that's an inherent problem with this design. It's similar to when you look thru a window with normal blinds: the upper or lower part of the window will look brighter than the other end, depending on the position of the blinds - but regardless of the position, this will be true for some part of the window. The LED backlight on the current MBP, and on the 20" iMac, has the same design, and the resulting uneven color distribution.
 
Thanks for the reply, Stan.

Yesterday I picked up the replacement for my MacBook Pro (15", 2.4Ghz, LED display). There is a great (positive) difference in the quality of the display compared to the earlier unit that was returned. Using the generic profile, this unit's color is better than the previous one profiled. I am looking forward to profiling it. All in all, for me a much better user experience visually, although there is a minor issue with one of the cooling fans that will have to be addressed. (Sigh...). Viewed head on, the screen is really very good.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
White band, no. Color shift, yes, that's an inherent problem with this design. It's similar to when you look thru a window with normal blinds: the upper or lower part of the window will look brighter than the other end, depending on the position of the blinds - but regardless of the position, this will be true for some part of the window. The LED backlight on the current MBP, and on the 20" iMac, has the same design, and the resulting uneven color distribution.
Stan,

I just purchased a 20" iMac and must say that this is about the best Apple screen I've used. It looks very evenly illuminated.

Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz

They assured me that there were no LED's in the computer screen!

Asher
 

Andrew Rodney

New member
Unless you have an expensive Spectrophotometer, you're going to run into issues calibrating and profiling these LED displays with a standard colorimeter. The filter sets of these devices make assumptions that LED's spectral properties don't sync up to. Not good.
 
Hello Andrew,

I'm a card-carrying sheep, one of the herd that follows the latest viewpoints opined on the web. Hence, your considered and informed opinions inspire significant misgivings. Worse, a few days usage leads me to suspect that the display on my MacBook Pro has not been properly installed. I imagine that a technician will confirm this. There are some QC issues apparently with these portables.
 
Stan,

I just purchased a 20" iMac and must say that this is about the best Apple screen I've used. It looks very evenly illuminated.

Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz

They assured me that there were no LED's in the computer screen!

Asher

Hello Asher,

Are you referring to one of the new iMacs with the shiny (i.e. non-Matte) displays. Have you done some image processing with it? How are you finding it, and apart from the display, is the machine quiet?
 

Stan Jirman

New member
Stan,

I just purchased a 20" iMac and must say that this is about the best Apple screen I've used. It looks very evenly illuminated.

Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz

They assured me that there were no LED's in the computer screen!

Asher


Well, there's more to life than just brightness and LEDs. I have my credentials and I stick to my guns, the 20" iMac screen is nothing to write home about from a color perspective, esp. at varying angles. Read the specs. But I am naturally happy to hear you like it anyway :)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hi Stan,

As of yet, I can ony say how the iMac looks with Photoshop images that are correct on my profiled Eizo. In no way do my impressions trump your knowledge! I just use that computer for quick work where I don't change anything except crop, levels, or sharpen.

I will try to look at it with the spectrophotometer, but since I don't do color changes on it, I have no pressing need.

As it is, images look beautiful and there is no practical issue for image change with angle of view as the imac is able to swivel to any position and I don't use it for sharing.

So my liking the iMac 20" is just that it is an excellent all in one usefull computer. It has a wow factor and impresses everyone. I have heard no complaints whatsoever. but what do they know!!! I'd get another in a heartbeat but changing colors on a display like this, I'd defer to you Stan or to Anndrew!

Now if I did do a profile, likely I'd just use the center of the screen to actually judge colors. Whether or not that could be good for others I'd like to hear some opinions!

Asher
 

Andrew Rodney

New member
The problem with the new iMac's is the secondary piece of glass which is in front of the actual display. Not good for profiling due to light reflectance. I understand the glass can be removed by the user without special tools (how I have no idea).
 
On the recommendation of a helpful Apple technician, I returned the second MacBook Pro. Display improperly installed and a few other QC issues. As Stan philosophically observed, there are more things to life than LED displays..... But what?
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
On the recommendation of a helpful Apple technician, I returned the second MacBook Pro. Display improperly installed and a few other QC issues. As Stan philosophically observed, there are more things to life than LED displays..... But what?

Ralph,

An Eizo display run by your MacBook Pro! :)

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Andrew,

I'm glad to hear that. When I purchased my Eizo, the NEC displays were still being evaluated and opinions were mixed. The reports on the Adobe RGB space expensive one were definitely worrysome.

Do you have an NEC monitor? I have not seen a great review, probably because I'm happy with my Eizo! Still, while we're at it, if someone has good information, we'd appreciate having that info here so it will be searchable!

Thanks,

Asher
 
Seems like a waste of money when you can get a display that's just as good for nearly half the price (an NEC 2690 or 2490).

My questions answered before I can ask them. I'm in the process of considering a display to go with a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz. I'll act on this once I get sufficient assurance that the Mac Pro runs quietly while performing Individual Raw conversions and preparing files for print in CS3. A few other suggestions for 20-23 inch displays (and feedback on the Mac Pro) would be welcome. Is the recent Apple display any good?

In any case, I'll give the NEC a very close look. Thanks once again, Andrew.
 

Andrew Rodney

New member
Until Karl tests them, its not fair for me to say "just as good" however, based on the session and testing by Karl, he seemed hard pressed to suggest that these units would be much better, also considering the graphs he showed to their performance. And Eizo didn't make it easy (just the opposite) for Karl to get the units for testing, unlike NEC and Apple. Not always a good sign. If you need a unit now, you can't go wrong with one of the NEC's he tested. If you have deep pockets, you might do as well, maybe a bit better with Eizo although personally I don't see why you'd want to drop that kind of money, at least until Eizo supplies Karl with units to test and we hear from the horse's mouth if the extra bucks are buying you anything.
 
Thanks Andrew for your advice, helpful as usual. Pockets not deep and becoming increasingly shallow. You didn't say how the Apple units performed, they are a solution of laziness as they are sold right downstairs. But the Nec does look good. Thanks again.
 
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