charles_mason Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Has anyone any thoughts on the glossy vs. matt screens on the new MacBook Pro15.4" Mac Powerbook? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Glossy screens look very sharp and clear, but also reflect objects in the room which I find distracting. A matte screen is less distracting and sharp enough for my use, in a laptop or at a workstation. I have no problems calibrating a matte screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I've had a MBP in glossy for 7 months and would not go back to matt for future systems. The reflections get visually tuned out with use - I don't notice them... www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_schafer1 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I have the new 15" MacBook Pro with a Matt screen and love it. I loked at he glossy version and while snappier i hated the reflections on it. For Photo application i recommend the Matt version ( i calibrate with i1 photo, and the laptop screen compared with the Eizo CG 210 is obviously not on par, but the colors and contrast fall in the same direction). best M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_banks2 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 This is not just a glossy screen but a sheet of glass in front of the display. It's highly reflective and not at all suited to pro photo editing imo. My excperience was it was almost impossible to work with subtle shadow detail and accurate color due to the reflections. I expect Apple will offer a matt screen version pretty soon, judging by the reaction (unless they have now decided that the iMac's main market is the home enthusiast) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 >>> This is not just a glossy screen but a sheet of glass in front of the display. There is no glass in front. You have to wonder everything said as a result... www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I have not seen one, but i have seen all the gloss screens on laptops and would not buy one. If not glass, then it is plastic and will show all manner of cleaning imperfections like a soft coated lens. Time will tell if this is the case when we see the older ones in the stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_banks2 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 >>>There is no glass in front. You have to wonder everything said as a result... See it here: http://210.157.201.118/~kodawarisan/imac_2007_mid/imac_2007_mid_01.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_banks2 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 By the way, you will notice in the photos how highly reflective the glass is - much more so than a glossy screen. Also check out user comments on the dpreview Mac forum. I also wonder if monitor calibration tools would be affected by the glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_shore Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 You CANNOT retouch to a professional standard with a reflective screen. end of story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 A lot of absolute comments (CANNOT, etc) here; including the most amazing one that there's glass in front of the display.. Isn't the internet wonderful... www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_wilson10 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Yes, and of course no photo that was ever edited with a CRT can be considered professional for the same reason. Use what you like. If you're just making prints at home, and you like the final results you're getting, who cares what monitor you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik scanhancer Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 David, you're talking iMac, while the OP was talking MacBook Pro. Macbook Pro has the option of going either matte or glossy. I recommend matte for reasons already mentioned above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_banks2 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Apologies, mis-read the heading! The principle is the same though, matte is best for editing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_shore Posted August 19, 2007 Share Posted August 19, 2007 Actually if you are retouching on a reflective screen its very difficult. Try cleaning up a dirty background on a laptop screen where you have very subtle tonal shifts. Its like saying monitor calibration doesn't matter- if you can't see what your working on how is that professional? Of course if you are just making prints at home thats fine but i said professional didn't i? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_macpherson Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 I put my money where my mouth is. Used a client's glossy Macbook, loved the crisp colours hated the shine. Bought a 15 MacBook Pro for myself with matt screen. In use it's excellent and the lack of distracting reflections makes it less of a strain for prolonged use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_rathjen Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 hopefully this thread isn't totally dead yet... i too am agonizing over which screen surface to get for the MacBook Pro (at least until i can save up and also get a Cinema screen for the home office). i am mostly concerned with image quality, sharpness, colour and contrast for editing photographs. any serious photo editing would be done in a controlled environment with minimal ambient light issues, but i keep seeing comments about glossy screens having unreliable colour, too much contrast and that they can't be calibrated accurately. in my snooping around i found this very informative article from a company that actually makes laptop screens: http://www.screentekinc.com/pixelbright-lcds.shtml (basic premise: matte screens diffuse reflections, but also diffuse/distort the LCD's image; glossy screens are not just reflective glass, but are specially treated and polarized to minimize reflection while allowing undistorted/clear transmission of the LCD image. hence, sharper images, richer colour and truer blacks and whites) this busted a lot of my preconceptions about glossy screens' problematic reflections and affirmed some of my concerns about matte screens' diffusion/distortion of the image that the LCD screen is generating. as far as what i know of monitor calibration... isn't the goal to have a monitor that is capable of showing all colours, contrast, detail etc. possible in the original image, but it is the printer profile that shows you the limitations of the output device or media type to which you are printing? (i.e. loading up a printer output proof in Photoshop for inkjet printer X on paper Y) and if this is the case, then wouldn't a glossy monitor that shows more colour saturation and more shadow/highlight detail than a matte monitor be a better starting point for seeing what information is truly stored in your raw images? (kind of like a b&w negative that holds far more information then could ever be printed on photographic paper, but you get to choose which portion of that information you will actually print). any thoughts on this? obviously i'm leaning towards glossy at the moment. ~mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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