# Getting a Decent MacBook Screen



## RoxyJ (Mar 13, 2012)

Hey All,
So without going into all of the mucky details, I have gone through more than a few MacBooks trying to find a decent screen (dead pixels, light bleed, uneven colour, were just a few of my problems). The most common problem I have had (in both 17" and 15") is uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen (looks much like this: MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - Does your MacBook have much backlight bleeding at the bottom of the display?) 

I am guessing that this is just a result of the screen technology, and I'll be hard-pressed to find a screen without this problem. Although, I called Apple, and they agreed that this was a defect, I am not hopeful of finding a screen without this problem.

So here are my questions, 

Do you have a good screen without light bleeding or missing pixels (you can more easily see this light bleeding issue by changing your background to black, making your screen brighter, hiding the dock, and moving into a dark room)? Although on all of the computers I have had to return, I've only had to watch a movie full-screen in a dimly lit room to see it.

Did you have to go through a few MacBooks to find a decent screen?

Would I have a better chance of finding a good screen if I upgraded to a Hi-res?


I am posting in this forum because I believe that the average person may think that this is not a big deal. But I actually need a decent screen, and I'm sure you all understand.

Thanks!


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## Coriolis99 (Jun 20, 2011)

That particular one looks pretty bad. I'm sure my MBA isn't perfect......... but I never noticed an issue.
Train yourself to ignore it maybe?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Hmmm aside from that being a 2009 link - several hundreds of Pro laptops later over the last two years we've had ONE bad screen ( discolouration ) in that category so not sure what's going on or if your expectations are off base.
With LED backlight we do expect some issues over time but not out of the box and there is not a zero dead pixel policy from Apple but if you can find a single dead pixel on a current 17" with 2.3 million pixels then you are way over the top on expectations.

NO laptop screen is good for colour work - you want quality - get an NEC, LaCie or Eizo external.


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## RoxyJ (Mar 13, 2012)

*Same problems*

Afterva few macbooks the most prevalent issue seems to be the uneven lighting along the bottom (like marquee lighting) I think that this is a result of the led technology that Apple uses (I haven't seen it that bad on any other of my led screens), and it will be near impossible to find a screen that doesn't have this "feature." If your screen is otherwise even, it's probably as good as it'll get. 

Myself, I am not happy with the quality so I have given up, and will stay with my current computer until the next MacBooks come out, and will start "screen roulette" again.


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## RoxyJ (Mar 13, 2012)

So, the new MacBooks came out, and good to my word, I've started the MacBook screen roulette game again.

I'm on my third computer, first on had pretty bad screen flickering, or pixel walk. I called Apple and they wanted me to return it for testing. Little did I know the replacement would be much worse AND have uneven lighting. The replacement to the replacement has horrible light bleed (easily noticeable on a light screen) so bad that I actually noticed it on the light grey textured screen at start-up. 

Just though that I'd share to let other unhappy MAC owners that they are not alone.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

MacDoc said:


> NO laptop screen is good for colour work - you want quality - get an NEC, LaCie or Eizo external.


I disagree. The Dell PremierColor RGB LED display available in thePrecision m4600 and the HP Dreamcolor display in the elitebook are as good or better than the NEC Pro line or the LaCie desktop monitors. I briefly had a m4600 with the RGB dispaly and gamut and accuracy was stellar. Unfortunately, I could not operate without Aperture, so I went to a Retina MBP.

If you're working in the sRGB space, the Retina display is quite accurate and has very good viewing angles. I'd be comfortable using it for anything except pre-print work for very high-end papers.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

I have a hard thinking any laptop screen without a LUT is comparable to a 12 or 14 bit pro monitor and stating they are better strikes me as fanciful.

There are just 7 laptops with iPS screens available in 2012.
None of my pro clients take the laptop screen as anything other than an approximation tho the Retina may change that.



> You can go to the top end HP 8760w and get a 17.3" 10bit IPS LCD panel with a 12 bit LUT but will pay $3000+ USD for it. The Dell M6600 may have similar specs and price.


While that same money buys a retina and a 24" NEC Pro
P241W-BK-SV, 24 Widescreen Professional Graphics Desktop Monitor w SpectraView<sub>II<sub> - Highlights & Specifications | NEC Display Solutions

Does seem a bit of a will-o-the-wisp chasing.


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## ldphoto (Jul 9, 2009)

I'm not saying that the solution is financially viable, but if you can find a used one, it makes a lot of sense. The m4600 I had was just as accurate as my NEC 2690Wuxi2, and had larger colour gamut. In fact, I don't remember seeing a desktop monitor (except the HP 24" Dreamcolor at 2.5k$) that had a colour gamut that exceeds 100% Adobe RGB. The m4600 had a 10-bit panel and full 10-bit data path. No mac supports that, and the Retina display is in fact only a 6-bit panel, which results in some banding in gradients.

If I could have transitioned my Workflow to Lightroom, I would probably have kept that m4600 despite its substantial weight, and ultimately I may have left Apple altogether. But I'm so used to Aperture that I couldn't do it.

The Retina display is good, but not THAT good. There are some colours I can print that it cannot display. But generally speaking, it is sufficient.



MacDoc said:


> I have a hard thinking any laptop screen without a LUT is comparable to a 12 or 14 bit pro monitor and stating they are better strikes me as fanciful.
> 
> There are just 7 laptops with iPS screens available in 2012.
> None of my pro clients take the laptop screen as anything other than an approximation tho the Retina may change that.
> ...


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