MacBook screen, my thoughts

As a photographer, while liking the punchy colors of the glossy screen for video playback - it's not an smart option if you care about accurate color as I need to.

The glossy screen makes it imposible to judge photograph color and tonality and even worse, sitting straight in front and looking head on you get a different level of reflectivity in the center versus the corners. So it's nice for general use but a real step in the wrong direction for any kind of precise, repeteable color work - and I thought that was one of the big draws of a Mac?

It left me with the thought - Is this so they can attract the average dell user?

Oh, intel inside, windows booting, black ugly case, and glossy screen, all we need now is blue lettering...DELL.

I'm surprised John Siracusa actually wrote that. I thought he was more level headed than to categorically say anyone who likes the rich-high-contrast-colors-but-reflective compromise was an "idiot."

When it comes to matters of personal taste, there's no right or wrong answer, and people aren't smart or stupid just because of what suits them.

Maybe it was just deliberately provocative to get page hits for Ars. I'm wondering: do we have another Dvorak in the making?

"Also known as 'pleasing' for people who don't give a $#!+ about ***OMGCalibrated!!!11*** color and just like nice looking stuff. But thanks, Graphic Arts Snob, for contributing.

Besides, you're probably the kind of guy who bitches about LCDs in every other thread and gushes on about how great--excuse, me, *correct*--his blue-hood CRT looks. So piss off."

Oh, thanks for calling me a snob simply for caring about something. I'm sure you're very happy in your oversaturated little world where the grass is so green it hurts, but you can't see it anyway because there's this giant window reflection obscuring it.

And for the record, I've not bitched about CRTs being better, ever. I like LCDs for their sharpness, which is excellent with lots of text.

scott, how would you define a "glare problem?"
any glare at all is a problem, in my opinion. but that's the payoff if you want the benefits of a glossy screen. but there is glare and reflection from the screen, that's not speculation or conjecture, it's fact. so if you dont mind then thats perfectly fine (and perhaps also idiotic) but for me, it's been really tough trying to convince myself it's no big deal.

i played around with quite a few at the apple store and it's just too obvious to ignore.

As I walked up to a Macbook in the SoHo Store (2 hours to get in to 5th Ave!) I noticed the glare from the screen that I had feared. Once I got up on it and started using it I immediately forget all about the glossy screen - because it wasn't! But then again, I use a Gateway laptop with a glossy screen for work and I'm used to it!

>> The colors look more vivid

> Also known as "Inaccurate" with people who actually care about colour.

Also known as 'pleasing' for people who don't give a $#!+ about ***OMGCalibrated!!!11*** color and just like nice looking stuff. But thanks, Graphic Arts Snob, for contributing.

Besides, you're probably the kind of guy who bitches about LCDs in every other thread and gushes on about how great--excuse, me, *correct*--his blue-hood CRT looks. So piss off.

The comments comparing the glossy screen to a CRT piqued my interest. CRTs generally have pretty glossy and reflective screens. As do traditional CRT TVs. I have found (and still do on my TV) these reflections to be annoying, but obviously they don't keep me from using them. However, since I switched to an LCD in my office, I enjoy a reflection-free image. I would hate to give that up.

On the color accuracy issue, calibration should adjust these as well as others. However, a lot of the 'vividness' people are reporting will probably get adjusted out of these displays through calibration, so it might just produce a matte-looking display without the benefits of matte-produced anti-reflectivity.

Ok... somebody explain to me the "accuracy" problem. Are a lot of people mixing paint with their MBs? Serious photo/video editing on a consumer level machine maybe? We're not talking about browns becoming pink and blues becoming green are we?
You buy a consumer level machine for a consumer level experience. If you want a machine for serious photo/video editing, get the pro machine.
This was absolutely the right move by apple considering the response to it. People who care so much about color accuracy will not be buying a machine with shared video memory anyway.

I went to a Mac store this past weekend with my preconceived notion about matte vs.glossy, but I wanted to judge the screen for myself in person. I was really impressed by the color of the glossy screen. Yes there is noticeable glare, but it is minimized if you are directly sitting in front of the screen. The color impressed me so much, I think I can look past the occassional reflection. I see it as an added bonus that someone can't see my screen from the side - an unintentional privacy feature!

I asked a store employee if they had any macbook pros with glossy screens in stock and they said that they currently don't and they weren't sure if they would be carrying them. They may be just wanting to get rid of their existing MacBook Pro stock.