If the backlight is properly recycled at the end of its life, then the small amount of mercury in an LCD panel isn't a problem. The main problem is consumers just putting the device in the trash when it is broken or no longer useful.
I would be willing to bet that most consumers are ignorant to the fact that flourescent lights have mercury in them, and probably that the LCD screens they are using as monitors and TV's havee flourescent lights behind the LCD panel. Add to that the fact that most people do not know that there is a "proper" way to dispose of a flourescent light and doing so in the trash might be a problem environmentally.
Hopefully MBP's will be updated to leds this summer... And I don't believe leds can be even worser than NTSC, that would be something to be proud of...
I would be willing to bet that most consumers are ignorant to the fact that flourescent lights have mercury in them, and probably that the LCD screens they are using as monitors and TV's havee flourescent lights behind the LCD panel. Add to that the fact that most people do not know that there is a "proper" way to dispose of a flourescent light and doing so in the trash might be a problem environmentally.
interestingly they're phasing out mercury in hospitals for BP measuring and thermometers...saddly the electronic replacements are wildly inaccurate at times. i wonder how they dispose of all that mercury. probably dump it in a bay off the coast of japan...?
My guess is that reductions in other component costs will give Apple the room needed to add a new LED LCD panel to the MBP soon. Here's what I'm thinking:
15.4" LED LCD
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1440 x 900 pixels
xGB Turbo Memory (NAND, Robson)
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
nVidia GeForce Go 7700
graphics with 256MB SDRAM
$2,599
Note: Samsung demonstrated a 15.4" white LED LCD early this year with these specs:
1440 x 900 pixels
330cd/M2
5.8mm thin
3.1W
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobmarksdale
If that is true I might just hug someone.
I wouldn't. The low-end MBP would then cost more than a 17" MBP with an education discount... I cannot afford that, and many of the students graduating and planning on going to college with a MBP can't either. Not to mention that Apple won't use the Robson option.
Hopefully MBP's will be updated to leds this summer... And I don't believe leds can be even worser than NTSC, that would be something to be proud of...
Uhhmmm... NTSC has nothing to do with backlighting. NTSC is the standard format for video in the United States, it's what tells video guys to make anything for SD TV, they should make it 720x640 (I think that's what it was, off the top of my head), and for HD it's this dimensions... they also have defined the range of colors used, basically the color palette, like when you make a GIF when you tell it what colors to include. But they have nothing to do with backlighting in TVs/monitors.
[$500 (AUD) off ACD displays until 10th June, when bundled with Mac Pro purchase..]
I haven't noticed this mentioned outside of Australia so I wonder how much weight to give it, but given that the discount ends on the eve of WWDC would it be a sign that new displays are ready for release??
The $500 carrot is tempting but I'd sure be disappointed if a LED version was released with improved specs at a affordable price point!
So, the $64,000 Question: How much power savings can we expect from going LED-backlit, and how much will MB and MBP battery life improve as a result?
One can't answer that question until the model is tested, it'll save energy, but we'll see how much.. if it was OLED we'd be looking at an ever better savings, no backlight and all that jazz.
Comments
If the backlight is properly recycled at the end of its life, then the small amount of mercury in an LCD panel isn't a problem. The main problem is consumers just putting the device in the trash when it is broken or no longer useful.
I would be willing to bet that most consumers are ignorant to the fact that flourescent lights have mercury in them, and probably that the LCD screens they are using as monitors and TV's havee flourescent lights behind the LCD panel. Add to that the fact that most people do not know that there is a "proper" way to dispose of a flourescent light and doing so in the trash might be a problem environmentally.
I would be willing to bet that most consumers are ignorant to the fact that flourescent lights have mercury in them, and probably that the LCD screens they are using as monitors and TV's havee flourescent lights behind the LCD panel. Add to that the fact that most people do not know that there is a "proper" way to dispose of a flourescent light and doing so in the trash might be a problem environmentally.
interestingly they're phasing out mercury in hospitals for BP measuring and thermometers...saddly the electronic replacements are wildly inaccurate at times. i wonder how they dispose of all that mercury. probably dump it in a bay off the coast of japan...?
there you go, your random fact for today
My guess is that reductions in other component costs will give Apple the room needed to add a new LED LCD panel to the MBP soon. Here's what I'm thinking:
15.4" LED LCD
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1440 x 900 pixels
xGB Turbo Memory (NAND, Robson)
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
nVidia GeForce Go 7700
graphics with 256MB SDRAM
$2,599
Note: Samsung demonstrated a 15.4" white LED LCD early this year with these specs:
1440 x 900 pixels
330cd/M2
5.8mm thin
3.1W
I wouldn't. The low-end MBP would then cost more than a 17" MBP with an education discount... I cannot afford that, and many of the students graduating and planning on going to college with a MBP can't either. Not to mention that Apple won't use the Robson option.
Hopefully MBP's will be updated to leds this summer... And I don't believe leds can be even worser than NTSC, that would be something to be proud of...
Uhhmmm... NTSC has nothing to do with backlighting. NTSC is the standard format for video in the United States, it's what tells video guys to make anything for SD TV, they should make it 720x640 (I think that's what it was, off the top of my head), and for HD it's this dimensions... they also have defined the range of colors used, basically the color palette, like when you make a GIF when you tell it what colors to include. But they have nothing to do with backlighting in TVs/monitors.
I haven't noticed this mentioned outside of Australia so I wonder how much weight to give it, but given that the discount ends on the eve of WWDC would it be a sign that new displays are ready for release??
The $500 carrot is tempting but I'd sure be disappointed if a LED version was released with improved specs at a affordable price point!
Oh decisions decisions
So, the $64,000 Question: How much power savings can we expect from going LED-backlit, and how much will MB and MBP battery life improve as a result?
One can't answer that question until the model is tested, it'll save energy, but we'll see how much.. if it was OLED we'd be looking at an ever better savings, no backlight and all that jazz.