Right now, there is a lot of skepticism over the value of LED backlighting amongst the professional display makers. The chief designer at NEC, said that their model, a 21" version was now 4 years old, and while they were still selling it, they had no plans to expand the line, or re-do that one.
Apparently, there is little interest at this time in true high end monitors except in a few places. I asked him what was happening there, and he said that in a few cases, companies were buying high end video production monitors that support "deep color", some others are going to medical displays, but many are not willing to spend those amounts.
Eizo was there as well, showing off all their models, and all but one had hoods on, as did the ones from NEC, and some others.
Most all the computers were 20" or 24" iMacs everywhere else. They are just great for transport and set-up at these shows. I was told that the 24" when properly calibrated, was pretty good for the price.
The Eizo's by the way, while matte, are as close to looking glossy as they can get without actually getting there. They said that it was a compromise.
My other thought is if these new MBPs will be able to use both graphics chips at the same time in a future OS release. Does anybody know if these new MBPs are designed to do this in with a future OS?
Nvidia said it would only take a software update. A point release (e.g 10.5.6) could include updated graphics drivers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM
Wow, so it looks like I was right that there was an anti-reflective treatment on the old glossy screen. It's just that it was a smooth anti-reflective treatment rather than a texture. This new one has neither.
I think it's partly to do with the old Macbook having a plastic screen vs glass in the new one. Plastic diffuses light a bit better. Glass is like a mirror.
Both displays have issues but it's so obvious that the matte basically has one color change over the whole screen. The glossy has a great deal of variation so it has a much more serious impact for color accuracy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
The Eizo's by the way, while matte, are as close to looking glossy as they can get without actually getting there.
I think that's called scraping the barrel. Or is it clutching at straws?
This is the best kind of setup, no reflections and if they can manage to push the colors better with better blacks then that's good too. But matte will always be the better starting point.
This however leads me to the definition of a glossy screen. We know that the iMac is glossy but removing the reflective panel makes it matte so it's not really the panel itself that has anything to do with the problem. Take off the shiny plate in front and everybody's happy. Good colors, no reflections. This is probably what Eizo did.
Like I say, this means the issue has nothing to do with the panel itself, it's just the glare, which is due to the glass plate in front of the panel.
The solution is just to find an overlay that doesn't reflect. Apple don't want to use plastic for environmental reasons so they'll have to find some sort of glass that maybe has rough micro-facets on the outer layer for spreading the reflections out but smooth on the inside for allowing good transmission. The outer layer has to be designed to not affect the outgoing light too though and that's the challenge.
I think it's partly to do with the old Macbook having a plastic screen vs glass in the new one. Plastic diffuses light a bit better. Glass is like a mirror.
I don't think that accounts for much of the difference. The previous glossy models do have a mild Rayleigh coating on the surface - a coating that can be applied to glass, though maybe it's a different process because of the material difference.
Comments
I went to the monitor manufacturers.
Interesting information.
Right now, there is a lot of skepticism over the value of LED backlighting amongst the professional display makers. The chief designer at NEC, said that their model, a 21" version was now 4 years old, and while they were still selling it, they had no plans to expand the line, or re-do that one.
Apparently, there is little interest at this time in true high end monitors except in a few places. I asked him what was happening there, and he said that in a few cases, companies were buying high end video production monitors that support "deep color", some others are going to medical displays, but many are not willing to spend those amounts.
Eizo was there as well, showing off all their models, and all but one had hoods on, as did the ones from NEC, and some others.
Most all the computers were 20" or 24" iMacs everywhere else. They are just great for transport and set-up at these shows. I was told that the 24" when properly calibrated, was pretty good for the price.
The Eizo's by the way, while matte, are as close to looking glossy as they can get without actually getting there. They said that it was a compromise.
My other thought is if these new MBPs will be able to use both graphics chips at the same time in a future OS release. Does anybody know if these new MBPs are designed to do this in with a future OS?
Nvidia said it would only take a software update. A point release (e.g 10.5.6) could include updated graphics drivers.
Wow, so it looks like I was right that there was an anti-reflective treatment on the old glossy screen. It's just that it was a smooth anti-reflective treatment rather than a texture. This new one has neither.
I think it's partly to do with the old Macbook having a plastic screen vs glass in the new one. Plastic diffuses light a bit better. Glass is like a mirror.
Both displays have issues but it's so obvious that the matte basically has one color change over the whole screen. The glossy has a great deal of variation so it has a much more serious impact for color accuracy.
The Eizo's by the way, while matte, are as close to looking glossy as they can get without actually getting there.
This is the best kind of setup, no reflections and if they can manage to push the colors better with better blacks then that's good too. But matte will always be the better starting point.
This however leads me to the definition of a glossy screen. We know that the iMac is glossy but removing the reflective panel makes it matte so it's not really the panel itself that has anything to do with the problem. Take off the shiny plate in front and everybody's happy. Good colors, no reflections. This is probably what Eizo did.
Like I say, this means the issue has nothing to do with the panel itself, it's just the glare, which is due to the glass plate in front of the panel.
The solution is just to find an overlay that doesn't reflect. Apple don't want to use plastic for environmental reasons so they'll have to find some sort of glass that maybe has rough micro-facets on the outer layer for spreading the reflections out but smooth on the inside for allowing good transmission. The outer layer has to be designed to not affect the outgoing light too though and that's the challenge.
I think it's partly to do with the old Macbook having a plastic screen vs glass in the new one. Plastic diffuses light a bit better. Glass is like a mirror.
I don't think that accounts for much of the difference. The previous glossy models do have a mild Rayleigh coating on the surface - a coating that can be applied to glass, though maybe it's a different process because of the material difference.