Glossy or Matte Powerbook Screen?

[Frank Petronio]

Glossy or Matte Powerbook Screen? I like my wife's glossy MacBook screen for reading, but is there any advantage to using a Matte screen for imaging? It's not like I am trying to use the Powerbook in a consistent lighting environment.

[Marko]

Glossy or Matte Powerbook Screen? I like my wife's glossy MacBook screen for reading, but is there any advantage to using a Matte screen for imaging? It's not like I am trying to use the Powerbook in a consistent lighting environment.

One word: Glare. If the glare on the glossy screen does not bother you, then pick what you like. Otherwise, matte cuts the glare much better.

[Ted Harris]

I have a Macbook with the glossy screen and,while glare is a small .... underline small ... issue that I sometimes ahve to deal with by shifting a view angle, etc. the tradeoff int erms of brightness and color saturation are worth it. Not to mention that AFAIK the smaller, less expensive Macbooks only come with the glossy screen. I have a distinct preference for the smaller Macbook for jsut that teason, that it is smaller and way easier to travel with.

[CXC]

If you don't find the reflections and glare of the glossy screen distracting, then go for it, as it gives a superior picture. This is a personal matter; the glossy drives me crazy, and was central in my decision NOT to buy a MacBook non-Pro (glossy-only) -- the exact opposite response than TedH.

I get the distinct impression that matte screens are being put out to pasture, for whatever reason(s).

[Ted Harris]

Not sure what I would do if I had the matte or glossy choice in the smaller machine ... my main point is that I just won't go larger than the smallest machine. I travel too much and this small machine fits nicely in the front pocket of my rollaboard, is easy to stuff in a pocket in front of my seat even in the smallest planes, etc. Bigger isn't always better. For me, especially with laptops.

[CXC]

I just can't resist OTOH'ing Ted once more. As my eyes age (along with everything else!) I'm drifting toward larger screens both at home (laptop) and at work (desktop), it's just a lot easier for me. My mileage varies.

[Ted Harris]

LOLOLOL!! My milage varies too, especially when I travel. I shudder at the thought of the laptop bag I used to carry over my shoulder, weighed more than an 8x10. Why I switched to the smallest laptops I couldlive with some 5 years ago.

OTOH, I totally agree regarding desktop screens.

Finally, these aging eyes had cateract surgery about 8 months ago (both eyes) and now I see beeter than I have in many many years. Can even drive without glasses. Amazing.

[clay harmon]

Frank, don't decide until you check out the special linen surface Mac screen. It is particularly nice when viewing wedding photos and pictures of kittens and so forth.

[Marko]

My friend just had both eyes done, at age 50 he says he feels it is better then when he was 30. Impressive.

Provided he accurately remembers what his eyesight used to be 20 years ago...

:D

[Eric James]

I have a G4 PowerBook with a crummy matte screen that a plug into a calibrated Cinema screen at home. I like to use the laptop for doing rudimentary Photoshop work - like rotation, cropping, and spotting. My laptops screen suffers from severe contrast changes with viewing angle; while this is a real detriment for imaging, it does have an advantage in spotting: I find that I can quickly change my viewing angle by nudging the screen fore and aft - the resulting contrast change sometimes aids in positioning the spotting tool or in evaluating for artifacts after removing a spot. I'm not sure this would work as well with a glossy screen.

I have the 12.1-inch screen and I really like the portability and packability, and - surprisingly- the thing chugs along just fine with 200MB images.

[QT Luong]

Interesting that you should mention the crummy powerbook screen. I bought a Macbook in an emergency a couple of weeks ago, and I've noticed that the brightness variation as a function of the tilt is quite a bit worse than with the Macbook Pro, to the point that I have second thoughts, esp considering http://barefeats.com/mbcd8.html

It doesn't seem that the difference in size and weight between the 13" Macbook and the 15" Macbook Pro is that significant.

[Frank Petronio]

Yes, right now a 15-inch MacBook Pro, even with the older Dual Core processor, looks like the one to get, with the Glossy screen. Frankly, I am waiting for CS3 to be released before jumping, as everything is working fine now and I am a patient sort of guy... It takes at least half a day to set-up a new Mac with all the software installs, permission repairs, and back-ups, so I might as well upgrade the software at the same time.

[Ted Harris]

Tuan, I totally agree with the brightness differenences but there are, IMO, other reasons to love the MacBook. The main one for me is the size. The difference between it and the 15" MacBook Pro seem trivial until you try and fit one or the other into carry on luggage. The MacBook slides niceley into the front pocket of my rollaboard bag or I can jsut drop it into a briefcase, etc. The 15" machine starts to push the limits for that sort of carrying. I can put the MacBook into the rollaboard and a paperback on top of it and all is well. I also find I can use it on my lap in even the most confined spaces (e.g. the tiny 19 passenger Beechcrafts I often fly on). Like Kerry and his ultimate lightweight backpacking LF system I have, over the years, come to appreciate the ultimate lightweight laptop system and find tht dashign throough airports is just that much easier with the smaller "book."

As for performance I just looked at the barefeets performance tests and then ran a real world PS CS2 test. I opened a 452 MB file in 8 seconds. My "book" has 2 Gigs of RAM.

If you never have the travel constraints I have then go for the larger machine otherwise I recommend the smaller one.

[Claude Sapp]

I am buying a MacBook Pro soon, and was searching the threads for an answer as to which screen to get. This thread has some good recommendations, but the last post was quite a while ago.

I compared the matte and glossy screens on the 15" MacBook Pro today in the Apple store, viewing applications and identical pictures on two laptops side by side. I prefer the glossy, but admit that the glare is a bit distracting. It just seems brighter and crisper, though this may be entirely subjective.

So a few questions.

How do they compare outdoors? I saw in another post that the matte is harder to see outdoors.

I calibrate using Monaco Optix XR, think I will I have any problems using the Optix with the glossy?

Are there any current preferences about using the glossy over the matte for photo editing?

Thanks to all, Claude.

[walter23]

I would have got the matte if it were available on the 13" macbook, which I just bought (but hasn't been delivered yet). Unfortunately I was stuck with glossy as I wasn't getting a macbook pro.

I had an iBook G4 before this, and I really liked the matte screen. Glossy will take some getting used to, I'm not convinced I'm going to like all the reflections and glare.

But of course I haven't used it yet, just looked it over in a store showroom. It looks like a nice enough screen, and it's not a deal killer for me, I just would have preferred the matte screen if given the choice.

[roderick]

From my understanding, the glossy screens are much more difficult to properly calibrate compared to the matte ones.

Roderick

[David Carson]

i vote for the glossy. It's more of a pearl-ish finish when compared to the ultra-gloss of some pc laptops I've seen. I have a 15" mb pro, and I love the 'grainless' screen. You'll see smudges easier, though. Don't (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60446) use windex.

I'm a graphic designer/art director by day, and I have two 23" mac monitors at work (matte), and I must say I really like the pop of the glossy mb pro screen.

[Kirk Gittings]

I have a Macbook with the glossy screen and,while glare is a small .... underline small ... issue that I sometimes ahve to deal with by shifting a view angle, etc. the tradeoff int erms of brightness and color saturation are worth it. Not to mention that AFAIK the smaller, less expensive Macbooks only come with the glossy screen. I have a distinct preference for the smaller Macbook for jsut that teason, that it is smaller and way easier to travel with.

I concur with the Ted here. I have the glossy on my 15" MacBook Pro which I use for imaging on the road and am quite happy with it.

[Ron Marshall]

My wife just purchased the glossy. A tiny bit sharper and a bit more glare. Happy with the glossy.

[jetcode]

I just can't resist OTOH'ing Ted once more. As my eyes age (along with everything else!) I'm drifting toward larger screens both at home (laptop) and at work (desktop), it's just a lot easier for me. My mileage varies.

After pledging allegiance to a life with laptops my quad core with 24" wide color gamut monitor is FAR easier on the eyes.