15.4" LED-backlit displays in the flesh

[Jiddick ExRex]

The reason why you guys are arguing is because when you turn it down to 256k colors you turn the dithering off, thus rendering 'true' 256k colors which looks horrible. When set to millions, dithering is of course enabled but it's still dithering and it's still uglier than a true 8 bit panel.

 

[bartelby]

The reason why you guys are arguing is because when you turn it down to 256k colors you turn the dithering off, thus rendering 'true' 256k colors which looks horrible. When set to millions, dithering is of course enabled but it's still dithering and it's still uglier than a true 8 bit panel.

Ah!!

Thank you for explaining.

 

[eXan]

Still, the C2D MBP's screens are pathetic

 

[iW00t]

Still, the C2D MBP's screens are pathetic

Sadly it seems like this is the trend laptop screens seems to be taking.

The screens Apple chosen for the MBPs are probably the best in the industry and absolutely worthy of $2499 and $2799 laptops.

 

[knowledg333]

45% of NTSC colour gamut sounds pathetic.

The 30" and 40" screens are 104% of NTSC.

 

[iW00t]

The 30" and 40" screens are 104% of NTSC.

Won't do Macbooks any good don't they

 

[isleofjib]

The 30" and 40" screens are 104% of NTSC.

lol. that's what's coming out in feb-the new 30" MBP's!

 

[whateverandever]

It amazes me that people with so little knowledge of notebook displays post with such confidence.

As it's already been discussed, almost all notebook screens that claim to be "millions" of colors are 6-bit displays that use dithering to accomplish the greater color set. This can lead to the "grainy" display problem when the video driver is doing a poor job dithering. Mac OS X does a great job. It's a lot more noticeable when using Boot Camp (or at least it used to be, I know it was a big problem when Boot Camp drivers were first released).

I'm totally psyched about LED backlit displays. Lower power consumption with greater brightness? I'm in!

 

[knowledg333]

Won't do Macbooks any good don't they

No, but it does give some hope for the future. In the meantime they would make great external displays for any laptop.

 

[iW00t]

No, but it does give some hope for the future. In the meantime they would make great external displays for any laptop.

True.. wonder if those panels comes with a huge premium though

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

My question for all of you is: can I put this in my current C2D MBP???

When the screen starts to get dull, could we just buy LED backlight displays and pop them on? That would be absolutely amazing if these screens turn out to be better than the lame ones we have right now.

 

[jaguarx]

The screens Apple chosen for the MBPs are probably the best in the industry and absolutely worthy of $2499 and $2799 laptops.

Err...Aren't you the guy that's been bitching like hell for *months* about MBP C2D screen quality and until recently had a huge reg sig complaining about them saying they were Dell quality and everyone else was using better ones?

 

[whateverandever]

My question for all of you is: can I put this in my current C2D MBP???

When the screen starts to get dull, could we just buy LED backlight displays and pop them on? That would be absolutely amazing if these screens turn out to be better than the lame ones we have right now.

It's possible. It depends on how the new screens are powered and such. We can't really give an answer until we have one to see.

 

[knowledg333]

My question for all of you is: can I put this in my current C2D MBP???

When the screen starts to get dull, could we just buy LED backlight displays and pop them on? That would be absolutely amazing if these screens turn out to be better than the lame ones we have right now.

The current laptop displays in the MBP are far from "lame." The current displays are at least three steps up from the PBG4s. Would you say that those displays were "worse than lame?"

It's possible. It depends on how the new screens are powered and such. We can't really give an answer until we have one to see.

I don't think it is possible. The difference in power consumption and the hardware compatibility is unlikely. There would have to be some sort of convertor that would bridge the gap in technology; but it's unlikely that such a device would have room inside any of the laptops. The architecture is just too different in my opinion; but who knows, maybe Apple planned ahead and thought of a way to make their current laptop displays interchangeable with technology they may have forseen coming down the road.

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

The current laptop displays in the MBP are far from "lame." The current displays are at least three steps up from the PBG4s. Would you say that those displays were "worse than lame?"



I don't think it is possible. The difference in power consumption and the hardware compatibility is unlikely. There would have to be some sort of convertor that would bridge the gap in technology; but it's unlikely that such a device would have room inside any of the laptops. The architecture is just too different in my opinion; but who knows, maybe Apple planned ahead and thought of a way to make their current laptop displays interchangeable with technology they may have forseen coming down the road.

I find the screen looks nice. The only problem is this: my eyes hurt after I use it. I don't understand why, it's really annoying me alot as I need to use my MBP quite a bit every day. I refuse to buy an external monitor because laptop monitors should be decent enough to use in every day computing. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

 

[whateverandever]

I don't think it is possible. The difference in power consumption and the hardware compatibility is unlikely. There would have to be some sort of convertor that would bridge the gap in technology; but it's unlikely that such a device would have room inside any of the laptops. The architecture is just too different in my opinion; but who knows, maybe Apple planned ahead and thought of a way to make their current laptop displays interchangeable with technology they may have forseen coming down the road.

Where do you base this assumption? The LVDS connection is most likely the same. The only problem would potentially be the inverter connection. The power consumption differential really isn't an issue, only voltage is, and that's satisfied by using a different inverter -- which most likely will fit fine in the casing. If the depth of the screen remains the same it should be easy to drop into existing frames. If it changes, we'll need to pick up a new display casing, but it's still possible.

The only "gap" in technology here is the lamp used to light the screen. LEDs behind the screen instead of conventional lamps on the sides of the screen.

 

[knowledg333]

The only "gap" in technology here is the lamp used to light the screen. LEDs behind the screen instead of conventional lamps on the sides of the screen.

Somehow I think there is more to the technology than simply having LEDs behind the screen. Yes, the LEDs do give you a different lighting intensity, but putting them into a laptop screen isn't the same as changing a regular lightbulb with an energy-efficient fluorescent bulb.

 

[whateverandever]

Somehow I think there is more to the technology than simply having LEDs behind the screen. Yes, the LEDs do give you a different lighting intensity, but putting them into a laptop screen isn't the same as changing a regular lightbulb with an energy-efficient fluorescent bulb.

I don't assume it was an easy switcheroo. I'm simply stating that the only difference in the two displays is the backlight.

They didn't re-invent the wheel here.

Now if it were an OLED display, then we'd be talking technology jump. OLED displays are entirely different as there isn't a backlight at all. These are still standard LCDs with a different lamp.

 

[e12a]

I dont see a major hardware change with these screens. Its just like retrofitting a new head unit into a car...hell yeah it has more features and has color screens but its squeezed into the same standard slot. I can see powering the led's might be an issue...but that's it. But dont mistaken the similarities with an easy retrofit. Changing LCD screens looks difficult for the average user and isn't for the faint of heart.

I'm sure LCD manufacturers designed them to fit into the current laptops, so new designs would not be needed. I want to retrofit!