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Display is not sharp on Macbook

WannaGoMac

WannaGoMac

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 11, 2007
2,773
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I want to like this loaner Macbook (I am WannaGoMac afterall :)) but after using a Macbook for a week, it's a pleasure to be back on my Thinkpad.

I adjusted the font smoothing and best I got it was when I set it to Standard for CRTs. I also found the display overall (even in movies) not as sharp compared to my 1024x768 ultra-portable Thinkpad. Is it just the Macbook has a lower quality display? Or, is it just the smoothing? The fact is I am not a "graphics designer" so I prefer ClearType over whatever OS X uses. I prefer a sharp on-screen presentation over accurate representation of printed material on-screen.

If someone could help me make this look sharper it would be great as I don't think I can switch to a computer where I find the display is blurry. Is the Mac Mini with an external display better?


Sorry lots of questions. Just disappointed... :(
 
CanadaRAM said:
If'n you weren't running the screen at its native resolution (for example, if it was set to 1024 to be 'equal' to the IBM) then it will be blurrier, just like all LCD screens when they have to interpolate.
Click to expand...

The macbook is set to whatever the default resolution is...I never adjusted it from when I first turned it on out of the box. Just checked, 1280x800.

Its just strange, some areas look fine. But I think it is the worst in Firefox (my main browser). Viewing slashdot all the fonts bleed into the colors surrounding them, especially bolded fonts.
 
The Macbook display is 'sharper' than your Thinkpad, because it has a higher ppi. Unless you are running at non-native resolution. You said it's a loaner- did the person you borrowed from change the res?
 
decksnap said:
The Macbook display is 'sharper' than your Thinkpad, because it has a higher ppi. Unless you are running at non-native resolution. You said it's a loaner- did the person you borrowed from change the res?
Click to expand...


It is brand new from the box. I am running native resolution on both the Thinkpad and the Macbook.
 
WannaGoMac said:
The macbook is set to whatever the default resolution is...I never adjusted it from when I first turned it on out of the box. Just checked, 1280x800.

Its just strange, some areas look fine. But I think it is the worst in Firefox (my main browser). Viewing slashdot all the fonts bleed into the colors surrounding them, especially bolded fonts.
Click to expand...

Hmm... try adjusting contrast and brightness to see if that makes a difference.
 
Ok, this is weird

i did

Control+Option+Apple+8

And this ultra contrasting made the text seem much sharper.

Hmm, what does that mean?
 
I'm extremely nearsighted and when my eyes get tired, I'll reverse the contrast, too. It's much easier for me to see.

I don't find the screena to be "blurry" at all, except insofar as most things I see are slightly blurry. ^_^

I'd say fiddle with the settings till you find something you like and go with that. Maybe you're not an "out-of-the-box" kind of guy. . .
 
Thanks. Will try.

I read somewhere while trying to find a solution, that people who wear glasses tend to prefer Windows font rendering. People who don't wear glasses prefer font rendering in OS X.
 
I use a ThinkPad x61s and a Macbook. I understand what the OP is talking about and the problem is not a setting but rather the anti-aliasing in OSX. OSX fonts have a softer/fuzzier look than fonts in Windows (cleartype). The lower the ppi count is, the worse OSX looks. I had lampshade iMac with a 15" 1024x768 screen and fonts looked like a blurry mess. The higher the PPI, the better OSX looks.

If you switch back and forth it will bother you. But once you start using a Mac fulltime it will look more normal. I definitely like Microsoft's cleartype better, but what can you do? I also find Windows to be snappier in opening and closing windows and that is also something that you just get used to once you start using a Mac fulltime.

You might want to calibrate the display and change the gamma setting to PC instead of Mac. That helps a little bit with the fonts too because they will look a little bolder against white backgrounds.
 
robby818 said:
I use a ThinkPad x61s and a Macbook. I understand what the OP is talking about and the problem is not a setting but rather the anti-aliasing in OSX. OSX fonts have a softer/fuzzier look than fonts in Windows (cleartype). The lower the ppi count is, the worse OSX looks. I had lampshade iMac with a 15" 1024x768 screen and fonts looked like a blurry mess. The higher the PPI, the better OSX looks.

If you switch back and forth it will bother you. But once you start using a Mac fulltime it will look more normal. I definitely like Microsoft's cleartype better, but what can you do? I also find Windows to be snappier in opening and closing windows and that is also something that you just get used to once you start using a Mac fulltime.

You might want to calibrate the display and change the gamma setting to PC instead of Mac. That helps a little bit with the fonts too because they will look a little bolder against white backgrounds.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the info. I will dig around and try to find the gamma settings in the mac.

I was also told to make the fonts larger?
 
WannaGoMac said:
Thanks so much for the info. I will dig around and try to find the gamma settings in the mac.

I was also told to make the fonts larger?
Click to expand...


go into appearance in system preferences, at the bottom you can adjust the font smoothing.

if you select turn off text smoothing for font sizes "12" and smaller then it pretty much gets rid of text smoothing as most text is smaller than 12.

you can also adjust the amount it is smoothed at the same place
 
Wow, i figured a way to make it better!

Turns out the color calibrartion and gamma were not very well set. All the color was set high so the screen was really really bright. I did color calibration, set the Gamma to 2.2 and that made the text much better to read. I still prefer the Cleartype, but adjusting the color calibration helped a great deal.
 
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