MBA display characteristics: whites, grain and illumination distribution

[PDE]

I'm sold on this machine. I mean, I even craigslisted off my beloved macbook pro and am embracing the MBA's design philosophy completely: modularity, cordlessness and bring-as-needed. I'm pretty thrilled by the design, size, functionality and ergonomics and have probably never been as excited by an Apple laptop before. That's the good news.


The not-so-good is that I feel this display isn't quite as good as my old LG on the MBP. At first glance it looks great, but as I use it more, I've noticed that whites are not quite white (warmish), there is a graininess to it that doesn't exist on the LG, and there has been what looks a little like a shadow on the left side half-way up on all three MBAs I've had (uneven illumination or misapplied coating?). When there is a lot of whites on the display this all becomes obvious, but not otherwise. Unfortunately, I often have a lot of whites up so I see it more.

What does your display look like - honestly - when you choose the white background?

 

[clayj]

I just switched to the white background and cranked the brightness up all the way. I think I see part of what you're talking about: The screen has a graininess to it that reminds me of a piece of white typing paper. But I'm OK with that, actually: It makes the display more paper-like, which to me is desirable.

My illumination level is very consistent, though... no shadows beyond what the various screen elements are casting.

 

[teerexx52]

I'm sold on this machine. I mean, I even craigslisted off my beloved macbook pro and am embracing the MBA's design philosophy completely: modularity, cordlessness and bring-as-needed. I'm pretty thrilled by the design, size, functionality and ergonomics and have probably never been as excited by an Apple laptop before. That's the good news.


The not-so-good is that I feel this display isn't quite as good as my old LG on the MBP. At first glance it looks great, but as I use it more, I've noticed that whites are not quite white (warmish), there is a graininess to it that doesn't exist on the LG, and there has been what looks a little like a shadow on the left side half-way up on all three MBAs I've had (uneven illumination or misapplied coating?). When there is a lot of whites on the display this all becomes obvious, but not otherwise. Unfortunately, I often have a lot of whites up so I see it more.

What does your display look like - honestly - when you choose the white background?

I have both macbook air and macbook pro led. I do think the Pro is a better screen but not by much. I also think its very subjective. There is a slight graininess to the Air that I don't see in the Pro but nothing that bothers me either

 

[shoulin333]

i see what you mean my "grain" but i think most of that is the Glossy coating, although there is a little grain it is very even, so no biggie..

... i was using a blackbook before buying the MBA, so the screen is 9999999999999999999999999999999% better

on full bright the MBA screen is sooo bright i feel like i have flood lights on me at night... and it has much less glare on the screen than the MB screens.


only thing the MB has over the MBA im my case (since i dont need cd drive/ports) is the battery life.. my blackbook lasted atleast 4.5hours easy.. the MBA pulls about 3.5

 

[Cybergypsy]

Much better then my last current MBP

 

[PDE]

Not saying that it's bad, just that it's not quite as good as the LG on the MBP. When I compare it to my girlfriend's macbook, it's much brighter and has significantly better viewing angles, but the macbook's display has no grain at all - just like my old MBP LED LG one. I guess it also varies from display to display and with the lighting.

With old MBPs the worst displays (in terms of graininess and uneven illumination) were the AUO ones, if I remember correctly. There's something in there display coating that's different from other manufacturers like LG.