Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
my screen is fine, is yours?
- Thread starter jayo123456
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
He's not wrong, I've noticed the same thing on mine. If it makes it unusable for him, that's too bad. I don't really mind.
I've never known a TN panel laptop not to have these characteristics. In this area the screen on mine is no better or worse than my 2010 MBP. On the other hand it's better in regards to reflections and of course resolution. I think that guy just has a touch of buyer remorse and has scoured the internet for any little snippets to back up his idea.
I agree, also. I notice it, too, and it's quite significant as he discusses. But, I think, as has been mentioned time and time again, a lot depends on what you intend to do with your air. I have a hard time accepting that it's a suitable main computer for anyone doing photography, graphic design, video editing, etc. I do quite a bit of photography, but reserve my imac for most of that heavy lifting. If I were a writer, for example, I think the air would be a great primary machine that allowed me to get down my thoughts whenever and wherever. As 'they' say, caveat emptor
I have an idea what he's talking about but there's absolutely no issue for me finding a good viewing angle... but you can tell when the viewing angle is sub-optimal. I think its possibly a result of the AR coating on the screen. Its more prominent with vertical viewing angles.
Yes, he's nitpicking. All laptop displays are like this. Nobody makes a laptop anymore with an IPS display and that's what you really need to avoid this.
He's an idiot. The MBA has somewhat bad color gamut compared to the best displays, but other than that it is very good and definitely above average. Viewing angles are comparable to other panels and no worse than what any TN will have. Compared to the MBP 13", it is less reflective, brighter, and has higher pixel density, making it a better all around display in my opinion.
I agree with this. I cannot seem to recreate this unless I lay the screen all the way down and look at it from the side. All laptop screens are like this and they will continue to be this way until they start using IPS displays.
I think the guy is making it a bigger deal than it actually is. I don't notice it at all (when using the machine casually) when I am using my MBA and I am coming from a MBP.
I think you guys are forgetting there are at least 3 different panels being used in the MBA 13 and I've returned 2 of them now. The first had a non-functioning key and an incredible screen that was immaculate. The second has the 9CF0 panel and it sucks big-time. I returned it to try my shot at another one and it too sucks with the 9CF0 panel.
Given its not broken, if you really are having screen issues, maybe bring your MBA to a local Apple store and look for a 9CDF on a display model, then do a comparison. You might be able to talk them into a replacement that way.
I noticed the same issue (very noticeable colour gradient) and Apple is replacing my Air, but after reading some posts it sounds like it may be an inherent property of screen.
I guess i'll see what screen looks like on the replacement Air when it arrives.
I guess i'll see what screen looks like on the replacement Air when it arrives.
Not sure what you saw, but I calibrated my 9CF0 and it looks just fine to me. I've used a number of MacBook Pros and Windows laptops as well.
I do think the guy in the video is being way over dramatic. I've used my MBA to edit pics in photoshop a number of times without issue.
He's not incorrect. If I watch a flat color image, I can pretty much always see that one side of the screen, usually the bottom, has different color shade, due to that small viewing angle difference. This is definitely not happening even on Rev A MBA I have. I wouldn't say this is much of a problem though, it's hard to see unless watching a non-white flat color. Then again, I wouldn't call it nitpicking either - it's a very expensive computer which should have screen on par with other Apple hardware. Try making a flat color image with 255, 127, 0 RGB value, see it full screen, and it's clear as day that the top of the picture is a completely different color than the bottom, no matter how straight you look at the screen. Top looks orange, bottom looks yellow.
Last edited:
Here is a viewing angle test:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php
view it in full screen. It definitely has viewing angle issues like all tn panels, but it seems to be relatively decent at the sweet spot, and is actually better than most TN displays I have used in the past, where there is no such thing as a sweet spot.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php
view it in full screen. It definitely has viewing angle issues like all tn panels, but it seems to be relatively decent at the sweet spot, and is actually better than most TN displays I have used in the past, where there is no such thing as a sweet spot.
As I suspected, my Rev A screen does a better job with that test site, but they are pretty close. Still, the new MBA screens also have problem with edge darkening (vignetting) which are fairly obvious on the very bottom in particular, and Rev A doesn't have that problem at all. This is something I noticed immediately upon booting, on both the 11" and 13".
Yes, the edge darkening is apparent on my 13". It is unfortunate, but the overall quality of the screen is good, so it is hard to complain. I think glossy glass on it would annoy me far more than all these imperfections.