Quality of the LED Screen: disappointed

[Badwisdom]

Heyall,

ive had my Macbook Air for 10 days now and i find its an incredible machine.

However there is one thing that really bothers me: the quality of the screen. First, like many Macbooks (LED or not), it is unevenly backlit. It starts bright from the top, then darkens, and when you get close to the hinge it gets really bright again (is this the bleeding effect that people talk about ?)

Also i find the vertical viewing angle appaling. You really have to get your eyes aligned in a certain precise way in order to have a correct display of colors. As soon as you move your head up and down slightly you get major shifts i nuances and tint.

This might just be the deal breaker for me. I have the 9C73 display, which is supposed to be quite good too. Yeah its bright, but who cares about bright when a yellow page looks green in the middle and white on top ?!?

 

[PDE]

Heyall,

ive had my Macbook Air for 10 days now and i find its an incredible machine.

However there is one thing that really bothers me: the quality of the screen. First, like many Macbooks (LED or not), it is unevenly backlit. It starts bright from the top, then darkens, and when you get close to the hinge it gets really bright again (is this the bleeding effect that people talk about ?)

Also i find the vertical viewing angle appaling. You really have to get your eyes aligned in a certain precise way in order to have a correct display of colors. As soon as you move your head up and down slightly you get major shifts i nuances and tint.

This might just be the deal breaker for me. I have the 9C73 display, which is supposed to be quite good too. Yeah its bright, but who cares about bright when a yellow page looks green in the middle and white on top ?!?

I have to agree, even though people seem to really like the display. I think the brightness is what makes everybody love it, but if you look carefully it's unevenly illuminated and has a graininess to it that is similar to the old macbook pros. I did, however, see one MBA display that I thought was really good (no grain, even backlight) and it was a Chimei 9c6F. Noticeable difference.

 

[wolfie]

i dont have issue with what you mentioned, either you have picky eyes or you have a defective air?

the viewing angles is fine for just about anyone.

 

[aussieinrome]

i dont have issue with what you mentioned, either you have picky eyes or you have a defective air?

the viewing angles is fine for just about anyone.

Me either, my screen is totally evenly lit, I thought that was the point of the type of display technology that's in the Air?

 

[malone]

My MBA's screen is also unevenly lit. It's hard to tell when there's something being displayed, but much more noticeable when only a black screen is being lit.

 

[PDE]

Except for the Chimei I saw at the 5th Ave NYC apple Store, all the 9c73 displays I've seen (probably 99% of the MBAs in the NYC stores) have been unevenly lit and displayed 'graininess' (compare the grain to the MBP or Macbook - they have almost none). You may not notice when you're using a complex desktop background. But if you have larger areas of solid colors, it's completely visible. Yes, my eyes are 'sensitive' in that they see difference in color and luminance - for better or worse.

 

[Badwisdom]

I guess i have picky eyes, but frankly, if you use a one color background, i cant imagine anyone not seeing this defect.

 

[aussieinrome]

I guess i have picky eyes, but frankly, if you use a one color background, i cant imagine anyone not seeing this defect.

I just checked my screen with both light and dark flat colors and it's consistent - I guess I'm just lucky. Also, I don't see the grain that people talk about either. And yes, I've got incredibly good eyesight.

 

[mark34]

For the purposes I use the MacBook Air, the screen is far superior to my MacBook screen and any other laptop screen I have used or seen.

I am picky when it comes to my home theater projector and other displays, and to some degree even with my laptop. But really, with a laptop I want it to look punchy and be easy to read and bright and colorful. It is all of that.

Perhaps for some "professional purposes" or for someone who uses this as some form of primary movie viewing device it might be less than perfect.

As a run around device for browsing the internet, checking photos, the occasional itunes program, doing email, some light spreadsheet/document creation, this screen is fantastic.

 

[PDE]

I just checked my screen with both light and dark flat colors and it's consistent - I guess I'm just lucky. Also, I don't see the grain that people talk about either. And yes, I've got incredibly good eyesight.

Which model display do you have? As for grain, the Chimei I saw didn't have any and all others I've seen have it. It's really not a big deal, but if you compare it to one that doesn't the one that doesn't have it is obviously preferable. If you take a white window and drag it around, you'll see the surface of the LCD because it doesn't move . If there is no grain(or almost no grain), you don't see the surface of the LCD, just the window moving.

 

[PDE]

For the purposes I use the MacBook Air, the screen is far superior to my MacBook screen and any other laptop screen I have used or seen.

I am picky when it comes to my home theater projector and other displays, and to some degree even with my laptop. But really, with a laptop I want it to look punchy and be easy to read and bright and colorful. It is all of that.

Perhaps for some "professional purposes" or for someone who uses this as some form of primary movie viewing device it might be less than perfect.

As a run around device for browsing the internet, checking photos, the occasional itunes program, doing email, some light spreadsheet/document creation, this screen is fantastic.

I agree - it's infinitely better than the macbook screen and it's great for the kind of computer it is. However, given that there are displays of the same size, brightness etc that are less uneven and have no graininess at all, Apple should have used those instead. On the other hand, we don't what the supply issues are and it might be that Apple made choice based on supply and availability. It most certainly must have.

There used to be option on thinkpads for an 8-bit IPS display (flexview), but they discontinued the option because the supplier just couldn't keep up with demand and it was considered better to use a far inferior display than to constantly have to deal with supply issues. I have no idea what other constraints Apple has to deal with when sourcing LCDS, but I can imagine that there are quite a few.

 

[aussieinrome]

Which model display do you have? As for grain, the Chimei I saw didn't have any and all others I've seen have it. It's really not a big deal, but if you compare it to one that doesn't the one that doesn't have it is obviously preferable. If you take a white window and drag it around, you'll see the surface of the LCD because it doesn't move . If there is no grain(or almost no grain), you don't see the surface of the LCD, just the window moving.

Hi, I've got a Japanese 1.8 64SSD - I did the test and it looks really nice, no grain to speak of. Thanks!

 

[PDE]

Hi, I've got a Japanese 1.8 64SSD - I did the test and it looks really nice, no grain to speak of. Thanks!

that's good to hear. What's the model number? You can see if it you go to system preferences - displays - color tabl -choose ColorLCD - click on open profile - scroll down to #13 - what does it say under "Model" ?

cheers!

 

[aussieinrome]

that's good to hear. What's the model number? You can see if it you go to system preferences - displays - color tabl -choose ColorLCD - click on open profile - scroll down to #13 - what does it say under "Model" ?

cheers!

Hi,

It says 00009C73 for model and 00000610 for manufacturer and C2486D00 for date.

 

[PDE]

So then you ARE lucky - I've never seen one of those without grain and uneven illumination, but of course I've only seen the ones in the New York Apple Stores.

Enjoy! (you seem to be doing that already...)


Here are two of the MBA displays (9c73) that I've owned and they pretty much represent what I've seen in the store too in terms of general characteristics:

 

[ceehjayem]

I actually love the screen. I previously had a MBP and prefer the MBA over it.

 

[aussieinrome]

So then you ARE lucky - I've never seen one of those without grain and uneven illumination, but of course I've only seen the ones in the New York Apple Stores.

Enjoy! (you seem to be doing that already...)


Here are two of the MBA displays (9c73) that I've owned and they pretty much represent what I've seen in the store too in terms of general characteristics:

Wow, I see what you mean, it's quite a noticeable variation in the tone. My wife's Vaio has the same problem, in fact my old Vaio did have a similar problem too. I'd have to say it's probably more the norm than the exception.

 

[mykoljay]

I have to stop visiting this forum... now i will go home and look for issues with the led display. thanks alot!!

From my opinion, it is the most beautiful notebook screen I have ener used, so nice that I cant stand my work screen.

 

[wolfie]

ive got the 9c73 model as well and i really dont see any variations in tone.

if it was obvious im sure my eyes would have picked up

 

[bence8810]

I also have the same screen model 9c73 and my MBA is the stock model from Apple Japan.

It has the screen bleeding around the edges, and it has the slightly whiter spot around the center of the display. Its just like what the pictures show a few posts above.

Ben

 

[mcvaughan]

ive got the 9c73 model as well and i really dont see any variations in tone.

if it was obvious im sure my eyes would have picked up

I have the same screen on my 1.8/SSD, and looks excellent and bright.

 

[jjahshik32]

So then you ARE lucky - I've never seen one of those without grain and uneven illumination, but of course I've only seen the ones in the New York Apple Stores.

Enjoy! (you seem to be doing that already...)


Here are two of the MBA displays (9c73) that I've owned and they pretty much represent what I've seen in the store too in terms of general characteristics:

Man that looks horrible... when I had my air before returning it.. it didnt look anything near that and the screen was even better than my 2.4ghz mbp led.

 

[mac man 007]

My Mb Has The Same Problem

MY 2007 MACBOOK HAS THE SAME PROBLEM EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN'T HAVE THE LED BACKLIT SCREEN IT IS REALLY ANNOYING & ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT THE SCREEN FLICKERS AS WELL.

 

[glitch44]

MY 2007 MACBOOK HAS THE SAME PROBLEM EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN'T HAVE THE LED BACKLIT SCREEN IT IS REALLY ANNOYING & ON TOP OF ALL OF THAT THE SCREEN FLICKERS AS WELL.

This is the Macbook Air subforum. If you're having a problem with your Macbook, maybe try posting your problem here.
If your screen is broken, I'd recommend taking it into an apple store and using Applecare to have it fixed or replaced.

Also, using all capital letters on the internet is often interpreted as YELLING EVERYTHING YOU'RE SAYING.

 

[aussieinrome]

I have the same screen on my 1.8/SSD, and looks excellent and bright.

I'm starting to think that the SSD models have a better build quality...