are you glossy?

[Zak Mussig]

Hey Nick,
Nice to see someone else posting from “the Lou”…
I think it’s ultimately a preference, but I believe the standard matte screen will serve you better for video editing / graphics / professional work. The glossy screen is all about being bright enough to see it anywhere, and making every interface look like delicious candy… it’s not going to give you as accurate color and brightness information as the regular one.
I’d go with the standard matte screen.

Hope that helps,
Zak

[Jonny Filsinger]

I went through this last month. I finally chose the matte finish and glad I did. My buddy has the glossy and regrets it. The colors are more natural in the matte and the glare on the glossy is too much to handle especially when you sitting with a client.

[Nick Lammers]

Thanks guys. That’s what I expected, but I’ve been wrong once or twice (in the last 10 minutes).

Nick Lammers
Media Mill, Inc.
St. Louis, MO

Media 100i XS 8.2.2
Dual 1Ghz G4

[Rennie Klymyk]

This is the 1st I heard of this. With my photography background glossy was the ultimate choice. The detail was superior. For competition, prints were viewed in a controlled enviroment with only 2 light sources in the room supplied at 45′ angles. Prints were mounted on black velvet backdrops. A properly lit and exposed glossy print looked like reality. Matt prints didn’t stand up to this level of detail. You could see the film grain. Matt prints were the choice of clients who displayed prints in uncontrolled enviroments like living rooms where there were reflections etc. For 4×6 prints matt was good because your finger prints didn’t show up all over the surface. The worst drawback with glossy was that fine scratches showed up easily. Cleaning a glossy print with cotton could and would create fine scratches.

Apple describes the difference like this: “Choose the glossy widescreen display to make your graphics, photos, and videos appear with richer color and deeper blacks — great for watching DVD movies. If you prefer a display with anti-glare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience, choose the standard widescreen display.”

Are they saying the matt screen has an added coating? “If you prefer a display with anti-glare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience”

I would like to see a more scientific assessment or these 2 surfaces. The glossy sounds like it is more accurate especially for viewing HD on such a small monitor. This is a common complaint on these forums. It is difficult to focus the new line of “HD” cameras efficiently in the field without a monitor. It would make sense to have the sharpest viewing surface possible on your editing system. We would have to get used to wearing black shirts for editing though.

“everything is broken”

[Nick Lammers]

I think what they are saying is that the matte finish on the monitor gives a more accurate representations, while the glossy finish may make things look “prettier.” Personally, I think I would also like the anti-glare coating, which is not available on the glossy screen.

I’m no photographer, so I don’t know if a comparison between how your prints look as glossy/matte vs. a computer screen is of use or not.

Nick Lammers
Media Mill, Inc.
St. Louis, MO

Media 100i XS 8.2.2
Dual 1Ghz G4

[Rennie Klymyk]

[Nickel] “I think what they are saying is that the matte finish on the monitor gives a more accurate representations, while the glossy finish may make things look “prettier.””

Could be but it also could be that they’ve always given us a matt screen on lap tops and now they are giving us a glossy (clear) surface. We don’t see mat surfaces on our crt monitors, just glossy. The surface is the only thing they are changing here. If they tried to “candy up” the picture they would need to play with the lcd cells. Maybe they noticed that by useing ire 0 black level with the matt screens we are loosing too much. They say dvd’s look great, especially the blacks.

[Nickel] “Personally, I think I would also like the anti-glare coating, which is not available on the glossy screen.”

The way I read it is, the surface is glossy but if you want mat they will coat it for you as they have been doing in their standard surface up until now. If you go back a read what Apple says, if you want the coating you get the mat screen, they don’t add a non glare coating to the mat screen. If you want it they add a non glare coating to a glossy screen to get mat. My quote from Apple above was cut and pasted from the Apple site.

I don’t know if my photo print comparison has any bearing on the different monitor surfaces or not but as a photographer who has shot and printed and peered at print surfaces through loupes looking for the sharpest results through various lenses etc. I have learned to appreciate good clear imaging. Another anology that has some bearing here is glass itself. Plain glass is glossy and very clear yet museaums spend 50 times as much on non glare glass to try to achive the clarity of plain glass while eliminating the reflections. There are probably over 50 types of non-glare glass on the market yet experts in the field agree that plain clear glass is the sharpest but you must live with the reflections. This sounds to me like the comming of age of laptop screen surfaces.

“everything is broken”

[Bret Williams]

The difference between matte prints and glossy prints is not analagous to monitors. Monitors are in a sense fixed in place and a glossy screen is quite a pain to look at unless you get yourself and the monitors just perfectly aligned. Even in a dark room the reflection of the output of the screen shows in itself.

A photo can be held and manuevered to lose the reflection almost subconsciously. Notice how the museums use matte because like a monitor, it’s fixed in place.

Step into a compusa or walmart and look at all the laptops running. On or off and you’ll immediately find that the matte screen is easier to look at without moving your body around (you can’t move the laptop there) to not get a reflection.

IMHO the glossys are just a ridiculous fad. LCDs shouldn’t be used to color work anyway.

[Andy Mees]

anyone wanting the “glossy” can simply get a sheet of acetate (like you’d use for an old fashioned (!) overhead projector) and tape it to the top of the display so it hangs down over the screen … my last laptop had to be sent in for a top-case replacement, when it came back it had a sheet of acetate taped over the screen (presumably for protection during assembly).

[Walter Biscardi]

[Nickel] “Hi. Looking at Apple’s 17 inch Mac Book Pro. I was wondering if anyone has tested whether the glossy screen or standard screen is better for video editing. Thanks.”

I looked at them in an Apple Store and found the glossy screen to essentially be a mirror. Too reflective and distracting for me to work with. I plan to stick with the matte screen for my next laptop purchase.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters