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Mac Book Pro(s) and cons
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Got the 17″ a few months ago and have edited on location a couple of times with it. Matte screen, only because I thought the glossy might show fingerprints more quickly. Only negative is the trackpad is larger and I tend to brush it with the edge of my hand when I’m typing. I know there’s a feature to “ignore accidental trackpad input” but then there’s a delay when you stop typing and try to use the trackpad, it takes a second or two to “wake up” before it recongnizes input. I never had this problem on my 15″. Works pretty well for editing compressed though.
Joe Murray
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Hey Mitch,
I thought the case is that a Matte screen is actually jsut a glossy screen, except that the matte screen has a layer of anti-glare plastic laid over it… so basically the matte screen is the same, but with more. That’s just what my research has told me.Thanks,
Alexander Gao
USC School of Cinematic Arts
John C. Hench D.A.D.A. -
[Chris Poisson] “I’m in AZ too, I remember hearing you talk about the glossy screen last month at the AZFCPUG meeting, but I wasn’t paying attention I guess. So you’re saying it is noticeably sharper? I’ll have to check that again at the Apple store…
“Definitely… it’s an order of magnitude…
[Chris Poisson] “I thought the case is that a Matte screen is actually jsut a glossy screen, except that the matte screen has a layer of anti-glare plastic laid over it… so basically the matte screen is the same, but with more. That’s just what my research has told me.”
Let’s hope not, because if so, they screwed up. Kinda of like saying that your car and my car are the same, except mine is perfect and yours has dents all over it… not really the same in the end, is it?
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.comApple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro
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What we are losing sight of here is our target audience. 99% of the flatscreens out there are matte, so do you want to create graphics and color correct your video on a glossy screen that “provides sharper more intense colors” and then have your client look at it on their $99 Lenovo computer flatscreen that looks like crap? Personally I would rather know that they are seeign the best crap I can make without having a false sense of what they are seeing. (Does that make any sense????)
I’m not one to shoot for the lowest common denominator either. But I don’t want a false sense of security thinking that my graphics and video look extra good on my glossy screen, then send it to my client’s matte screen and have it not look as good.
Little side story- I was an intern in the post department on the Barney Show (yes the big purple dino). We had all the best equipment for audio remixing and recording. I would sit in the back of the mix suite and watch him work on the best audio monitors and mixing consoles. But, when he finally did the final mix master for distrobution, he turned off the nice big $8000 Genelec monitors, and did the final mix to a pair of 5″ single coil $100 Auralex monitors. Confused, I asked him why, and he said “What kind of speakers are in your TV?” Clever man, and that year we won the daytime Emmy for Audio mixing and mastering live to tape. So, always remember your target audience, and what their experience will be. I only do industrial video training, nothing exciting. But thinking about this stuff makes us sucessful.
Wow, that was corney….
Matt
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[mattjgerard] “What we are losing sight of here is our target audience. 99% of the flatscreens out there are matte, so do you want to create graphics and color correct your video on a glossy screen that “provides sharper more intense colors” and then have your client look at it on their $99 Lenovo computer flatscreen that looks like crap? Personally I would rather know that they are seeign the best crap I can make without having a false sense of what they are seeing. (Does that make any sense????)”
Perhaps, but it misses the larger point. First, my screen is calibrated, but let’s pretend it isn’t. Second, historically ALL consumer gear has greater color saturation, automatic brightness, etc… so if you really want to maytch their screens, the argument could be made that you NEED a glossy screen.
[mattjgerard] “I’m not one to shoot for the lowest common denominator either. But I don’t want a false sense of security thinking that my graphics and video look extra good on my glossy screen, then send it to my client’s matte screen and have it not look as good. “
See above.
[mattjgerard] “Little side story- I was an intern in the post department on the Barney Show (yes the big purple dino). We had all the best equipment for audio remixing and recording. I would sit in the back of the mix suite and watch him work on the best audio monitors and mixing consoles. But, when he finally did the final mix master for distrobution, he turned off the nice big $8000 Genelec monitors, and did the final mix to a pair of 5” single coil $100 Auralex monitors. Confused, I asked him why, and he said “What kind of speakers are in your TV?” Clever man, and that year we won the daytime Emmy for Audio mixing and mastering live to tape. “
We used to do that too… but not anymore. The speakers in the large screens are much improved these days… and a great many people have external sound systems on their TV’s, since they start at $99 now.
[mattjgerard] “So, always remember your target audience, and what their experience will be. I only do industrial video training, nothing exciting. But thinking about this stuff makes us sucessful.”
You make good points, but it’s still our job to make broadcast correct video, regardless of where it goes. The reason: precisely because every single TV is different, so we have to have some kind of a standard we can all agree on.
Surveyors use a brass pin, and we use the NTSC standards…
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.comApple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro
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I’ll second that. Why tailor your audio and video to the people with crappy equipment? The people who really care are the ones with decent speakers and screens. In the 70s and 80s, it made more sense to mix for the masses, but the quality of screens and speakers has come a long way. Now if only we could get the broadcasters to care as much about the quality of the signal they’re sending…
Joe Murray
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[Mitch Ives] “Perhaps, but it misses the larger point. First, my screen is calibrated, but let’s pretend it isn’t. Second, historically ALL consumer gear has greater color saturation, automatic brightness, etc… so if you really want to maytch their screens, the argument could be made that you NEED a glossy screen.”
If you have a properly calibrated screen, why should it matter if the screen is matte or glossy? And, if you want your screen to match the consumer gear out there, according to you it will be out of calibration anyway. What is your reference? The NTSC standards or what your audience actually sees? The manufacturers of consumer gear don’t seem to mind if their color and brightness levels are out of whack compared to the NTSC standards.
[Mitch Ives] “The speakers in the large screens are much improved these days… and a great many people have external sound systems on their TV’s, since they start at $99 now.”
My mistake, I should have clarified that my audience is probably not the same as yours. 90% of my stuff is played back on laptops or business based computer screens with audio from the laptop speakers or those little shatty free ones that come with the computer, not broadcast. I don’t think my clients go home and play their sales training videos in the the home theater… So, my audience is a little different than yours, and I would agree with you if they were the same as yours.
[Mitch Ives] “You make good points, but it’s still our job to make broadcast correct video, regardless of where it goes. The reason: precisely because every single TV is different, so we have to have some kind of a standard we can all agree on.”
I completely agree with you on the standards front. We need them. But my video looking good on a glossy screen and not good on a matte screen really doens’t have much to do with the NTSC standards. Both can be completely within the standard, but one looks better than the other.
I think this is more about knowing your target audience and catering to them. this is why i preview my video on 3 different monitors when I do my color corrections, ( my dell computer screens, a sony 27″ LMV-232 pro LCD monitor, and a sony tube screen, all “calibrated” as best as they can be) just to make sure it looks the best I can make it on all 3.
I think that we both have valid points, and would agree on most things if our target audience were the same. I enjoy hearing differing views, more often than not it causes me to rethink how I work, and make adjustments accordingly.
Matt
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[mattjgerard] “If you have a properly calibrated screen, why should it matter if the screen is matte or glossy? And, if you want your screen to match the consumer gear out there, according to you it will be out of calibration anyway. What is your reference? The NTSC standards or what your audience actually sees? The manufacturers of consumer gear don’t seem to mind if their color and brightness levels are out of whack compared to the NTSC standards. “
Exactly, it’s calibrated to NTSC. I actually think you and I are making the same point, just from different angles…
[mattjgerard] ” I completely agree with you on the standards front. We need them. But my video looking good on a glossy screen and not good on a matte screen really doens’t have much to do with the NTSC standards. Both can be completely within the standard, but one looks better than the other. “
If you calibrate the one you’re using, it should look the same. Besides, how can you control what screen thay have on their laptop? It could be matte or glossy…
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.comApple Certified Trainer: Final Cut Pro
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Whoa! Somewhere along the way, this thread got screwed up. Mitch, you have a quote from me above that’s not from me.
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Since you folks seem to know so much about the MBP-external monitor combination issue, can one of you answer the following?: I recently switched from a G4 PB to a 15″ MBP and of course I’m as happy as can be, except… my Fujitsu W19 screen works fine with the MBP, but my FCP 4.5 does not recognize it in the View > Video Playback settings, which was not the case with the G4. This means I can only view full screen on the MBP, neither the W19 nor my Sony tube that I use for color will do the trick. FCP no longer recognizes more than Digital Cinema Desktop Preview – Main. Does this have something to do with the new MBP external monitor connection hub (vs. G4)? Or is it because I’m using the digital input on my external monitor? Thanks for your advice, Michael
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