Matte vs. Glossy on MBP

[Zak Mussig]

Matte. Better color with less glare. The glossy screen won’t enhance your other activities, and would detract from graphics and editing work.

Zak

[Bret Williams]

I just don’t get the glossy thing. Glare city. Every time I see matte and glossy next to each other in a store I find myself having to tilt and move the glossys to see them. And if they’re locked down they’re sometimes useless. The mattes are of course fine.

I think glossy may be better served for output devices like LCD tvs where you need the brightness and sharpness.

[Martin Baker]

I’ve ordered the glossy version which should arrive by end of the week. I considered the whole matte vs glossy debate and read way more online opinions of matte to glossy converts than those who regretted the glossy decision. Where I usually work, the reflections shouldn’t be a problem and there’s no doubt that the glossy screens are significantly more vibrant.

Martin
Digital Heaven, London UK
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[Jeff Carpenter]

For you I’d say it’s personal preference. For photographers and graphic artists I would suggest Matte since the color is more accurate. But for video it shouldn’t matter because you’re judging your color on an external NTSC monitor, right?? 😉 Yeah, ok. Not always the case, I know. So probably you should, go matte.

But if you find you REALLY love the glossy and you ALWAYS judge your video on an external monitor…then sure, go for the glossy. I’ve used ’em before and they’re just fine. Usually when I hear people complain about glare I find that they’ve only viewed them in a store. You know…the places with airplane hanger styled fluorescent lamps all over the place. I think the glossy screens look pretty terrible in an Apple store too, but I had to use one on a job once and I had zero problems with the screen. It does have a greater contrast to it which is kind of neat.

That being said, I bought my Macbook Pro with a matte screen and haven’t regretted it for a second. I use Photoshop quite a bit and am much happier judging photos on my computer than a glossy one.

[Tom Wolsky]

Curious why you decided on the glossy version. Could you say why you pick that?

Thanks.

All the best,

Tom

Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy” DVDs

[Walter Biscardi]

[Scott Davis] “About to order MBP and was looking on some input on the glossy vs. matte screen. I’ll use it as a multi-purpose machinge; from e-mail, word proscessing to field edits and simple PS/AE work. Thanks in advance.”

Have you gone to an Apple Store or another store to actually see the difference? I would HIGHLY recommend this as whatever we say here is purely subjective and not necessarily how you might see things. It’s quite different when you actually see what the screens look like vs. reading about them.

Myself, I find the glossy too much like a mirror reflecting everything around me. Way too distracting for my tastes. I will order the matte finish on mine.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
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[Bill]

I am curious why apple would even offer a glossy finish?
1. relfection
2. shows dust and smudges
3. poor color representation
4 show any imperfection (scratch or twisted monitor)

I see it as a poor attempt to gain market share. Just because dell and HP do it doesn’t mean they should.

[Scott Davis]

I haven’t seen one in person. Currently I’m doing some work in an area that is 4-5 hours from anyplace that sells Apple products and my current laptop is on its last legs and have to make a purchase on online knowledge only. I’m thinking I can’t go wrong with the matte screen.

[Bret Williams]

Yeah, the stores are worse, but the first macbook I ever saw was at a buddies house. He still had his titanium powerbook right next to it. I picked up the macbook and it was like Walter said, a mirror. Anything black wasn’t black, it was me or whatever else was in the room. And I found myself adjusting the screen or contorting myself to keep the glare from the light off it. I didn’t notice any great sharpness or brighntess difference gain that was worth it.

[Mitch Ives]

[Tom Wolsky] “Curious why you decided on the glossy version. Could you say why you pick that?”

Tom, I too ordered the glossy screen. I did the necessary research, actually worked with machines that have the glossy screen and came to the conclusion that it isn’t the problem everyone seems to think it is, and that in IMO (and others) video looks better on the glossy than on the matte. I live in Arizona… if the glare isn’t a problem here, it isn’t a problem anywhere.

As for the comments about the color being better on the matte, I find that comment humorous. I find the blacks much better on the glossy screen. FWIW, IMO all laptops are monitor challenged. Given that we use them for graphics, web, video and have to match output to PC stuff as well, we figured out that all Mac laptops need some serious adjustments to be accurate:

First, turn off the setting that adjusts brightness based on the room light levels. Having that on is like trying to take a survey without a brass pin, since everything is perpetually changing.

Second, all our machines have the monitors at 2.2 Gamma. Why… because it’s what video uses (and coincidentally PC’s too).

Third, calibrate the brightness, using color bars and an NTSC monitor. If you can’t get it there, then use third party monitor calibration solutions.

Doing this, we’ve had no trouble using laptops to work with video, and the glossy screen is no exception.

Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.
mitch@insightproductions.com

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