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MacBook Pro First Look: LED (4/4)

Vincent Alzieu
October 24, 2008 1:41 PM
Following last month's announcements, we've just got our hands on a MacBook Pro.  Given the amount of controversy that has been kicked up by the glossy screen, we've decided to take a look at it in detail before we publish our full test.

We've broken this first look at the MBP's new glossy screen up into four sections:
  • Part 4: LED Performance


Part 4: LED Performance

As a reminder, here's how Apple describe the MacBook Pro's screen on their website:
"The moment you open your MacBook Pro you’re greeted by glorious, full screen brightness. But that’s only one gleaming quality of the glossy LED-backlit widescreen display. The picture is brilliant and sharp from corner to corner. And anything you view — including the ultrathin display itself — is a spectacular experience."
Just what have they packed into it to deliver 'spectacular' performance then?

Panel Type

As soon as you tip it back, it becomes evident that Apple have fitted a TN panel in the new MBP:


The MacBook Pro shows all the hallmarks of a TN panel
Looking at it from below, color fidelity drops and whites in particular flatten out and become black.  These poor viewing angles are typical of the TN panels which are most common in laptops.  IPS and VA screens don't suffer this problem, but aren't as energy-efficient.

Even Images?

We tried one of favorite tests on the MBP's screen.  Displaying a perfectly even orange circle on a black background, we photographed the very center of the screen looking at it straight on:


The image shown should be a uniformly-orange circle against a deep black background
As you can see, the lower half of the circle is a lot lighter than the top, even though only one color is being sent to the screen. 

It's almost inevitable with a TN screen, and image professionals will want to think about a well-calibrated external monitor next to their MBP.

But just like with the poor viewing angles we looked at above, this lack of color homogenity across the whole image is by no means uncommon.

It's just not as 'spectacular' as Apple would like to claim ...


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