Court is now in session, please be seated. On today’s docket, a pair of San Diego residents, Dave Gatley and Fred Greaves, are suing Apple over the quality of the MacBook and MacBook Pro displays (PDF link). At stake is whether or not the screens are suitable for high quality visual work, specifically photo-editing. Greaves and Gatley are taking issue with Apple’s claim that the MB/MBP displays are capable of displaying millions of colors, alleging that this functionality is only achieved by the excessive use of dithering, and that in reality, the computer is incapable of reproducing the entire color spectrum without banding arising.
Having read through much of the complaint, I do find myself somewhat confused as to what the cause of this problem is. In one portion of the document, there is an allegation that this problem is related to OS X and that running Windows on the same machine shows no such problems. However, the document also reproduces complaints from a number of forum posters on both Apple’s Discussion site (I couldn’t find the thread mentioned, as it appeared to have been removed), and several complaints stated that the color issues were caused by Apple using 6-bit displays instead of 8-bit displays. It’s also suggested that the problem only occurs on some MB/MBPs.
Of course, reproducing forum postings can be a double-edged sword, as exhibited in the first example given in the complaint:
“it is not only the color banding and gradient stuff. Hook up a ACD and you will see that the color is W off if i edit a pict in aperture on my mbp17 and then preview it on my 23acd i vomit! This is no PRO computer!”The plaintiffs also claimed that they’d been told by several Geniuses that they were being “too picky” about the quality of the displays.
We turn it over to you, readers: any of you encountered problems with your MB/MBP screens? I don’t have a professional photographer’s eye, so I went looking on the Goog and found a post by Mac user/photog James Duncan Davidson which may be related. What say you: is this a worthy cause to take to Apple, or is it merely the lay of the land?
[via Engadget]
I agree all apple displays have a sparkly screen door quality, even the Cinema displays. I have a laptop, but I've never considred buying a stand alone apple display. If I could have a better laptop display I'd love it.
Apple laptop displays are much higher quality than most desktop displays I work with. They are indeed being too picky. It's a Laptop display. Apple Cinema Displays are expensive for a reason. Their amazingly close to perfect color accuracy is one of those reasons. Apple never says that their MBP dipslays are the same quality as their Apple Cinema displays. Stupid asses, that's like saying, "My cell Analog Television isn't as good as my 1080p HD set, so I'm going to file a class action suit against the Analog Television manufacuterer."
Clueless morons.
Well, if it is indeed true that the displays can't properly show millions of colors, then Apple should do something about it, or stop advertising them as such.
That said, they are being incredibly picky. These aren't super-top-of-the-line displays here, or the computers' prices would skyrocket.
The screen on the MB is one of the reasons that my move from the iBook to MacBook has been so enjoyable. The combination brightness and color on the display, along with the widescreen aspect, makes it terrific to work on. I notice it when I go back to using an iBook on a rare occasion. I'm not pro photographer, though, so I can't comment on the color correctness.
Displays on the Macbook and Macbook Pro are some of the best in the industry and these people whom ever they are don't know what they are talking about. The specs that are printed are the specs that the video can do and that is that.
"Displays on the Macbook and Macbook Pro are some of the best in the industry and these people whom ever they are don't know what they are talking about."
Actually, you don't know what you are talking about, John. Apple shipped a large number of bad screens in recent portables, and people on the discussion boards are screaming about it. Just because you got a good one does not mean others didn't get burned. This is a huge issue, & Apple is aware of it. In addition to the grainy-sparkly issue mentioned in the lawsuit, there is another separate issue of uneven backlighting producing vignetting and banding. My brand new MBP is getting its screen replaced by Apple under warranty for the uneven backlighting issue. So get a clue & do some research before mouthing off on the internet.
To "Designer"
"My brand new MBP is getting its screen replaced by Apple under warranty for the uneven backlighting issue. So get a clue & do some research before mouthing off on the internet."
It's a warranty issue, not a lawsuit issue. For the two in question in the lawsuit, they should have simply not purchsed the laptops if the screens didn't meet their needs.
"It's a warranty issue, not a lawsuit issue."
I understand that distinction. I did mention my issue was a separate issue. My point is that someone can't just say Apple stuff is "the best in the industry & these people whom ever they are don't know what they are talking about," without doing some investigation. I went to Apple's own discussion boards, in the MacBook Pro-->Displays section, and found quite a discussion which has been raging for about a year. So it is unfair to suggest that this lawsuit is frivolous. Apple typically tries to cover up problems before facing them. It is also unethical of Apple to advertise their equipment as the best available for professional users, while shipping lots of defective or below-spec units. It will be up to the court to sort out the issues, but I hope this motivates Apple to improve quality control. There is a difference between having a normal percentage of defects repaired under warranty, and continuing to ship crap in volume hoping to get away with only dealing with the most vigorous complaints.
The MacBook Pro C2Ds I've seen had very uneven backlighting (bright stripe at the bottom, dark top corners) and poor viewing angles. MacBooks were okay.
You don't realise how bad a screen is, until you've seen something better. Most laptop screens these days are awful. My yardstick is that the screen, when displaying a blank wordprocessor screen, should be like a pure sheet of white paper with no discernible artefacts. When purchasing my last notebook, I noted the current generation of PC notebook screens had deteriorated, with HP and Dell's being among the worst. Even among the Thinkpad range, some models had bad screens, while the high end range had rather good screens. I had to pay extra to get a Thinkpad with a good high-res screen that did not exhibit granularity.
When I came to examine MBP's, I was surprised how bad the screens were, in terms of background granularity.
Admittedly, most people couldn't care less, and many friends of mine are happy with granular screens. Perhaps that's why computer makers feel they can get away with lesser screens, because people don't make a fuss.
Take a computer LCD screen, open up a word processor, and stare at the detail of the screen. You'll see what I mean by granularity. Some screens are better than others in this respect.