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TheGreatButcher · Mar 17, 2005, 09:26 PM

I love my PowerBook, but one of my friends pulled out his subcompact Dell, and the display really stood out. The color sharpness looked like a plasma display or a CRT - is there some kind of high tech LCD that Apple isn't using?

And does Apple ever intend to update its mobile displays? For the last 4 years, the displays have been virtually unchanged as far as resolution goes - about the only change i've noticed are the lack of dead pixels

hayesk · Mar 17, 2005, 10:06 PM

The sharpness looked like a CRT? Or the saturation?

If the sharpness, then be glad you have what you have.

Did it really look better? Have you looked at the same image on both screens?

TheIceMan · Mar 17, 2005, 10:07 PM

I was just about to start a thread saying the exact same thing! I saw my friend's Dell laptop and must admit that I was really impressed with the quality of the screen. Man, I do hope that Apple comes out with something similar or better than what we're seeing on the PC side.

TheGreatButcher · Mar 17, 2005, 10:18 PM

Sorry - the saturation - the colors looked rich like on a CRT or plasma. I didn't get a chance to look at how a DVD movie would look, but from what I saw, the Dell did look better, even though the resolution wasn't quite as good (but it was in proportion to my 15" since it was a subcompact)

It just seems that Apple has let their mobile displays in their PowerBooks stagnate over the last 4 years with no updates, and this is a big deal to me because I do edit with Final Cut twice a year for video projects and would prefer not to use an external display

iREZ · Mar 17, 2005, 11:00 PM

saturation could look better due to the gamma used for PC calibration 2.0 vs Mac calibration 1.6. Also the 12" PB and iB aren't known for their screens, they're pretty bad compared to the 15" and 17". I set my gamma level to 1.8 and never complain on my dim screen. I'm sure Apple will use better technology in their next line of PB's, or at least they better.

Superchicken · Mar 17, 2005, 11:13 PM

Dang I'm glad you posted this thread... I just fiddled with colour sync and now mine is like... Supa sweet... I upped the saturation a lot... now it reminds me a bit more of the colours on my imac which I missed

Spliff · Mar 17, 2005, 11:25 PM

GreatButcher:

Does the Dell have one of those glossy ultra-bright displays like the Sony or Toshiba laptops? If so, apparently they are very, very easily scratched and have lousy colour accuracy.

But they sure look good.

TheGreatButcher · Mar 17, 2005, 11:27 PM

Ya it did kinda look ultra glossy. Just looked impressive. Overall, it reminds me of the fact that out of all the cool things they have added to the PowerBook over the last 4 years, a better display / display resolution has not been one of them

Zimphire · Mar 18, 2005, 05:52 AM

Originally posted by iREZ:
saturation could look better due to the gamma used for PC calibration 2.0 vs Mac calibration 1.6. Also the 12" PB and iB aren't known for their screens, they're pretty bad compared to the 15" and 17". I set my gamma level to 1.8 and never complain on my dim screen. I'm sure Apple will use better technology in their next line of PB's, or at least they better.

Right, that is why I don't use "Mac Gamma"

Mr Kino · Mar 18, 2005, 08:21 AM

only the inspirion 700m and the inspition 9300 offer that "glossy" screen. Other than that dont get sold on the other displays for their portables. Those glossy screens are not all they are cracked up to be. As it was already mentioned they get scratched very easily, and they are very reflective. I cant imagine watching anything on those things for more than 1 hour.

i know its out of subject, (sort of) but dell no longer offers pentium 4s in their laptops. They completely switched to pentium ms and celeron ms.

Sarc · Mar 18, 2005, 08:35 AM

what Sony sells as XBrite LCD Technology sure looks good. It is very, very, bright.

I hope Apple goes one step ahead and starts using OLED's, very bright and very low power consumption since they don't require a backlight, could boost battery life -a lot-.
Unfortunately last I heard of them, the technology was still experimental and they where having trouble getting high resolutions.

Anyway, Apple is known to adopt technologies in their early stages that become the standard (Bluetooth, AirPort, etc).

Deimos · Mar 18, 2005, 08:36 AM

I can't speak for Dell's portables screens, but their LCD monitors are excellent, just as good (and cheaper) as Apple's.

One thing to do though, is to calibrate your screen. The standard profiles Apple supplies are pretty bad, especially on LCDs.

hayesk · Mar 18, 2005, 10:01 AM

Originally posted by TheGreatButcher:
Ya it did kinda look ultra glossy. Just looked impressive. Overall, it reminds me of the fact that out of all the cool things they have added to the PowerBook over the last 4 years, a better display / display resolution has not been one of them

Well, maybe better display. But what is better resolution? Cramming more pixels into the same space isn't "better" in my opinion.

I like the pixel counts in the current PowerBooks. I don't want 1600x1000 crammed into a 15" screen.