The OP wants to know if the 15-inch have the same high adobe rgb gamut as 17-inch. It does not, period.
As I've said before (or at least I should have), it the panel's construction's the point, as well as my logic. You say it's flawed, OK- you're comp[letely unfamiliar with the relative properties/display limits of TN vs. S-IPS screens. And, as I recall, I purchased a T60 with NO copy in any ad that stated it had an S-IPS panel, a panel that was hobbled from Day One by inferior GPU circuitry and bad drivers. It wouldn't have made any difference if the T60 HAD only a 6-bit TN panel; the supporting hardware gave the T60's pretty good example of an S-IPS (albiet a tad short-lived in the nit dept., but whatever), panel nowhere to go but narrow gamut. Its brightness wasn't out of the park, neither was its contrast. Its rendering of really fine detail and complex shading ramps was only OK. So before you go off on whether my logic's 'absurd', you might want to have some of the experience I do, because the
fact is that NO TN panel-equipped laptop/notebook computer will do true 24-bit, nor will it do ProPhoto RGB gamut. Since I can get every 17" UMBP to easily calibrate to an ICC ProPhoto RGB color space, where's the hole in my logic, Phil? Do you actually know the shape and size of the ProPhoto RGB color space, vs., say, the well-worn printer's friend, the battle-ready to convert to CMYK Adobe RGB 1998? It's quite a difference. It also requires WAY better hardware than 6-bit, let alone the funnel-shaped only ICC color calibration capability of the typical TN panel, or the fact that 6-bit to 8-bit dithering algorithms preclude calibrating any TN panel to anywhere NEAR the ProPhoto color space? Or that ProPhoto RGB is the ONLY color space many printers of both fine-art printing and medical screen and video rendering production facilities will allow? Or that since the advent and refinement of sub $2.5k cost professional-grade printers with 9,10, and 12 ultra-high contrast, pigment-based inks that can last longer than 3 Cibachromes' lives end-to-end has remade the requirements of every photographer who wants to print to the limits of the existing technology, from RAW conversion software to 16-bit internal image processing of those RAW files, in cameras that cost less than a used Hasseblad and can handle color gamuts so much larger than the old Adobe RGB 1998 that was all that was needed (still is, in most cases) for even the highest-end CMYK offset printing that color spaces such as ProPhoto RGB will soon be *too small* for the printing and display technology that'll be here in several years, at consumer prices? Or that the 17" UMBP's display easily exceeds ANY TN panels' 6-bit, relatively narrow-gamut rendering, capability? If you know enough to robustly refute my simple, fact-based observations, Phil, you
must know at least some of that, right? Pardon me if I doubt that you're doing anything but pontificating with more attitude than facts. You seem to want it both ways- my logic's 'absurd', but you also want to ignore the very facts that I've based my 'absurd' logic ON... so tell me, Phil- what's 'absurd'? The facts about TN and S-IPS panels, or my logic?
Suppliers to Apple are notoriously tight-lipped about ANY facet of the entire process by which they do business with Apple- and for good reason. Have you ever seen an Interrogatory that's sole reason for existing is to gut and bone the credibility of anyone who broaches Apple's brutally enforced NDAs? I have. And, no, the reason I have any information at all about the real hardware that's shipped to Apple's contracted factories is because I happen to know a few trustworthy folks who deal with these suppliers on a daily basis, and who have no reason to lie, or even to care, who believes or doesn't believe what Apple's panel suppliers provide to fill that gap behind the 17" UMBP's glass display.
Whatever the 17" UMBP has is really, at the end of the day, beside the point. The REAL point is: no, the UMBP 15-inch does NOT have the same high adobe rgb gamut as the UMBP 17-inch... the 15" has an adequate display for rendering, in full, the entire Adobe RGB 1998 color space. But it does NOT have the ability to render anything resembling the REAL pro color space needed for higher-end printing, photographic and video editing, and any color-critical files that will be output to devices capable of rendering more than the Adobe RGB 1998 color space. If the Adobe RGB 1998 color space is the only one the OP's gonna need, then THAT's the one he should buy. OTOH, it will not be adequate soon, for ANY professional purpose, in the same manner that sRGB is just a entry-level comsumer-color space that is only appropriate for the Web, anymore.
Oh, yeah... S-IPS panels might not be a good idea for ANY consumer-grade electronics company, even one that manufactures a small slice of pro-grade software and hardware, to 'crow about', because of the many pitfalls of trying to promote and educate potential buyers at the same time (take a look at what happened with the 'non-user replaceable battery' debacle of the 17" UMBP, where almost every published 17" UMBP review regurgitates the same Apple 'gearhead' ad copy, then drills holes through it with easy-to understand and convincing complaints? If you know enough to robustly refute my simple, fact-based observations, you gotta know what I'm talking about... right?
The 15" UMBP is inferior in its display to the 17" UMBP BECAUSE it is a TN vs. an S-IPS panel. If you know of a TN panel that does hardware 24-bit and can be calibrated to a hugely broad gamut such as Pro photo RGB, please let me know, along with who changed the laws of physics. My
logic doesn't need to be right or wrong, it's so simple, all one needs are for the <facts> to be correct. A TN panel's never gonna display Prophot RGB gamut; it's never gonna provide 24-bit color in hardware. The 17" does both. My 'logic' is: ProPhoto RGB cannot be displayed without hardware, NON-dithered 24-bit color. One cannot calibrate to ICC-spec ProPhoto RGB with a TN panel; they do NOT provide the gamut needed for ProPhoto RGB, only Adobe RGB 1998, and THAT's a tight squeeze, even on a nice TN-paneled 15" UMBP.
So beleive what ya like, protest if you want, oppose me at every turn- it makes no difference, because the fcats are, as stubborn little buggers that they are, always gonna remain the facts. And the facts do NOT support your contentions. Period.
Best,
Charlie
