New Retina Screen VS. Prior Anti-Glare Screen

Clinton, if you can share any more "insider's knowledge" re PShop's optimized-for-retina release date, that would be much appreciated. (FYI: I pre-purchased student version of CS6, so I'm almost certain that I CANNOT upgrade the PShop from this software package; therefore, I'd have to buy a new PShop)

But if I can expect that PShop optimized-for-retina will be released in the near future, then I'm leaning toward the MBPRD. Aye, that's the rub! If I purchase the MBP Standard Hi-Res Anti-glare, then in two years, its resolution will seem awful. ;(

However, I did have a chance to speak with a more knowledgeable salesperson at Fry's yesterday. He told me that the Mac OS resolution is device "independent," meaning that if I were to but the MBP Standard Hi-Res Anti-Glare, and also buy a standalone flatscreen with a higher resolution, say 1920 X 1200, then theoretically, the image on the flatscreen would appear at the flatscreen's resolution of 1920 X 1200, and NOT 1680 X 1080.

Can anyone confirm this? Is it true that the Mac OS (screen resolution) is device-independent; therefore capable of higher resolutions based on dpi of output?

Thanks. 😉

Josh Cali,

BTW: Do you know what resolution video would show at on the MBP Hi-Res Anti-glare? (1080p doesn't seem possible...)

In the near future I will be doing much more photo-editing, working in PShop, so the Retina model does have an appeal. The downsides are of course that it's NOT user-upgradeable, NOT environmentally friendly, and not serviceable.

Can you explain, in layman's terms, how the "pixel doubling" of the 2880x1900 works?

(I don't think anyone in his right mind wants to work on the Mac OS set at 2880 x 1900; however, given that this capability creates a doubling effect, it appears worthwhile in photo editing and processing.

Thanks for contributing your expertise.

Michael,

As for Photoshop Retina version - no one in marketing seems to be jumping into the fray on the Photoshop forums to offer up any information as to when, if, or how the Retina version of PS will ship. I'll get in touch with some friends and get back.

Clinton

Clinton,

You rock. Thanks, dude.

I want to extend my gratitude to all those who have commented here. I was just reflecting on how much we, as consumers, are really responsible to take to task these developers. Why? Because when we're offered a bill of goods, we should **** well know exactly what we're buying.

As a practicing artist, and as one who works as a technical writer, I'm very accustomed to reviewing and conforming to product specifications. What I'm not accustomed to is trying to parse the effects of those ill-prepared product launches and seemingly uncoordinated tech briefs. In short, this frustrates me.

But these discussion groups have become invaluable in helping me form an informed opinion before I buy.

Cheers, Saludos, In Boca al Lupo,

M.

Hey guys, not sure if this would help you guys or not, but I did just happen to stumble upon something:

https://jira.appcelerator.org/browse/APSTUD-4937?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin. system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#issue-tabs

Seems unlikely to have any effect. The issue here has nothing to do with the state of the pixels, it's to do with the glossy and reflective surface in front of them.

After going to the Apple store a few times and reading as much as I can, I decided to go for the retina despite the lack of program support including especiallyPS and Office. However, I found when trying Word on it, if I raised the res, it looked quite good enough. Photos in Aperture, looked fabulous to the eye at the "Optimized" res and all the other res too. And just visually blew the anti glare away at the optimized res. Just as important for me in photography is that the panel is an IPS panel and color calibrates many levels of accuracy more than the anti-glare older screens. It is now accurate enough to actually do pretty high quality color correction on photographs, something that the older laptops didn't really do, despite how good you might think they look. This is big for photo and video, something I'm not seeing discussed as much on this board, but if you process photos and then print them or submit them for publication, it's huge.

I've done a fair amount of research this summer, too, on the MBPRD. It's been frustrating, too, not knowing how or if Adobe PShop would really be released and optimized for the Retina.

Many of you are probably already aware of Adobe's announcement. It's confirmed. It's happening. Only, Adobe isn't committing to a date. Nevertheless, it's real:

http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2012/08/hidpi-and-retina-display-support. html

Barry, you mention quite a few of the advancements of the Retina, one of which is the improved gamma color spectrum. While I expect as a photographer, you know more than I do (as an Illustrator), I have seen the Retina, and I can attest to the colro quality being noticeably better on the Retina.

So now, after this long wait, and a final confirmation from Adobe on PShop, I'm leaning toward the Retina. Why? Because even as an illustrator, I use PShop and Illustrator interchangeably for processing sketches. I use Photoshop for touchup, effects, and sometimes, coloration--though rarely. And I import these raw Photoshop files into Illustrator (B&W), and then tweak them even more. The difference is that: In the first step, in PShop, it will pay to have great resolution. How? It will pay because I will be able to calibrate colors, saturations, and hues more quickly and accurately than before. And I will hopefully be able to remove imperfections early in the process--which shortens the entire work cycle down the line.

You will not like Adobe as much until the update comes out, but the cool thing for color is if you use one of the calibration units, like Spyder 4 or Eye1 etc. they reportidly calibrate really well.

Hi Jason, i also went to Apple stores many times to compare, Three Screen Retina, Anti-glare, and Normal Glossy for 15" MBP,

Normal Glossy is down the line (even some Vivid) I am sure.... i compared video same image with side-by-side in different angles up left top, 360 etc.... at last i decide between these Retina / Anti-Glare, Now i compare... again Retina and Antiglare side by side—a lot of comparisons, like 3 hours in Apple store with comparing same images HD-videos in different angles with different Brightness..

Ok now I decide to buy Anti-Glare, as I didn’t see any That Image quality as Retina was a bit ViVid and I seem sharpness is same and in Anti-glare Brightness is more, so I Ordered Anti-glare and it arrived on last month 12^th

15” MBP 2.66 @ 8GB Ram @ 750GB 7200RPM @ ANTI-Glare @ GT650M 1GB,

I am still not satisfy like weather I miss Retina or Glossy or etc.. What the FFFF…. because I know I paid more money so I need the right one. I installed Win 7 Boot camp, played many games like (Maxpayne-3, Crysis) and do Photoshop etc. video editing, Heat is obviously More when even after 1hr without load, can’t put in my lap !! but I tested to max I played Games continuously 8hrs noting happen heat just stayed at max … but didn’t shutdown !!

So as I have 14 days return, I took my MBP to Apple and Compare Again lol…at some time I find interesting Thing is with Windows 7 updated NVidia Drivers my Antiglare is better than Normal Glossy and Retina (in Win7) ,

I again restarted MBP in MACOSX, then Retina is better vivid when compare I don’t know if any one notice this????

But I still feel Some worry about this Retina is new, mine is old basic, screen, (I am not talking about performance coz if I put SSD In my non retina its gona Rock), and heat is more may be retina has more vent at sides so may be it would be better

At last I returned my MBP to apple J last week, again I did research… on this battle OMG,, it easy to choose or to leave Girlfriend than an Apple MBP !!!

Now I am again planning to take Anti-glare screen coz I used this week my friend Glossy one my eyes goes Blur after continues work…so now my plan is to go Anti-glare 2.66 @ 8GB @ 1TB @ 5200 after few months I will plan 16GB & Samsung 830 SSD 500GB by Replace of DVD Drive..

I can’t decide any more I am tired on searching, comparing, RnD, etc you know what I am on this battle since 3 months,

1. Apple products will not be cheaper even though we wait..
2. One MUST need upgradable MBP coz we can’t stick to same Tech always simple rule is choosing mac book pro itself saying we need powerful machine else people go for AIR
3. Both are same at Performance wise and more over we have Advantage in NON –retina is 1TB HDD + 500GB SSD + 16GB == same Retina(high-end) Cost + Superb I think
4. 400grms and slightly thinner is not an option for me as both has to put in same backpack.
5. Our mind will always change even though we buy Retina, Apple will release some Retina(S) with GT670M lol always …
6. I know poooople will always ask why you don’t buy Retina… mmmm simply I will give this discussion link lol rather explaining them.

Sorry- I can’t describe toooo technical rather than this, as iam new to MBP,

Apart from all this, please share any one experience, for Retina and Non-Retina, so that it would be happy to decide/choose people like me.

Would be happy to hear more suggestions as I still waiting to order again new MBP----

ps: This year my biggest confusion is about this MAC and my DSLR Nikon 5100 or Canon 650D ....lol

Barry Fisher--

Barry, can you explain what you mean by "you will not like Adobe as much until the update comes out.."

I realize that the Retina-compatible PShop is not yet available, but it will be soon. (See

http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2012/08/hidpi-and-retina-display-support. html)

1. I'd like to know: Does this mean Photoshop CS6 (Student/Teacher) version will also be free to upgrade?

2. Will other Adobe applications, like InDesign and Illustrator, also be upgraded eventually for Retina display?

3. Is it possible that one can view the older CS6 Adobe applications in a 1440X900 mode? Is that what this means? (see link) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5266

If so, does viewing older versions of Adobe CS on Retina mean that text and graphics, apart from PShop, will ALWAYS be jagged--bitmapped compromised? Anyone?

Thanks,

M.

It doesn't matter what are you saying guys! I will not buy the Retina unless it comes anti glare.It's a big difference for me.

bbergamin wrote:

It doesn't matter what are you saying guys! I will not buy the Retina unless it comes anti glare.It's a big difference for me.

That's your choice.

Jason Fredregill wrote:

Also, I ran the trailer for The Avengers on each machine side-by-side. I must say, the prior version's anti-glare screen seemed better. Not just in the anti-glare department, but overall image. And when I froze the same frame, it wasn't even close; the Retina screen was blurry and the anti-glare image (of Hulk) was smooth.

Now, I am curious if anyone else tries this out if they will have the same outcome. Could there be a legit reason why the obviously better image quaity of the Retina screen (look at the desktop) actually looks worse running this trailer?

Using a paused video to compare screens isn't a very fair comparison, because you might not have exactly the same frame on both computers. Stills from videos are regularly blurry for a few frames, especially in any kind of action movie/scene.

You should just be able to use regular photos to compare (even a cheap camera has higher resolution than the 5MP retina display), so I tend to think opening up the iPhoto app with the default libraries on the demo Apple laptops is a fairer comparison (there's quite a variety of photos to compare too).

Until the anti glare option is back (for any of the MacBook Pros) I'd say it is safe to assume not to use these laptops where there are windows where sunlight and anything else might be reflected on the screen. (which is just about everywhere)