Q: MacBook Pro Retina display burn-in?

Samsung display is definitely warmer/yellower than LG. Also seems to be less bright at maximum brightness setting.

But, image retention is gone. Color cast - as with any display - is adjusted for best operation using monitor color profile. And, sharpness is excellent.

I've had my Samsung replacement for a week or so, and although I miss the extra brightness, its fine and really quite pleasing to work with.

k1ir wrote:

 

Samsung display is definitely warmer/yellower than LG.

 

I've compared my yellowed Samsung display with Apple store displays and not all Samsung displays are yellow. I've seen accurate-colour displays with the same Samsung model number LSN154YL01001. I don't know if the brightness is different, that's harder to tell with store lighting.

my samsung display seems brighter at the maximum setting in terms of "whiteness", and the colors don't seem as vibrant. black levels are poor, and contrast is poor as well.

But did you check to see if adjusted color profiles were applied on each of the comparison systems? It makes a huge difference. Man, was my screen yellow when I got it back. I cried with misery. Then I googled. Then I tweaked. Then I cried with joy.

same exact color profiles were on each system, the quality is noticeably different on both displays. i adjusted the settings as much as possible to try to achieve the same black levels and was unable to.

k1ir wrote:

 

But did you check to see if adjusted color profiles were applied on each of the comparison systems? It makes a huge difference. Man, was my screen yellow when I got it back. I cried with misery. Then I googled. Then I tweaked. Then I cried with joy.

So, k1ir, what exactly did you do to correct your yellowed Samsung Retina replacement display? Did you use the "Display Calibrator Assistant" to move the "target white point" over to the blue end? Did you adjust the "luminance response curves" in those 5 steps? Did you use a Spyder colour calibrator? What did you do exactly? Also, after you made these corrections, did you take your 15" Retina MacBook Pro in to a store, such as the Apple store, and compare your Samsung display with in-store Samsung or LG displays side-by-side? Did you take photographs?

Merch, I did it all right here at my office desk. I only used the Display Calibrator Assistant, with the Advanced options so I could tweak the target white point, just as you said. Didn't have to pull it very far, as I recall. I felt no need to take the machine to a store for a comparison. I do, in fact have a Spyder right here, but haven't had time to run through a calibration cycle with it yet. I also have two other Spyder-calibrated monitors connected to the machine, and after the rough calibration I did on the new Samsung using the in-built Apple calibration tool, I don't see enough difference to make me want to go any further at this point.

FYI, I do agree with wowsza . . . these Samsung displays do seem to have different characteristics than the LG. I wish mine was perfect in every way, but its not. On the other hand, while I was really irritated by the IR, these other non-ideal characterstics pale in comparison. I really love the high-res capabilities of the display . . . and I've decided its time to be satisfied and move on to other things.

In fact, I guess its time for me to unsubscribe from this thread. I sure hope you all find ways to be happy with your MBP Retinas!

A couple things, first for potential buyers, and then about my experience with the Samsung display compared to others.  I recently acquired a 2013 15 Retina with Samsung display, and here's how I did it.  If you go to the Best Buy website you can look at all the open box items at the particular stores in your area.  It's not uncommon for there to be open box Retinas (buyers remorse I imagine).  I went to three different stores to look at 15 rMBPs and at each asked if I could i) take out the notebook to inspect it (this is a no-brainer on open box items), and ii) boot the computer up and run the code in terminal to check for the display type.  With respect to the latter, I just kindly explained the IR Retina displays can have had and how the Samsungs seem immune, and how I'd like to check.  At each store they let me do it and I eventually found a Samsung.  Just be patient and polite about it, since they likely won't have heard of the issue, and if you don't end up buying it they'll have to restore the computer again.

About the Samsung display:  I've also used the 13 Retina and a 15 LG-SJA2 in home conditions, so I'll comment on the differences.  The Samsung is noticably warmer and more subdued, and I'd say not as bright.  The colors don't seem to pop as much either.  (In fact, I'd say the colors on a classic MBP 15 I recently used were considerably more vibrant.)  This isn't to say that the colors on the Samsung are bad though, it's just more subdued, and to put it in a positive light, less saturated.  The plus, for me anyway, is that the Samsung is much easier on my eyes.  The LG 15 display was quite impressive with colors that really pop, but it really hurt my eyes, something I noticed immediately.  Perhaps I would have adjusted, but perhaps not.  The 13 I used had a great display color-wise and also had a great black levels, though it was also a bit hard on my eyes, though not as bad as the 15 LG.  But I assume that not everyone has my eye sensitivites.  I'm not a photographer and my work is mostly with text, so the Samsung fits well, since I get the sharpness of the text but am not overwhelmed by the display.  The only issue I have with my Samsung is some backlight bleeding at the bottom of the screen, which seems to create a small cloud at the bottom that is a cooler hue than the rest of the display.  It's a bit annoying, but all things considered probably not much to fuss over.

Is IR still an issue for newly purchased 13" rMBP models?

Despite the expected upgrade to Haswell, I'm itching to buy a new Apple laptop, and am struggling to make the decision whether to by a rMBP or a new 2013 MBA.

The potential for enjoyment ruining IR is hampering my decision.

So, anyone purchased a 13" within the last few weeks and experienced IR?

Is it apparent relatively early, or does it take some time to present?

TIA,

SPD.

I can't say, I did not notice IR in my LG rMBP 15 for almost a year, but I was not using the computer as much as I do now.

I do however believe that it gets worse over time.

The IR issue with the 15s concerned me.  But honestly if I were on the market for a 13 rMBP, I wouldn't be too concerned with the image retention issue.  This is based on the overall sense I get from my research.  With the 15s it's different since there have been so many reports, but with the 13s, while still possible, I think the chances of getting one with IR are pretty slim.  Also, it's worth noting that although the same companies are making the 13 panels, they are different panels with a different resolution (so some of the variables are different), and moreover it's plausible that the companies have been more cued into this issue in production and quality control with the 13s (which didn't come out until later) since the 15s showed problems.  I had a 13 rMBP for a bit and didn't have any problems and wasn't worried about it.  No guarantees here, but as someone else who has done a lot of research on this and is concerned about the issue, I can say that I wouldn't be too worried about it with a 13 rMBP.  And incidentally, the display on the 13 rMBP is leaps and bounds more beautiful than the Macbook Air, which seems a bit washed out and to not have a good color gamut.  The 13 rMBP also feels more solid.  Not to knock the Air though -- it's a great machine.

Prognosis Negative.

Wrong. I had a 13 inch rMBP from early 2013 (the last update) and I recently returned it because of IR. They were none at first but it started showing up after 3 months of use and got worse. Apple accepted to refund me even thought it was way past the 15 days period because of the issue.

Interesting and good to know!  It's frustrating that these issues don't show up for a number of months.  I'd still say that due to less feedback on the 13s, we can't confidently assert that IR is as common a problem with them as with the 15s, though that could well be the case.  Do you know the manufacterer of the display of the unit you returned?  I'm curious as to whether it's just the LGs in the 13s too.

You can't know the manufacturer on the 13", Apple disabled the command line but the word is that they are all LG and I'm pretty sure they all have the same issue.