Macbook Faded Colors

Hi, can you please post the details of how you calibrated your MacBook screen, because I am having the same problems you are: the viewing angle is VERY limited and no matter how far back or forward I tilt the screen, the top is always much darker than the bottom of the screen. My MacBook is nearly unusable on an plane because I have to tilt the screen back as far as it can go, otherwise, the image is too washed out, and gets worse near the bottom. If the person in front of you has their seat reclined, forget it!

I've played around with calibration settings, but, if there's no way to calibrate the top of the screen differently than the bottom, then I doubt calibration will solve this problem with the MacBook displays. But at this point, I'm willing to try anthing, because I keep seeing people with cheap Dell laptops whose screens look MUCH better than my MacBook!!

You can't adjust the top and bottom of the screen independently. Indeed, the screen is very uniform. You see a difference because you don't look at the pixels with the same angle. This difference decreases with distance.

The best you can do is find a setting where the top is not too dark and the bottom is not too bright.

To calibrate your screen, go to Preferences > Displays > Color > Calibrate.
Choose expert mode and follow the steps. You must be in your normal viewing position during calibration. You can also make a calibration profile with your screen tilted forward and use it for your plane trips.

If you don't like the result, try to calibrate with Supercal wich is a bit more precise :
http://www.bergdesign.com/supercal/

You can also adjust your screen on the fly with gamma control :
http://www.michelf.com/projects/gamma-control/

I will be taking my MacBook back to the Apple store as I have this uneven brightness issue some of you are talking about.

When using a pure black screensaver there is a huge light glow from the bottom middle. The black is totally uneven.

This effects the screen while using the computer normally.

I got it a month before Xmas. Should I demand a new one? And just check it in the Apple Store before going home?

I certainly won't buy another Mac from the online store. It's like buying blind.

Good luck getting Apple to give you a new one. I took my Macbook to an Apple store for another problem and also asked about the very uneven backlighting. The guy just shrugged and said there's nothing they can do about it and that they would not exchange it for a new one. He claimed all LCD displays are the same, which is bogus. My friend has a cheap Dell laptop that has a much better and more even display than the Macbooks. I just can't figure out why Apple keeps putting cheap, crappy LCD panels in their computers when they charge a premium for their hardware.

Well they sold me a product with a defect. That's against the law here in the UK. So surely my money entitles me to a product that was advertised? Why should I have any problem? Thanks for the fast reply 🙂

Well, my experience was at an Apple store here in NYC. And Apple's response to problems with their displays in the past has always been to ignore and deny it. I've gone through this several times with them in the past, and every single time they refused to acknowledge the problem and refused to replace the unit or do anything about it unless you make a lot of noise and go on a month-long letter writing campaign.

Apple does need to do something about the poor quality of the LCD panels they are using, though. I've seen so many Mac laptops and displays with very noticeable defects, especially uneven backlighting.

The service must vary from store to store. I took my week-old MacBook Pro to the Genius Bar at a local Apple Store because the bottom inch of my screen was brighter than the rest of the screen. They took one look at it, agreed it was bad, and without my even asking, swapped it out for a brand new unit. Now THAT'S how to do business!

MacBook Pro 17" 2.33 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

****! Mine too. Its also got some blacklight bleeding at the bottom of the screen. All part of the same issue I'd think. Now, if there was some way to adjust contrast, we'd be set.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Would be nice if there was a slider that allowed us to adjust the gamma alone.

dcpiatek,
ha! thats a great way to check! my head and top of shoulders are fully visible (MacBook is on my lap), but in the lower portion of the screen, not upper, if that makes sense.

What I'm seeing on mine is definately bleedthrough. Not sure if its worth the hassle do get it fixed, but I won't be using this screen to do any photo work.

Oh, one more thing, mine is a week 26.

cool little app

shows how nice my screen is

the only problem i have is processor whine and it drives me crazy

Universal Access has contrast adjustments but they seem to be too extreme to help out.