MacBook Pro 15" Grainy Matte Display

I think I responded to your post in a diff forum too, but I was saying my glossy looks the same. I think it's going to be hard to rely on people saying theirs isn't affected because it's subtle enough that many wouldn't notice it.

I disagree with the idea of it being due to the graphics card... it's pretty clearly a physical phenomenon. The only thing I can say it remind me of are color LCD screens in phones/pdas that are meant to be readible in daylight without the backlight on. One theory then is that apple switched to a design meant to improve contrast in high ambient light situations. It certainly does seem intentional if a whole apple store full of MBPs looked the same.

I'm trying to decide whether to return mine. It's subtle, but I find the "sparkle" distracting and annoying. From what I've read on all the various forums, I think it's definitely an issue with the coating on the display. Apparently it affects both the matte and the shiny displays, though I'm going to go to an apple store this weekend and see for myself. Maybe mine is particularly bad? So close to being perfect, but the display is such a major part of using the computer. I'm considering getting a Macbook, though I really don't want integrated graphics. Bah, maybe I'll just wait for them to fix this issue and use my ailing powerbook until then.

I've heard at least one person returned theirs without having to pay the restock fee due to this issue.

I think the problem is with the X1600. It has the same dithering problem, not a sparkle effect like some people are saying, I dont even understand what they're talking about. Okay maybe there's two issues: sparkle and dithering, but I would like to see the dithering problem fixed, like the ASUS computers etc. It has been widely discovered that ALL laptops with X1600 have the same exact problem. Why would be MacBooks Pro's with X1600 be any different? The issue is exlained (and the fix for ASUS) very well here, please read: http://www.notebookforums.com/thread173555.html

Or go make a Google search: "grainy x1600"

Ofcourse I'm also aware that the MacBook Pro screens are crap quality, but still with BIOS update I think we can fix the worst issue.

Does Apple people ever read this? Is there a email for a tech support, or a developer team?

I figured i would chime in on this since i recently took a trip to my local apple store. It definately appears that all matte 15" mbp's show this effect. The glossy show it as well, but to a lesser extent. I recently got a 17" CD imac. The first time i used it i noticed this on it. When i first saw the screen on the macbook pros, it immediately reminded me of it. So add the imac to the list of macs that have this "problem". Although i should add that the dell lcd im using right now show the exact same thing.

Hello:

I see the grain too. I don't own one, but I picked up on the grain right away on a display model at a store. I have owned many, many powerbooks over the years and have a good stock of experience upon which to compare the MBP C2D 15.4" screen to. The screen is EXACTLY LIKE THE POWERBOOK WALLSTREETS. The Wallstreet has a grainy screen too. It is really pronounced when placed beside a PowerBook G3 Pismo. The Wallstreet was the first Apple laptop to have an ATI 2D/3D graphics card: ATI Rage 4 mb. The graphics card in the Pismo is an ATI rage mobility (8 mb).

Nobody has ruled anything out, including the graphics card being the possible problem. Or, it could be just the matte screen/pixel density, or a combination of all of these.

I just got my 2nd LCD screen replacement and while the backlight is now consistent, the grain is extremely noticeable. And I think this is affecting the 'white quality' of my screens (seems oily and with a slight yellow tint all across).

My previous screen had hardly any grain and the whites were super crisp but the backlighting was horrendous on it.

Now I'm stuck again, into deciding if I could go on without my laptop for another 2 weeks to get another screen. At this point, I just wish I could get my money back and go with a DELL (I don't OSX is worth using with a poor screen).

I'm looking at two lcd's as I type this (LG, and Viewsonic) it is more noticeable on the LG but it is bearable. Of the two displays the Viewsonic is the brightest.
The other day I went to take a look at the macbook pros--I opened up a blank white document and immediately noticed the grain. I was taken aback by the severity of it, it truly is as if there is a light layer of grime inside the screen.
I found the grain to be most troublesome when using white(ish) backgrounds, but bearable when in color. The Lcd's on the 17" looked better, though I really didn't get a chance to play with it.
The grain is definitely not software, though I can imagine software ameliorating the problem to a degree.

I ended up having to return my refurbished MBP.The MBP C2D I have now has a much better screen. The other had quite noticeable grain, although it didn't really bother me. This one has almost no noticeable grain at all. You really have to get up close and look to see any.

As a side note, I am unimpressed with the recent refurbished units. Over a year ago I bought a PowerBook G4 from Apple that was mint, and I've never had any trouble with it. But I got two bad MBPs in a row, and one was warped enough that it would not sit flat on the table. But my new C2D is perfect.

I have the new Macbook Pro 15" with matt screen.

I am looking at my screen trying to see if I would class what I am looking at as grainy, & I am not sure.

I can only say that my matt screen looks the same "grainy" if not better than my iMac 17" matt screen.

If I turn up the brightness to full, its better.
As this is all sounding a bit vague, as others suggest you are only going to get an idea if you compare against others in the Apple store. If it is the same then it must a "feature" of the matt screens.

All 15" matte AND glossy displays exhibited this exact problem in the Chicago store when I was there on November 5 to complain about this very issue. It is certainly not a "normal" thing for LCD displays to look like they're displaying a noise filter, except if by "normal" you mean "present in many C2D 15 inch screens". I guess if you send it back it's a crapshoot if you get a fixed display or not.

At least I know I'm not crazy now--the Genius swore there was nothing wrong, totally normal, it was not an "emerging issue" and no complaints had been posted on the discussion boards.

This is a bit of a stretch but... it could be down to the general ATI X1600 noise problem. This noise problem didn't use to affect the MBP, but maybe something has changed with the C2D versions?!

In any case, many notebooks with the X1600 are affected by the noise. I have an Acer TM 8204 with this problem. It's not the display - it's the graphics card, and the only way to fix it is with a VGA BIOS upgrade of the graphics card, unfortunately that's proprietary to each notebook manufacturer. Asus has fixed it, Acer has not.

Original post and discussion:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=51897

This one's mac-specific:

http://www.macaddict.com/forums/post/1310771

I went through two MBP 15" machines with the came thing. The manager at the Apple Store upgraded me to a Core Duo 17" and the problem is no longer there. I would rather have a Core Duo with a perfect screen than a C2D with a less than perfect screen. I really hope that Apple will take this problem seriously and correct it for all of its customers that are experiencing these issues.

I bought a new 15" mbp c2d matte just two days ago, the viewing angle was kinda poor - perfectly visible, but colour shading changed so much as I moved my head. from greater angles, whites went a deep yellow. But useable as a laptop I guess, albeit not impressive at all.

The graininess just wasn't visible - either a lucky one or too new.

But although most of the screen was good in terms of even brightness, there was a painfully noticeable bright band at the bottom, worse in each corner, also a greyish/yellowish faint line down the left side. No way I stand for that at the prices Apple charge in the UK.


So back to the store ( not Apple) and try another ( less bright at the bottom, but more uneven and a band at the top ) viewing angle/color change just the same. Got a refund, since the store guys said they'd sent several back to Apple, and were told "it's in spec" which is laughable when pc laptops at 1/2 the price or less have better screens, as does the MB overall.

Checked out a mbp cd 17" while I was there, and the bright band was also very noticeable - awful on moving images, or slideshows, since different parts of the images 'light up' as they pass over the band.


Very disappointing, and a sale lost.