MacBook Pro 15" Grainy Matte Display

The matte display on my new MacBook Pro has a grainy look to it. It's very noticeable. I'm curious if this is a defect or if all MacBook Pro displays are like this. To better describe the look... it looks like someone took a screenshot and applied the noise filter to it. It also looks like as if there's a lot of dust on the screen. Please let me know if anyone else sees this because if it's not right, I need to return it and get a replacement. Thanks.

2.33GHz - 15" MacBook Pro - 2GB RAM - 256MB VRAM, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Nov 7, 2006 6:30 AM

115 replies

Nov 14, 2006 7:43 AM in response to betonfoot

Are you in Mac OS X or Windows XP?

Also, this is NOT the effect I'm seeing. I'm seeing what looks like the coating on the display showing through above the graphics. I'm sorry that your screen looks like that but I can assure you that this is nothing like what I'm experiencing. Mine's more subtle. Blacks are 100% black and whites are just sparkly or hazy.

Nov 14, 2006 7:53 AM in response to Jayson Allyson1

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.

Nov 14, 2006 1:07 PM in response to betonfoot

if the problem is with the X1600, why my MacBook Pro has a perfect screen ?????

ksattic

Level 1

21 points

Nov 14, 2006 1:19 PM in response to Jayson Allyson1

This is a known problem when running Windows XP on a MacBook Pro. Can you confirm whether you are running OS X or Windows XP when you see the problem?

I do not have any grain at all in OS X, but it is very noticeable in XP.

Nov 15, 2006 8:27 AM in response to Anthony8720

Yes: I agree. Every LCD display that I ever used has this sparkle effect to a degree, however it's REALLY BAD on my MacBook Pro and that it why I'm returning it. I looked closer at my PowerBook G4 and it's a very little bit sparkly and so is the LCD I use at work, however it's a very small amount and doesn't bother me at all. The MacBook Pro is a different story though... maybe I got a worse one than you did... maybe it's very subtle to you on yours but, it's very "in-your-face-obvious" on mine and I'm sorry but, I cannot live with that. I just didn't wanna drop $2,500 on a computer and be unhappy using it. If it works for you, then that's cool too. What it really comes down to is, are you happy with it? If so, that's great and I hope you stay happy but, I've already packed it up and it's going back tonight. I'm getting a Mac Pro with a 20" LCD (but, I'm gonna look at it first before I buy it).

Nov 15, 2006 9:26 AM in response to Scott Slater

Case in point:

MBP C2D #3:

The background is the standard solid gray...

http://www.urbanloon.com/laptop_pics/

Xserve Dual 2.3 GHz G5, a couple old school G4 Towers, MBP C2D w/poor display Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Nov 15, 2006 4:47 PM in response to Jayson Allyson1

Hello! I'm at the Apple Store! Here's my story.

I returned my MacBook Pro but, they insisted that I pay the restocking fee... Which is fine, I figured I would have to anyway.

The screens I looked at:

MacBook Pro 15" - Bad Grain, very visible (like my old MacBook Pro)
MacBook Pro 17" Glossy - Happens to be a Core Duo - Little or no grain
MacBook Pro 17" Matte - Also a Core Duo (for some reason) - Little or no grain
iMac 24" and 30" - Very impressed... Virtually no grain or sparkle at all (love it)
iMac 17" - Not so much... more like the MacBook Pro 17 as far as grain goes.
20" Apple Cinema Display - Little grainy but, the bigger pixels make it look better - Not bad, I wouldn't mind it
24" Apple Cinema - Same as 20"
30" Apple Cinema - Same as 20"
MacBook - Pixel perfect - Whites are pure white - No grain that I could see

Nov 15, 2006 9:50 PM in response to Jayson Allyson1

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

jimitha

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2006 10:29 AM in response to Nikolaus Heger

It doesn't seem to be the X1600 noise problem. The shimmering pattern changes based on your viewing angle, and sometimes resembles an interference pattern.

Nov 16, 2006 11:33 AM in response to Nikolaus Heger

It is NOT the graphics card problem. The problem other PC users were having are quite visibly the GPU. The problem I was having looked like the coating on the screen... it was to heavily matted. It created a bumpy/grainy look on top of the graphics on the screen which was visually distracting to me. Others can live with it, I cannot.

Nov 16, 2006 4:06 PM in response to ksattic

Yeah I'm running Windows XP on the MacBook Pro 15" when I see the problem. Yeah I've heard that the grain is not that noticable in Mac OS X because the drivers for mac os x are different. This fact even more proves the point that the problem is more related to drivers, not hardware.

Oslice

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2006 5:53 AM in response to Jayson Allyson

I went to my apple store last night about this issue. The Genius told me that it's an issue with the pixel density that leads to this sparkly effect that some of us seem to be bothered by. All of the displays with a higher pixel density are effected by this issue, but it only seems to bother a few of us, though he did say that another guy was in to the store earlier that day with the same complaint.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I can live with it, or whether I'm going to return it and try something else. The 20" iMac is somewhat less affected by the problem, and the 24" looked perfect, as did all the Macbooks.

I think the solution is to not see the problem, but if that's not an option for your eyes, then either get an external display or return your computer.

Nov 17, 2006 8:43 AM in response to Jayson Allyson1

I obtained a refund today due to the 'grainy/hazy' display issue. No questions asked which slightly surprised me.

It's a shame as I was really looking forward to using my new MacBook Pro. Having used a PowerBook for many years, I am very disappointed with the overall build quality of the MBP. The keyboard is awful compared to my old PowerBook - very spongy. The trackpad also appears to go AWOL every now and again.

The MBP just feels cheap and not what I have come to expect from Apple. I read on another thread that someone was hooking up their MBP to an external display in order to obtain a good, clear display. But we shouldn't have to do this. On a top of the range laptop it's nonsense that people are reduced to these measures.

So I'm going to stick with my PowerBook for the foreseeable future and keep an eye on quality issues with the MBP.

Very sad

jimitha

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2006 9:33 AM in response to Oslice

If it's an issue with pixel density (dpi), then why is the MacBook display perfect? It has the same (even slightly higher) density!

Quote:

The MacBook supports an LCD display size of 1280 x 800 pixels at 114 dpi
The 15-inch MacBook Pro supports an LCD display size of 1440 x 900 pixels at 110 dpi
The 17-inch MacBook Pro supports an LCD display size of 1680 x 1050 pixels at 116 dpi

Source:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/Conceptual/HWTechVideo/Articles/Videoimplementation.html

Conclusion:

The Genius is wrong.

Oslice

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2006 5:37 PM in response to Jonathan_N

I also returned mine today. The woman I spoke with did not seem particularly concerned about why I was returning it. I just have to pay shipping to get it to California for them to process the return.

I explained my issue with sparkliness and how the whites had a sort of rainbow effect, and she listened politely, but I don't get the sense, since they're all like this, that more than just a few of us think this is an issue.

I'm going to stick with my old Powerbook for now. Not sure what I'll do if more than the hard drive is broken, nor when the day comes when I actually need a new computer...a MacBook perhaps, though it would be nice to have a real graphics card, all in all frustrating.

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MacBook Pro 15" Grainy Matte Display