Do all unibody MBP have the backlight unevenness?

Unfortunetely I received a unit with uneven backlighting on the screen (9C84), with a few column of light bleed towards the center that goes from the bottom of the screen and reaching up past mid screen. It is not visible with normal use, but on dark solid backgrounds, or when watching movies with dark scenes, it is definetely there.

Do all unibody MBP have this backlight bleed problem? Are there ones out there with perfectly even backlighting or atleast with very very minimal bleed? Just trying to find the statistics of this problem. I will be going to the Apple store this weekend to check out the MBPs they have on display to see how widespread is the problem.

If this is indeed a problem for all unibody MBPs, then I wont even bother and just accept what I have on a premium product.

 

I personally have never come across a perfect LCD (three Windows notebooks, two MBPs and a couple of expensive Desktop LCDs). But if your problem is severe enough to bother you in day to day use (even while just watching movies), and it sounds like it is in your case, then I'd get it exchanged.

 

If all MBP have this problem, then there is no point exchanging, that is why I am asking if this occurs for all the new MBPs. If there is even a slight chance of getting a unit with very minimal back light bleed, then maybe I should try my luck with a exchange.

 

Do LED screens suffer from backlight bleeding ? I thought that was an artifact of CCFL screens ?

 

My two MBPs have LED backlighting and still have some minor bleeding and unevenness but it's very minimal. I'm kinda OCD-ish when it comes to my hardware but I can certainly live with mine. Definitely not all MBPs have the same severity as OP described. It's worth an exchange for sure.

 

I've tried some different colors up on the screen, and maybe my eyes aren't that great, but I cannot see any difference in colors across mine, its all uniformly lit...

on my old MBP that isn't LED backlit, there is definitely some lighter places like that.

 

On my previous MBP (2.4 unibody) the screen had uneven backlighting exactly what you are describing. I exchanged it to the 2.53 and this one has perfect backlight, completely even like an LED should be.

So get it exchanged because there are ones that have good even lighting.

 

The MacBooks have this problem worse than the MBP. If it bothers you, try exchanging it, because you may get a good MBP that doesn't have this issue. If you had a MacBook, you'd probably be SOL, because they all have some backlight bleed.

I've personally never had a laptop screen that doesn't have backlight bleeding at the bottom. My MacBook is much better than either of my previous Dells, but it's still not very good. Only the good Dell desktop monitors I've used and my Samsung LCD TV seem to be pretty even. Every other LCD I've used has backlighting bleeding at the bottom.

 

Would you mind checking to see what panel your MBP has? If you're unfamiliar on how to find out, you go to system preferences, displays, colors, select the "color lcd" profile, click on "open profile". Line 13 will display the model number (click on it). 9C84 is the LG panel, and 9C85 is the Chi Mei. Thanks a lot!

 

Here is a picture I just taken of mine on black background and in dark room. The picture will show it even worse because of the exposure, but you get the idea. This is a LG panel.

 

Honestly, that's not that bad. You should take a look at some other screens. My M90 and my MacBook both suffer light leakage FAR worse than that.

You're probably not going to get a much better screen than what you've got right now. To be honest, you'll probably run a higher risk of getting a worse screen than better. If it bothers you that much, you may need to look into getting another laptop that isn't a MacBook Pro.

 

all the three unibody I had, showed horrible backligt leakage. Rev 1 products.. What do you expect. xd

I'm now waiting for my 3rd Macbook, the first 2 were defect also.

 

I can't really judge the backlight through all the glass.

 

Have you checked the screen with a complete black background in a dimmed light ambience? My MBP looks like this:



I can't see the backlight bleeding in broad daylight, with colored backgrounds or colored graphic elements at the lower edge (like the dock) . But I can see it if I watch cinemascope movies at the evening. That really sucks for such an expensive piece of gear. I wonder if there exist better MBP screens than the one I have.

 

My unibody MacBook Pro has some slight bleed on the top and bottom, but it has never impacted my daily use. Yours does look a little worse than mine. I originally bought a MacBook, and the screens in the MacBook are much more unevenly lit than the Pro. I exchanged the MacBook for the Pro and never looked back.

If you're not happy with it, exchange it. Period. Like others have said, you may not get a new one with less bleed than the one you currently have. You also run the risk of getting a machine with a worse screen. I went through 3 Pros before I settled on the one I have now. Each had an issue that I ultimately couldn't live with. None of which were the screen though. Personally, I've yet to see a competing notebook with a better screen than the MacBook Pro. It's the reason I bought the machine. Good luck!

 

looks like we're on the same boat

 

From the picture, looks like your screen is better than mine, atleast the unevenness does not reach past the upper half of the screen. I think I be happier with your screen.

 

You seriously don't think that's bad? I think it's terrible. I'd march right into an Apple store and get it exchanged. I got my 2007 MBP screen changed out twice until I was finally satisfied. No excuse for such poor LCDs at these prices.

 

I have the 9C85 Chi Mei panel. I have a black background as my default, and I notice very, very, minor backlight bleed at the bottom of my screen. I usually don't set the brightness beyond 2-4 stops from the bottom of the scale, as I find this the most comfortable setting for my eyes, and to be honest I had not even perceived this issue until I read this thread.

Before opting for the MBP, I went through a hellish experience of 3 Dell M4400 Precision's with a 1900x1200 2CCFL matt screen. Though the resolution was higher, the build quality was less stable than the MBP's, in my opinion. Even though the Dell's had dual backlights (along the top and bottom) which were supposed to provide a more even backlighting, I could still see a field of light intensity that was stronger at the top and bottom, and weaker in the middle. I think the MBP's display performs extremely well.

If, however, you are noticing ' columns' bleedings upwards, I would ask to have your unit replaced.

 

I have the 9C85 panel as well. I have no bleeding at the bottom even on a black screen.

 

..just to get an idea about real-life experience (watching a movie from DVD):

 

eeek... my t500 is not that bad, it was only $1,200.. :\

 

Granted, there are balls of light across the bottom of the screen. However, the brightness is also too high: the face of the female is pure over exposed with white light, i can't see any detail at all. I could not watch a film at that level of brightness...

 

OSC i Strongly suggest you get your MBP exchanged. I had the exact same issue with my previous one. My new one doesn't have that problem anymore.

 

Ok, so now I'm a little worried too. However, I feel that after three faulty Dell's, the MBP was such a relief, in that everything worked well. If i turn up the brightness to maximum, I get an effect similar to OSC. However, if I'm honest to myself, I never turn the brightness that high, and I never perceived this problem until reading this thread. I also think no product is ever perfect... but my MBP was until I thought about this probelem. I've also taken a long time installing my stuff on the MBP, and I know due to special options like the 7200rpm drive, it would take a minimum of three weeks to order another... However, I also have the flickering issue which was described in another thread. If it would be as simple as deducing that the 9C85 screen was the problem, I'd be happy: but it turns out that both this panel and the LG 9C84 have it. Uuurgh....

What to do? No offence, but sometimes I wish I did not read threads like this: they give me sleepless nights...

You can't miss what you don't know, but forgetting is even harder for me...

 

Here's some more food for thought from another source on the web...

 

I dont have any bleed in mine, like i posted before...

I checked and its the 9C85, Chi Mei, screen. with a solid black screen and full screen brightness, if i look really closely in the dark i can kind of see some lighter on the bottom edge, but it barely noticeable in a few millimeters.... I guess I lucked out on a good display.

 

Is this still an issue? I'm thinking of getting a MBP 15" and don't like the sound of this.

 

my sister bought my laptop for me and when i told her the problem, she bought it to regent street apple store. the genius told her that's an issue which happens on most macbook pros, he told her they could have it exchanged for her but what if the problem stays the same?? he told her not to worry about this as most macbook pros were suffering from this problem..

 

Return or exchange. That is some very bad light leakage. You don't put down 2 grand for that kind of screen quality.

 

exchanged. but i believe most of led lit displays suffer from backlight leakage.