Matte Screen Experiment...give it a try

Hey all I was thinking, what IS the difference behind a glossy screen and a normal matte based screen on a notebook computer?

I did a little experiment that you all should do as well.

You know that clear piece of plastic that comes with your laptop when you first open it up out of the box? The piece that protects your screen from scratches during shipment...

Try placing that thing back on your screen while it is on (obviously) and tell me what you see.

I'm wondering what those glossy screens really are. Are they not just normal screens with a layer of glass over the screen?

I may sound retarded since I did not read up on these screens ... I just threw on the plastic just for fun and hrmm...do I notice a weird resemblance to those popular glossy screens?
I dunno, but try it out and post your results and what you think and if you think I'm crazy

 

Well since my laptop is six months old I do not have the piece of platic that covers the screen if there was one. A better idea would be to go to BestBuy or Circuit City to compare them side by side.

 

Although it DOES make it appear like a glossy screen... the colours on an actual glossy screen will still appear better.

I'm still a matte screen person though... I can't stand the reflections.

 

Its not just a clear piece of plastic i believe it is a light filter of sorts that filter out uv or something to give the appearance of better brightness and contrast. could be wrong though.

 

you could have just spent a few seconds thinking about it to realize that there's got to be little more to it than the protective sheet...

...but anywhoo: here is some theory behind the stupid glossy screens
- please note that while the IDEA behind them might be (somewhat) good, here in REALITY the glossy screens remain the most retarded developement in the history of computers

 

Glossy screens have enchanced lighting and more vivid colours, which the plastic won't add on - besides the glare

 

Yeah I was guessing the display is enhanced by a glass layer that has some coatings on it or something, but really you do notice a difference.

I noticed matte screens seem a but dull/glowy, but when you add some kind of reflective screen to the display it reduces/minimizes the dull glow that it has and represents the colours better. I'm thinking about getting a shop to cut me a thin piece of ... what the I"m at a loss for words... what's that stuff called?

The stuff you use for your custom computer tower windows...I even have one on my tower that I had custom cut at a shop, but I'm feeling kinda dumb right now hahaha sitting in Scott library at YorkU, the crappiest university in Canada. Durrrrrr~

Cheers,
Mike

 

If you can use a fork, you can go to York

Plexiglass?

 

dude.. the glossy screen is the same matte screen with just a filter on it. Believe it or not, i think the filter is just a polarizer so that scattered light is filtered. Unfortunatly, this causes so much glare on the otherside, i feel (unless you're in a dark room) it's counter productive. If you have good sunglasses with a polarized filter (the main library at UBC has glass which looks like it's polarized) and look around, you'll notice less glare and the colors will "SEEM" richer. It's still the same world you're looking at, just like it's the same TFT you're be looking at. Put on shades while u use your computer if you want the same effect without the gloss... hahaha, there's an experiment to try... btw, this is all mostly speculation (cuz that's how the glare/UV filters worked on CRT's and they were glossy too), but I don't think it's far from the truth.

 

The older branch of the Main library? or that new wing... the Irving K Barber learning centre?

 

Don't be dissin YorkU now hehehe

 

I just dont understand why people call the glossy screen stupid it just seems childish. I personaly like both screens whether or not the are the same tft with a glossy layer on it makes no difference because it give it the effect of better colors and contrast. so even if its just a dumb piece of plastic so what it has better colors and some people want that. and the issue about the glare it might bother some but i never found it bad at all. i can even use it outside in the bright sun and still have a usable screen try that with most matte screens the screen will wash out. Look at is this way. CRT monitor is still far superior in every way to a lcd better colors deeper contrast less ghosting for the most part. A glossy screen gives it a LCD quality in the picture it just looks better. its just different some prefer some dont i like both. so why even bother arguing about it.

 

jaydee-- please note that while the IDEA behind them might be (somewhat) good, here in REALITY the glossy screens remain the most retarded developement in the history of computers--

I feel the same way!!!!!

 

I don't care for the glossy screens.

I saw one on the sony vaio in the store and you just see your reflection, I assume that could become quite bothersome.

Unfortunately the notebook I plan on getting only comes in a glossy screen. I can live with it. But I'd prefer the matte.

 

I've been using mine daily in a well-lit classroom and I would never go back to matte. "Retarded", in essence, is the inability to progress, kind of like the matte screen

 

IMO the glossy screens are nicer. When I got my laptop I was worried about the glossy screen, as I'd never seen one outside of a Best Buy. The only time it is a problem is when a bright light source is directy behind the screen (and it's easy to adjust to fix that). With a matte screen, all light (regardless of what angle it is coming from) seems to wash out the screen slightly. I compared my old dell (matte) and new W3V outside on a bright sunny day, and the glossy screen was much more usable.

 

Actually, "Retarded", in essence, is the inability to progress at a rate specified as "normal". "Retarded" can progress... just slowly.

 

lol way to show'em AuroraS~! hahaha

Guys look what I've started~! NO NO NO this was not the point of this thread you FOOLS, stop arguing, think before you speak~!

Both screens are great if the panel itself, used in that particular display is great~!

flaxx...yeah man you described exactly what I was thinking, but I could not articulate myself as I was really tired and I was using my desktop, which is only for gaming, so I kinda went into my dumb zombie state using it.

I think I'm gonna go get a plexiglass/lexan? piece and try it out, since those reflect less, and coat it with something just for home use in low-light conditions.


Cheers,
Mike

Oh yeah did I mention how much I love my laptop, even with all the noises that everyone is complaining about? hahaha

 

LOL - ok, you got me.

BTW - glossy's are great (when the LCD is turned off) for using as a mirror to check if you have anyting hanging out of your nose before class. Fat chance doing that with a matte.

 

Glossy/matte has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the brightness, color, or viewing from the side. I have an Acer AL2016W flatscreen with the brightness set at 30. I think my eyes would burn out if it was set at 100. If you have color issues, it's because the LCD is crap, not because the screen is matte. And last but not least, my glossy notebook monitor is just as difficult to see from the side as my matte screen, but the glossy one washes out more easily when looking at it at a downward angle.

 

Here is what I have noticed. The picture and brightness seems better on glossy screens. I have a V6j, and my brother and sister both have HP with glossy screens. Compared to the screen next to me (a matte Dell) or my old matte HP, they are brigher and the colors are more vivid. The down side is that the Matte screen is eaasier to stare at for 4-5 hours straight. I know at home I prefer to read off of my 19" matte flat panel compared to the built in screen, but thats only for long periods, otherwise, this screen is way nice.

 

Hey, I have an Asus V6J too, and I love the screen...

I don't get how you guys can say that there's no difference between glossy and matte screens except for the glare that you get from glossy screens.... if that were the case, it would be really dumb to get glossy screens. But give the companies the benefit of a doubt, and assume they have some reason to make their screens glossy. From what I've seen, glossy screens are indeed a bit clearer and crisper, have better blacks, and are visible from greater angles. I don't know exactly why, but I figure that the rough coating on matte screens is scattering the light a little bit... you know matte = rough, and I suppose they make matte screens rough to scatter background lights, but it has to scatter light from the screen too somewhat, right?

About reflections- for anyone who's worried about it, here's my advice. Stop worrying about it, ignore the reflections, and they will go away in a few seconds. Your mind cancels them out or ignores them. Trust me.

Well, at least those of us with larger brains have enough computing power to cancel reflections...maybe that's why some people can't handle glossy screeens. (take that matte screen folks!!!)

Yes, I'm just kidding about the brain size thing. Although a glossy/matte I.Q. poll would be fun.

Cyrus

 

I have a Fujitsu notebook with a glossy display and a V6V with the matte display. To be honest, I tend to prefer matte for reasons such as:

1. It is easier to clean (no worrying about fingerprints and scratches)
2. It doesn't accumulate dust as easily
3. Less eye fatigue after long periods of time (because glare is non-existent)

 

Gloss screens follow the bright and shiny principle.

If you have two subpar products sitting next to each other, most people will choose the one that's brighter and shinier. For years LCD monitor manufacturers (not so much the panel manufacturers) have been operating on this principle, calibrating their monitors to have over saturated colors that initially look more attractive. However, if you started comparing some photographs on a well calibrated screen and a stock screen you'll see the benefit of a more accurate gamut. But consumers don't do that. They look at the user interface or maybe some cgi and the most saturated mess tends to win.

Glossy polarizers, even if they have the capability of looking more striking and more accurate at the same time, are utilized in a manner that's an extension of these practices. Unfortunately there are only two remaining fairly decent matte laptop LCD's that I know of, the matte Macbook Pro and the Lenovo Flexviews.

 

Anyone ever consider pulling a matte lcd out of a laptop, masking off the edges and back, and spraying it with a thin clear coat? I wonder how well that would turn out... just for the sake of doing it.

The Uniwill in my sig is matte, and the Asus is glossy. The glare on the Asus can get a little annoying at times, but images look so much clearer and sharper that I really like the glossy better. And when you use it outside, the glare actually wins. With the matte, all the colors get washed out no matter what you try to do, and you can't see anything at all. With a glossy, you may see the sun and the trees behind you in your screen, and it gets annoying, but your images are still bright, clear, and colorful. They're just covered over with a transparent reflection of what is behind you.

I will also add the the glossy screen does attract dust much more easily, and dust and fingerprints are much more noticeable. It is also harder to clean a glossy lcd, because it is so hard to avoid streak marks.

On a side note, if you look at my Asus Z96J review, you will see pictures of my glossy lcd compared to my desktop CRT. At the same resolution, I actually prefer the glossy lcd, and I'm a CRT guy. The glossy lcd has much sharper and clearer images, and better colors. But for gaming, I still pick the CRT.

 

if you really want to compare a good matte with a glossy go to any apple store and compare the 17" MBPs..they usually have at least one out there with glossy..you can get a good idea of the difference then and whether you like it or not..personally the 17" MBP w/ glossy nicest to me

 

Yeah, but will they let you take those mbp's outside? Haha. No, but seriously, the difference between them is much greater when you are in strong sunlight. When you are in total darkness, it is very hard to tell the two apart. The only real noticeable difference between a glossy and matte in pure darkness are the viewing angles. Glossy viewing angles are amazing.

 

Screentek has a good explanation Link, but if you've taken physics, the short version of it is:

-matte screens diffuse the light reflecting off of the screen. Path differences cause interference and the reflection is muddled (which is what you want)
-this also means that light coming out of the screen will be diffused, which makes it less vivid
-glossy screens have a material whose index of refraction is very similar to that of light (MgO I believe) instead of glass, which minimizes the amount of Total Internal Reflection (which is the reflection you see). This doesn't affect the light coming from the screen so the colors are more vivid.

Science-wise it all checks out, so glossiness isn't just a marketing thing.

 

"-matte screens diffuse the light reflecting off of the screen. Path differences cause interference and the reflection is muddled (which is what you want)
-this also means that light coming out of the screen will be diffused, which makes it less vivid
-glossy screens have a material whose index of refraction is very similar to that of light (MgO I believe) instead of glass, which minimizes the amount of Total Internal Reflection (which is the reflection you see). This doesn't affect the light coming from the screen so the colors are more vivid."

Yeah... that's good that there's some science too it. I figure that if it's (the matte screen, that is) is interfering with light bouncing off of the screen, it will probably be muddying up the light coming through the screen. Don't get me wrong, I've seen some great matte screens, but the glossy V6J is just beautiful... eventually I think the manufacturers will develop some coating that lets light through unchanged, but diffuses reflected light. I can't remember whether that would be diffraction, refraction, reflection, or what, but whatever it is, I want one of those screens!

Glossy wins for me, and as the technology gets better, I think matte screens will become a thing of the past, but that's just my very uneducated forecast.

Hope this amuses

Cyrus

 

I think that eventually just about everything will be a thing of the past.

I really don't care whether glossy is "better" than matte or the other way around. I still want a nice big CRT on my laptop. That ought to cut the price of a laptop in half. =) Anyone up for modding some brand new Asus units?