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phidia
July 31st, 2008, 11:34 PM
I've read some articles-well one actually :) and I was wondering what the reasons are here at the Ubuntu Community for preferring a glossy or matte lcd screen.

I'll do a poll too, but why, what reasons do you think one is better than the other, or maybe it doesn't matter to some of you?

Anyway I'd like to know what you think and thanks!

cardinals_fan
July 31st, 2008, 11:36 PM
My photos look cool on a glossy screen, but my vote goes to matte. It's MUCH more versatile. Good in both dark and light places.

TBOL3
July 31st, 2008, 11:50 PM
Matte, although glossy is better at making rich colors, you can't see them 1/2 of the time.

jeyaganesh
July 31st, 2008, 11:52 PM
I dont like seeing or editing photos in matte screen. It doesnt show true color of the photos. So I like glossy screen. But unfortunately, I got only normal 19" Dell screen.:popcorn:

Kvark
August 1st, 2008, 12:01 AM
It's all about getting a clear image and that includes avoiding reflections. The faint reflections on my glossy TV ruins it for me unless it's dark in the room. The diffuse reflections on my matte LCD screen are so faint they're even harder to see than the dust on the screen. Matte gives a better image because it's better at reducing reflections.

I've never seen a screen of either kind show the same colors as print but maybe I just haven't been paying attention to people who use glossy screens in combination with Photoshop's color calibration.

dizee
August 1st, 2008, 04:47 AM
matte screens are much more usable in my (limited) experience, if not as good colour-wise.

FuturePilot
August 1st, 2008, 05:02 AM
Glossy gives better colors and it looks nicer I think. All shinny. :D

grossaffe
August 1st, 2008, 05:15 AM
I went with an anti-reflective screen... for all I can tell, all it does is fuzz the reflections... :(

chucky chuckaluck
August 1st, 2008, 05:42 AM
i have a matte wsxga on my laptop and i'd say the screen is my favorite part of my machine.

sicofante
August 1st, 2008, 06:03 AM
Matte. I have mirrors at home already, thanks. No serious colour work is done on glossy screens.

init1
August 1st, 2008, 06:14 AM
I like how glossy screens look really crisp, but I don't like the glare that they are prone too. Voted for matte.

samjh
August 1st, 2008, 07:33 AM
Matte.

Glossy has too much glare.

Trenchbroom
August 1st, 2008, 07:45 AM
Matte is dreary--I think "VGA" every time I see a matte screen.

Of course my laptop never leaves the house so it's glossy screen suits me just fine.

gn2
August 1st, 2008, 08:03 AM
Glossy is easier to clean if you inadvertently sneeze.....

spupy
August 1st, 2008, 10:45 AM
Does anyone know what the screens of the MacBooks are? They look better than my matte toshiba screen.

phidia
August 1st, 2008, 04:12 PM
Does anyone know what the screens of the MacBooks are? They look better than my matte toshiba screen.

Macbooks (not macbook pros which did have matte/gloss options) are glossy but supposedly from reviews I've read they are less glossy then say the new HP's. So there's obviously some variation in the gloss. Say, high gloss to semi-gloss I guess.

I liked sicofante's comment about mirrors. This issue seems related to photographic prints-consumers appear to like the glossy look but is it really better?

My powerbook has a matte screen and I seem to have less eyestrain and headaches then if I use a highly glossy LCD screen.

barbedsaber
August 1st, 2008, 04:20 PM
My solution, go halfway, find a semi gloss screen so your photos look alright (and they are easier to clean, but you don't get glared to death.

Miguel
August 1st, 2008, 04:42 PM
Glossy screens look cool indeed, and have a pretty good contrast, even more marked due to the gloss. However, if you are going to spend a large amount of time working in your computer (i.e. reading/writing stuff), you will die for a matte screen. It doesn't look half as nice when watching a DVD in a warm-lit room, but will cause less eyestrain.

By the way, what happened to Flexview screens in the Thinkpads? It seems that they went the way of the dodo as soon as widescreen thinkpads went live. I'd die to get a non TN panel laptop, but I fear that means buying a Macbook Pro. Is there any other laptop with an IPS or (S-)PVA panel in the market?

billgoldberg
August 1st, 2008, 04:43 PM
I've read some articles-well one actually :) and I was wondering what the reasons are here at the Ubuntu Community for preferring a glossy or matte lcd screen.

I'll do a poll too, but why, what reasons do you think one is better than the other, or maybe it doesn't matter to some of you?

Anyway I'd like to know what you think and thanks!

1) Glossy screens hurt your eyes more than matte.

2) Glossy screens have more way (sun)light reflection.

3) I don't know if this is still the case, but the degree in which you are looking into the screen really hurts the readability of the screen.

If you look at it from the side, you only see half the screen.

4) It looks to fake, glass like for me.

--

That being said, I think I heard that glossy screens display better colour quality.

But unless you are a professional video or image artist, it doesn't really matter.

--

I use matte screens if you hadn't figured it out :p .

hessiess
August 1st, 2008, 04:46 PM
matte, more accurate clolur representation. glossy screens seem to under saturate reds.

Buzzdee
August 1st, 2008, 04:46 PM
What I've been wondering for months:

Why are most laptops you can get glossy (you might use them outside) and all desktop monitors (which are used in darkened rooms most of the time) matte? That doesn't make sense, does it?

Miguel
August 1st, 2008, 04:52 PM
What I've been wondering for months:

Why are most laptops you can get glossy (you might use them outside) and all desktop monitors (which are used in darkened rooms most of the time) matte? That doesn't make sense, does it?

Maybe a way to trick consumers? If you are watching a movie for a few minutes, you may think the screen looks great. However, if you compare a matte laptop panel to a matte desktop panel you will realise how large the quality difference is, thus somewhat decreasing the value of the laptop.

EDIT: its a wild guess

Growbag
August 1st, 2008, 04:54 PM
Glossy is so much nicer. I wouldn't change ever.

Matt screens are dull, fuzzy, and just plain ugly.

You can't even see a matt screen in sunlight, it's a load of rubbish.

Honestly, don't waste your money, Matt is old, shiny is new :D.

sicofante
August 1st, 2008, 05:25 PM
Why are most laptops you can get glossy (you might use them outside) and all desktop monitors (which are used in darkened rooms most of the time) matte? That doesn't make sense, does it?
First of all, unless you use a transflective screen (very rare), you won't be able to see an LCD screen outdoors, be it matte or glossy. True, glossy has very directional reflections so you might try different angles until you see something, whilst matte will always blur reflections, making it almost impossible to find the right angle. But let's not fool ourselves: no ordinary LCD screen will be workable outdoors. (Check out Nokia E-Series phones, which sport transflective screens, vs N-series or any other which don't, and you'll see the clear difference.)

Most desktop monitors are produced for both professional (office, photo, etc.) and consumer use, so manufacturers decide to go the safe route, since for most of their models they don't really know what they'll be used for. There are some desktop monitors that use glossy screens and they are intended for consumers. No professional work will ever be done on glossy screens so when in doubt, manufacturers just make them matte. Of course, high end LCD monitors are all matte.

Laptops are designed either for consumer or for professional use but rarely for both at the same time. Business laptops are all (or almost all) matte. High-end MacBook Pros let you choose. And there's almost no laptop out there designed for professional photo, video or movie editing, so there you go.

Glossy screens are part of the bling most consumers look for in almost everything nowadays. They go to a store and decide right there what looks better. They don't take into account things like eyestrain (terrible on glossy screens) or colour fidelity. They just want bright colours (not right colours) and that's what they get. Then, back home, they can't use their laptops for more than a couple of hours without becoming very tired, and they start complainting (ALL of my customers do sooner or later), but then it's too late...

gn2
August 1st, 2008, 07:07 PM
I've seen some notebooks that even have high-glossy piano black keyboards. Yuk.

Vegabondsx
August 1st, 2008, 07:23 PM
Glossy has richer colors and a deeper black, which amounts to a nicer picture and contrast. The downside is that on many screens there is glare and reflectiveness. Keep in mind that the amount of glossiness can vary. The screens on a Glossy Macbook Pro are far less glossy than the ones found on an HP laptop. This makes a big difference since there is less eyestrain and reflectiveness, although the more glossy look appeals to many consumers.

Most professionals use Matte because it's a safer choice, there is less of a strain on your eyes, and are more easy to set up as color accurate. That doesn't mean you can't use glossy for professional graphics. As a semi-professional graphics/printing student I use a glossy screen and it works very well for me. My eyes don't feel strained and it's comfortable to use for long periods of times. Compared to my friend's Macbook Pro with the Matte display I feel mine has a much richer and more impressive image than the Matte screen. It is somewhat troublesome if there is a brigh tlight shining down it (especially sun light) which causes either glare or a hard to see image. My screen isn't nearly as glossy and reflective as many of the ones out there are though, which may make a big difference.

The best thing to do is to look at the screens yourself and consider what you want to do with your computer. If after this you feel uneasy about glossy, go with matte to be safe.

insane_alien
August 1st, 2008, 09:04 PM
i have no preference, i only notice the difference when the screen is off so it bothers me not.

Buzzdee
August 2nd, 2008, 06:57 AM
I found my Thinkpad T61p to have some inbetween-type of display... I think. It's almost non-reflective but colours are much brighter than on other matte LCD monitors and you can see the picture even from very big angles.
Do Lenovo use another type of screen than most laptop producers or is it just imagination?

PS: I found it to be very similar to the one on my colleague's Macbook G4 Pro (or whatever the right notation is for those awkward Apples ;) )

mips
August 2nd, 2008, 09:57 AM
Matte. I hate those glossy lcds as there is way to much reflection off them and they are pretty unuseable in bright light.

sicofante
August 2nd, 2008, 05:55 PM
Glossy has richer colors and a deeper black, which amounts to a nicer picture and contrast.
I'm not sure this is more than the global perception of directional reflections vs fuzzy reflections. It would be interesting to look at the two types of LCD in perfect darkness, whith no reflections at all. (You'd have to do this from a distance, however: the light coming from the LCD is usually enough to illuminate your face which, in turn, is reflected from a glossy surface.)

FuturePilot
August 2nd, 2008, 05:59 PM
I don't know, everyone complains about glossy and too much reflection, but I've never had a problem with that on my laptop with a glossy screen. It looks much better than matte. Colors on matte just look dull and faded.

brokenstrides
August 2nd, 2008, 06:49 PM
My laptop has a glossy screen, and my desktop has a matte screen. Glossy screens always look REALLY nice when you're showing something off, and they always look great in the store, but I really like my matte finished monitor, just because you can't see every little thing behind you reflected on your screen...:lolflag: