Glossy or Non-glossy display??


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LeeCH

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Jun 14, 2006
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Dear sifus of CS,

Like to know what is your C & C with regards to using glossy and non-glossy displays for your photo editing. Just saw in Apple website that the Macbook Pro offers a display selection of High Resolution and also a Glossy option. What is your take? Like to hear some experience from you guys.

I am using a Fujisu laptop at the moment. Non-glossy type. Planning an change as my laptop is too slow (3 years already) and I want to start processing photos in RAW format.

Many thanks for your inputs.
 

I'd suggest a matte/non-glossy screen if you're serious with your photography.

Apple's glossy screen option tends to saturate images and throw you off if you correct color visually.
 

Glossy looks nice

Matte looks correct

o.o Apple Macbook (not pros) only have glossy options, so I had to take a glossy one.. Given a choice, I'd prefer matte.
 

Matte screen overlays are available.
 

I had the same problem as you when choosing the screen for my Macbook Pro. I chose Matte and never regretted it.

matte is usually targeted for editing pictures as it gives your a more 'correct' color output
glossy is for viewing pleasure, that is watching movies or viewing pictures..

thats what Macbooks are offers only glossy since, Apple doesnt really expect you to edit pictures on a 13" screen..
Apple Cinema Displays are all matte (I think) because they are made serious users..

hope this helps..
 

I prefer the matte finish, because the glossy's reflective surface give me a headache when I work in a brighter environment.
By the way, if you shoot Nikon RAW, the Capture NX is not yet compatible with OS X Leopard. I have to use PS CS3 for the conversion. Not ideal.
 

Many thanks for replies.

I ended up with an iMac 24 inch as the performance for editing photo is so much better and comes with a wide screen that allows me to do my work at 1600 pixels wide.

Didn't know that Leopard does not support Capture NX but I think it is no drama since I can boot in Windows and do my RAW editing from there.

Can I know where to get the matt overlay? Otherwise I need to turn off all lights everytime I do editing work. And in a dark room during daytime.

As for color profile, I guess I will use the calibration/profiling devices to get it right.

Any further comments are highly appreciated.
 

Many thanks for replies.

I ended up with an iMac 24 inch as the performance for editing photo is so much better and comes with a wide screen that allows me to do my work at 1600 pixels wide.

Didn't know that Leopard does not support Capture NX but I think it is no drama since I can boot in Windows and do my RAW editing from there.

Can I know where to get the matt overlay? Otherwise I need to turn off all lights ) I do editing work. And in a dark room during daytime.

As for color profile, I guess I will use the calibration/profiling devices to get it right.

Any further comments are highly appreciated.

I have the same iMac and as kniveswood has pointed out, it should be 1920x1200. I saw the third party iMac 24" matte overlay at Epi at Wheelock Place. But I don't use one coz there's nothing bright/reflective behind me in my study room; just one ceiling fluorescent light and one table lamp by the side of my iMac. If your iMac is located in a similar environment, you will enjoy the sharper text and images on your glossy screen especially with your photos ;)

If you want colour accuracy, you buy a screen calibrator and not really either a matte or glossy screen :) Btw, if you want one, this entry-level and inexpensive calibrator looks good ColorVision Spyder2 Express :)

For RAW conversion/editing on OSX, try one of these CS3, Lightroom or Aperture 2. All three automatically map out hot/stuck pixels during the conversion which I find very useful.

Just my few cents :)
 

if there are pesky reflections, you could try to shield the screen from the light source with a screen shade... quite easy to DIY...
 

I've found the 'glossy' machines have had to service (Mainly Dell XPS laptops) have annoying reflections of the room behind you in their screens. I assume the usual users of these machines just 'filter that out' of their view.

Screens got a matt finish for a reason. It used to be a 'feature' in the early days 'matt finish non reflective'. Now various vendors have gone back to plain glass and are trying to call it a feature.

We have a print of a painting in our lounge room - when it was first framed, they used ordinary glass. The reflections were detracting from the picture - we got it re-glazed in matt surface glass.
 

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