"Glossy vs matte screens: why the PC industry?s out of touch"

Do I understand it right that even now (summer 2012) Alienwares still don't offer a matte screen option?

They've really lost a lot of potential new owners.


In my long search for my first high-end desktop replacement I finally chose the Asus G74SX. There were many competitors, but the only one which would have beaten it was an Alienware M17x R3 with a matte screen.

(by the way I'm into 2011 laptops because their price is affordable right now, their 2012 successors offer only incremental improvements not worth the extra €500+)


Gamer laptops are not just for gamers, they are bought for their general high performance, upgradability and great screens from people involved in photo/videography, graphics and general multi-media. But I know these crowds almost always prefer a matte screen.

So does it follow that gamers generally prefer a glossy screen and that's why Dell only offer this possibility? They don't even let you configure a matte screen on their homepage.

If so, then it follows that Asus, MSI, Sony, Schenker/Clevo/Sager and even Dell themselves with their XPS 17 have recognised that not just gamers buy gaming notebooks, and are now offering matte screens.


But if even gamers are now demanding matte screens (which this thread indicates), that makes Dell's decision not to have them on Alienwares even more confusing, unless they don't want to clash with their XPS range.

 

One of the few things Razer did right with blade was giving it a good matte screen.

glossy is pretty terrible in some brightly lit rooms...

 

I agree. I have never knew how much I was missing until I had my first matte one. I still have some glossy ones and I kinda hate using them now.

 

Off topic, but this is going to be one of my favorite job titles now: "Facilities Management Lighting engineer" from the apple insider.

I can't even remember the last time I used a matte screen. I've been using glossy screens for so long now, that I think it is to the point that any reflections don't even phase me any more.

 

A lot of people think that... then they see a good matte screen in bright light and its like putting on a new gasses prescription.

 

Amen!

When I bought my dell inspiron 6400 in 2007 I had the option of a matte screen or to 'upgrade' to a glossy screen. I took the glossy screen of course. I wanted it to be nice and pretty. I was thinking of gloss paint on cars. That looks so much better! My mom also bought a dell around the same time as me and she just stuck with the regular matte. I like her screen a lot more. Agreed, mine is a little more colourful but it's hard to watch movies/youtube when there is anything brighter than a black wall behind you. I will never get a glossy screen again.

At least most monitors and TV's aren't glossy anymore (i think). I remember the old tube TV and having to move around the living room to keep watching cartoons

 

The M18x and M17x do not have a glossy screen. They have an edge-to-edge lens that is glossy, but it is not the LCD panel itself. This Lexan polycarbonate material is very durable and it makes caring for the system super easy. So, while it is reflective, it has a great purpose and many of us love it to death. I would be seriously disappointed if they did away with it. I hate having an LCD bezel that gets dust and crud around the edges. I have multiple laptops with both glossy and matte finish and I would take my glossy lens cover over a matte display without a lens 100% of the time. It is not quite as shiny and not cheap looking like an ordinary glossy LCD panel because it has no ripples and waves. The matte screens tend to get a haggard look to them through normal wear and tear, rub marks, etc. They can start to look pretty skanky rather quickly unless you are OCD about their care, and sometimes even that's not enough. My M18x still looks brand new.

You can do a mod that involves removing the lens and replace it with a bezel. Have a look here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mizable-custom-bezel-m18xs-matte-display.html

 

Question, why cant you just buy an antiglare cover just like a cell phone and drop it on.

I will amit it is easier to see detail on a gloss panel than a matte. It depends more on your lighting environment to me. I think the reason laptop makers do it is because it allows them to get more brightness / IE they can save battery life. Alot of people rave about gloss displays. I personally could go either way I dont really consider one better than the other I consider them to have pros and cons.

Anyhow this like many issues with laptops is just one more thing were apple has led the market in a bad direction with less choices and PC makers see this as more profit. To me a laptop should come in a size like 17 inch and then you should be able to select whichever display you want something like lager. matte, glossy, IPS, TN, 120hz etc... But we dont see that and it seems impossible in laptops to get all the options the way you liek them so most consumers either dont know or just give up and learn that a laptop is just a bundle of compromises where no one makes what you want and you are forced to buy the lesser of evils.

 

You can, but it reduces the quality of the display image. Some that don't like the glossy display cover have done that.

 

but then again so does matte.....