What is the differences betwwen these 2 types of LCD Screen ?

Hi there

I am planning to order a 13" Dell portable laptop and I have 2 choices of the screen :

(1) 13.3 inch WXGA Anti-Glare Display

(2) 13.3 inch UltraSharp™ WXGA LCD Display w/TrueLife™

May I know what is the difference between those 2 types ?

Please kindly advise.

 

The Anti-Glare display is matte, and the TrueLife display is glossy.

Long story short, glossy displays tend to be brighter and have more vivid colors, but they do reflect glare from direct light sources. Matte displays are generally a bit less bright and vivid (some say "washed out"), but are not really affected by glare from any angles.

I personally prefer glossy, but really, more people here actually seem to prefer matte displays. It's entirely up to you; it's all personal preference.

 

If you buy a Glossy screen make sure you dust it out before cleaning with a liquid because it can easily be scratched.

 

The Dell website describes each as follows:

A TrueLife TM display has up to a 10% higher contrast ratio than the same display with an anti-glare coating. TrueLife technology delivers darker blacks and colors that pop for vivid graphics and lifelike video.

Anti-Glare technology is designed to reduce the intensity of reflected light from the surrounding environment, making it ideal for typical office settings as well as for the varying lighting conditions in environments such as customer sites and airports.

If you want…
The best visual experience for multimedia applications such as streaming video, digital photos, graphic and video editing and production.
Choose…
A TrueLife display

If you want…
A display for less-than-ideal lighting conditions.
Choose…
Anti-glare technology

 

I think the first is CCFL and the second is LED.
Ultra-Sharp ones are normally the LED very thin display lids.
Something like this IIRC:

 

To anyone moving from gloss to matte you will notice a huge difference,When I got my samsung NC10 are using my mums Glossy Acer I was constantly cleaning the screen it just looks dirty all the time of scratched,I am delighted to be going back to gloss on the 1555

 

After reading that, I still have no idea which is glossy and which is matte. In fact, the whole thing reeks of marketing babble meant to confuse users. Why can't Dell just be honest?

 

Each major computer manufacturer has their own name for their particular glossy displays-

Dell- TrueLife
Toshiba- TruBrite
HP- BrightView
Lenovo- VibrantView

Those are all GLOSSY displays. The terms "anti-glare" and "matte" are interchangeable.

It basically boils down to how you'll be using the laptop and in what sort of physical environment. If you'll be in an office (under fluorescent lighting) or in varied/less-than-ideal lighting (indoor/outdoor), matte/anti-glare may be your best bet.

If you plan to use the laptop for entertainment (watching movies/videos, playing games, web surfing), glossy may be a better choice.

 

The fact that each OEM has their own terminology is the problem. If you ask someone whether they want a glossy or matte screen, most people would be able to answer. On the other hand, if you ask someone whether they prefer a TrueLife or anti-glare screen, well, you get threads like this one.

If that were the case, then this statement makes no sense at all:

"A TrueLife TM display has up to a 10% higher contrast ratio than the same display with an anti-glare coating"

These terms make sense to us because we already know what they mean. If your average Joe were to read Dell's description above, don't you agree that they would only come out more confused than before? Depending on how you interpret it, you might think that both displays were glossy, or both were matte, or one was glossy and one was matte, but it'd be impossible to know which one is which.

 

It gets even less clear when looking at the display options for a business notebook like my Latitude E6400-

WXGA (1280x800) LED Display
UltraSharp WXGA+ (1440x900) LED Display

I now know that they're both anti-glare/matte finish and a glossy display isn't even available on the E6400...but the average customer is left guessing or, God forbid, at the mercy of a Dell employee!

 

I got the truelife screen. If you want to use the laptop anywhere where there's direct sunlight, forget about it. The glare is so bad because of the mirror-like finish on the screen. It's reflective to a point that I could shave with the screen if I wanted to. It has a glossy, shiny 'bling' factor that I like, but the light reflection is awful.
- The nice thing is, I can always see people looking over my shoulder...

 

When I had laptops with glossy displays, the first thing I did was stopped using any overhead light source! I quickly learned to position the laptop so there were no lamps or windows behind me (to cause glare on the display).

I just went with floor lamps in a two corners of most rooms and their indirect 'up-lighting' doesn't cause any glare at all!

 

I've been dealing with my glossy screen on my 1520 for almost two yeas now. That's the only thing I hate about the laptop.

More than once I have been tempted to buy a matte display for this thing to get rid of glare.

It gets REALLY annoying when I have an afternoon class and the sun shining on the screen is keeping me from gaming in class.

 

Wrong. TrueLife is glossy, anti-glare is matte.

 

gaming in class millermagic?? hahahahaha way the go!

I stand corrected Mastershroom.

 

Yeah, in-class gaming is great if you're near a power source. I often roll some UT2k4 in my Java class.