Do glossy laptop screens have any technical advantage?

Why are they so popular amongst manufacturers? I would think matte would be better for use (who wants reflactions?)

 

Cheaper than matte, I believe.

I hate glossy screens. Especially the Lenovo I had before--it had diagonal striations! But I might have to go back to it soon. :\

 

Because glossy screens give high contrast ratios and color accuracy, at a lower cost than a matte screen with equivalent image quality.

The question isn't reflections vs no-reflections. The more fair comparison would be "would you rather have reflections, or lower cost?"

 

I do not think glossy is cheaper than matte.

That is not quite the case.

What is really happening is that glossy coating artificially boost color saturation and contrast and allows a cheaper low grade display to look better than what it is.

So as a net result they are using cheaper screens with the glossy coating rather than forking up the cost to produce better screens with a transparent matte coating.

 

"I do not think glossy is cheaper than matte."
"glossy coating... allows a cheaper low grade display to look better"
"...they are using cheaper screens with the glossy coating"

​

How are those sentences not contradictory?

 

Why does a glossy coating incease contrast ratio & color accuracy?

And why is this a recent phenomenon (I dont think glossy screens were present 5-6 years ago?)

 

A matte screen works by using a matte layer that diffuses environmental light when it hits the surface of the screen. The drawback is that it also diffuses light coming from the LCD itself as well, and will cause light from different pixels to "blend"

From this web page here:

A high-gloss surface allows the light from an image to be directly transmitted to the viewer’s eye without being diffused. Diffused light blurs the crispness of an image, blurs the richness of colors and reduces the darkness of the darkest of black pixels thereby decreasing contrast. Contrast ratio (CR) is the measurement of the difference in light intensity between the brightest white pixel and the darkest black pixel
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Also, take a look at this pic below. Note how:
1) The text on the matte side (right-side) looks less crisp, and has lower contrast.
2) The one disadvantage of the glossy side (left-side) is the sharp reflection when you do not control the light sources of your environment.




As for why glossy screens became popular when they did - My guess is that it had a lot to do with the rise in popularity of LCD screens in general. LCD's started started getting affordable and popular around 2004-ish ($500 for a 19" 1280x1024 screen back in 2004). I remember seeing displays with glossy screens pretty close to that time frame.

 

Thanks...do laptop screens come with "anti-relfective glossy screens" from that link? Or are manufacturers so cheap that they want to save $5 andnot put in the coating?

 

What that article refers to as the "anti-reflective" surface *IS* what we know as a smooth high-gloss coating. Very confusing, because it's actually quite reflective.

They are really talking about is glossy vs. matte, not some special technology or coating that they sell.

 

Well that sucks

Someone need to develop a better coating for screens that work better thann the current coating!!

 

glossy screens are more expensive. It requires a lot more quality control and tighter tolerances to maintain a glossy screen that a matte.

 

There is a difference between glossy and glass screens right? I heard all glass screens are extremely reflective.

I made the switch from matte to glossy and haven't had any problems seeing the screen in bright lights.

 

I've never heard of a "glass" LCD screen.

I know that some glossy screens use glass as their "glossy" coating. But to my knowledge, there isn't a difference between glossy vs glass. Am I mistaken?

 

Some manufacturers (e.g. Alienware) have an actual glass panel covering the LCD screen. Maybe that's what's being referred to.

 

Isnt the glass panel the thing in MBP's or Dell Precision Covet's "Edge to Edge" display?

What does the glass panel do?

 

That's what I was talking about.

 

My Samsung R590 has the edge to edge screen, When i checked the specifications on the side of the box it says matt screen, but it`s defenitley glossy , it makes cleaning the screen much easier though, the edge to edge that is.

 

Which means they look prettier. That it!

 

I prefer matte ten gazillion times better than glossy. I don't care if the image is a bit mor crisp and defined if I see my own ugly mug in the middle of everything. I scare myself. I just want matte but it's darn near impossible to get anymore.

 

For the most part they're a sales gimmick. Still, the best way to get what you want is to let the manufactures know what you want.

 

I think the answer is very simple. Glossy screens look better for indoor use as color and contrast hold an edge over matte screens. Btw i'm talking about consumer products.

Glossy screen laptops just like 16:9 formats are made for consumers who like to watch movies and multimedia use. Just my 2 cents.

 

You're not going to go there are you? Nobody has a patent on the prefect aspect ratio; they're all arbitrary. And movies...is where it all began!

 

Has anyone tried using 600 or 1000 grit sandpaper on a glossy screen to make it matte?

 

Or the opposite lol. It's much easier to make matte become glossy.

 

hmm how? with like, a rubber eraser?

 

The basic reason is that it helps to maintain high contrast ratios and color accuracy thereby enhancing color saturations. This comes at a cheaper price. So the end result is good display at a controlled cost.

 

Heres how you use glossy screens outdoors



lol

 

Or like this:



The Antiglare Laptop Burka

 

Glossy screens have two advantages to manufacturers:
a) They are cheaper to make. It's not very cheap to add high-quality anti-glare treatment. The "glossy" polarizer is basically untreated sheet of glass as it comes from oven. Cheap and low-quality anti-glare treatment is a lot worse than glossy screen.
b) They provide better results "on paper". Industry-standard screen specs are measured in the dark room, thats why glossy screens are able to squeese little more luminance NITs and contrast ratio - so they will appear better in specs. Unfortunately most users don't work in the dark rooms, so these specs are meaningless - if you measure specs of glossy screen in non-dark room, reflections will just kill it (down to total invisibility if you will let the sunlight, even indirect, in).

 

That's the main point really, same as with 16:9 vs 16:10. 16:9 is cheaper to manufacture hence almost 99% of modern laptops have them. Which is why I've decided not to change my current matte 16:10 until they realise that laptops ain't HD LCD tellys.

 

HP ProBook 5310m: A Slender Laptop for Business Users - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

It'll cost. A glossy, anti glare coating has to be able to deflect environmental light while not inhibiting display light. Have you ever had a photo custom framed? There's an expensive option for Museum glass. It's got a special coating that virtually eliminates most reflections. One of my pieces of glass was $60 for 13"x13".

 

Thats not expensive, I'd gladly pay $100 extra for an LCD that does not reflect.


I just saw an Asus N71 with glossy screen...man are the reflections BAD.
I've worked my entire life with matte LCDs.

 

All lcd tv`s i have see have mat screens, why would notebook manufactures think that we would want glossy notebook screens ?

 

I was wondering the same thing!

 

Actually quite a few LCD TVs come with glossy screens. Some Samsungs for example.

 

Glossy screens are eye-flattering indoor with few reflects and give a slight impression of sharper contrast / more vivid colors I find but that's it. They're terrible for portable devices and I can only think of them being cheaper to produce as a reason why almost every laptop packs one.

 

Gloss screens aren't cheaper to produce. Anything that is glossy requires a close to imperfection free surface which requires much tighter tolerances and quality control. Matte can get away with minor imperfections because they wouldn't be noticed.

 

With sandpaper. Just like lapping CPU heatspreaders to make them smoother.

Tech ARP - The CPU & Heatsink Lapping Guide

 

They are cheaper.

First of all, most of glossy screen surfaces are not very perfect, try to look reflection at angle and you will see its not "perfect" flat mirror, there are small deviations like "wavy" undulations in it.

Glossy polariser is simply the glass panel as it comes out of oven.

Matte polariser is above glassy one plus additional anti-glare treatment. This additional step adds cost.
Cheap matte screen can not "get away" with anything, because it will look bad, worse than glossy screen. Partially because of this nobody bothers doing cheap matte.

High-end anti-glare look better than any kind of gloss, but definitely quite costly (exactly because its not just "sand papering the glass" ) Also screen backlight must be quite bright by itself, to eliminate some light lost on dispersion, that's why it's pointless to AG dim screen.

 

Maybe the multitude of reflection on an glossy screen, makes owners less likely to complain about actual screen defects as it makes them harder to see.

 

Well, basically, matte and glossy screens are panels that have two different types of coatings. So, neither is really "more expensive" than the other due to the coating.

However, that screen with a glossy coating would look nicer than that same screen with a matte coating in dim environments, because the glossy coat boosts contrast (makes blacks look blacker, essentially). Because of the advantage of this type of coating, panel manufacturers are tending to use lower-quality (and therefore cheaper) panels with a glossy coating, which consumers perceive to be the same quality as a matte screen of a higher grade. That is why glossy screens are cheaper than matte screens.

The glass overlay in certain laptop models is on top of the screen itself--a glossy display with edge-to-edge glass still has a glossy coating, I believe, the glass is added on purely for aesthetics (makes the laptop look sharper and cleaner with no bezel that dips down onto the screen).

Not true. Actually, among upper-end TVs, I've seen more glossy TVs lately than matte ones. The 46" LED-backlit Samsung we have has a glossy coating.

 

They're not exactly cheaper to manufacture, rather, the 16:9 ratio nets more usable panels from the mother sheet they cut from.

 

Even indoor, unless all lights are off, glossy looks horrible with the reflections!!
Its like a freakin mirror.

 

That's an exaggeration, but it IS a matter of taste. And like the aberrations present with any reflective surface, it depend on your focus.

 

Let's find out shall we?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...527845-do-you-prefer-glossy-matte-screen.html

 

You mean eye-focus?
Having worked with matte screens all my life, my eyes are having difficulty not focussing on the reflections....

 

Well, he does have a point. Especially when you're working in a room with a window (back home, my desk faced the room's window), a glossy screen really puts additional strain on your eyes.

 

That is a good point.

It depends on how much you exercise your eye muscles.
I used to defocus my eyes on things when I was a kid as a little game. Now I can do it at will, kind of like those "magic eye" optical illusion books, so reflections don't strain my eyes at all as I don't impulsively focus on them.

I can still see them clearly however, defocused. I don't know if its less annoying than strain.

 

No way! Me too.