<>*HP Infinity screen comparison*<>

Hey everyone!

As I previously promised I am posting the comparison pictures for the Infinity display. Included in this post will be photos that I took with two DV7's side-by-side, one with Infinity and the other not. Both feature the same 1680 by 1050 resolution. ENJOY!


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(DV7 with Infinity Display)


(DV7 without Infinity Display)


(DV7 with Infinity Display)


(DV7 without Infinity Display)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)

And now..."the bright light" project


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


(Left: without Right: with Infinity)


Conclusion

Both screens have their ups and downs. You'll have to decide which suits you.

Here are some Pros/Cons for the Infinity:

Pros - Serves as a protective barrier for the screen, looks great in normal lighting,

Cons - has a great deal of glare when shined directly with light, distorts the image clarity a tiny bit

However, after using both screens side-by-side for a fairly decent duration I would honestly choose the Infinity Display. I get aggravated when dust gets caught between the LCD bezel and the LCD panel itself. With the Infinity Display you won't have to worry about dust or any buildups. You can easily clean it without "potentially" damaging the screen. The glare isn't all that bad, how likely are you to shine a light directly into your monitor? The distortion is barely noticeable (camera provokes the distortion).

Sorry for typing horribly. It's really late here. Feel free to ask questions about each screen.

I hope you all love my "signature" red blanket.

 

Thanks so much for the screen comparisons. After looking at those pictures and working on my dv5t as well, I would also agree that I'd go with the Infinity screen for similar reasons as well. $50 is a little steep of a premium but for me, I had to do something to get to $1299 for the $400 off coupon. Had I not need to, I'd probably still go with the Infinity.

 

not a problem whatsoever.

 

nice pics when i get mine (very soon) I think ill opt for the INFINITY

 

Thanks for the pictures. My first thought was "wow, it's really reflective. The florescent lights are the first things that catch my attention." But, then I realized I can also see them quite clearly in the non-infinity screen.

I was all set on *not* getting the Infinity screen because I really don't like the super glossy look on the new notebooks, but I'm resigned to the fact that I have to get used to it unless I want a Lenovo. (which I don't)

Now I'll be rethinking the Infinity display. Thanks, again, for taking the time to shoot/post the pics.

 

a picture may be worth a thousand words, but seeing it in person trumps any picture. i checked it out in a j&r store yesterday, and as a dv6000 owner already familiar with the glossiness of a standard hp screen, the infinity was not noticably more reflective for normal use (but then again i couldn't change the lighting of the store). my current screen is slightly liquid damaged due to me trying to get the dust out of the crevice between the lcd and the frame, so i will most likely get the infinity option if/when i ever buy a dv5. i agree that the $50 is slightly high of a premium to pay, but with all these coupons floating around i actually find it difficult to reach the price thresholds sometimes, so this is a worthwhile upgrade.

 

yes! the red blanky is back!

jk - nice comparison. the 1st pic really captures how the infinity screen looks in natural lighting.

your pictures also backup what one of the magazines said about the infinity screen - the fact that it grays the screen/desktop/image a bit. you can see that in nearly every picture that the colors are sort of faded as compared to the non-infinity screen.

but definitely note the huge difference - in the 1st pic, you can see the reflection of your wall on the infinity screen but on the non infinity, there is absolutely no reflection.

 

If these pictures say anything it's stay clear from the infinity. Looks like crap from these examples. Laptops have enough problems these days with reflections. Pay more for an infinity and get even more reflections. What was HP thinking?

As for cleaning screens, I just buy a bunch of Zeiss lens cloths from Sam's club in bulk and they clean my dv6500t screen perfectly. The display looks perfect after over one year of use. Forget the infinity just use the right cloths to clean the screen.

 

From the pics it looks like the infinity screen makes the screen color dull & adds glares....but you do make a good point about cleaning....glad to opted for the regular screen

 

^ Me too. I'm happy with my regular screen too. Thanks for the thread and the comparison.

 

Great unbiased review, thanks!

 

thank you for this. im going with the normal screen now. (though i was already planning on it) i wish it looked the same frame wise as the infinity, but i want less reflections.

 

Great comparison, thanks! I'm glad I decided to exchange for the regular screen (on its way).

On the normal screen, do you see any "bumpiness" when you look at reflections at an angle? My dv8000t looks like this if you look at the reflections very closely from an angle, and you might think it's a bad thing but it does a great job at mitigating reflections and looks completely smooth from any normal viewing angle. I've got some comparison shots on my camera at home, I will try to post them tonight.

The first thing I noticed is that my Ultra BrightView screen is much more crisp and the colors are warmer- the dv7t, (huge) brightness difference aside, provides a much lower color temperature (more bluish whites) and the included Nvidia control panel does not allow for color balance adjustments. This is bad as I am an avid photographer and strive for proper color balance; however, I will probably invest in a screen calibration kit anyway.

 

No problem... Let me know if I can help anymore...

 

Yeah, I got the infinity, but not by choice. Got a great deal on my system while it was on sale at OD for $979.

When I first saw it on the shelves, I thought there was something wrong. It looked grey like an old lcd screen on old digital watches and calculators.

I dont think i see any issues with it once it's powered up in the room though, neither do i have any reflections while indoors.

But in either, I use my external 22 inch lcd with which im very happy so far.

 

Rest assured regardless of which screen type you select,you will be getting one of the nicest overall designs available from any company,I love this HP

 

I was planning on buying two dv5's off of the HP site. One for myself and college, and one for my wife.
I wanted to see them in person tho before I made the purchase so I drove down the the local Best Buy. They had two or three dv5's out with different configs, and one dv7. Each one of the **** things had the infinity screen. The very first thing I noticed was that they ALL had this cloudy look to them. I tried looking at it from different angles, tried the brightness, nada...
nothing helped. I then walked around and looked at the other brands. None of them had the cloudiness like the HP's. The best looking screen's in my opinion were on the Dell Inspirons they had. Which I do not want a Dell.
However, for my wife the new little 13inch Inspiron was quite nice, and the screen was vibrant and the text was crisp and clear.

Even the Best Buy help didn't offer any information...

I left upset, because I really had my heart set on a HP dv5, but now I am thinking of going with DELL because those HP screens really suck.

Now I went home, and got online with HP tech support chat.
In a nutshell, I was told the infinity screen was to make the colors much more deeper. I asked three times if the cloudiness / dullness could have been from the infinity screen, they would not give me an answer, so I said goodbye. This pis*ed me off even more. Now i'm just at a stand still.

Does anyone else see what I see in the HP screens?

 

Think of it like this. Would you rather spend $50 on a shiny nice looking screen, or a faster processor, more ram, bigger hd, etc. Its great to have, but I wanted to spend as little as possible, so I did not get it on my laptop, and I think that everyone should address the power before the screen. I am not talking about the screen res, though. I did get the 1680x1050, it is SWEET. I can't imagine 1920x1200 on a 15.4, which exists. The taskbar must be tiny...

 

I would like to see a dv5 without the infinity screen option. They just did not have any the Best Buy to look at. Any idea's of where I could go and look locally?

 

It seemed small to me after going to 1680x1050 from 1440x900, but then I increased the font DPI (rich click on desktop, select Personalize, then Adjust Font Size from the task pane) to 110% and it looks perfect now. I don't use ClearType font smoothing, so the text isn't bold and fuzzy which can be tough to read when it's small. I prefer the more crisp standard font smoothing.

 

Great pictures. I personally went with the Infinity and love it. Watching movies on this laptop is a joy...really!! The Infinity option really gives the laptop a "upgraded" look, but honestly, to each one his/her own.

 

oh got you should sell this review to HP to put it on their website

I still not sure If I should get a dv4t or dv5t can anyone also review the 14.1 and 15.4 screens?

15.4 infinity or normal (low res)
14.1 infinity or LED or normal

 

I want the infinty screen

Stupid holland wee don;t have this option here

 

I'm surprised that the Infinity display looks so dull compared to the non-Infinity display.

From those pictures, it looks to me as if the Infinity display is not really "Brightview". Maybe there's a Brightview screen underneath the glass, but here the Infinity display looks just like the on-Brightview (anti-glare) display on my HP NX9420.

I was hoping the glossy-look would still be evident on the Infinity display. Oh well, I might have to give up the seamless look for the basic Brightview. Kinda disappointing.

 

lol, no one wants the infinity, so that's all they have left at the stores...

 

Good comparison, glad I didn't go for the Infinity, I will be out in the sunlight a good deal with this notebook. Seems like it would be a real pain with the Infinity and glare issues.

 

Very interesting comparison

 

NO replys from led guys???

 

Infinity all the way, i like the frame less and glossy look!

 

Infinity all the way, i like the frame less and glossy look!

 

I agree. At night the Infinity overlay makes the screen look vivid and full.

 

ok how about some screens of a dv4t with LED screen?

 

Do Not Get The INFINITY SCREEN! I just got scammed by HP today because I got the Infinity Display and this display is nice and everything but gave me two major problems. First is that Dust gets trapped between the two screens and that with the Infinity display, your keys will hit the screen which will cause blemishes.

HP s did not want to cover my laptop by warranty because they said it was due to physical damage, but honestly it was because it is a design flaw and many others with the screen also came about the same problems as me.

So, if you do have the Infinity Screen and have blemishes or dust, call them and complain!!!! Seriously call them, because I made them put that issue on a "ISSUE TRACKER" and if more people join me and complain, then they will put that screen in RECALL and have it replaced with a new screen. Even if you had the screen and damaged it trying to take out the dust, they will fix it as well for you. So call them, complain, tell them that you and many others with the screen have dust, and hopefully they will recall the screen and put brand new screens on out notebooks!!!

So call HP and complain if you have DUST or KEY BLEMISHES on your screen!!! They won't replace it right away, they just need to know that it is a very common problem and that there is a flaw in their design!

 

I've had my HDX18 since November-ish and haven't had any trouble with the Infinity display. You probably got a bad unit.

 

Everything said where "but honestly..." is an inference or opinion. There are many happy people with the Infinity display, me being one of them. Many others, yadda yadda... Many others have also enjoyed their screens.

Please stop spamming all of the NBR threads or I will report you. It's quite annoying seeing your posts everywhere. It ruins the whole experience on this site. One post is enough and people can make responses.

Thank you!

 

Yeah I know, sorry about that, I was heated.

 

did any one solve the dust issue ? open it or something?

 

You should compare the picture quality on both. My brother has a dv7z with out an infinity screen ( 1440x900 ) and i have an infinity display on my dv7t ( 1680x1050 and the picture on the non infinity display is much more vibrant then mine.

 

Well, certain lighting conditions will make it appear glossy and dull.

 

Most lighting conditions judging by the first post. The standard display is reflective enough as it is.

 

I have a problem i.e. I have a DV4 1200 pavilion notebook. It had an infinity display but it went bad (no display) after two months of purchase.I gave it under warranty to HP authorised reseller but after aboutr 30 days they wrongly replaced the infinity display with a simple non-infinity LCD. now they were saying that they can remove the front panel of the new LCD they ordered and place the glass from the infinity on it. Can some body guide me whether the glass is the only difference between an infinity and a non-infinity display or are there other internal differences?

 

you're pc's probably not displaying the symptoms he describes, but in time you will. the infinity glass had nothing to protect itself from the keyboard. ALL GLASS. In time due to the keyboard contact when the lid is closed, there would be markings there IN Time.

Plus your infinity glass prolly did'nt catch a spec of dust yet, so you don't know what that person felt.

So personally if you bought one with glass, coat it immediately with an LCD protector to protect it from scratches. I really had no idea how to solve the dust problem. And yes, its a design flaw.