HP envy 14, 720p screen THAT bad?

hey guys, I"m going to college soon and am wanting to buy an envy 14.
Is the screen that terrible? it seems like many are bashing the screen quality.

For comparison purposes, I have seen an HP dv6t 720p screen in person recently and it seems perfectly fine. pretty bright and the lack of higher resolution did not seems like a problem to me.

So is it innately a bad screen for its low resolution, because resolution is not a huge problem for me, or is it a bad screen in general (bad color, etc.) because I heard it has a 82% color gamut which is pretty good.

opinions?

 

The screen isn't that bad. I've never had the pleasure of seeing a Radiance in person, but my previous laptop had one of the best screens ever - a Dell Studio XPS 16 with the 1920x1080 RGBLED (perhaps better than Radiance? Anybody weigh in on that who's seen both?). That being said, this screen has decent colors and decent brightness (subjective opinion). What brings it down are terrible black levels (i.e., blacks are really kind of greys) and the viewing angles suck.

In my opinion, it's a decent screen, but I wouldn't call it good or anything... it's average or slightly above average at best. What people really complain about is the fact that it's not really in line with the rest of the computer... a premium machine with a non-premium (or average) display. If you're ok with the black levels, viewing angles, and don't need higher resolutions (for gaming the 6630M wouldn't do much at higher resolutions anyway), I'm sure it's fine for you.

 

Never seen radiance, but been using the standard one for almost a year now and even though I do not find it outstanding it is still workable in most situations.

 

no. The extreme stories you hear of are from people with super high standards.

Is a Toyota Camry good? Is a Honda Civic good? Yeah, they're good. Are they standard, consumer products? Yeah. However, Kobe Bryant would probably call those cars horrible since he probably owns a Mercedes Benz or Porche.

Same with laptop screens. The screen is good unless you're some rich guy who has $1000 IPS cinema screens.

 

My only problem with the screens on the Envy 14's is the lack of a 1440x900 (or better) resolution. 1366x768 is just too constraining for me personally. The quality of the display is probably fine though.

I was considering buying an Envy 14 for travel purposes and to coexist with my 17, but the lack of a higher resolution killed it for me.

And no, I'm not a rich guy with a $1000 IPS cinema screen. I'm just a professional engineer who sometimes needs to RDP into [MS] servers and can't deal with scrolling a 1024x768 window every day on a lower res screen.

 

The screen isnt bad but they could have easily upped the resolution this go-around. On the plus side, the frame rates for games will be a little better.

 

I scale things down to around 80% to get around the resolution problem.

I've had a taste of the Radiance. There's not too much difference IMO. Others have said that HP managed to match color reproduction up pretty well. The main problems the BV has are brightness and viewing angles.

 

The contrast isn't excellent I have to add. The blacks are like gray and the whites have a little gray/blue. I've adjusted my color settings and this is the best I can get it at. Normal internet stuff you can't see it but when you plop in a DVD movie you can see the off colors.

Quality is fine. I would've liked a 900p screen like everyone has said.

 

All the things that you guys listed that are bad/subpar, are what make great screens great.

Bad contrast/Bad viewing angles/Lack of real estate/Colors not accurate

those things should not have anything to do with a $1000+ laptop.

 

We're all saying exactly what you just said. It's not a bad screen, it's just not premium like the rest of the laptop is.

 

To reiterate what everyone's said, it's not a bad screen, just too average for the machine lol. I personally think the screen quality could be better. It's workable, yes, by compared to dare I say a MBP (ugh, I'm not an Apple fan...), the colors just look washed out. Also, the resolution is a bit low for me too. I'm coming from a 14" laptop, so the extra 0.5" screen real estate is nice, but for more effective side-by-side docs and stuff, I would really have liked to see a 1600x900 screen. But alas, we can't have everything lol. I'm really considering getting an external monitor/TV for when I'm doing schoolwork for more screen real estate.

 

I've just had the opportunity to compare an Envy 14 with Radiance against a Sandy Bridge with Brightview. The former was quite nice, and I went in to looking at the latter with the expectation of "OMG, worst screen evar!"

IMO, Brightview is not that bad at all. It was actually better in one aspect because the Radiance display had a dead pixel right in the middle of the screen. The Brightview's colors don't "pop" the same way Radiance ones do. Having recently returned a notebook with a 95% color gamut LCD, Brightview isn't on the same continent in that regard. The lower resolution doesn't bother me too much because I have pretty poor eyesight.

The SB Envy I have now runs cooler, quieter, has more hard drive space, and has better overall build quality (almost zero keyboard flex) than the Radiance version. That, and the webcam actually works (which is apparently a pretty common fault among 1xxx E14's).

I agree with everyone's analysis who says that a notebook that's supposed to be "premium" should have a high-end screen option. However, the one that's currently in the Envy 14 is far from the worst, especially considering how solid the rest of the machine is.

 

The brightview is not a horrible screen, it's just average just like many other laptops out there. But It certainly looks cheap for a "premium" laptop tho.

If you want to see how the radiance look like, look for MBP's with upgraded screen it's very similar (best buy , apple store ...)

 

Having never seen a radiance screen, I got an Envy 14 and was satisfied with the brightview screen. It looked slightly better than the screen on my old Dell XPS. I returned the Envy 14 (could not stand the trackpad), and recently got an HP dv6tse with a 1080p screen. When I went back to my old Dell XPS to transfer files, I was SCHOCKED at how absolutely awful the 720p screen looked after just a short time on a 1080p screen.

Bottom line is you won't miss it if you never had it. One you get a 1080p screen, you might have trouble going back.

 

Its not bad, but I wouldnt buy a $1000+ laptop with it.

 

How come? It's really not bad. Just not great either.

 

hey I increased color saturation for built in display in the ati/intel control software to deal with the washed out colors. I only noticed how washed out the colors where when I connected the laptop to my Samsung TV (so the screen was mirrored on the TV). The colors on the screen are SERIOUSLY washed out.

 

Haha yeah probably...

I compared it to my $120 matte Hans-G monitor. Even though that monitor is cheap, I can see the a big difference in the contrast.

On the Envy, the white is more like gray. The blacks are more like dark gray because there's light bleed. When I watch a movie, I can see little distortions in the color where the display can't keep up. On normal internet you can't tell the difference.

It's sad that HP couldn't put a high quality screen. Well after all HP has given up in the PC business. Rage quitting jerks don't even go out in style. Might go with Apple in 3-4 yrs when I upgrade.

 

the screen res. makes or breaks a laptop for me these days.
It's a damn shame that manufacturers can't offer better res. screens... I guess they're going to hold off and use it as a means to extort people for extra $$ (even though it's a pretty basic feature)

 

The display on the Envy 14 is better than the display on the DV6, but it's not very impressive for something that's priced over $1,000. You probably wouldn't complain about it at a quarter or third of the price, and yes, it probably is the same screen that you'll find on cheap HP Pavilions - you'd have to check part numbers to be sure.

 

Never seen a Radiance, but the BrightView does the job for me. It may not be the best, but by no means it's one of the worst - it's just, as everyone has said, a very average screen like most other laptops.

 

To play devil's advocate, HP just doesn't have the pricing advantage Apple does with high-quality TN panels. My guess is that in terms of quantity, HP could get a guarantee of orders of at least 1 million Envies with the Radiance display chosen, they'd jump aboard that wagon.

 

I think most of the issues about Brightview are the result of two things: 1) You used to be able to get a very nice high-resolution screen but can't any more and 2) The Envy is supposed to be a premium notebook and is priced accordingly. If the current Brightview systems were priced at $750 or less, you'd probably hear far fewer complaints.

Brightview is indeed an average screen, but the Envy is supposed to be an above average notebook in terms of its position in the marketplace.

 

I'm pretty sure the largest issue here is the inability to source a manufacturer that makes 14.5" 16:9 screens. The only 14.5 inch screen out there today is the BV, and that's it.
Maker of the Radiance (toshiba-matsush ita) discontinued their PC line of displays.

 

In other words, HP should bring back the Envy 15 and ditch the ODD, utilize all lessons learned from the Envy 15 Gen1 and 2, and make a super mobile notebook.

Problem solved!

 

What about new HP Envy 14 screens? I mean the 2011 models? Is the screen alright? Can't find any serious thread here in France discussing about the screen quality... So any advice is welcome!

oh, by the way, what "brightview" means for you? I was thinking it was a marketed name for glossy...

 

This thread is about the 2011 models. Mine is a 2011.

 

My mistake. I probably read too much thread about HP Envy!

Thanks anyway, now i've my answer

 

What is a PVA screen on the 2000 series (stated in the manual)?
The screens used don't seem to be TN panels.

 

Patterned Vertical Alignment screen?

It's supposed to be one of the best kinds of screens available, but obviously HP didn't use a high-quality PVA screen if it is one.