difference between "glossy" and "matte" hel80 screen

i will be getting a hel80 from powernotebooks but i can't decide on which scren to get. i plan on using it for games, movie watching, and school work beings ill be a freeshman this fall etc. i will be playing gmaes such as oblivion and fear so some high end games. should i go with the wxga glossy or wsxga+ matte? will there be a noticeable performance differnece between the different resolutions? thanks for all the help.

 

I love my wxga glossy screen. For me at least it is very bright so I keep the screen on the lowest brightness setting. The screen is very reflective but it does not bother me. Here are two reviews one with the WXGA the other with the WSXGA+ with pictures choose for yourself.

WSXGA+
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3060&review=Compal+HEL80

WXGA
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=65047

 

1st off...great choice on choosing powernotebooks.com and the Hel80.. I have the wxga glossy also and i have been very pleased with it in terms of gaming and general word processing. I have never had a glossy screen before in a laptop and so far i have been very impressed with this screen. It is hands down better than my mom's gateway glossy screen and my dad's dell glossy. Will you be doing alot of spreadsheets, graphing and that type of thing in college? If so, I would recommend the high res matte screen. I have used this screen alot of gaming with CS:S, DoD:S, quake 4 and Fear and its been great..as long as the blinds are shut and the overhead lights are not too intense.

It really is a personal preference upon the glossy vs matte. Go to circuit city or comp usa and take a look for yourself at a few different glossy screens and matte screens (if they have any) and see which you like better.

I will also be using my Hel80 for college coming up this fall and i think the glossy should do just fine bc reflections in the screen dont bother me at all. But, if they do bother you, I would def. consider the matte display.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

 

I have the matte, and at this point i dont think i could live with anything less. I have just really come to appreciate the sharpness and extra real estate. Everything on my desktop 17" LCD(1280x1024) seems all fat and pixelated compared to my new WSXGA+ on the HEL80.

The only problem with going to circuit city is chances are any matte offering they may have will not be comparable to the 'prism' technology on the HEL80 that looks very nice. you will definately see good glossies there though.

Good luck

 

yeah my glossy actually seems better than any of the glossies i saw at circuit also..except for maybe the higher end sony vaio x-brite screens.

 

I would go with the matte - if this is more of a college laptop then gaming laptop, matte is very nice for text, spreadsheets, video/photo editing. I think because of lack of reflectivity, there's a lot less glare and it is so much easier on the eyes then a glossy. That said, both screens look very nice.

I have a matte LCD display at home and have used several laptops with glossy screens, I'm not crazy about then and would take the matte any day.

 

I have owned both in the last few months and personally prefer the matte screens to the glossy.

Glossy looks brighter (if they aren't in fact brighter) and sharper for sure. So from an eye-candy perspective, glossy has the edge. If you can train your eyes to ignore the glare, it won't be a problem.

The WSXGA+ matte screen that comes on the HEL80 is beautiful. I couldn't be happier with it. I especially love the lack of reflection on a matte screen now that I've seen both.

Seriously consider going to a COMPUSA or even COSTCO...they all have glossy screens on display. Just stand at one and see if the reflections of the people behind you bothers you or not.

 

I'd go with the Matte. The WSXGA+ panel on the HEL80 is downright beautiful, and the contrast is the best I've seen on a matte screen. The extra screen real estate is a great reason to get it. Well worth the upgrade cost.

The performance difference between the WXGA and the WSXGA+ is signifigant, you won't be able to play many games at the WSXGA+ res, but scaling down on the HEL80's screen is not that bad. You won't notice it while playing games.

 

I vote for the wsxga+ screen. The extra resolution will be very beneficial.

You can always get brave, dissassemble the screen section, take the raw lcd out, and send out to get an A/R (antireflective) coating appled to the polarizer. It is a very straight forward and fairly cheap process to do.

 

Ok, so you know my dilemma...

::FACTS::
I will most likely do some gaming on the laptop.. and I get the feeling the glossy is better for that. Also, the glossy screen comes in xga, which should push a little more fps then the sxga. The extra real estate doesn't matter to me since I'm used to 1280x1024, and I'm happy with it.

I bought a filter for my desktop LCD that sorta turned my matte screen into a sharper image (I guess you could call it glossy, but I dont have anything that resembles a mirror shine like I see on all the laptops in the stores) Makes the picture much more pleasing to look at then my inspiron 8100's Matte screen, or the desktop lcd without it. (I'm comparing this lcd to my room mates sony LCD that has truebrite or some such glossyness, they are almost identical with this filter I've got, without my filter, the screens are night and day)

:::FIX?:::
I've been looking at this item.. http://shinza.com/product_info.php?products_id=50 and wondering if buying the glossy, and placing one of these (matte style) would be like the perfect middle?

Or if the FPS isn't really going to change, what about going the other way and buying the matte screen and putting a glossy filter on it? I've been pleased with the results from my desktop's filter, but its also .25" thick with a slight shaded tint, not what looks like a perfectly cut transparency sheet =D

:::FEEDBACK:::
Anyone have much experience with this? or own the hel80 and share my thoughts that is willing to try the sheet I linked and let me know their results? As an owner and hopefully more then 1 day of use, what do you think overall of your screen decision?

Thanks!

 

I personally love the WSXGA+ resolution and especially the matte finish. The screen they're putting on the HEL80 is beautiful, bright, crisp, and best of all non-reflective/anti-glare/easier on my eyes in terms of eye strain over extended periods of time. I can say this because I've owned both glossy and matte screens in the last few months. It is a matter of personal choice though.

But from reading your post, it sounds like you like the look as well as the resolution of the WXGA glossy screen, so I don't know why you'd need to make a glossy screen matte.

One suggestion, since you are considering the WXGA resolution, the HGL30 may be another option for you for more portability.

 

I like the way glossy screens show colors and contrast, but I hate the reflection that alot of the laptops I've seen have.. As I posted above though, my desktop LCD is matte, and I've got a glare filter color enhancing hunk of plastic that works well, its for the same purpose as a glossy LCD, but it doesn't have a mirror finish. Both of my roomies have sony LCD's with truebrite or some such glossy finish, but they also dont have the mirror reflection. Looking around the stores at HP's and Toshiba's there are so much glare on most of them that I see more of me the of the desktop. (Worse then any CRT I've used). Which I'm sure they are great in the darkest of enviroments, but I'm most likely going to be transporting this machine around, to work and whatnot and dont have control of the lights. Thats why I was thinking of trying one of the Matte finish lcd protectors, since I could remove it while at home, but if the glare was to much I could place it on at work etc..

That brings me back to my question, has anyone tried this? or willing to pay the $20 and test it for me? I know my .25" hunk of plastic on my desktop is great, but I'm having doubts about something so thin I can close my laptop without removing it.

EDIT: I've just been to PC Club and checked one out in person with the glossy screen, and I have to say that atleast in their store lighting, it was very nice to look at. Still considering ordering a glare reducer though.. perhaps the glossy reducer for the glossy screen?

 

There's also that 3M privacy filter that may do the trick too. I think it's like $50 though.

You could just go with the WSXGA+ matte choice and get the matte finish and a higher resolution as well. The HEL80's matte screen does not disappoint.

 

Quite honestly, for me, I would never go for a 15.4" unless it has wsxga. From my experience, I've found 14" widescreen and 15.4" to be similar, so might as well go for the lighter version (especially in this generation when 14" are as powerful as their 15.4" counterparts.. which wasn't so last year). However there has yet to be a wsxga resolution for 14" models, which is where 15.4" shines.

 

Well, considering I'm used to a 1280x1024 17" desktop LCD, I'm perfectly fine with the resolution. I've also got several other screens and several other systems in my computer area at home, so its not like I need to cram it all on screen.

I guess basically.... I phrased my question poorly.

What I'm trying to figure out, is there are "better view" on either screen. As in, if both were available in the same resolution, and came as either glossy or matte at your choice, does one screen have a sharper/cleaner/vibrant edge on the other?

I've never seen a prism screen, so I'm not sure what they look like. I've seen all sorts of pictures comparing the Matte screen to the same resolution glossy asus machine, and the pictures aren't doing either screen much justice. Some pics they are almost identical, some are VERY different.. Also, you can't get your face inches from a pic on the forum and look for grainyness in the screen.. the photo alone would lower the quality for that.

I know I liked the screen I saw (glossy) at pc club... but the long term happyness of an LCD that shiny is what bothers me.

 

the glossy has brighter colors and better contrast, at the expense of being very reflective and prone to glare. The matte still will show pictures quite well, but will have more diffuse reflections that won't be as distracting. It depends on your preference. Best Buy or another big-box store may be able to help you with that. Go in and look at the different screens, there should be some that are noticeably "shinier" than the others. Those are the glossy ones. The rest are matte.

 

Pitabred:
I know the difference between a glossy screen and a matte, I've got 7 lcds in my house, and about 3 dozen here at Intel around me in the lab. What I'm trying to distinguish (hense, why I posted in the compal thread) is the difference between the specific screens available for the hel80. The prism technology sounds like it is great, but I've not seen it, and I have seen the hel80 glossy for about 10 minutes. If you go look in a very large store (lets just say Fry's electronics with dozens of LCD's on laptops, and dozens more on display for desktops) there are Great variations of quality between the matte screens from brand to brand... Same with glossy. Even lighting, how shiny or "dimpled"(matte) are the things I've got interest in. I've personally got screens that are considered "glossy" and some are just flat and smooth, and some seem like they are meant for mirrors.

The reviews for the screens on nbr and other places (for the hel80) are kind of all over the place, other then everyone says they dont have a problem with them. A good example... if the matte screen looks as good or better then this T40 LCD..... I'd like it... if it looks like the matte screen on my old inspiron8100 I'm not and want the glossy.

Unfortunatly I doubt P.C. Club will order me a demo unit with the matte screen just so I can go see it in person =D

As my original post stated... I dont necessarily want to extra wide resolution either since I plan to buy the machine with a 3 year warranty, (and hopefully not need to replace it until the warranty is expired) and I plan to do some gaming on it. 3 years from now I dont want to find out that if I had the lower native resolution I could push games a little higher and extend its life.

I know the impact of going from 1024 to 1280... I dont wanna relive buying a nice LCD for gaming at 1280x1024, then barely being able to drive crisp clear graphics from it on native resolutions until almost a year and a half laters videocards are out.

 

Have you seen this thread?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=65819

Look at posts #1 & especially #24 in this thread. Now they show an ASUS Z96J glossy, but the HEL80 screen there is the matte screen.

Now I used to have a glossy screen and didn't really realize how much more I appreciate the characteristics of the matte screen until I got my hands on this one. It really is a beautiful screen.

If resolution is what you're debating, then there really isn't much choice. You could always try out one or the other and then decide later on. There have been mentions on NBR of services that will actually change the finish of your LCD--whether or not you'd be willing to risk it is up to you.

If you can live with WSXGA+, and I agree with Goren about 15.4" WXGA as well, I would just get the HEL80 matte. If you don't like it you can always return it.

 

I'm still waiting till the end of the week when my check gets in before I decide, I was thinking when I called powernotebooks that I'd see if a few tears could maybe get a simple exchange of screens if I order one and want it returned for the other.

As to the person that posted about the hel30 being a possible choice, I've given it serious thought even before I posted.. but I think if I went 14" I'd probably get an Asus W3j for dual battery support. Thats one thing right now thats taken me so long to choose a laptop. I'm very spoiled on my 8100 being able to last roughly 6 hours with dual batteries on wireless.

 

It doesn't take tears...we offer a 15 day total satisfaction guarantee. It is in the 1st paragraph of the PowerPro Warranty.

 

Just some interesting numbers to help back my concern...

1764000 - 1650x1050 - Matte
42% more pixels then Glossy
26% more pixels then Reference

1310720 - 1280x1024 - Reference
22% more pixels then Glossy
easier to drive fps then Matte

1024000 - 1280x800 - Glossy
easier to drive fps then Reference or Matte

 

If both screens cost the same, and it was only a matter of picking one or the other.... Which would you take knowing you were going to game/program on it?

(My home is fairly dark, no open window light, lab at work has lots of light, but I'm not going to regularily have it there, or be gaming.)

If this is appropriate to list here (I could call or e-mail if more appropriate), could you share some feedback from buyers that were concerned one way or the other and either loved, or used the warranty to swap screens?

 

We have not had anyone that I know of return and exchange one screen for the other, and unfortunately some people LOVE the glossy while others LOVE the matte...just look around this forum

So, the real answer is use your best judgment and pull the trigger.

 

Programming, I like higher resolutions. You can always scale game images, and with the new drivers scaling them without stretching the aspect, it's no longer near the problem and visual issue it used to be.

 

I've considered scaling issues, and atleast from the cards and lcd's I've used, there is a huge impact on clarity running for instance 1024x768 on a 1600x1200 LCD (that doesn't happen on CRT).

On this thinkpad, even going from 1024x768 to 800x600 the text is almost unreadably blurry.

Going back to my current concern, (what I tried to backup with a little math) wasn't how "nice" a screen one is over the other... It is very obvious that both screens are great for colors and clarity and all that (I was interested in this in beginning of the post, but now that I've looked around for a few days, I'm sure both are great). What I'm looking for is the impact the extra resolution will have on the GPU. Thats why I included the percentage of extra screen that would need to be rendered.

Anyone in the portland oregon area want to take their hel80 with a matte screen to a P.C. Club in the area so I can compare the glossy and matte fps?? =D

 

Forgive me if I am beating this horse into glue... but I'll most likely be ordering my system from powernotebooks end of this week, and as soon as my pay hits the bank I want to give em a call so that I can go crazy waiting for it to arrive instead of wondering what screen to get.

I've already spent the last month trying to decide between a Asus 96J or the Compal... after a trip to PC Club, I'm very impressed with the compal they had even with the min specs for their demo. They ran a few HD gamespot review video's on it that I was talking to the technician about so I can see the glossy screen in action. If not for concern about how the glare would effect me long term, I'd call it good. I think I can fix that problem with one of the filters I linked in my first post though.

Like I said, now I'm just wondering about the FPS impact from one screen to the other. If we are talking 1-3fps change, I would be fine with matte.. but we are talking 25%+ more rendering space, and I'm not sure that would be the case.

 

on non-native resolution, fps, etc... have you tried scaling a game specifically? My experience has been that it's not even noticable, wheras the desktop has a definately blurry look.

I run games at WXGA resolution, or some 4:3 resolution if they're old.

I do programming, and if I had to use a 1280x800, I'd shoot myself. Twice. Maybe three times if the job wasn't finished the first two goes.

 

Whats wrong with programming at 1280x800? Most of us coders here at Intel are stuck with 1024x768 T40's. My main home computer is 1280x1024... Never noticed a problem... but also have several screens around my desk so I dont have to share desktop space...

As for gaming... My dell laptop is native 1600x1200, and the only game I've "really" played on it was Anarchy Online @1024x768... edges weren't sharp, and the text was still blurry.. Thats a gf2go with 16mb... so I'm sure its improved...
My gaming desktop runs 1024x768 games nearly clear (only text that still not sharp) and that is a 1280x1024 native screen. I play alot of MMO's and RTS for the most part... (can't wait for Tabula Rasa/Supreme Commander/BF2142)... and unfortunatly not everyone can/will use voice chat *or be on the same server* =P

 

not sure about programming, but i had ordered a wsxga resolution on a 15.4 dell and had to return it cause text was way too small for me, im used to 1024X768 on a 17 in crt. i did set the dpi to 120 on the dell but some windows came out weird looking cause windows is unable to change all text like java, etc. plus i was always a matte lover, but after getting the glossy, the contrast ratio, etc and plus i can view it in the bright sun better than matte. in the office, u will have to position it so that a light behind wont reflect but that is easy to do, but rarely bothers me. the glossy is def worth it, but then everybody is diff, however i always liked matte until i got a glossy, juss my 2 cents

 

Depends on what kind of programming you do. If you have multiple monitors it makes it nicer, but having more desktop space (especially vertical) makes it much nicer. Unless your functions/methods are only ever 40-60 lines long. Mine rarely are. Not to mention having other windows open for research alongside the code. alt-tabbing wastes time and is a pain. Like you said, it's the sharing of desktop space that gets you. If you will always have an external monitor when programming for a secondary display, then 1280x800 won't be bad. If you won't, it can be more of a pain. It's do-able, but it's just not as nice.

Games scale pretty well. It's almost like AA for free It's the aspect ratio stretching that makes them look like crap. True, they won't have completely crisp edges, but you won't notice it, especially when you're in the game. And your card should still be able to run many games at full resolution. Really, it's a choice of whether you want lots of crisp, smaller text on your screen, or you want your games to be crisp at native resolution and high detail, and sacrifice being able to see as much code when programming. It's a personal choice that you have to make.

 

Thanks for that informative reply. I notice you have a HEL-30 on order? That for gaming or programming? =P

 

are viewing angles better on wxga or wsxga, maybe guy from powernotebooks can help

 

Viewing angles are excellent on both screens. The WXGA has the glossy screen, and the WSXGA+ has the new Prism technology matte screen.

Viewing angles are essesentially the same, so that is not a reason to choose one over the other.

 

paladin44, on both vertical and horizontal?

 

More gaming than programming I also wanted something smaller, I had a 15.4" laptop before, and it wasn't as easy to schlep around as I would have liked. It won't be my primary machine (which is the work laptop I have here, a 14" T43, 1400x1050 res), so for fun stuff, it'll be good. If I were using it for a lot of GUI development work, then I'd definitely want the higher res. As an FYI, I currently use the work laptop for a few games (ssshhh!!! don't tell!), and I scale the graphics from 1024x768 up to the full LCD res, and I don't notice it hardly at all. You can see if if you really look, but overall the whole image just looks a bit softer, kinda like AA but not as nice. Completely playable to keep up good framerates, though.

 

Hi all,

I'm torn over reasons of "middle age and trifocals", feel that the
15.4' matte would be better for Autocad and my old eyes.
Must say; I like them both ( 30 & 80 ) equally, just the obvious
differences, transportability vs. screen real estate.
If the 30 series came with a matte screen the decision would be
even more difficult.
If that's the worst problem I've got today I'm doing pretty good.

Have a good day all, Regards, don

 

Yes, the viewing angles are so similar that it is not a reason to choose one over the other

 

A tip for the middle aged with trifocals. For computer use your middle lens is the most useful...so, if you use your computer a lot, get a special pair of bifocals made that have the middle lens script as the top, and your bottom reading lens stays the same. This way you are not bending your head back to grab the middle lens and you can use this pair for computer use and reading both.

 

Woohoo! Just got off the phone with Donald at PowerNotebooks.com.. My Order is in for the HEL-80 with a matte Screen!

 

I'm in this EXACT same position, GLOSSY or MATTE?

I've never owned a laptop before, but used to own primarily gaming computers(used to be big into gaming). I don't really play games anymore, but I plan on picking up FEAR, and I like to play Unreal Tournament from time to time, and would enjoy being able to play this competitively on my laptop.

So, a little about me to help you help me: I'm a college student, I watch DVD's on my computer(usually indoors, but again I've never had a laptop so who knows), burn DVD's, CD's, type papers, browse internet a lot, programming, watch TV, medium gaming from time to time, an audiophile, etc...

Since it's been out for a while now, does anyone else have any helpful comments or advice they'd like to add?

 

I'm in this EXACT position, GLOSSY or MATTE with high-def?

I've never owned a laptop before, but used to own primarily gaming computers(used to be big into gaming). I don't really play games anymore, but I plan on picking up FEAR, I like to play Oblivion, and I like to play Unreal Tournament from time to time, and would enjoy being able to play this competitively on my laptop.

So, a little about me to help you help me: I'm a college student, I watch DVD's on my computer(usually indoors, but again I've never had a laptop so who knows), burn DVD's, CD's, type papers, browse internet a lot, programming, watch TV, medium gaming from time to time, an audiophile, etc...

Since it's been out for a while now, does anyone else have any helpful comments or advice they'd like to add? Also, does anyone make a hard drive larger than 120GB for this laptop, if so, can you point me in the right direction?

 

Going to a store and checking some out would be helpful.

 

Glossy vs. Matte is personal preference. I have owned both and prefer a matte screen. If you will be under any sort of overhead lighting/outdoors it's gonna be hard to get a good angle without glare. On the flip side, it's nice to watch a movie or game in the dark on a glossy screen. It wasn't impossible to work on a gloss screen with over head lighting, it's just not as easy.

question #2: there are 160GB 5400 rpm hard drives out, toshiba makes a 200gb 4200 rpm drive if you are looking for more than 120GB. You will not find a 7200 RPM drive in those sizes, at least not yet.

 

You can always adjust resolution and desktop size. You cannot add pixels to the LCD you order.

In my opinion, WXGA is too low of a resolution for a 15.4" screen. OK for 14.1", but that's just me.

 

Please do not double-post the same question. It adds to clutter in the forums.

 

I found that even after getting a laptop for the mobility, I never really use it outdoors. If you do, and it's a sunny day, you won't really be able to see the screen anyway. Otherwise, with a glossy screen, I found that the quality is superb, way better than my roommate's screen, he has a matte screen. I vote to go with the gloss.

 

Here's something to consider as a gamer (such as myself)...

I bought the matte screen because the highest 3:4 resolution you will get is 1400x1050. The lower glossy screen will give you a 1024x768... some games dont scale to well to widescreen yet (Battlefield series for example). I do get around 40fps on average playing BF2142 at 1400x1050 with just about every setting maxed. I do have about a 1.25" black bar on the left and right of my screen, but I dont care.

 

an excellent reference from Wikipedia:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Video_Standards.png

this doesn't list all of the various resolutions, but it's fairly easy to deduce where they'd be. this is a handy way of comparing various resolutions

 

Yay for Matte! (at least in my HEL80)

Well I have a NEC 20WMGX2 and love the glossy screen. The gloss is like mirror like finish and it mildly bothers me when the sun hits it just right, but overall I wouldn't trade it for nothing.

However for a laptop, I have to say that matte is the best way to go. I've owned the Asus z96j for a week before I sent it back for a HEL80. Based on that laptop, I was not impressed with the glossy look for mobile LCDs in comparisons to my desktop LCD. Sure glossy makes colors look brighter and nicer, but in a mobile laptop the difference is minute. The difference in glare between the two makes matte a better choice for portability.

IMHO Desktop LCDs > 20WMGX2 > Mobile LCDs > Matte > glossy

 

Have you ever seen a hi-end monitor with a glossy screen? Me neither. When companies make hi-end monitors, they never ever make them glossy. That's because in actual use, matte beats glossy. every time.

Seriously: go with the matte. Not only does the matte screen have better resolution in the HEL80, matte is simply better than glossy. Glossy has more bling, but in actual use, it's far worse.