Comparing Glossy 95% Color Gamut Vs. Matte 95% Color Gamut - Professional Pictures & Scientific Measurements

After the enormously (ridiculous? ) amount of debating I had incurred towards my decision whether to get the glossy 95% color gamut vs matte 95% color gamut display, I figured I would help others out with the best information I could find. Learning which other computers featured the same panels used for the 95% gamut displays helped me find professional pictures taken of both the matte and glossy varieties which I was then able to put side-by-side for a visual comparison.

With a bountiful of information and having compared MacBook Pro glossy and matte displays in Apple Store, I thought I was set on a matte 95% color gamut for my P150EM. Shortly after placing my order, I emailed my retailer of choice back to let them know to switch to glossy, sort of to my dismay. While I had found numerous pictures in my search, there was really no way to accurately compare glossy and matte with this high color gamut since there were no comparisons already in-place. I figured that with such a vibrant display on either model, the difference would be quite small so I was a little dismayed by my direct comparison results.

There are comparisons between the panels below. So you can unbiasedly decide for yourself which looks better, you have to open the spoiler tag (spoilers inside the spoiler tag!) at the bottom of each pair to view which is which. If the images are cut-off, you can select "view image in new tab" from your browser.

Yes, the laptops below do have the same exact panels as retailers are offering for these Clevo models.

The fairly high-resolution images:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Top - Glossy 95% color gamut display on a XPS 15 (know as the RGB LED panel, only offered in 2011)

Bottom - Matte 95% on the Mythologic Pollux 1400

Now that the mystery was revealed for that pair, let's compare viewing angles:





For more viewing angles, compare the following galleries:

AnandTech - Gallery - Dell XPS 15 L502x: LCD Viewing Angles - 6 Photos

AnandTech - Gallery - MYTHLOGIC Pollux 1400 LCD Viewing Angles - 6 Photos

Let's move on to the next pair:





Guess which is matte and which is glossy?

Spoiler

Top - Matte 95% on a Lenovo W520

Bottom - Glossy 95% on a XPS 15 ("RGB LED" panel, as Dell calls it)

One final set to decide whether reflectiveness is worthwhile:





The difference and tell-tale sign of which surface is on each should be quite obvious now, in case you're wondering...

Spoiler

Top - Matte 95% on the Lenovo W520
Bottom - Glossy 95% on the XPS 15 RGB panel

Just how reliable are these comparisons? Since lighting conditions, positioning, and the camera remain very similar throughout all images, this is as about as close to what checking the notebooks out in-person would achieve as could be illustrated over the Internet. I would bet that the difference isn't as dramatic in person. Personally, I could not give up the richer colors of the glossy screen that these pictures do very well depict to my eyes. Still, I don't want reflections either so it was quite a tough decision. Hopefully this will help others out as well!

Here is a scientific comparison of the two panels, to close out the thread. Well these measured specifications of each panel are quite similar, the pictures tell a different story to what the perceived difference will be in person:

Spoiler

Remember, the Mythologic is the matte 95% and the XPS 15 LX502 is the glossy 95%.











Here are scientific measurements from another site, NotebookCheck, to compare:

Matte 95% (Lenovo W520)

Maximum: 236 cd/m²
Average: 217.9 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 236 cd/m²
Black: 0.36 cd/m²
Contrast: 656:1

Glossy 95% (XPS 15)

Maximum: 284 cd/m²
Average: 262.2 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 265 cd/m²
Black: 0.41 cd/m²
Contrast: 646:1

 

Wonderful!

I'm sure a lot of people will find this very helpful, gj Michael

 

Hm, looks like the glossy screen is more vibrant but has worse viewing angles. Thanks for the comparison. +rep.

 

Well, with higher max nits, the glossy screen definitely look better, but if you calibrate them to same brightness and color accuracy, it may be a different story.

 

You can calibrate the Glossy into oblivion if one wishes to, so..

 

Based on the pictures, I do think that the glossy has better viewing angles. AnandTech's images clearly show the colors appearing much less washed-out on the glossy. In the second viewing angle comparison, the screen on the XPS 15 simply extends back further than the W520 with the matte display. Since these pictures were not taken with this comparison in mind for the original photographers, that should explain the difference.

Rep is always appreciated !

 

I see this thread is old, but in all of your testing either the screen's white balance or your camera's white balance is clearly off for the matte lenovo laptops. Matte vs. glossy has absolutely nothing to do with the color gamut/accuracy/vibrancy. The scientific comparisons you found from anandtech were correct.

 

Makes sense. I would not expect the matte/glossy not to contribute to the color gamut/accuracy/vibrancy.