Glossy vs Matte

So I have a Clevo P151HM1 built and ready for order, but I'm not sure if I want the Matte or the Glossy screen. I know that the matte option offers less glare in outdoors or similar situations, while the glossy option offers sharper colors and a crisper image.

I'll be using the laptop almost entirely indoors (big surprise, right?) but my apartment does get quite bright during the day. When I'm docked at my desk, however, I'll be able to connect to a (matte) 20" LCD. The main times I'd be using the actual screen is in bed or when I travel.

What are your thoughts? I've been leaning towards glossy, but I've seen some pretty vehement anti-glossy sentiment in a couple posts here.

TIA

 

I personally love me some matte screen. However, its really a personal preference. You will be more than happy with either finish, as you already know the benefits and drawbacks of each screen finish type as you posted above.

 

the matte screen is PLENTY bright! I've used it outside in DIRECT sunlight. amazingly better than using a glossy screen. I'll never buy another glossy screen of ANY type. I also just bought a matte 32" LCD--matte wins over glossy any time, with me, all else being equal.

keep in mind that not all matte screens are identical in viewing angle, brightness, or color gamut. even in the same model of screen, there are sample to sample variations (of color fidelity).

 

I'd have to throw in for the matte screen as well. I love doing any sort of photography work (although very rarely) on a matte screen.

 

Glossy is good if you can get it in one position without glare. It's not just sunlight, but any source of light that can be a problem.

I'm a bit sensitive to it notice it easily, so I'm going matte.

 

Well, that's 4 for 4 for matte, so that definitely helps! Thanks everyone.

 

How about getting the best of both worlds? Get a glossy first and if the gloss really bothers you, get a matte screen protector for it. Both screens are identical. The matte comes with an anti-glare thin protector film over the LCD polarizer while the glossy comes with a clear thin protector film over the LCD polarizer.

I prefer the gloss simply because it's easier to clean, slightly more resistant to scratches as it's harder, and I can apply a good matte screen protector on top of it to reduce glare problems if it ever grows enough to bother me.

A high quality matte screen protector should not reduce contrast/brightness of the screen by much, at least not more than the anti-glare protective film on the matte screen does since they are essentially the same thing.

I can avoid glare by tilting the LCD away from direct sunlight under reasonable lighting but I will never be able to avoid the hazy effect that is inherent in a matte screen as it is this very effect that diffuses the light and glare in the first place. It looks something like luminance noise, especially on a white background.

 

Any suggestions? The only things I can find are the ugly privacy filters that use the plastic guides that stick to the bezel.

 

Best bet is to go to Best Buy or something and look at glossy/matte screens in person.

 

These 2 seem pretty nice:

Official Site of ViewGuard® Products including Privacy Filters & Screen Protectors for Laptop, Notebook & Desktop Computers; LCD Screens; Mobile Phones; PDAs and More

Sager - 15.6" NP5125 -Anti Glare Film | Photodon.com Screen Protectors

 

Someone on the forum here posted a review that they didn't like the viewguard matte screen protector. That person ended up buying a matte screen and couldn't be happier.

Another +1 for the matte screen. I just love the anti-glare. And it is very very bright (the 95% gamut matte screen). I have my settings to about 40-50% brightness. That's how bright this screen is.

If you travel a lot, I would definitely go for the matte screen.

 

chances of applying any film and have it look as uniform as a real matte screen, are slim.

 

One thing to note is that right now at Malibal the Glossy 95% gamut option for my preferred build is free, whereas the Matte 95% gamut option is +$95. Since I don't want to pay the $95, my choice is between either the Glossy 95% gamut or standard Matte.

 

Sorry, but having a film that you have to apply, remove, and reapply hardly seems like the best of both worlds. Where would you keep it when not in use?

I'd just stick with the matte.

 

If it isn't too much to ask, would you kindly post a photo of your screen displaying a white background with black text such as an excel spreadsheet or microsoft word document and with a strong light reflecting off the screen?

I would like to see how fine the grains of the anti-glare film really are becaues it can be a headache to differentiate luminance noise and anti-glare grains after editting hundreds of photos at one shot.

Not all anti-glare coatings are created equal. Some, like the Dell IPS Ultrasharp U2711, are very harsh and the grains are so course you have people over at the overclockers.au forums risking their monitors in order to peel away the anti-glare film. More about the haze effect in there too.

Here is the link: my U2711 AG Coating MOD - Overclockers Australia Forums with a few before/after photos of having the coating removed so you can compare for yourself matte vs. glossy of the same screen.

Hopefully, the anti-glare treament of the Sager AUO screen is pretty good and the graining effect minimal. If so, this will swing my preference towards the matte screen as well.

 

The matte screen is actually bright enough that at night with the lights off I have to turn it down almost to minimum to not feel like it glares too much. With my 150 watt compact fluorescent lights all turned on I do need the full brightness though

 

Sorry if I was ambiguous with my words - I meant it as getting the glossy, then converting it to a matte with the screen protector if the glare *really* bothers you. It leaves both doors open. With matte, well not much of a choice isn't it since a screen protector will not be able to adhere properly to the rough surface.

Granted, the only time I had it done was on a friend's MBP. But since it has edge-to-edge glass, the film which was slightly oversized could still cover the viewable area of the top portion perfectly, with the oversize allowing that slight room for being off-centre. No air bubbles or other deformities.

 

For my own build I've decided to go with a matte screen for more versatility in the amount of places I can bring the laptop and not have to adjust the screen until there is minimum reflection / glare. I'll hook the laptop up to a larger screen indoors for gaming / shows - and that larger screen can be the glossy one. Best of both worlds.

 

Even better is having a setup like in my home office. I have a glossy ~23, a matte 32" and a matte 8130. Not sure if I should have any combos available to be fully equipped... (the monitors are both on swivel wall mounts and both can do duty as TV monitors)

 

I have a glossy 24" (that never moves, because of the glare) and two 17" matte IPS screens flanking it. My matte 8150 will fit in nicely. The glossy is great for video (though its a low gamut screen) and I use the matte screens for photo editing, etc.

 

mine are also low gamut, and it shows! yellows look more like dull gold than a true vibrant yellow. same thing for red--it just doesn't have the impact of the colors of my 8130's screen.

 

once you go matte you can never go back

 

PLEASE READ THIS: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...150hm-matte-w-95-gamut-glossy-w-95-gamut.html

has specs and everything for both v4 (matte) and v7 (glossy). Basically you looking at higher contrast ratio (glossy) vs anti-glare (matte). Personally i'll porbably go with glossy--because the bezel of the P150HM is glossy and thus it'll match better

 

And check out my research results near the bottom of this page:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ly-asked-questions-read-before-posting-8.html

 

Great post-thanks for the on-hands review.

 

I actually prefer glossy as the colors look slightly better.

 

glossy screens need high brightness to make it less reflective = lower battery life

 

Hmm.

On Malibal's site they give the base option of either a normal Matte Display and a 95% NTSC Color Gamut Glossy Display.

For an extra $50, they offer a normal Glossy...

Shouldn't the normal Glossy be cheaper?

 

I have had both in my time. Lately mostly glossy as the industry dictates we have 16:9 glossy screens these days. The last matte I had was my 1440x900 19'' acer, and I loved it, the backlight just went one day and that was that. Since then I have had 3 monitors glossy, and one plasma TV...which you could count as glossy also, but a bit nicer. I have always told people to get matte if they could, the older clevo 1920x1200 models were ALL matte also before 16:9 started stinking the place up. So I have learned to live with glossy, I use my 8690 for school work, and go to coffee shops in the day etc. I just had to choose my seating strategically, facing the sun rather than it facing me. You know what I eventually figured out? I don't want the glare whether or not I have gloss or matte either way, I stay out of the light no matter what, just because no matter what the screen is finished with, it will still wash things out, and reduce brightness by a ton. The only place I really had a problem with was in class rooms with large fluorescent bulbs; that really showed some glare, but I just sat in the back of the room for that also. In the end I just had to live with it, and after a while your mind actually forgets about it, and your eyes just focus on other things, it's quite neat how the brain can adapt. So in the end with all the nice posts in this thread you have what you need to make a decision...my vote? Go matte if you CAN, for $95 it's steep, I would probably just go with the glossy in that situation, DON'T for any reason choose the regular matte over the glossy 95% gamut though, that would be silly. You need to decide based on the 95% gamut matte and glossy, if you don't want to spend the near $100, you know what you should go with then.

 

It's flipped really. The p150HM has glossy stock while p150HM1 has matte stock. The price is just due to switching the screens around. It terms of value both I tihnk are same price.

 

its probably a promotion

 

Personally I went with glossy since I just love the way the ipad 2, iphone, etc. looks (I never really got annoyed of the glare on them either). There is some glare in situations--but for me it isn't much of a problem since I almost never use my notebook outside and the incredible brightness of the 95% V.7 screen should help against it. And a bonus in matching with the glossy bezel/border of the P150HM.

 

Would you go with a normal Matte or 95% Glossy?

I think I prefer matte but I'm not sure how much of a difference the 95% NTSC makes.

 

Actually...if you've already got a good 20" matte monitor....why not go for a glossy screen? You get the best of both worlds.

Mr. Mysterious

 

^if you can handle the glare, go with the 95% glossy

 

Thanks I think I'll do that.

Is there any reason you chose to go with the Intel 6230 instead of the stock wireless?

 

I just got my 95% matte yesterday. Loving it. Blu-Ray playback looked great. With my ceiling light directly behind and above me, there is very little glare at all. It just looks like a soft lighted circle, not sharp and "glaring" at all. Text is still easily legible. I even have the screen down to little less than 50% brightness. With the brightness all the way up, its even less of an issue. Never had a matte screen before but as I said, am loving it.

 

yes better signal than the stock. also got bluetooth thats handy sometimes.

 

That and it's a little more future-proof.

Mr. Mysterious

 

because glossy screens bite!

 

Matte all the way. You are getting the best of both worlds (good color pop-up + virtually no glare), provided you get the 95% color gamut one. My brightness is at 40% and still VERY bright.

 

Glossy is good for people who don't know better yet

 

LOL! How true! How anyone who has seen a matte screen could actually prefer glossy is beyond me.