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Users Want Matte LCDs While Glossy Screens Dominate
Barence writes "A survey of PC Pro readers suggests PC makers are out of touch when it comes to glossy vs matte screens. Almost three quarters of those surveyed said they preferred matte screens despite laptop makers moving almost exclusively to glossy screens. ... Why is the industry hell-bent on not giving customers what they want?"
The reason they don't give customer matte LCDs is because shiny screens look nicer on photographs and on showroom floors because they look perfect and pristine and oh-so-high-tech. The customer will go to the showroom (with their nice, bright, and diffuse lighting) or see the photos online and they'll think: "Wow, that's shiny, it must be new and sleek" and then whip out their credit cards.
When they take it home, they'll complain about the glare, but that doesn't matter to the manufacturers and retailers because they already had your money at that point and they know that you probably wouldn't go to the trouble of returning the laptop just because there's a bit of glare on the screen. Meanwhile, you're stuck with your crappy super-specular screen and you're going to go through any sort of mental gymnastics necessary to justify not returning it. And then, the next time you need a new computer, the same process will begin anew because we, as consumers, are idiots.
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The stupid thing with glossy screens is that they're completely unusable in the sun. Every year I spend half of the year in Thailand and want to get some work done by the pool, but it just isn't possible with a glossy screen. It's distracting and gives headaches. Now matte screen isn't that great in direct sunlight either, but even if you get some shadow for it glossy screen is completely unusable.
But other than that glossy screen really is better. The colors come out a lot nicer and more vibrant. So if you aren't like me who enjoys laying down at the pool watching beautiful thai ladyboys and drinking some beer while getting work done, just get a glossy screen. It's much better and nicer to look at.
What I've been wondering tho, since iPad 2 has glossy screen, does any of the Android ones have matte? iPad like device would suit me even better at the pool since laptop is still kind of a hassle to carry around and gets really hot in the sun. I was already going to buy an iPad, but people said it's unusable in sunlight too.
Users want to use matte, but are initially attracted to shiny screens which make the images displayed seem more vivid. So shiny sells.
1) PC Pro readers probably don't represent the general population.
2) There's always a difference between what people say they want, and what they actually end up buying when given the choice. They may actually want matte screens, but purchase based on different criteria such as "oh, shiney!" once they're actually on the spot.
3) I'm pretty sure device manufacturers are doing more robust consumer research than PC Pro.
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This should have been news 5 years ago :(
But if the screen is already matte to begin with, you can't sell adhesive matte sheets for $20 a pop.
I realize that shiny sells, but I still don't understand why I can't buy a 4:3 laptop these days. Everyone I talk to says he'd prefer one to the current wide-screen offering. Do people really only use computers for watching movies?
I just bought a new HP ProBook with 1366x768 resolution, but at least it has a matte screen.
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You can almost not find laptops with normal aspect ratio monitors any more. 10 years ago I bought a laptop with 1600x1200 resolution. Even desktop LCDs are vanishingly rare any more except in widescreen.
Yet people prefer widescreen for TVs, not for monitors, where it's inferior for almost every common task such as web browsing, email, or programming, where vertical space is critical. A laptop can't be easily used on its side!
Same thing: there is demand for normal aspect ratio laptops, but there are almost none available.
Why in the world anyone would choose a 1920x1080 monitor over 1920x1200 is beyond me. I can't wait until the day those bastard TV "monitors" die.
*nt
Of course "matte" will win in a survey of people who read a PC magazine or frequent PC sites. They know what they want and why they want it. Survey people running around Best Buy looking for a new email machine and they'll want shiny because shiny = new and new = representative of affluence (but not class). Just look at the stylings of kitchen and bathroom fixtures, appliances, and wares.
Note that these less-knowledgeable shiny-mongers also think that their monitors are no longer good when their "computers slow down" (thus requiring them to buy new ones) and don't reuse those monitors for newer builds. They toss it out or give it away only to buy another.
They should have also asked of the audience, "How frequently do you purchase new monitors?" and "Where do you buy them?"
It's the laws of physics, as they relate to sales.
Glossy surfaces tend toward deeper blacks. This in turn gives better shadow detail, wider gamut, and a steeper gamma curve (aka contrast ratio). Which in turn makes the image on the screen pop. Which in turn leads to better sales numbers.
Matte screens are, in comparison, dull and lifeless.
But in the "real world" of uncontrolled lighting, ceiling fluorescent strips, and glare everywhere, matte screens are easier to read and easier to use. People who have some experience with the devices want matte screens. People who are first buying the devices want glossy screens.
And therein lies the problem.
I'm sorry but the glossy screen is actually easier to use in bright lighting conditions. The reason for this is pretty effen simple: The glare is constrained to a very limited area and does not wash out the entire screen as those so called Anti-Glare have happen.
Sorry but if I get a laptop, I much rather have the gloss screen for just that reason because lighting is to damn erratic instead of being diffused like in the stinking showrooms.
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Skip the article and just look at the pictures.
Anti-Glare Matte Screen cover review
One is that glossy is brighter than matte. Matte screens do reduce the transmission of light. That is a reason laptops hopped on the glossy thing to early, more transmission means less power usage. Well in terms of things in the showroom, people like brighter screens. It is just now humans work. You'll prefer the brighter (or louder in the case of sound) of two otherwise identical objects.
Also glossy is easier to do right. It costs a little more money to do a good matte screen. Do it poorly and it can look way too grainy and so on. No, it isn't a big price difference but it is there and for cheap displays, pennies count.
What I tell people is if you care, get a high end monitor. They are better in all kinds of other ways too (like using a better panel technology that gives better colour and viewing angles) and with the pretty much sole exception of Apple, they are all matte. A Dell U2311 or U2410 are good choices for quality but not super expensive. Personally, I really like NEC's PA series. Serious cash, but they look great.
I find that 600 grit carbide emery cloth works great to reduce the glare. -BOFH
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Glossy screens reflect ambient light back at the same angle at which it hits the screen, which means when there is light shining on them they're next to useless. However, when there isn't direct light, they allow for much deeper blacks and higher contrast.
Matte screens, on the other hand, scatter ambient light and reflect it back at all angles, thus diminishing the amount of light. So when there's a light shining on them, you can still see the image on-screen. But this also means that all ambient light is reflected back, no matter the direction of the light as it hits the screen, leading to much weaker blacks and less contrast.
While consumers love the non-reflective nature of matte screens, they prefer the higher contrast and darker black level of a glossy screen much more, and are typically willing to sacrifice occasional reflections for better picture quality.
I do note, however, that there is a kind of glass that's (almost) entirely non-reflective. Head down to your local picture framing place (Michaels, for certain, has it) and take a look. Quite why this glass/coating isn't in use on LCD screens right now, I have no idea.
However, there may be a new option on the horizon: Japanese scientists have manufactured a "screen" for projectors that only reflects light beamed on it from a certain angle. So if you have a projector on the floor pointing up, it'll reflect the projector's light out into the room, but not the light from the overhead fluorescent tubes.
Even IF your job is editing 1080p video, 1200 is superior because you get room at the top and bottom for a scrub bar, and additional controls, without intruding on the image.
Computer displays should have stayed 1920x1200, but it's a lot cheaper just to make tons of 1920x1080 panels and use the same panels in both TVs and computer displays. Economies of scale.
I love my old Dell 2407WFP. 1920x1200 all the way, damnit.
I can't use a glossy screen in bright lighting conditions because it behaves like a mirror. My eyes focus on the distant objects reflected in the screen rather than the text. Very tiresome. Matte does wash out in the sun, but at least I can still focus on it.
Yeah - I was just eying my T410 and it's matte. I turned it to face the window (where the sun happens to blasting in right now) and I can read the screen fine, disproving in the above mentioned thesis that "all matte screens wash out in direct sun."
I just checked T43 and it's also matte and shows up ok in the sun (not as nice, maybe related to being an LCD instead of an LED screen?)
Actually a lot of them are selecting matte, at least initially. They look at the handful of laptops with matte screens and ask the salesman if they can get the laptop they're looking for with that matte screen. But since the higher-end laptop doesn't come with a matte screen as an option, they settle on having to live with the glare and reflection as the price they pay for getting the 17" screen. Then the store counts this as the customer wanting glossy over matte, and uses that to justify only carrying glossy screens.
I'm guessing you do more TV watching than actual work. For a casual home computer user like yourself, that's fine. But let's be real: 1920x1080 has absolutely no place in the workplace unless your job is editing 1080 video.
Too bad you're posting as AC, because that comment warrants a serious modding down.
As a business user, I like to hook up my laptop with HDMI to a wall monitor/TV for presentations. And those monitors are -- you guessed it -- 1920x1080. Having a 1920x1080 (or other common 16:9 resolutions) laptop means that I can then have the same image on the big screen as in front of me.
The next logical step in laptop monitor size is 2560x1440, precisely because it's a 16:9 format, and thus likely to be supported on external displays.
Manufacturers aren't dumb. They don't produce things totally wrong just to satisfy their own urges.
A survey of technical people may say we want matte.
An analysis of sales probably showed that glossy screens sold better.
Manufacturers produce products for sale. If a survey said that consumers prefer black laptops, but they preferred to purchase hot pink laptops with sparkles, we'd all be running around with sparkly hot pink laptops, regardless of what the people said they wanted. It's a fun game to watch. It works in so many industries. People are frequently influenced by irrational things.
I'd guess that that glossy screens make people feel that they have the newer or cleaner model. People tend to like shiny things. The dull matte finish looks older or more worn.
I've spent plenty of time in computer stores, selecting the best specifications. While I'm doing that, I listen to the people around me. "Pretty" and "Shiny" are definitely what customers want. The next (for computer) is the "memory". I quote that, as most consumers consider the drive space and RAM as the same thing. {sigh}. People will lean towards a PC with a 500GB drive and 1GB RAM, over a 25GB drive and 4GB RAM. I've also noticed they get confused by TB drive sizes. 1TB is obviously smaller than 500GB (1 500). Flash memory sizes are hilarious. They don't judge size based on the storage size. They judge it on the sign that says "This will hold 500 songs" :) And back to the pretty factor, they'll go with a pretty 4GB USB flash drive over a plain looking 16GB USB flash drive. I've pretty much given up on helping random strangers in stores because despite their request for "help", they'll still buy fashion over function. The only way I can make someone buy the better devices is to purchase it for them (who then pay me the purchase price). I do that for friends and family only.
So, it's not our fault (generally people who would read here), it's the general consumer's fault. The manufacturers may even offer both what's favorable and not, but retail stores will only stock the items that sell well. It doesn't do any retail store any good at all to stock items that won't move. It wastes floor space, and will eventually have to be sold at clearance for cheap. Consider the WalMart effect. They buy in huge quantity. They only stock what will move, and they put substantial research into that. There's a science behind it, and they study it carefully, from what items to stock, to where to display it, down to the direction you walk through the store. Do most people turn left or right when they enter the store? Will they do high dollar impulse buys first or last?
As I've noticed, they stock low dollar impulse buys ( $20) at the entrance, and cheap impulse buys ($10) at the register. In a Walmart close to me, the traffic path goes from the entrance to the right. You encounter the departments in the following order. I note departments on each side of the aisle together.
$20 impulse buys. HBA (health/beauty) and home decor.
Womens clothing and toys.
Sporting/fitness and womens/teens clothing. Stuck back in a corner from there is hardware and tools.
The newly designed electronics section with cell phones in the front, TV's hanging on the wall in the back in clear sight, and more home decor (bedroom).
Children's clothes and pet supplies
Pharmacy and food
HBA/fashion (makeup), and food.
Jewelry and frozen food, with fresh produce in the corner.
Mens and boys clothes, as well as shoes, housewares are buried in the middle of the loop. They aren't usually impulse buys, so they don't get the high visibility spots. People assume (correctly) that the department exists, so they will go off of the
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Glossy screens are not a problem as long as you are wearing a black turtleneck.
When I used to do video and film work years ago, we had something called matte spray or anti-reflective spray.
We would spray it on anything that was causing reflections during the filming. It was temporary, and could be washed off (I think with alcohol).
I just did a Google search for "matte spray" and I saw some permanent sprays that are used on photographs. I'd prefer something that I could wash off with alcohol if I didn't like it or if it got dirty. So it would take some research to find the removable stuff.
But that might be a quick, cheap fix, or at least something to try out.
(I would however check very carefully first to make sure it didn't hurt the screen and could be cleaned off if you didn't like it. But you knew that.)
P.S. Be sure not to use matte black paint by mistake.
I have a good friend who is a proud owner of a very large TV. He is also one of those weirdos who likes to watch everything squished. When I ask him why, his response is that he feels like he's not getting his money's worth unless every inch of the screen is in use. Black bars make him feel like he's just not getting full value out of his expensive, giant TV.
I don't really understand it, myself. I have a very hard time watching incorrect aspect ratio TV for more than a couple minutes (unless it's animation). If I'm watching squished (or pan & scan) content, I don't feel like I'm getting full value out of the content. I don't even notice black bars if I'm enjoying what I'm watching. Different people have different priorities, I guess.
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