MacBook Pro First Look: Brightness, Contrast Measured (2/4)

How bright is it when it's plugged in?

To get straight to the figures, here's the stats we read on the MBP's default configuration:

• Whites: 323 cd/m²

• Blacks: 0.37 cd/m²

• Contrast Ratio: 873:1

Well, it seems Steve's right--the MBP is brighter than the majority of laptops: a standard PC notebook would normally have whites at about 200 cd/m², meaning Apple have managed to produce a screen that's around 60% brighter than its competitors.

As well as helping to reduce the effect of the reflections caused by the screen's glossy surface, this brightness is also very easy on the eye.  It increases contrast levels, showing off photos and movies in a much better light.

We can easily imagine how great these screens are going to look in the carefully-controlled conditions of an Apple Store.

But that's our main worry, too: Apple seem to have gone all-out to make an attractive display that is visually striking straight out of the box--and to hell with how accurate the image is.

Graphic designers, printers and anybody else whose work relies on accurate colors will probably have been shocked by the brightness measure for black: 0.37 cd/m².

To create a good contrast, it's important for the brightness level in blacks to be as low as possible.

The MBP's black brightness score here is twice what you'd expect from an average screen, four times higher than that of a good screen, and almost ten times higher than what can be found on the very best-performing screens and TVs today.

The upshot of all this is that the black on the MBP is not very deep, and is more like a dark gray.

It's not really surprising that blacks are so light given how bright the screen is, but it's still irritating.

How bad is it?

Despite ourselves, we can only be honest and say that it's not too bad.  The vast majority of Apple's customers will prefer the high contrast created by the very bright whites that hide how washed-out the blacks really are.

Next to such a bright white, even a very light gray can stand in for a perfect black.

This doesn't make it any less problematic for visual professionals, though, who need their monitors to be visually accurate all day long. 

We'll be returning to the subject of how to best calibrate the MBP's screen soon, but for now, our verdict has to be that despite being dubbed Pro, this laptop is more suited to average users straight out of the box.

And what about while powereed by battery?

• Whites: 302 cd/m²

• Blacks: 0.34 cd/m²

• Contrast Ratio: 888:1

As these measurements show, the screen only gets marginally darker when the power cord is unplugged, but the overall image is still very bright with good contrast.

Lighting Conditions

One of the MBP's best features is that it actually adjusts these settings permanently using a built-in ambient light detector just beside the webcam.

We took it into our photo darkroom (and covered the sensor with our finger, just to make sure), and, sure enough, the brightness fell to take into account the circumstances.

Whites were only 29 cd/m² and blacks 0.03 cd/m², giving an overall contrast ratio of 970:1, which is very impressive.

It's sensible too, because 320 cd/m² in a room where your laptop is the only light source is very likely to hurt your eyes if nothing else.  You might want a little more brightness for watching a DVD, but it's far preferable that the MBP adjusts itself so you don't find yourself blinded.