The Chromebook Pixel Review
by Jason Inofuentes on May 31, 2013 8:00 AM ESTDisplay
Matching the fit and finish of the body is the Pixel’s display. The popularity of larger “retina” displays has left us with something of a glut of HiDPI content to ogle. It’s something quite odd to sit quite so close to a notebook screen and be entirely unable to discern any individual pixels. Users of the rMBP may be used to this experience, but for me it was a treat to spend so much time with such a nice display after a few years with my 13” MBP. Pixel density isn’t everything, though; what we’re really looking at is an arrangement of colors and so color accuracy is our new obsession. Our displays guru, Chris Heinonen, has updated our workflow for evaluating displays and the results are nothing short of incredible. Here he’ll explain what’s changed and what you’re looking at; let us know what you think and please do click on the images to get a good look at them in full-size.
Starting with this review, we're introducing the Color Comparator tool from CalMAN, which they just introduced into version 5.1 of their software. Most often in reviews you will see the DeltaE value for colors that we are sampling, which provides a numerical idea of how far off from ideal a sample is. Anything below 1 you can't see when they are side-by-side, and anything below 3 you can't see while in motion. While this is a very useful tool to see how accurate a color is, it doesn't provide someone with a visual idea of the error.
The color comparator tool shows the ideal colors right next to the actual colors, so you can see where the errors are. Even with an uncalibrated display you can get a good idea of the amount of error that is present. Of course, the more accurate your display is, the more accurate the differences will appear to be, but it still provides a more real-world example. It also lets you possibly compare two displays where the dE values might be 0.7 and 1.0 and see if you can actually tell a difference, or if you are splitting hairs at that point. More information can be found on this tool here http://store.spectracal.com/colorcomparator but hopefully this proves useful to our readers.
Color gamut
Saturations
GMB
| Chromebook Pixel |
13-inch rMBP (uncalibrated) |
|
| CCT Avg | 6442 | 6632 |
| Grayscale Avg | 7.132 | 1.7825 |
| Gamut Avg | 6.8234 | n/a |
| Saturations Avg | 7.0927 | 2.1663 |
| GMB Avg | 5.7664 | 2.4521 |
There's no denying that the 13-inch rMBP has a great panel and the dE values are in the realm of undetectable in motion, and nearly undetectable in static images. The intention here is to calibrate it for color accuracy, so that image professionals can get to work as soon as they open the box. The Pixel... doesn’t hit quite so solidly. From our chat with Caesar, we know that Google’s target was a warmer display than the rMBP, and so the CCT coming it at just under the ideal at 6500k makes sense. The dE figures, though show that while the average is closer to ideal, the individual colors miss in a more noticeable way. In this case, most of the colors are rather undersaturated, a contrast to Apple’s slight oversaturation. The result isn’t exactly unappealing, it’s just not accurate. In use some vibrant colors appear more vivid against the desaturated representations of other colors. This inaccuracy does cost the Pixel when looked at by the discerning eye of a professional; most users, though, aren't likely to spare a second thought on it.
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karasaj - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
What other objectivity can you have than display analysis, battery life, build quality (even still moderately subjective), and performance? Heat and noise I guess, which is normally included in laptop reviews, but considering he can't actually run HWmonitor, and it's also probably hard to actually load up the machine with a super heavy workload, there's not much he left out.If you don't like the subjective parts, skip them. Subjective qualities at the expense of objectivity can be bad, but he hasn't sacrificed that really.
nunomoreira10 - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Those color (target and actual) diagrams are great!Please do so again on future displays reviews
frakkel - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Finally - Someone who understands that we are not using our notebooks for watching 16:9 movies day long. To see a more square format is very much welcome. Now I will just wait for Haswell and then I will buy.internetf1fan - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Wider screens are better for productivity as you can fit multiple documents side by side. Going back to 4:3 displays really hurts how I work because of lack of space.leexgx - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
we are not talking going back to 4:3 that would be silly, we are talking about website friendly 16:10 screensnot many people use the side by side feature in windows 7
seapeople - Monday, June 3, 2013 - link
Not many people use graphics cards, either, so why not just get rid of all those?twtech - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Remember the dot-com boom of the '90s, when the internet was supposed to take over everything? And then it didn't, and all these startups went bust, but it still had a significant impact, which continues to grow today?Right now, people are saying, the PC is dead, tablets are the new king. We've heard this mantra before. Notebooks, netbooks, consoles vs. PC gaming, everything new was supposed to kill the desktop PC. And along the way, those things have taken some marketshare when those devices were actually the more appropriate tool for the job.
If all you had was a hammer and nails, but now you have a screwdriver and screws as well, some of the times when you previously used nails, now you'll use screws instead. If you put the usage of nails on a chart, maybe you'd say that they were "dying", and that usage of screws is the future, since of course it was growing from zero. Well, we know that both types of fasteners have their preferred uses. And tablets may replace PCs for certain uses - the use cases in which they are genuinely better. But there would be no sense in trying to use a tablet for things the PC is naturally better at.
Crono - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
The PC isn't dead. We're just in a transition period where tablets are becoming a very popular form factor of PCs. Anyone who wants to create content knows that a base iPad isn;t going to do you much good unless you have the right apps and preferably a physical keyboard. That's why the Surface and Surface Pro are the right direction, I think, though everyone agrees Haswell is needed to bring better battery life. Hybrid and convertible tablets or ultrabooks - whether they are Android, Windows, or iOS - will be key for the next few years... until we start getting scrolls. ;)Personally, I would love a 10" x 12" x 0.2" OLED flexible scroll computer with a display that can become rigid when completely unfurled from a thin computer core/column.
rwei - Friday, May 31, 2013 - link
Odd that you yourself note the unfavorable comparison to the 13" rMBP, yet your review gushes with enthusiasm for the Pixel. I love shiny, beautiful new gadgets as much as or more than the next guy, but your praise seems excessive.I more or less took away from this is that the Pixel is cool because it makes for a really nice and shiny typewriter, and wow look it's evolving really quickly to the point where it's slowly approaching the level of basic functionality that other systems already deliver.
Arbie - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
rwei - I agree with you completely.And there is a weird parallel between the design effort put into this overdone $1400 browser box and the writing effort put into this overblown, wordy, and just so artfully crafted treatise on it. Is this all a joke of some kind? I got through a couple of pages and couldn't take it any more. If you gave the author an enema he could fit in a shoebox.
As for the computer, the only thing it's ideal for is to make the Surface RT look like a success. Maybe it makes sense as an investment collectible, considering that they're only going to sell two or three. Nothing worthwhile here.