20-inch iMacs shipping with janky LCDs?
By Nilay Patel 
posted September 12th 2007 9:05PM
posted September 12th 2007 9:05PM
[Via TUAW]
posted September 12th 2007 9:05PM
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The problem for Apple is that they are totally in the spot light. Everything they do is high profile. They are the Lindsay Lohan of the consumer electronics world and everything they do is scrutinized and talked about and examined. No one is standing around with cameras waiting for Barbara Bush's skirt to fly up (Dell). That's why we hear so much about things failing with them...
For a company who was built touting superior desktop publishing anything less than 24 bit should be unacceptable. Adding a sparkle to the mix is just alienating their original core user group. Apparently they are no longer trying to steal Adobe's photo editing market share by representing photos in an inferior color gamut. Maybe Microsoft has something right by entering the photo editing market.
But at least "back in the day" (the Apple Desktop Publishing days) they were more forthcoming with information. You want 24bit color and 16bit sound? Buy a IIci or an FX - you can deal with 16bit color and 8bit sound (and a SLOOOOOW processor - then they had the LC. But the difference was listed in the specs plain as day. Now Steve comes out on stage and talks about how great the consumer level machines are for doing this and that, and really just glosses over the lesser, but equally important differences.
I'd love to see these companies coming out with more accurate information about what they're really pushing out. Apple prides itself on the "creative" market, honestly, I've been shopping for a while on a new laptop, and while everyone swears by the MB and MBP I'm not sold on the hardware. I can compare side by side the color range and gray scale output with the MBP and my D800 (8bit 1920x1200 Samsung panel) and see the problems.
I don't enjoy having older hardware but honestly at some points it comes down to a decision if it's even worth it to go with any of these people when they're cutting corners. I mean even my original panel in my D800 was a Sanyo 6bit with horrible brightness (upgraded the inverter when I went with the samsung)
While it takes a fraction more space on the order page, I'd love to see these companies and especially apple going back to details. I dont care if it has a brushed casing that was made by washing the metal against the sandy beaches in Thailand. Is it going to be a better product because of it? no, so stop shoving it at me. Jobs should realize that more and more of the market they claim they're catering to want to know the specs and not how they plan to cover things up via software.
i got a new 20" imac. the screen is not that good. I changed the color profile to RGB and it helped a lot. But when the 24 and 20 are next to eachother, there is no comparison. and of course the viewing angles are absolutely horrendous. one thing that I noticed is that the 24" imac is much thicker than the 20" I can only relate that to the higher quality screen being much thicker. Note that the Cinema displays by themselves are all thicker than the 24" imac which is thicker than the 20" imac. I hope there is a class action suit and we get some real screens. Right now I will take the $300 I saved from not getting the 24" and buy a second LCD and use that as the main monitor.
i have the new 20 inch imac, i don't see any problems with the screen, what am I supposed to be looking for/test for?
Only the best components for Apple! Now I see where that premium comes from!
It's pretty funny that most of the people here who are crying like little girls most likely don't own an iMac or similar. What..? No friends to call tonight?
Yeah silly people, they should just jump head first into purchases without thinking twice about them. Why even bother looking at a specs page, god what morons.
Oh and yes, everyone parties on a Wednesday, Wed = Fri. People should always go hammered mid-week into work the next day. Hangovers are awesome in mission critical positions!
Maybe you can go ahead and enlighten everyone on how their choice to be critical about purchasing is a bad thing?
I suppose Apple is being 'honest' by stating on their website, 'Millions of colors at all resolutions', which is ambiguous at best. No mention on bit depth at all.
WOW! What a stinging retort! You must have lost a lot of sleep coming up with that one. But then, if you don't have any real information or even just a pertinent opinion you should always insult everyone else. A job well done doofus.
Just a curiosity - if you didn't like the screen before you bought the computer, why did you make the purchase? It's one thing if Apple knowingly displayed 24-bit screens in their showroom and gave you an 18, but if they show exactly what they're selling in the showroom, the implication is that you know what you're purchasing.
whoops.
Maybe if all you Apple Fanboys cry loud enough, Stevie will give you a $100 Apple gift card.
what a shame, this was the first apple product i actually considered buying, and im not even an apple fan, nor a windows lover. And had i purchased the imac, it wouldve also been the second time i've purchased a windows product (first was windows 98)since i wouldve added xp onto it as well. With all due respect, the imac is a well thought out machine, but apple unfortunately cuts corners in the wrong spots and botches it up.
does this affect MacBook Pros? Thinking about getting a 15 incher when leopard comes out...(LCD Blacklit)
dUN @ Sep 13th 2007 1:20AM
The long version: http://www.engadget.com/videos/PDF/apple_macbook_lawsuit.pdf
The short version : YES!
So, buy the 17"!
I don't know why I ever bother reading an Apple/Microsoft-related post's comments... I should have learned by now what an absolute waste 90% of this comment flotsam is. Seriously depressing...
HEY those one who think this is an isolated case, google the LCD panel model :
LG PHILIPS LM201WE3
see what's on LG PHILIPS' web site!
It says TN click it, you can review the specifics, by any mean, the new iMac 20' does NOT have a TFT LCD!
The long version: http://www.engadget.com/videos/PDF/apple_macbook_lawsuit.pdf
The short version : YES!
So, buy the 17"!
this is again why i boycott apple products. they put a flashy case on their products and claim it to be a premium product, when it is in fact the opposite. time and time again i hear people complaining about their disfunctional apple products. take my advice: stick to software.
>>>>>Jeffrey Bergier @ Sep 12th 2007 10:44PM
i got a new 20" imac. the screen is not that good. I changed the color profile to RGB and it helped a lot."
yoooo
I believe it.
I have a g5 imac and the 3 year warranty is just about up and the thing is acting up.. again. First problem was with the screen, the logic board was burning up or something.
Then again my g4 imac had a bad screen so I returned it. Great customer support (within 30 days)
Two links:
http://www.kodawarisan.com/imac_2007_mid/imac_2007_mid_03.html
http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com/homeContain/jsp/kor/prd/prd201_j_k.jsp
Comment this :-)
I went to the Apple store to check the new iMacs out. It took me like 2 seconds to realize that the 20" screens were compromised, and the larger 24" were of good quality. First, BAAAD Apple to save on the Screen on such a great machine. The screen is the front end, it must be of good quality to front what Apple's stands for. Second... consumers, go check out the stuff before you buy it, or wait a week till someone else has bought it. It really takes just a glance to spot these things. Third, come on Apple, put a decent screen in the entry level iMac.
All-in-on computers are so lame anyways. I would rather have a Mac mini or Mac Pro with a 24" standalone display any day over the iMac.
As a matter of fact,a lot of LCD screens available today are 18 bits.
Lot of people posting here are using 18 bits LCD screens, that they bought and choose themselves and I'm sure don't even know it. Almost ALL today's laptops for example are using 18 bits LCD screens.
So as pointed out some here, it's a choice made by a lot of LCD manufacturers, and companies like Apple, Dell or Sony sometimes no have choice than to choose a 18 bits screen to be able to offer their product at the targeted price, And if they choose to put a higher price to offer a more expensive 24 bits screen, they are giving sells to competitors (which them didn't hesitate to use 18 bits screens). That's the rules of a competitive market.
What's funny here is that these LCD screens have been used already for years on PCs first and then on Macs, and we have to wait for some Apple users to realize it to finally see people reacting against this LCD manufacturers' trick.
This just prove one thing again, Mac buyers are a lot more exigent vis-a-vis the product specs and quality then PC buyers. And that may be the real problem, if PC buyers would have been as exigent as that, they would have reacted to that years ago when the first 18bits LCDs were used on PCs, and we would maybe not have any 18bits manufactured anymore...
Hmmm strange, according to this site: http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com/homeContain/jsp/kor/prd/prd201_j_k.jsp
The LCD panel is not 18 bits but 24 bits (Number of Colors 16.7 M, 8bit(FRC))
Ok I answer to myself, it indicates FRC, which means that the 8 bit are simulated through the FRC (Frame Rate Control) dithering technic.
So it's indeed in fact a 18bits screen which is simulating the 24bits through dithering.
Who can even see the screen with the glare coming off the glass? This is the worst iMac generation eva.
Is the 15" MBP LED back lit screen 24bit then? (either the glossy or non glossy)?
*********You have to remember... this is the same company that once produced a machine that would get hot enough for the chips to break free of the solder and board, the solution was to pick the unit up hold it about 2 feet from the surface it was on and drop it to pop the chips back in place.***********
Hmmmm, now what main competitor to Apple you all love and know makes a product with EXACTLY the same problem? Oooohhhh, could it be Microsoft? Nearly EVERYTHING electronic is made in China or Taiwan, good on em as those countries are making a killing cuase their cheap. If Europe or the US were cheaper places to live in then the products would be cheap to make here their too.
This IS scaremongering as the numbers affected are absolutly tiny compared to the Xbox 360's failure rate and let's not all forget the Sony battery fiasco and NOW the Nokia battery fiasco. Remember no matter what product you have, if it uses a modern rechargable battery is a dangerous explosive product, the power they pack in the more dangerous they become. Bring on the fuel cells.
the 20 ' iMacs are fine. as in every new product that is release there will ALWAYS be some type of defect on some products. i love my 2o" 2.4 ghz iMac and i havent had any problems with it YET!!!
I have to agree with the substandard hardware comments, and I'd like to add quality control to the subject as well. In the last few years especially, I've noticed that Apple's quality control (Chinese factories again), has declined. Most recently, I purchased a brand new Macbook and it came out of the factory sealed box looking as if it had been used for a year; scratches all over the top and bottom case, some of them so deep they had grooves. Apple repair was called in and their techs replaced the screen instead of the case. Finally, an Apple Store exchanged mine for a new one. Anyway, that's what I got for my $1300. I haven't opened the new Macbook yet. Seems safer to leave it in the box.