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March 31, 2008

legal

Display lawsuit is itself an excessive amount of dithering

Posted Mar. 31, ’08, 2:51 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Legal

Aluminum iMacI had reeeeeealllly hoped we’d be done with lawsuits about Apple’s displays, but apparently, it was not to be. As MacNN reports, law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP has filed a class action suit against Apple for misleading customers about the display on the 20” iMac.

“Apple is duping its customers into thinking they’re buying ‘new and improved’ when in fact they’re getting stuck with ‘new and inferior,’” said Brian Kabateck, Managing Partner of Kabateck Brown Kellner. “Beneath Apple’s ‘good guy’ image is a corporation that takes advantage of its customers. Our goal is to help those customers who were deceived and make sure Apple tells the truth in the future.”
That’s right, they’re evil. Eeeeeeeeeeeevil.

Once again, it appears to all go back to Apple’s description of the 20” iMac as supporting “millions” of colors, which the lawsuit contends that it is incapable of doing. The suggestion says that 20” and 24” iMacs use totally different technology for their displays, with the 24” using a 8-bit, in-plane switching (IPS) screen and the 20” having a cheaper 6-bit twisted nematic film (TN) LCD screen. The real problem, it appears, stems from the fact that the previous generation of 20” iMac used an IPS screen, meaning that Apple’s taken a step backwards to cut prices and lessen corresponding performance—without, the lawsuit suggests, informing its customers.

My folks have a 20” G5 iMac, which I’ve always thought had a very nice display, but I haven’t spent a lot of time with the new Aluminum models. Readers, your thoughts? Lined up a 20” iMac against a 24” and found it wanting? Or is it all just hot air? Let us know.


19 Comments

Aaron said:

I bought an Alu 20 inch to replace my 20inch iMac G5, and I took it back. The display was too washed out at the bottom of the screen on the 20 inch Alu compared to the 20 inch g5. I hope its fixed soon.

March 31, 2008 4:32 PM
MacFreak said:

I work at the apple store and see both 20 and 24" imacs everyday, I don't see a difference I think it's just crap.

March 31, 2008 4:47 PM
MacBoy said:

I still run Panther and use an iBook. I refuse to downgrade to the new macs until they give me a decent screen

March 31, 2008 5:33 PM
nwmike said:

I have a 24" Alum iMac and it is beautiful & every bit as good a display as my previous 24" (white) iMac

March 31, 2008 6:31 PM
Peetz said:

I am livid and angry about Apple's new iMac displays, but for a different reason. How can they remove matte screens, when surveys should that around 30-55% of people like Matte screens.

Nothing against glossy screens. Some people like them, so that's great.

But lots of people like matte screens, and Apple just give us the flick, and ignores us, because of some person at Apple's decision that glossy is better.

Now, that's a reason we should start a class action suit.

March 31, 2008 7:24 PM
Rory said:

I own a 20" aluminum. I would have bought a 24" if money wasn't an issue, but I had a budget to stick to. There's definitely a difference in display quality. The 20" looks fine, if a little washed out, if you look at it straight on. The problem is in the viewing angle. I use the iMac in a dual-screen setup alongside a Dell 2007FPW. While the Dell is usable from every imaginable angle, the iMac's screen shows shifting of colors at even a small angle.

As for this lawsuit, I'm sick of everyone rushing to Apple's defense. They're cutting corners and getting cheap on components. In addition to the screens, we've seen this in the new, cheaper FireWire controllers which are used in the new iMacs and some of the newer laptops and have compatibility issues with many devices. As a company with a reputation of premium quality products, Apple really needs to do better.

March 31, 2008 7:25 PM
krye said:

The 20" iMac has an incredible display. Those guys are full of it.

March 31, 2008 7:53 PM
James Bogard said:

I must say that my wife's new iMac display is too bright and saturated looking compared to my new Mac Pro and Cinema display, even after careful calibration.

March 31, 2008 9:13 PM
Mikey P said:

I have both a 20 core duo & 24" Alum. I can't see a lick of difference when I place them next to each other...

March 31, 2008 9:44 PM
maccast Author Profile Page said:

I had several reports from listeners about inferior 20" iMac screens. I did some side by side comparisons at the local Apple Store and I have to agree that in a head to head matchup the 20" Al iMac screen leaves a lot to be desired. Interestingly the Macbook Pros and Macbooks suffer from similar issues, but the Macbook Air display is gorgeous. The 20" and 24" Cinema Displays are also fine.

March 31, 2008 10:22 PM
Louis said:

The thing is. We shouldn't be comparing the new 20" with the old 20" as the old one was top of the range for a while until the white 24" came out. The new 20" iMac is more in line with the old 17" models as they are both low end models. Any information about the old 17" screen?

April 1, 2008 1:23 AM
Oli said:

I have a 24" Alu iMac which is gorgeous, but I persuaded my parents to buy Macbooks which have the 6-bit screen problem. I don't think they really notice but to me it's really obvious. The dithering on screen makes it look like like some 256 colour GIF file!

Apple really should do something about slipping such awful screens in their lower range models, or at least acknowledge this is what they're doing.

April 1, 2008 3:32 AM
Anton said:

There is truth to this story. You can learn about the difference between TN and IPS panels on Wikipedia. To cut it short, Apple apparently uses 6 bit TN panels on the 20" models. Those panels are capable to render 2^(6+6+6)=262,114 distinct colors as 8 bit panels can render 2^(8+8+8)=~ 16 million colors.

(The additions above refer to distinct red, blue and green channels.)

This has also been discussed widely on Macrumors.com forums last fall when the current models came out.

April 1, 2008 4:56 AM
Link33 said:

I use an aluminum 20" iMac at work all day. When I first got it, I had to calibrate the screen. Biggest problem I have is that the screen is inconsistent depending upon what angle you are looking at the screen.
Display a full screen solid color and you will perceive differences in the color from top to bottom of the screen. It's not a quality screen in my amateur opinion. But I personally know better than to think it should be. I love the screen in fact because it is so pleasing with the glass and everything. But it isn't accurate to color and I don't trust it for color.

April 1, 2008 7:54 AM
Merry Prankster said:

I'm a Mac systems integrator and I've seen a bunch of the 20" iMacs. I can tell you the displays are so bad, I sent the first five or so I got back, thinking they were broken. Every one I've seen is just awful. I've since started telling all my customers to pay the extra money for a 24". I'm ashamed of Apple for releasing such a poor product. Let's hope this lawsuit is a wake up call for them to fix this product.

April 1, 2008 7:56 AM
Craigar said:

What? There's a difference between the 20" and the 24". When did this become general knowledge? Is it only through the lawsuit that this became public info? Or have I had my head in the sand? This is the sort of information that the reviewers should have highlighted in the reviews and I've never even heard of it. I see it in my monitor, but I didn't know why. I still would have bought the machine as I feel it's a good value, but now I know why Apple is able to lower it's price and still appear to be upping the specs. Sad indeed

April 1, 2008 11:04 AM
Geoff said:

There is indeed a difference in the quality of the images reproduced on the screens of the current 24" and 20" iMacs. I'm well on my way to replacing my aging 4 year old PowerBook with a new iMac and a coworker advised me to compare the screens before purchasing.

I took a trip over to the local Apple Store and compared images and video on a 20" and a 24" iMac for about an hour. I entered the Apple Store skeptical and left convinced: the images on the 24" screen were much richer and gradients were noticeably smoother. It was apparent that a wider range of colors was being used to reproduce the images on the 24" screen. In addition, the 20" is quite washed at the bottom of the screen. Displaying a page full of text showed this quite plainly, especially when compared to the 24"er.

I then asked an employee there at the store about the difference and he confirmed the use of TN vs IPS panels in the two computers.

April 1, 2008 2:27 PM
Cycomachead said:

I don't mind the first lawsuit about displays and even the 2nd because it was sooo close in timing and because I find there's at least tech reason here (other than being pissed about a price drop-remember those?). But it's getting excessive! Why do people try these things over and over? It's not like it's any different. Well I suppose we can sue over iPod displays and be done with it. (ACDs don't have this problem)

Do people not learn anything from the iTunes monopoly suits?

April 1, 2008 11:01 PM
Nick said:

One of the implications is that eventually, when the white 20" iMacs are all gone, Apple will not be able to honor its warranty on them. The warranty calls for the machine to be repaired, or if need be, replaced with a new machine of at least equal if not better quality. But since the new aluminum iMacs are a huge step backwards in screen quality, Apple doesn't have a comparable quality machine in its current lineup to replace them with, so Apple will have no way to honor its warranty. Expect more class action lawsuits. Apple is trying to pass off new and inferior as new and improved.

April 4, 2008 4:24 PM

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