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20" vs. 24" Display Comparison

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Alloye

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 11, 2007
657
0
Rocklin, CA
My brother stopped by last night to see my week-old 20" iMac and decided he had to have one for himself. To make a long story short, I sold him mine and picked up a new 24" today to replace it.

Anyway, I've got them both side-by-side on my desk for the evening, so I thought I'd share some observations of the two displays:

Viewing Angle: The 20" does have a slight shift in color saturation while viewing content top-to-bottom. It's not horrible by any means, but the 24" doesn't have this problem at all and also does much better when viewed other than straight on. The 24" definitely wins this category, but I think the 20" is fine for normal, on-axis viewing.

Color: The 20" is horribly calibrated out of the box but looks great with a good profile. The 24" looks awesome right away. My perception is that the 20" looks a little more vibrant while the 24" looks a little more saturated. I think I'll call this one a tie since they're both quite striking.

Illumination: The 20" is pretty much perfect. It has no detectable variances in brightness and also no significant backlight bleed on an all-black screen. The 24", on the other hand, dims in the corners somewhat and does have a little bit of bleed near the bottom. These problems aren't worrisome to me, but side-by-side, the 20" wins.

Bottom Line: I think that both displays are very good and that most people would be happy with either one. :)
 
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BennyK

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2004
298
4
Appleton, WI
Awesome. Thanks for the review! This is one of the first side by side review outside of an Apple Store. Very informative. Thanks!
 
kingslod

kingslod

macrumors member
Jul 8, 2002
56
1
Portland, OR
Thanks!

Thanks for the post--I looked at the 24 inch in store, then rushed home to try and compare to my 20 inch G5 iMac, and found pluses and minuses to both. I guess you get used to whatever is in front of you.

My concern about upgrading is using that new glossy screen for print design color matching... but, I think there's already a thread bout that! :)
 
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FatSweatyBlldog

macrumors regular
Aug 16, 2007
176
0
Thanks for the comparison.

Is blacklight bleeding considered a defect, like stuck pixels, or just a symptom of a poorly manufactured LCD?

The S-IPS in the previous generation 20'' iMac, that I've seen, had noticeable blacklight bleeding, and some minor variance in brightness (only detectable on a completely black screen).
 
A

Alloye

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 11, 2007
657
0
Rocklin, CA
FatSweatyBlldog said:
Is blacklight bleeding considered a defect, like stuck pixels, or just a symptom of a poorly manufactured LCD?

The S-IPS in the previous generation 20'' iMac, that I've seen, had noticeable blacklight bleeding, and some minor variance in brightness (only detectable on a completely black screen).
Click to expand...

My 23" ACD at work (also S-IPS) has very prominent backlight bleed. It seems to be a fairly common issue with these newer, brighter panels. And while I suppose it could be considered a defect, almost every LCD I've encountered in the past couple of years has it to one degree or another. You just have to determine for yourself when it crosses the threshold of being unacceptable.
 
S

sas76

macrumors member
Sep 10, 2006
90
0
Australia
Color: The 20" is horribly calibrated out of the box but looks great with a good profile. The 24" looks awesome right away. My perception is that the 20" looks a little more vibrant while the 24" looks a little more saturated. I think I'll call this one a tie since they're both quite striking.

I agree,

When I got my new 20 home after using it for about an hour my eye's were very sore. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, text size, brightness etc

I changed the colour sync profile to the adobe one ( I think that is what is is called) and now it is fine.

Very happy
 
M

mrmjd

macrumors regular
Jul 7, 2007
121
0
sas76 said:
Color: The 20" is horribly calibrated out of the box but looks great with a good profile. The 24" looks awesome right away. My perception is that the 20" looks a little more vibrant while the 24" looks a little more saturated. I think I'll call this one a tie since they're both quite striking.

I agree,

When I got my new 20 home after using it for about an hour my eye's were very sore. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, text size, brightness etc

I changed the colour sync profile to the adobe one ( I think that is what is is called) and now it is fine.

Very happy
Click to expand...


I went to the Mac store today and found the 20 inch screen very dissapointing. The viewing angle is shocking in my opinion, compared to the 24 inch. In a world where you share content, photos, videos etc. and gather round the machine with your family, to have such poor viewing angles on the 20 inch is a real let down for me.
 
D

dreamsandart

macrumors member
Apr 11, 2004
47
0
20" tint at an angle?

This is problem I saw in the store. The viewing angle on the 20" was just dissapointing and became a yellow-brown tint as the angle increased. Not sure if changing the color profile would change this? I like the idea of the smaller 20" displace for the space I'd like to put it in, But the angle 'problem' gives me the feeling the 24" is just a 'better' display.
 
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blumoon

macrumors regular
Mar 22, 2007
100
0
Alloye said:
Anyway, I've got them both side-by-side on my desk for the evening, so I thought I'd share some observations of the two displays:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comparison. I am still undecided on which size I want. I'm not sure I want to spend the extra money on the 24" but boy would I love it.
So were you terribly disappointed in the 20" for the week you owned it? Did you regret not buying the 24" right off the bat?
Right now I'm using an almost 5 yr old PC with a 15" monitor so anything will be a huge improvement. :)
 
C

CBAviator

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2007
299
0
Nederland
blumoon said:
Thanks for the comparison. I am still undecided on which size I want. I'm not sure I want to spend the extra money on the 24" but boy would I love it.
So were you terribly disappointed in the 20" for the week you owned it? Did you regret not buying the 24" right off the bat?
Right now I'm using an almost 5 yr old PC with a 15" monitor so anything will be a huge improvement. :)
Click to expand...

blumoon...we first need to know how you intend on using your iMac. Then the suggestions will be easier to deal out.
 
T

togermano

macrumors regular
Aug 10, 2007
174
0
I love the 20inch its perfect for me the bigger one looks like i'd need to move my head around just to look at another window which i think would get annoying after awhile
 
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blumoon

macrumors regular
Mar 22, 2007
100
0
CBAviator said:
blumoon...we first need to know how you intend on using your iMac. Then the suggestions will be easier to deal out.
Click to expand...

Well I use my computer for digital photos, music, web surfing and email, finances and to keep in touch with a dog rescue that I'm involved in. I also do some accounting for a small company.
I am so done with Windows and have been lurking on this forum for a few months as well as reading books on macs. I don't have the best eyesight so working on this 15" monitor is not the best. I use a 19" at work crunching numbers all day and I'm fine.
The only game I play is bejeweled. :)
Oh and I've never used a mac and don't have an Apple store nearby but I just know I want one.
 
C

CBAviator

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2007
299
0
Nederland
blumoon said:
Well I use my computer for digital photos, music, web surfing and email, finances and to keep in touch with a dog rescue that I'm involved in. I also do some accounting for a small company.
I am so done with Windows and have been lurking on this forum for a few months as well as reading books on macs. I don't have the best eyesight so working on this 15" monitor is not the best. I use a 19" at work crunching numbers all day and I'm fine.
The only game I play is bejeweled. :)
Oh and I've never used a mac and don't have an Apple store nearby but I just know I want one.
Click to expand...

Well, most TFT screens these days are still TN film. Unless you edit photographs as a professional or intense amateur photographer, the 20" will likely be fine for you. The colors on the 20" simply shift depending on the angle you are viewing the screen from. It's very similar to the way laptop screens act from different vertical viewing angle.

So unless you need precise color matching and adjustments with photos and video, then the 20" is perfectly fine. The only reason I went with the 24" is because I do a ton of amateur photography so my colors/contrast/brightness are very important to me.
 
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blumoon

macrumors regular
Mar 22, 2007
100
0
CBAviator said:
, the 20" will likely be fine for you. The colors on the 20" simply shift depending on the angle you are viewing the screen from. It's very similar to the way laptop screens act from different vertical viewing angle.
Click to expand...

Thanks CBAviator! The 20" is more in my budget. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.
 
A

Alloye

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 11, 2007
657
0
Rocklin, CA
blumoon said:
So were you terribly disappointed in the 20" for the week you owned it? Did you regret not buying the 24" right off the bat?
Right now I'm using an almost 5 yr old PC with a 15" monitor so anything will be a huge improvement. :)
Click to expand...

I wasn't really disappointed, but I am used to a 23" ACD at work and kinda missed the extra pixels at home. My brother, on the other hand, upgraded from an old 15" VAIO laptop (1024x768), so the 20" is gigantic to him. I guess you could say it worked out well for both of us.
 
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