Any Web/Print designer/s out there with new 20" Imac

[fireworkz]

I was wondering if any Web Designer (Freelancer or Company) out there recently purchased the 20" Imac - whats the experience - is it ok for use - I read too much; so the color issue seems to be the big deal - I know that alot of consumers i.e. the final customer/viewer doesnt have a fancy screen or set .. so web design is a challenge not to mention the multi-browser factors for design.. I checked out the 20" at best buy also the 24" - true the 24" had no problems the 20" had - but then the screen wasnt calibrated or anything.. So maybe someone who actually bought this Imac and uses it for above purpose can give valuable feedback. Im on the verge of a nervous breakdown deciding - the 20" 2.4GHz is more in the budget - however if fellow web designers using the machine think its crap then I will opt for the 24" IMac - sell my dog, my bike, etc to finance it ..

 

[mrmjd]

I'm a designer in both print and web and was going to buy the 20 inch for home use. I went into the store and wanted to check them both out and I reluctantly opted for the 24 inch over the 20 inch purely for the reduced viewing angle, it just was too much of an annoyance to see that much colour shift for me personally.

That's my two cents worth.

 

[darkanddivine]

I do print design so I can't comment too much on the web side of things, but the new 20" screen is inferior to the 24" (and to the old 20" for that matter). The colour fade issue is something calibration can mask a bit, but it does only do that, the colour fade doesn't go away.

Personally, if you want a 20" my reccomendation would be to see if you can get an old white version and perhaps save a bit of money that way. The 24" version would be fine for design etc as far as I am aware, however the glare issue which has been often mentioned is a problem depending on your circumstances.

My experience is that in a regular room with daylight, the screen reflects quite badly which either shutting the blinds or similar can help (just pull a black box in illustrator and you'll see what I mean). Old CRT monitors which were not matte never had as much glare as the new iMac does. At night under regular house lighting the screen is fine for design purposes though.

Hope this helps a bit!!

 

[AlexisV]

I wouldn't like to use the new 20" for design. The colour shift is appalling.

I use the white at work and the alumnium at home - the white one is far better for working on. The aluminium looks nice and is great for games and photo viewing, but it's very hard to use for colour accurate work.

 

[mbalson]

I'm typing this on a new 20" iMac while on hold with Apple Care to get an upgrade to the 24".

I'm a web and sometimes print designer and the screen in the 20" is not acceptable, even with a lot of calibration. I don't really want something as large as a 24" but the 20" is useless to me. Also, I don't want the older white iMac...

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I am a full time web designer and I have a 20" at home I use every day. I don't see any problems with it.

I suppose there is a color shift top to bottom if you move your head around, but I've calibrated mine to my liking and it's been working fine.

your mileage may vary.

 

[prs986]

I have a 20" and I use it for print design, web design, video editing, and motion graphics. Works great. People make it sound like a HUGE color shift. It's not. Yes there is one, but its not as drastic as ones make it out to be. I see no problem with it at all. I recomend it all the way.

 

[mbalson]

Well, I guess you must have received an exceptional Aluminum 20" iMac then. At this point I think we're past the point of deciding if this is a real issue or not and just wondering what Apple is going to do about it. A lot of people aren't waiting to upgrade to the 24" or to return it altogether.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Well, I guess you must have received an exceptional Aluminum 20" iMac then. At this point I think we're past the point of deciding if this is a real issue or not and just wondering what Apple is going to do about it. A lot of people aren't waiting to upgrade to the 24" or to return it altogether.

I just made a photoshop document of a solid color (I I changed the color a few times while doing this) and had it fill the whole screen, and removed my pallets.

I honstly don't see any color shift at all. It looks like 1 solid, pure color from top to bottom, side to side.

I think I am going to set up a tripod and take a picture of it. Either I got a amazingly perfect screen, or you guys are seeing things.

Literally - what am I supposed to be seeing? I just did about 10 different solid colors that filled the screen, and I couldn't see color shift at all.

What display is the display you are saying is bad, and how can I check which display I have?

 

[darkanddivine]

I just made a photoshop document of a solid color (I I changed the color a few times while doing this) and had it fill the whole screen, and removed my pallets.

I honstly don't see any color shift at all. It looks like 1 solid, pure color from top to bottom, side to side.

I think I am going to set up a tripod and take a picture of it. Either I got a amazingly perfect screen, or you guys are seeing things.

Literally - what am I supposed to be seeing? I just did about 10 different solid colors that filled the screen, and I couldn't see color shift at all.

What display is the display you are saying is bad, and how can I check which display I have?

When I drew a solid colour fill in a box (on the new 20" iMac), the box gets lighter towards the bottom of the screen. Not hugely noticable, but off putting enough to be an issue when designing. I have yet to see a 20" that doesn't do this. On another note, I find that if you view the screen from slightly below it it does darken up some but the colour shift is pretty big on the model I used.

 

[mbalson]

Just talked to Apple about the issue. Seems like they are ignoring it completely. I pointed them toward the related Apple Discussions but it didn't matter. They suggested that I take it into an Apple store for repair or at least so they could qualify the defect. I explained that I had already been to the Apple store where me and the staff talked about how all their 20" display models had the same issue. So I don't know what to do with it.

 

[fireworkz]

...I honstly don't see any color shift at all. It looks like 1 solid, pure color from top to bottom, side to side.

I think I am going to set up a tripod and take a picture of it. Either I got a amazingly perfect screen, or you guys are seeing things.....

Sean can you post a Pic... - I guess I will go to Best Buy (closest to me) and try it out.. also to see how bad or not so bad its looks like !

 

[mbalson]

Apple is now allowing me to pay and upgrade to the 24". So at least their customer services hasn't worsened.

 

[darkanddivine]

My new iMac comparisons with the new version vs the old version. Both 20". Just taken on a point and click camera.

Old and new.

This is the viewing angle issue that many have been mentioning. The screen does seem very sensitive to angle changes.

No real issues with this so called gradient? This was fter I'd calibrated the machine.

This is the old 20" - solid colour.

Changing the bacground on the 20" reveals the problem.

And in illustrator, there is a clear colour shift from top to bottom.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Those pics look like they were shot from a down angle... or were they straight on? I used the 20" at a CompUSA for quite awhile yesterday and didn't notice any issue with it, and I was standing and the system was not at an ideal height, but still no trouble.

I'm not doubting there is a shift there, I'm just wondering how significant it is for day to day use, for you. To answer the original posters question, I'm not a web "designer" but I am a web "developer" (I code, don't draw, ) and for web work I wouldn't think twice about using the 20" iMac... since the end result is being displayed on a ton of different displays of different type in different lighting conditions... well, what you see when you make it is NOT what your audience is going to see.

For print though you will obviously have control over making the end product look like what you see on the computer. It's important that you can be 100% accurate there. That's just my opinion... like I said, not an artist. I code and design sites and web apps (mostly DB stuff), but let others do a lot of the art side of things.

 

[darkanddivine]

Those pics look like they were shot from a down angle... or were they straight on? I used the 20" at a CompUSA for quite awhile yesterday and didn't notice any issue with it, and I was standing and the system was not at an ideal height, but still no trouble.

I'm not doubting there is a shift there, I'm just wondering how significant it is for day to day use, for you. To answer the original posters question, I'm not a web "designer" but I am a web "developer" (I code, don't draw, ) and for web work I wouldn't think twice about using the 20" iMac... since the end result is being displayed on a ton of different displays of different type in different lighting conditions... well, what you see when you make it is NOT what your audience is going to see.

For print though you will obviously have control over making the end product look like what you see on the computer. It's important that you can be 100% accurate there. That's just my opinion... like I said, not an artist. I code and design sites and web apps (mostly DB stuff), but let others do a lot of the art side of things.

There is a definate shift that is for sure. You are correct, that screen calibration will have less impact on design as you get used to what comes out the other side. CMYK always responds slightly differenly to RGB, and I can still put a Pantone reference into my machine and it will come out correctly because that system works around the fact that designers have different displays calibrated differently.

I'm not sure I understand why people have an issue with calibration on the 24" though. The glossy screen does seem to make blacks appear more defined, however I do not know how this would make a huge difference from say an old matte screen. I understnd it from a photographic point of view, but can a gloss finish actually change how you percieve the colour.

After using the 20" for a few days I have to say I have enjoyed it, and for movies and photos the thing is great plus the keyboard is great. I can get the glare down to a minimal issue now too, so really its just a question as to how it responds to design work (the 20" is a problem as the fading issue would be a problem to me). I am still in 2 minds as to whether it is worth upgrading it for the new 24" or just sticking with the 20" C2D. I only use the machine for freelance jobs outside of work.

Stuck again so any thoughts welcome!

 

[RafMac]

Plan B

Well if the glare is an issue or even color shift, get it replaced. As for color corrections just attach a second external monitor the is not glossy. I find 24" of real estate not enough for me as adobe cs palettes and tool boxes take 1/3 of your screen. There are alot of good 19" monitors on sale aout there for a reasonable price unless you want to fork extra cash for 20" cinema display.

 

[darkanddivine]

Well if the glare is an issue or even color shift, get it replaced. As for color corrections just attach a second external monitor the is not glossy. I find 24" of real estate not enough for me as adobe cs palettes and tool boxes take 1/3 of your screen. There are alot of good 19" monitors on sale aout there for a reasonable price unless you want to fork extra cash for 20" cinema display.

I can handle my work on one monitor I think, especially with the pallette being minimised on CS3. Today has been an eye opener though. I'm sending the 20" back due to screen issues and now I look everywhere people are saying there are problems with gradients etc the 24"s as well so its a bit of a quandry now for me! They seemed fine when I saw them in the apple store but what I've read makes me less sure....

 

[Treehead]

The company I work for wanted to buy several iMacs for our DTP and web design department when Leopard comes out. Because screen quality is an issue, we would have ordered some 24" machines, but the glare is unacceptable.

And yes, almost everyone of us has seen the screen and tried the iMacs in a store or at a friends house and no one can imagine to work with such a reflective screen.

It´s sad, but Apple doesn´t want our money.

 

[Sean Dempsey]

The company I work for wanted to buy several iMacs for our DTP and web design department when Leopard comes out. Because screen quality is an issue, we would have ordered some 24" machines, but the glare is unacceptable.

And yes, almost everyone of us has seen the screen and tried the iMacs in a store or at a friends house and no one can imagine to work with such a reflective screen.

It´s sad, but Apple doesn´t want our money.

Right, they don't.

Photoshop and all the Adobe programs run GREAT on a Windows box. Why not just get nice Dell's?

 

[AnalyzeThis]

I noticed same optical quality degradation.

I finally found a right thread for this matter.

I think the real issue - Apple does not offer mate + better quality panel option at all. They could charge more if they want to, but instead - they decided for you what is best.

So it is ultimately makes all new 20" iMac difficult if not impossible to use for image editing.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

I sent email to Steve Jobs

Will see what he would say about it...

BTW, the issue has nothing to do with color profiles. It is optical quality of the panel and could not be corrected with brightness or color setting. The only way to correct is to replace it with old panel and enjoy your new iMac like never before...

 

[Sean Dempsey]

So it is ultimately makes all new 20" iMac difficult if not impossible to use for image editing.

I'll be sure to refund all the billable hours I've logged so far on my 20" as a full time professional graphic designer.

OH WAIT IT ROCKS MY BALLS OFF. No refunds!!

 

[paetrick]

I'll be sure to refund all the billable hours I've logged so far on my 20" as a full time professional graphic designer.

OH WAIT IT ROCKS MY BALLS OFF. No refunds!!

How can you do that when one color look like this?:

 

[Sean Dempsey]

How can you do that when one color look like this?:

pic...

My screen doesn't look like that. My screen looks fine. It's not perfect, but few screens are.