Digital Photography and 20 Inch iMac

[peterj1967]

The screens on the new 20inch iMacs have not been getting nice reviews here,at dpreview and photo.net.

Was wondering if anybody on this board has hands on experience with the new 20inch iMac, screen calibration, digital photo editing. I'd also just like people's general impression of the 20inch glossy iMac.

Thanks in advance

 

[Silverbird0000]

The screens on the new 20inch iMacs have not been getting nice reviews here,at dpreview and photo.net.

Was wondering if anybody on this board has hands on experience with the new 20inch iMac, screen calibration, digital photo editing. I'd also just like people's general impression of the 20inch glossy iMac.

Thanks in advance

I bought a 20in iMac a few months ago, so it's the one that was out just before these new ones. When ever the different sites have the graphs saying if you can see this it's good, I can usually see all the different variations in white and blacks, which means your monitor is calibrated good. I think it could be a little better, but by a very little! I have no idea about the glossy screens, I really don't like them.

 

[ChrisA]

The screens on the new 20inch iMacs have not been getting nice reviews here,at dpreview and photo.net.

Not only are the screens glossy but Apple has switched to cheaper LCD panels. The new panels are the "TN" type and are only 6 bits. They use dithering to get more colors. Apparently however they can be be calibrated with a Spyder2 if you turn out the room lights and darken the room. The screen is no longer comparable in quality to an ACD. But most people will not care and are not so critical. Same with music. Most people think computer speakers are "good enough" and don't see the need to spend $2K on a set of stereo speakers. Same for monitors. So ask yourself

Can you see the difference between the various RGB color spaces? Is your camera set to aRGB or sRGB? Do you know? When you shot film did you select a brand/type of film to match the subject so that you got the right "look"? If not then maybe your needs are not so critical. Almost any professional photographer would have answered "yes" to the above but most casual shooters would say "no". I don't think the new "glossy" iMac is intended for critical color correction work. But then most users don't work at that level.

 

[puckhead193]

I bought a 20in iMac a few months ago, so it's the one that was out just before these new ones. When ever the different sites have the graphs saying if you can see this it's good, I can usually see all the different variations in white and blacks, which means your monitor is calibrated good. I think it could be a little better, but by a very little! I have no idea about the glossy screens, I really don't like them.

do you have a link to these sites? i would like to know about my powerbook screen, i think its going

 

[peterj1967]

I am not a professional photographer, but I do know the differences between color spaces and I forget what color space my cameras are set to.

To be honest, if I just bought one the chances are I would be happy. However, I spent a lot of time with my process paper selection, and screen calibration to get prints that match my screen really well. I do that now with a 20inch ACD and a Dual G4 PM. I also like owning good tools, up to the task of what they're designed to do. Who wants to own a machine that you can read endless bad reviews on?

It's a nice time for an upgrade so in all likelihood I'll go with the 24" which I understand is a better panel, but I need to look up those details. I got my last PM via work and I don't want to drop that much cash on a new PM. For my needs an iMac should do me just fine.

I actually like the glossy screens, I am a little worried about reflections, but I know where the machine will go and I think it will be fine.

Thanks for the replies

--Pete

Can you see the difference between the various RGB color spaces? Is your camera set to aRGB or sRGB? Do you know? When you shot film did you select a brand/type of film to match the subject so that you got the right "look"? If not then maybe your needs are not so critical. Almost any professional photographer would have answered "yes" to the above but most casual shooters would say "no". I don't think the new "glossy" iMac is intended for critical color correction work. But then most users don't work at that level.

 

[mrgreen4242]

When it comes to something like this there are only a few choices:

1) Get an "old" iMac from the Apple refurb store. You'll get a good deal and the screen you want. If however there is some feature of the new iMac you have to have (FW800, the faster CPU, the 4gb RAM, heck, if you just like the look if it) then you go to option #:

2) Get a Mac Pro/mini + screen of choice. The iMac screen just doesn't cut it for you, so you get a headless Mac and a nice display. But, if the mini isn't powerful enough for you (crappy HDD, GPU, etc) and the Mac Pro is out of your price range (they start at $1900 refurb, no screen), then you go to option #:

3) You get a 24" iMac. Pretty obvious here, you get all the same "guts" as the 20" but a bigger, better LCD. But, if you dont' have the $300 extra or can't fit a 24" iMac in your workspace, you have to move to option #:

4) You get a new iMac (2.4ghz model, as it has 256mb VRAM) and buy a second LCD. You can get a nice, 24-bit Dell 20" widescreen for about $300 if you wait for a sale, buy refurb, eBay, whatever. Same resolution and size, and has adjustable height stand so you can match the level of your iMac screen so it'll be a comfortable setup. You can use the iMac screen for tool bars/dialogs, web/email, multimedia, whatever, and move things where color is important over to the external LCD. But, what if that $300 is just too much for you, or you don't have the deskpace, or just hate dual displays? That leaves you with option #:

5) You're screwed. You're going to end up with a non-optimal setup, so you either have to settle or wait and save up more money to get what you want/need.

I should start a decision consultation business. Hope that helps.

 

[freebooter]

I have an original iMac 24", non-glossy 2.16. I'm very happy with it.
Now, however, I wouldn't buy the new glossy screen model since I'm not pleased at all with the screen on the MacBook glossy I have. Also, the MacMini has been upgraded to Core 2 Duo so, if I was getting a new computer, I would probably get that (or a MacBookPro) and a nice 24" lcd monitor. I still have a PPC 1.42 MacMini and it was great(while I used it). The MacPro is just to large and the memory sticks too expensive.

 

[peterj1967]

Pretty sure it will be the choice below. Never hurts to have a few more inches of screen space.

3) You get a 24" iMac. Pretty obvious here, you get all the same "guts" as the 20" but a bigger, better LCD. But, if you dont' have the $300 extra or can't fit a 24" iMac in your workspace, you have to move to option #:

 

[OreoCookie]

Apparently however they can be be calibrated with a Spyder2 if you turn out the room lights and darken the room.

Aren't you supposed to do that anyway? That's how I calibrate my matte display …*and the instructions clearly tell you that it's best to calibrate your display in a darkened room.

 

[Silverbird0000]

do you have a link to these sites? i would like to know about my powerbook screen, i think its going

If you go to http://www.dpreview.com and go to any of the reviews, then go to the bottom of the first page of the review and there will be a little bar that goes from white to black. It gives you some instructions on how to read it. There are better ones out there, but I didn't save them.