2008 24 Screen vs 2013

[GovtLawyer]

I just upgraded to a 2013 21.5 from my old 24 inch 2008. After preparing my old one for sale by erasing the entire drive and booting up Mavericks, it appears to me that the old screen is quite dull. It may be that through the years it had lost some of its vibrance and I had not noticed it, or it may be that simply comparing it to my 2013 shows how much better my new one is.

I remember that when I first got the 2008 it looked so vibrant and bright that I even had to lower the brightness. Now it doesn't look quite so bright or nice. If indeed, the screen has lost its luster due to wear and tear and simply old age, how difficult is it to replace the screen or bring it up to what it was when I first got it?

Of course, since I'd like to sell it I hope the answer from you people is that it's probably still a very good screen but it just looks poor in comparison to my new one.

Thank you for your help. Steven

 

[Gloops]

The 2008 iMacs had TFT LCD displays, the newer ones have LED-backlit displays - so yes, the 2013 should look brighter / better.

Out of interest, how is it downsizing from 24" to 21.5? My 2008's video card is slowly dying but I'm undecided on what size upgrade to get. 27 inches is a bit too large for my needs, and budget, but I'm nervous that 21.5 might seem small after using a 24 inch display.

 

[GovtLawyer]

Not Bad

I didn't have room for the 27. It isn't that much of a difference. I have yet to do much photography work, so that will be the big test. Some web pages get cut off at the bottom. Less real estate than before. However, overall it is not too much of a downsize and still very nice.

The real question I have is whether or not the 2008 could have lost brightness over the years. I'm wondering if over time I got used to it. If it is showing age, and sim ply not as vibrant or bright as before, what has aged? The graphics card? The display itself - what part of it? can it be Improved?

 

[Zellio]

The newest iMac displays are tft since they are IPS...

And LED doesn't make a difference by default since LEDS can be worse then the fluorescent or cold cathode lightning they replaced. They are simply much smaller, but you need quality LEDs.

The changes are more due to better contrast, and quality leds.

Cold cathode lighting was used a lot in lcd tvs btw.

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I didn't have room for the 27. It isn't that much of a difference. I have yet to do much photography work, so that will be the big test. Some web pages get cut off at the bottom. Less real estate than before. However, overall it is not too much of a downsize and still very nice.

The real question I have is whether or not the 2008 could have lost brightness over the years. I'm wondering if over time I got used to it. If it is showing age, and sim ply not as vibrant or bright as before, what has aged? The graphics card? The display itself - what part of it? can it be Improved?

Leds and flourescent lights lose brightness over a period of time.

For fluorescent lights they generally have a half life of 10,000 hours, for leds, it's around 50,000-100,000.

If you used your computer a lot the dimming may have become noticeable, but again, you'd have to use it for many hours...

 

[GovtLawyer]

Leds and flourescent lights lose brightness over a period of time.

For fluorescent lights they generally have a half life of 10,000 hours, for leds, it's around 50,000-100,000.

If you used your computer a lot the dimming may have become noticeable, but again, you'd have to use it for many hours...

Is the dimming serviceable? I'd take it in for repair if the cost to rehabilitate it was reasonable.

 

[accountforit]

Is the dimming serviceable? I'd take it in for repair if the cost to rehabilitate it was reasonable.

I don't understand your worry. This is a machine that you are selling off. Why do you even care? Did you really think that a machine from almost 6 years ago would have a display equal to that if today?

 

[GovtLawyer]

Why Worry

I'm selling it to a friend. I want to sell him a good product - reliable - in good working order. Clearly, the technology is not the same today as in 2008. It just bothered me when I happened to see the screen after working on my new one, and was a bit surprised by the difference.

Why are you bothered by the fact that I am?

 

[accountforit]

I'm selling it to a friend. I want to sell him a good product - reliable - in good working order. Clearly, the technology is not the same today as in 2008. It just bothered me when I happened to see the screen after working on my new one, and was a bit surprised by the difference.

Why are you bothered by the fact that I am?

I couldn't care less about your problems. I was pointing out your over reaction to a non-issue. It's the same thing with MBP's. Put a 2009 version next to the 2012 cMBP and you will see how crappy the display was on those too years ago.

 

[Zellio]

I'm selling it to a friend. I want to sell him a good product - reliable - in good working order. Clearly, the technology is not the same today as in 2008. It just bothered me when I happened to see the screen after working on my new one, and was a bit surprised by the difference.

Why are you bothered by the fact that I am?

You really should not put so much thought into this, the thing is used, people expect it not to be new.

If you really wanted to replace the backlight, you need to have experience in taking monitors apart, as well as soldering, and a host of other stuff.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Replace-a-LCD-Backlight/

If you bring it to a repair shop I can guarantee that since it's an iMac and an all in one computer, replacing the backlight will cost you more then you'll get for selling it.

 

[Gloops]

I'm amazed a bit of dimming is the only problem with the display after six years of use. Mine has a noticeable yellow tint on the left and some sooty streaks near the edges. This is the second iMac I've had (well, fourth, but the first two were CRT) and both have had display issues. I'm reluctant to get another, but Apple don't make a comparable desktop that isn't all in one, for some irritating reason.

The iMac display is the most expensive thing to replace and to do so would probably cost more than the machine is worth - which is why I'm selling mine for parts and getting a new one. But if there are no obvious faults I'd be happy to sell it to a friend.