Are G5 iMac displays as crap as they seem?

[Jigglelicious]

I noticed this too, in a few ways. Colors better on 20", contrast greater, and text and pictures scroll smoother too (they flash on/off when scrolling the 17").

My question is why there is a difference. The graphics card is the same; the RAM is the same, the pixel pitch is the same. So from whence the difference?

Because the specs between the 17" and 20" LCD's used in the iMac are worlds apart. The specs of the 20" are similar, if not the same as the 20" cinema display. They have great brightness, contrast, pixel response times and viewing angles. The 17" by comparison is just terrible - far worse colors, very slow response times (which is why you see the text "flash" on and off as you scroll), and poor viewing angles which causes the colors on screen to tint when you look at it from any other angle other than a straight on 90 degrees.

The reason text looks poor is because OS X has rather poor font smoothing. I have done comparisons between WinXP's cleartype and OS X, and cleartype is always cleaner, crisper and easier on the eyes.

 

[pknz]

iMac screens are beautiful. Looking at a 20" right now. I hate going to school and squinting at there 15" CRT screens next to those big heinous windows boxes.