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Glossy Display on 24" iMac

M

MarkCombs

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2006
45
0
I'm getting ready to get another 24" iMac or a MacPro. I don't like the glossy displays and would love to see Apple annouce on Tuesday that the matte finish option is available on iMacs. Any opinion on the glossy 24" iMac display from people building websites and using Photoshop?

Thanks,
Mark
 
I agree on the glossy. I have a matte 24" iMac and love it. I have a glossy MacBook, too, and don't love it. (going to sell it)

If they don't 'allow' an iMac matte come Tuesday, perhaps a MacPro with a good monitor might be an option for you. Either that or try and find a used matte iMac.

Good luck.
 
Apple definitely wont add a matte option to iMacs at Macworld. They usually reserve the event for brand new products. if Apple were to add a matte option they wouldve done it already when they released the iMac upgrade.

Glossy displays show vivid but not accurate colour representations. photoshop and web design will be fine with a glossy display but your designs will look "better" on your display than someone elses matte display or CRT screen. if you want accurate colour representations i would go for the matte.

buy the previous generation 24" iMac (white) second hand off ebay or craigs list if you want a matte display. if you think youll be fine with a glossy screen get the new iMac.
 
I have the 24" glossy iMac, and I only see it's actually reflective when there's an overwhelmingly dark picture being displayed. In day to day use, it's just like with CRT displays. The display is indeed bloody beautiful, as peejack said. No reflection issues at all. In fact, the only times when refection is somewhat of a problem, is when the screen is off. Really, go and look one up in an Apple Store. It's gorgeous.
 
Apple Store

Yes, I think looking at one in the Apple store is a good idea, it's very bright there versus my campus computer store is so dark....

I was amazed at how close the 24" iMac is to the new MacPro, they said it was the blazing fast 500 gig drive the 24" iMac uses. I'm currently on a 24" white iMac and I think it's a little doggy....

M
 
new displays

of course if there is new cinema displays with matte finish that are cheaper by $200 I may find that hard to ignore....

M
 
MarkCombs said:
Yes, I think looking at one in the Apple store is a good idea, it's very bright there versus my campus computer store is so dark....

I was amazed at how close the 24" iMac is to the new MacPro, they said it was the blazing fast 500 gig drive the 24" iMac uses. I'm currently on a 24" white iMac and I think it's a little doggy....

M
Click to expand...
Yes, it's fast indeed. Of course, I have the BTO 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, the 'blazing fast 500 gig drive' and 4GB of RAM, which all make it scream, but the stock 24" iMac should be really fast too.
 
I'm a Mac Pro user (Quad 3Ghz, 8GB) with a 30" Apple Cinema Display. Every time I go in to the Apple Store I am blown away by the beautiful glossy iMac displays. When there is an iMac with better performance than my Mac Pro, I will certainly consider buying it. If there are glossy Cinema Displays at some point, I would consider that as well.

Right now, fingers are crossed for a 13" Penryn MacBook Pro next week!

I'm surprised more folks don't speak up in favor of those gorgeous iMac glossy displays.
 
Can someone explain why I keep hearing that the 24" iMac has such a fast HD (supposedly faster than the 20" model), while the specs listed by Apple have it as a standard 7200RPM drive, just like the 20" model?
 
speedy iMac hard drives

there was an article yesterday by MacWorld that compared the new 8 core MacPro to a bunch of other Mac systems. The 24" iMac was almost as fast and this was due to "its speedy hard drive"...the quote is here:

"Comparing the new 2.8GHz Mac Pro to other reference systems, the new Mac Pro comes out ahead. The new Mac Pro was 50 percent faster than the MacBook Pro in overall performance and finished some tests, including Handbrake and Cinema 4D, in about a third of the time it took the MacBook Pro. The 2.8GHz iMac, with its super-fast 500MB hard drive, proved itself again to be quite a speedy all-in-one system, giving the new Mac Pro a run for its money in both the iTunes and Photoshop tests."

and the entire article is here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/131538/2008/01/macprobench.html
 
richthomas said:
Glossy displays show vivid but not accurate colour representations. photoshop and web design will be fine with a glossy display but your designs will look "better" on your display than someone elses matte display or CRT screen. if you want accurate colour representations i would go for the matte.
Click to expand...

I would argue that given the recent popularity of glossy screens, whether by user choice or default, it will soon be the case that most users will have glossy displays and therefore any design work which is to be viewed online perhaps should be produced on a glossy display. Anyone who needs to produce printed works should invest in a colour calibration tool and/or buy a professional monitor if they believe the iMac monitor is not good enough for some reason. The iMac has a standard Apple display connector for those who weren't aware of it.

Personally, as an ex LCD display engineer and a current IT Consultant, I think the 24" iMac glossy display is fantastic. I never expected to feel that way but when I went to see one expecting to hate it I ended up buying it there and then and have never regretted it since.

Cheers,
Craig.
 
I have to say the glossy screen on the 24" iMac is not in any way obstrusive.

At least not for the hours I used setting one up. My dad bought one for home use.
 
I absolutely love the 24" iMac's and the screen is gorgeous. I use a 20" model at work for video editing and love it. I'm looking at buying a 24" for home but when I went to the Apple Store, they had the brightness wacked up to full and I got a bad headache from it.
 
gazfocus said:
... they had the brightness wacked up to full and I got a bad headache from it.
Click to expand...

I know you can drop the brightness using the keyboard, but even then on the lowest setting I find it is slightly too bright for my eyes. Is there a way to lower the brightness further?

(Slight gradient issue too:(, but not significant enough to get it replaced.)

All other things considered, a primo machine!:D

2.8GHz 4Gb RAM
 
The Decision

Well, I spent an hour at my local Apple Store and spoke with a MacGenius and came away with the following (and this was the advice that the MacGenius gave me). The glossy displays on the iMacs are nice and ok for Photoshop. They do show glare which bothers some people. The matte displays are better for everyday users that spend 6 to 10 hours a day looking at them (I'm more like 10 to 12). He went on to say that the matte is easier on the eyes. So....I'm going to get a MacPro with a Cinema Display. He did however say that at some point, all the Apple displays will be LED and that LED deals with glare and backlight much better than glossy.

So, I don't have to think about this issue anymore....

Mark
 
I spend all day looking at my computer watching lectures. I'm also in my family room. It's all about the angle and the windows you have in the room. Don't have it directly behind a window and the glossy is perfectly fine. I have a nice light over my computer and the area is well lit and very little glare.
 
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