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Which one has a better display... iMac 24" or Display 24"?

A

AppleCandidate

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 11, 2007
94
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I'm *very* fussy about displays and was wondering what's the superior display... is it the one that comes with the new iMac 24 or the 24 cinema display that they released a few months ago?

These are their specs, but I'm not sure what these mean:

24 inch iMac:http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html
Viewing angle: 178° horizontal 178° vertical
Typical brightness: 385 cd/m2 (24-inch models)
Typical contrast ratio: 750:1 (24-inch models)

24 inch Display:http://www.apple.com/displays/specs.html
# Viewing angle: 178° horizontal; 178° vertical
# Brightness (typical): 330 cd/m2
# Contrast ratio (typical): 1000:1
# Response time (typical): 14 ms

Finally, I've delayed upgrading my Mini to an iMac with the previously released 24 inch iMac due to some yellowish discoloration on the right side of the panels. Has this been corrected?

Please help me make this tough decision!
 
If someone could chime in that would be great as I'm very interested as well.
 
Well the Apple 24" Cinema Display uses LED backlight ... which the new iMac doesn't .... so the ACD should be a better contrasting picture (blacker blacks)
 
How noticeable are the differences? One seems to have more brightness, the other more contrast - so confusing!
 
The cinema display will have better display quality. LED backlighting provides more even brightness across the screen, and should correct any of the gradient issues seen on previous generation 24" iMacs (althought the original, white 24" iMac had a phenomenal display, and didn't suffer from the same issues as the recent ones).

If you need graphics performance, however, I would consider one of the high end iMac models, as the graphics cards are much more powerful than the Mini's. Even the similarly priced iMac ($1499 model), has 4GB of ram vs. the 1GB in the base mini ($599+$899 ACD = $1499), and 640GB vs. 120GB of hard drive space.

But if you're looking for a basic computer and the best display, I'd recommend getting a base model mini and the ACD. Upgrade the ram in the Mini and buy an external hard drive. That way, you can upgrade down the road if you'd like, but you can keep your peripherals, which should last a long time.
 
@sfroom - So you'd buy an iMac for performance and an ACD for display correct?

If i want both, should i go for the Mac Pro or a Macbook connected to an ACD?
 
AppleCandidate said:
@sfroom - So you'd buy an iMac for performance and an ACD for display correct?

If i want both, should i go for the Mac Pro or a Macbook connected to an ACD?
Click to expand...

If you want ultimate performance and display quality, and assuming money grows on trees, the ultimate combination by far is the Mac Pro + Cinema display.

What are your needs?

If you need the best display, get a Cinema display. If you need portability, combine it with a macbook. If you don't need portability, combine it with a mac Mini.

The iMac is the balance. The display isn't quite as nice, but it's still much better than the average monitor at best buy. And, with an iMac, you'll see better performance than with a Mac Mini or Macbook. The Mac Pro is really a completely different beast.

Personally, before considering a Mac Pro (unless I was a professional video editor, and really needed the most powerful computer), I would buy an iMac AND Cinema display. The iMac supports dual monitors, and the iMac and cinema display match nicely on a desk.
 
Thanks for all the insights, really good!

Steve Jobs said that new screens will be LED last year and they were indeed on all machines, except the new iMac?! Why would they do this? If the iMac had LED screen, it would have been a no brainer for me, I'm now left with 3 choices, and they're not what I'm looking for exactly....

1. Underpowered machine (if going for mini/ACD combo)
2. Overpowered (if going for mac pro/ACD)
3. Weird set up (macbook/ACD)

Some really weird options, I just want a good machine. Apple really messed up with this LED thing. Not to talk about lack of upgrade on processor speed after almost a year waiting!

Big thumbs down to Apple.
 
I've had both.
The light bleed from my iMac 24" was very noticeable and annoying with dark backgrounds or when watching movies.
My 24" LED display has no such shortcoming and I'm entirely satisfied with it.
In every other respect, I liked the iMac, but I'm happier with the LED screen.
 
An Apple Cinema Display and a new Mini is likely your best bet - with the graphics being upgraded today on the Mini (not to mention support now for dual displays, etc.), it should actually be a very capable setup.

...and the ACD will definitely be better than the iMac screen.
 
I just thought I'd let you know in case someone wonders.... I went and bought the new iMac24 and also the 24'LED Display.

I set them both up and compared them at home. The iMac has a blueish tint (visible on a white screen) while the LED has a yellowish tint. The blue tint is certainly more pleasant than the yellow.That being said, I prefer something more neutral.

I went ahead and played with the settings and was able to get the LED to look just like the iMac and viceversa.

I didn't find ANY advantage in keeping the LED screen. The iMac screen is beautiful, for browsing, watching movies and I feel no need for the LED screen. If anything, the iMac feels brighter and super cool.

I strongly recommend the iMac, as opposed of a Mini with an LED display.

I'm taking the LED display screen back to the store for a full refund. They couldn't set it up there at the store one next to each other, so my only way to know for sure was to try them both out at my home. Worth the effort, and I'm now sure I have bought the right thing!!

The iMac display by the way is so bright that i need to turn down the brightness a couple of notches.
 
The better display is the LED ACD, however unless you are a professional and just cannot compromise on quality, then you are probably wasting your money if you buy a ACD.

I'm also reasonably fussy, know a fair bit about colour management, gamut and the like. Even so, a correctly calibrated 24" iMac will be superior to many computer setups in use today.

I would suggest you go along to an Apple store and spend some time testing an iMac in store. I would be surprised if you can find a fault with the display (unless its a duff unit!).
 
Sir Cecil said:
I've had both.
The light bleed from my iMac 24" was very noticeable and annoying with dark backgrounds or when watching movies.
My 24" LED display has no such shortcoming and I'm entirely satisfied with it.
In every other respect, I liked the iMac, but I'm happier with the LED screen.
Click to expand...


I'm in this camp. I bought and returned one of the new iMacs this week.

The machine itself was fine, but the display was uncontrollably bright (unlike my current ACD, the new ACD, and all the laptops). It seemed like the firmware allowed you to go from 100% to 95%.

The display also suffered from uneven brightness (the gradient problem) as well as some bleeding of the backlight in the lower left (there was a permanent sunrise about to happen, most noticeable when watching a widescreen movie).

If and when the iMac gets an LED-backlight screen, I might try again.

A.
 
AppleCandidate said:
I just thought I'd let you know in case someone wonders.... I went and bought the new iMac24 and also the 24'LED Display.

I set them both up and compared them at home. The iMac has a blueish tint (visible on a white screen) while the LED has a yellowish tint. The blue tint is certainly more pleasant than the yellow.That being said, I prefer something more neutral.

I went ahead and played with the settings and was able to get the LED to look just like the iMac and viceversa.

I didn't find ANY advantage in keeping the LED screen. The iMac screen is beautiful, for browsing, watching movies and I feel no need for the LED screen. If anything, the iMac feels brighter and super cool.

I strongly recommend the iMac, as opposed of a Mini with an LED display.

I'm taking the LED display screen back to the store for a full refund. They couldn't set it up there at the store one next to each other, so my only way to know for sure was to try them both out at my home. Worth the effort, and I'm now sure I have bought the right thing!!

The iMac display by the way is so bright that i need to turn down the brightness a couple of notches.
Click to expand...

So what about an even backlight background of your iMac? Mine is not, as many stated here. The display itself is wonderfull, but a gradient and a light yellow(y) tint in the middle of the screen gets me everytime. I now have some days left for returning it and I do not know. Sometimes I do not notice it, other I get frustrated.

:(
 
I got the 24" LED Cinema Display to run two screens with my iMac 24" and I was so disappointed by the ADC that I had to return it. Although the panel is an H-IPS and should be very close to the iMac, it was not. I have a slight blue-yellow gradient on my iMac, but it is barely noticeable. The ADC however had a big pink area in the middle, and a blue tint in the bottom on the sides. The bottom corners had a bright glow that was clearly visible on white color, but it was not visible on black, so it was not the typical IPS-glow or LCD-bleeding. Side-by-side, calibrated both with a Spyder and with the eye, the iMac looked surprisingly much better. The only thing the ADC did better was to have a lower lowest-blacklight-setting. The iMac is very bright even at lowest. The ADC also had a faint dark line, perhaps 1,5cm wide, visible on solid colored backgrounds and more bleeding than my iMac.

Trying to display solid gray on the ADC clearly reveals the line 1/3 down from top, and the different tints (pink in the middle and blue on the sides):

line.jpg


This image shows the bleeding:

genomslapp.jpg


Apple Quality Control = :eek:

/ jajo
 
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