Posted by Jim DeWitt on December 14, 2009 at 2:26 PM
There have been a couple of earlier threads on calibrating iMacs for serious post-processing; in particular, some folks have found the display too bright.
According to a recent Ars Technica review of the the 27 inch iMac, that issue is resolved. In particular, the review notes,
More important than the screen size itself is the fact that the new displays are finally LED-backlit like the rest of Apple's notebooks and cinema displays. Again, this is the first time Apple has added LED backlighting to the iMac, allowing the screen to go both brighter and dimmer than the previous generation.
I haven't used the newest model, but I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has one and whether the luminance issue is resolved. (Note: I don't see the problem on my 24 inch iMac, but YMMV.)
We need another station for occasional use at the studio, and I've been looking at the 27-inch iMac. Sign me up as another party interest in feedback Jim. If it's a go, I need to buy before the end of the year.
Posted by Kelly Rowe on December 15, 2009 at 3:37 PM
Hey guys... I would recommend the loaded Mac Mini and a monitor over the iMac. I have an older iMac 20 that can no longer muster the luminance (120) for color managed workflow. Being a little too dark, the prints come out too bright. This seems to be a fairly common problem. Now we use this iMac for Proselect projection sales presentations, so it's been repurposed, but I would be hosed if I had to rely on it for PS work. If the display goes south on an iMac the entire computer is junk. Not so with the Mini.
Posted by Larry Daniel on December 15, 2009 at 5:33 PM
I just assisted a friend in setting up a new i7 27" iMac. As usual I turned the brightness down to about half and then calibrated it. Looks great to me and he is loving it.
I would not hesitate to buy one for editing, and may when my 30" ACD gives up the ghost.
Posted by Cam Held on December 15, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Jim,
I have the 27" iMac and I love it. It seems to be working great so far! (Macs are way better than PCs!! )
-Cam
Posted by Jesse Speer on December 15, 2009 at 7:41 PM
+1 on the Mac Mini recommendation. I use one for all of my professional graphic design/photography needs. Add a really nice NEC monitor (with the unbeatable SpecraView calibration), and it's about the same price as the iMac ... no monitor issues to consider, fiddling with monitor controls, etc. But the new iMac looks promising indeed, if you want the all-in-one.
Posted by Joe O'Hara on December 15, 2009 at 9:28 PM
Hi Jim,
I found that the brightness on my 24" IMac that I purchased this spring could not be set low enough to correlate well with printed output in color and especially, B/W. This was after calibration. A freeware program,
"Shades" http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/shades provides the capability to set the brightness lower. In my case, B/W rendered via the ABW driver on the Epson 3800 looks like the print when the IMac brightness is
set to minimum and Shades is set to about 50%. As always, YMMV.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on December 17, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Joe -
The brightness problem on the 20" and 24" iMacs is pretty well documented, although Apple, to my knowledge, has never acknowledged it. It doesn't occur on all 24" iMacs; for example, mine is fine without using Shades.
But it appears Apple has indirectly acknowledged the problem existed by modifying the back screen technology of the 27" iMac, and that appears to be confirmed by Larry Daniel and others.
Posted by Nat Coalson on December 17, 2009 at 8:53 PM
I've also really liked my Mac Mini and only recently have been considering a new iMac instead, because the new iMacs reportedly support up to 16gb RAM.
If I buy an iMac (with, like 8 GB RAM), I will still use a second display (NEC, LaCie, Eizo etc.) for "serious" color work.
I wouldn't ever consider an iMac display as the only view of my work in progress.
Posted by Carl Donohue on January 26, 2010 at 5:23 AM
Hey Folks
There seem to be a number of the newer iMacs with monitor problems. Mine (a 21.5") is going back to Apple in the next day or two, when they send me a replacement model. Yellowish tints and inconsistent displays. There's a number of fora discussing the problem around the web and Apple have acknowledged the issue. Just a head's up for anyone thinking about buying one.
Other than the weird yellowish tint, the computer is pretty rippin - hopefully the new one will resolve the problem and I can get on with processing this backlog.
Discussion
9 repliesAccording to a recent Ars Technica review of the the 27 inch iMac, that issue is resolved. In particular, the review notes,
I haven't used the newest model, but I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has one and whether the luminance issue is resolved. (Note: I don't see the problem on my 24 inch iMac, but YMMV.)
I would not hesitate to buy one for editing, and may when my 30" ACD gives up the ghost.
I have the 27" iMac and I love it. It seems to be working great so far! (Macs are way better than PCs!!
-Cam
I found that the brightness on my 24" IMac that I purchased this spring could not be set low enough to correlate well with printed output in color and especially, B/W. This was after calibration. A freeware program,
"Shades" http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/shades provides the capability to set the brightness lower. In my case, B/W rendered via the ABW driver on the Epson 3800 looks like the print when the IMac brightness is
set to minimum and Shades is set to about 50%. As always, YMMV.
The brightness problem on the 20" and 24" iMacs is pretty well documented, although Apple, to my knowledge, has never acknowledged it. It doesn't occur on all 24" iMacs; for example, mine is fine without using Shades.
But it appears Apple has indirectly acknowledged the problem existed by modifying the back screen technology of the 27" iMac, and that appears to be confirmed by Larry Daniel and others.
If I buy an iMac (with, like 8 GB RAM), I will still use a second display (NEC, LaCie, Eizo etc.) for "serious" color work.
I wouldn't ever consider an iMac display as the only view of my work in progress.
There seem to be a number of the newer iMacs with monitor problems. Mine (a 21.5") is going back to Apple in the next day or two, when they send me a replacement model. Yellowish tints and inconsistent displays. There's a number of fora discussing the problem around the web and Apple have acknowledged the issue. Just a head's up for anyone thinking about buying one.
Other than the weird yellowish tint, the computer is pretty rippin - hopefully the new one will resolve the problem and I can get on with processing this backlog.
Cheers
Carl