Another Apple product, another bandwagon rolls onto view. This time it’s over the panels used in the new 20in iMac.

You’ll remember that back in the summer, Apple was sued for claiming that the screen in its MacBooks and MacBook Pros displayed ‘millions of colours’ when, say the claimants, they can display only a few thousand.

The disparity arises because — and this is unconfirmed by Apple — the MacBooks and Pros use TN TFT displays. TN displays are only capable of displaying 6-bits per channel, or a total of 18-bits, or, to put it another way, 262000 colours. They then use one of two techniques, dithering or frame rate control (FRC) to simulate millions of colours.

Now it seems that Apple is also using TN displays in the 20in iMac — though not in the 24in model which has an S-IPS panel, capable of displaying ‘true-colour’, also known as 24-bit or millions of colours. Is this as big a deal as postings of ‘outraged’ new iMac owners would have us believe? I think not.

For one thing, Apple isn’t exactly lying when it describes the iMac’s display as capable of displaying millions of colours, although it is fudging the truth somewhat.

Secondly, nearly all mass-market TFT panels are TN and so have the same limitations. Singling Apple out for criticism without making this clear is dishonest.

Finally, I would wager that well over 90% of iMac owners and potential owners couldn’t tell the difference between a TN display and an S-IPS display, even when looking at a high quality photograph. Those that can are probably professionals who are involved in colour critical work and should therefore check that any display they buy is capable of rendering the kind of accuracy they need before opening their wallet.

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