Display technology type for iMac 21.5 (mid 2010)

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Display technology type for iMac 21.5 (mid 2010)

I need to calibrate my display for some photo editing. I'm using the i1Display Pro from x-rite. One of the inputs I need to make is the "Display Technology Type". My choices are:

"Generic: Choose this one if you really don't know what type of display you have. Needless to say, this is not preferable.

CCFL: This basically means " not LED". Most older LCD screens will be CCFL, but newer ones are likely to be LED instead.

Wide Gamut CCFL: If you bought a wide-gamut screen, you'll remember, because your wallet is probably still hurting. Most laptop and Mac screens are normal gamut, but check your paperwork if you're not sure. (Please don't mix up wide gamut with wide format. Wide format screens are ... y'know, wide. 16:9 shape, or whatever. "Wide Gamut" refers to the range of colours they can show. If the salesman boasted to you about a "110% gamut" or "Adobe RGB gamut" screen, it means wide-gamut.)

White LED: This is the most common type of modern screens. If you know your screen is LED, it's almost certainly white LED.

RGB LED / OLED / Plasma / RG Phosphor: I'm not aware of many monitors using these technologies right now, but again, check your screen's specs carefully."

System report returns:

Display Type: LCD

Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Built-In: Yes

Connection Type: DisplayPort

BUT, if I look at the technical specs on Apple.com, I find:

21.5-inch (viewable) LED-backlit glossy 16:9 widescreen TFT active-matrix display; 1920 by 1080 pixels; millions of colors; IPS technology

I'm baffled (and pretty ignorant about this stuff!) Any help would be appreciated.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on May 15, 2013 4:14 AM

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Answer 1

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MartinR

Level 6

19,001 points

May 15, 2013 9:21 AM in response to Tapestry58

This is from everymac.coms' description of the display on a 21.5" mid-2010 iMac. You didn't indicate exactly which model you have, so this is from the description for the 21.5" 3.6GHz Core i5 iMac:

This model has a 21.5" glossy LED-backlit 16:9 widescreen TFT active matrix display with "IPS technology" and a native resolution of 1920x1080. Apple also reports a "typical" brightness of 330 cd/m2, and viewing angle of 178 degrees horizontal and 178 degrees vertical. The contrast ratio is 1000:1 and the PPI is 102.

That would indicate to me it's a White LED display panel.

There were rumors at one time that the 17" MBP had an RGB LED display but I never saw a confirmation of that.

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Answer 2

Tapestry58 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 15, 2013 10:35 AM in response to MartinR

Thanks much. I wasn't aware of that site.

I have the 3.2Ghz but it also looks like White LED. It's strange that the "About this Mac/System Report" info says LCD.

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Answer 3

MartinR

Level 6

19,001 points

May 15, 2013 12:14 PM in response to Tapestry58

It says LCD because the panel is an LCD panel. The LED part is what illuminates (backlights) the panel. For more info see this article.

More specifically, it's an IPS TFT LCD panel backlit by LEDs.

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Answer 4

Tapestry58 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 15, 2013 12:47 PM in response to MartinR

Thanks again Martin. - I told you I was ignorant about this stuff!

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Answer 5

shaishai

Level 1

0 points

May 22, 2013 12:21 AM in response to MartinR

Hi Martin 🙂

i really need your help!

I am trying to calibrate my iMac 27 inch OSX Version 10.8.3 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 with the Xrite i1Display Pro

In the settings its asks me to

Select yoru display & Technology type

and lists the choices:

CCFL

Wide Gammut CCFL

White LED

RGB LED

OLED

Plasma

RG Phosphor

Projector

On the aboutmac.com website it reads this about the computer:

This model has a 27" 2560x1440 LED-backlit 16:9 widescreen IPS display with the "cover glass fully laminated to the LCD and anti-reflective coating." The rear of the case is aluminum and is thicker in the middle and tapers to a razor thin 5 mm at the edges.

So which do I choose????

I really appreciate your help!

Shaishai

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Answer 6

MartinR

Level 6

19,001 points

May 22, 2013 8:06 AM in response to shaishai

Currently it could only be an RGB or White LED display. I have no reason to think it's an RGB LED, so my suggestion is to use the White LED option.

Or you could do both. And if the White LED calibration yields a more neutral grey than RGB LED calibration, then you have a White LED display panel.

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