Apple sued over its “millions of colors” claim

by Stevie Smith - Apr 1 2008, 14:24

Apple Inc, the world’s trendiest computer and gadget maker, finds itself facing the uncomfortable prospect of being once again dumped into legal hot water after it was slapped with yet another class-action lawsuit regarding its latest iMac display monitor.

Arriving just a few days after California-based Apple settled a similar lawsuit against it, a new suit filed in a San Jose court has this week taken the company to task concerning the alleged misrepresentation of technical aspects connected to the new 20-inch iMac display.

Specifically, law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner (KBK) is accusing Apple of deceiving consumers as to the performance of the new 20-inch iMac display by wrongly marketing it as able to show “millions of colors at all resolutions” when the integration of cheaper screen technology means the actual colour capacity is considerably lower.

“Apple is duping its customers into thinking they’re buying ‘new and improved’ when in fact they’re getting stuck with ‘new and inferior,’” commented Brian Kabateck of KBK in an official statement.

According to KBK, the new 20-inch iMac is actually only able to display a mere 262,144 true colours in comparison to the older 20-inch model, which does indeed fulfil Apple’s claim and offers users a capacity of 16,777,216 colours (8bit/IPS).

“Beneath Apple’s ‘good guy’ image is a corporation that takes advantage of its customers,” added Kabateck. “Our goal is to help those customers who were deceived and make sure Apple tells the truth in the future.”

Tech watcher Apple Insider reports that the new 20-inch iMac is equipped with a 6bit twisted nematic film (TN) LCD screen, which is apparently a much cheaper alternative to the previous 20-inch screen and leaves the new model lumbered with a narrower viewing angle, “less color depth, less color accuracy and greater susceptibility to washout.”

Apple has refused to comment on the lawsuit.

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