Apple sued over "vastly inferior" iMac colours

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Computer, iPod and iPhone maker Apple is being sued by a woman outraged by the Mac maker's claim that its newest iMac is capable of displaying millions of colours.

While the claim is true for the new 24-inch iMac, which can display almost 17 million colours, the 20-inch version is only capable of displaying 262,144 colours - about 98 per cent fewer colours.

The lawsuit claims that Apple advertises the two monitors as having the same colour-displaying capabilities, and discusses them as if they were interchangeable.

"Beneath Apple's 'good guy' image is a corporation that takes advantage of its customers," said a statement released by Kabateck Brown Kellner, the law firm handling the suit.

The last generation of 20-inch monitors was, in fact, capable of displaying the millions of colours the company claims, although its technology has been changed for the newest model. The current model features a six-bit twisted nematic film LCD screen, which the lawsuit claims is the cheapest type available.

"Apple is squeezing more profits for itself by using cheap screens and its customers are unwittingly paying the price," the law firm claimed in its statement.

While 262,144 colours may still seem like a lot, it is an unacceptably low number for serious photo and video editing Mac users, according to the suit.

The newest generation of 20-inch iMacs have "a narrower viewing angle, less colour depth, less colour accuracy and are more susceptible to washout across the screen," the firm claims.

The Texas woman who brought the suit, Chandra Sanders, is currently the only plaintiff listed although her lawyers are hoping to attract thousands of other iMac owners and turn the case into a class action one.

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