Best monitor for Mac Pro?

[alphaod]

Ok, it's down to the 24" ACD and the 27" ACD for me, and I would really appreciate any help on this.

I'd check out the Dell Outlet store; they often have excellent deals; if you're lucky, you can pick up a Dell 3008WFP for $850. Some sellers sell these on ebay as well. Stocks seems a bit low right now, but it's always good to check regularly.

Also to consider is the Dell U2711; same as the 27" ACD except it's a matte display, you get half a dozen input connectors (including DisplayPort), and it's CCFL backlit.

 

[dimme]

I had my Dell U2410 for about 5 days now. All and all I love the monitor. I do photo retouching and print for a living and at work I get to use lots of high end equipment. But this is my home / hobby setup. After calibration I am very happy with the color fidelity of the Dell U2401. But one thing about the monitor bugs me. If I look at a white image the left side is a bit darker than the right. Is this to be expected. I don’t think it is the pink/green cast people used to complain about. It looks more like a density issue. Should I return it, I hesitant because otherwise I think it is perfect and do not want to take the chance of getting something worse. When I calibrated the screen to my standards of a target of 100 cd/m2. I had t turn the brightness down to 8 and the contrast to 85. I left it is AdobeRGB mode. I do not think this could cause the problem. I did turn up the brightness and noticed the screen seemed more even or it was just bright it is hard to tell. It is hard for me to compare this monitor to others in this price range. What I use at work they are dead on even but they are Eizo's at 10x the price. Any advice?

 

[eponym]

Is it significantly different? Does it get better if you back up from the screen? And will it matter in the end?

Most people rarely have a solid white image on their screen for any significant period of time.

 

[Vylen]

Just got my U2311H's off the delivery man... but no Mac Pro

I guess I can kill some time by unpacking them haha.

 

[dockingbay94]

I have a Dell 2709W 27" display currently. It's been great but I want to add another 27" which is now the U2711. It has a higher resolution than the 2709W which is only 1900x1200.

I'm wondering if it's going to bug me having two 27" next to each other with different resolutions and qualities. Externally they look exactly the same.

Maybe I should just sell the 2709W and pick up two U2711's or save some money and go smaller with two 24" displays.

Just thinking out loud here.

 

[dimme]

I have a Dell 2709W 27" display currently. It's been great but I want to add another 27" which is now the U2711. It has a higher resolution than the 2709W which is only 1900x1200.

I'm wondering if it's going to bug me having two 27" next to each other with different resolutions and qualities. Externally they look exactly the same.

Maybe I should just sell the 2709W and pick up two U2711's or save some money and go smaller with two 24" displays.

Just thinking out loud here.

I had a 20" and 17" set up once and the different resolutions drove me nuts.

 

[Vylen]

I have a Dell 2709W 27" display currently. It's been great but I want to add another 27" which is now the U2711. It has a higher resolution than the 2709W which is only 1900x1200.

I'm wondering if it's going to bug me having two 27" next to each other with different resolutions and qualities. Externally they look exactly the same.

Maybe I should just sell the 2709W and pick up two U2711's or save some money and go smaller with two 24" displays.

Just thinking out loud here.

Maybe.. cause the place where the mouse moves between the monitors would be counterintuitive and appear in places you don't expect... this might bug you if you move a lot of things between monitors... but that's only one possible reason for it to annoy you... there's probably others

 

[strausd]

So after all this time I finally got the u2311h and my MP

The text didn't look bad on the u2311h. I tried the terminal command just to see if there was any noticeable difference, but I didn't see anything, maybe thats just because I hadn't been looking at it long enough or something.

Overall, the monitor is great. It has a little bit of a yellowish tint compared to the Apple 24" even after calibration. But everything else about it is amazing. I love being able to adjust every aspect of it and its just great.

I have had one problem regarding my monitors, but I'm pretty sure its not the u2311h's fault. I have an ATI 5870, 24" Apple display, u2311h, and a TV. I was planning on putting all of those into the 5870. The Apple display is MDP (of course), the TV is HDMI to MDP (so that takes care of the 2 MDPs), and the u2311h single link DVI. So the config when looking at the MP from the back right to left is Apple display (MDP), TV (MDP), and u2311h (Single link DVI).

With all three plugged in, the u2311h never got a signal, so I was like what the heck is going on. So I tried unplugging everything and plugging it back in and nothing, tried a restart, nothing. At the time, only the Apple display and the TV showed up. The Apple display was in the middle, TV to the left, and the u2311h was going to be on the right, but I wasn't able to position it yet in system prefs. So I decided to unplug the TV and the second I unplugged the TV, the u2311h came up with the Snow Leopard background. I changed the position to be to the right and went to see what would happen if I plugged the TV back in. The second I plugged it back in, the u2311h went blank and the TV showed a Snow Leopard screen, but it kept the position on the left.

So it looks like the 5870 recognizes three different displays, but not if they are all plugged in at once. Would anyone know how to fix this?

 

[TheStrudel]

Can you try running the Ultrasharp on Display Port with a mini DP to DP cable, and put the TV on the DVI port?

And while we're on the subject, are you getting audio from the TV through your MDP connection, and what kind of cable are you using, if so?

Finally, I suggest knocking down that yellow tint by using the OSD controls on the monitor to adjust the RGB values individually.

 

[blackmtn]

I had my Dell U2410 for about 5 days now. All and all I love the monitor. I do photo retouching and print for a living and at work I get to use lots of high end equipment. But this is my home / hobby setup. After calibration I am very happy with the color fidelity of the Dell U2401. But one thing about the monitor bugs me. If I look at a white image the left side is a bit darker than the right. Is this to be expected. I don’t think it is the pink/green cast people used to complain about. It looks more like a density issue. Should I return it, I hesitant because otherwise I think it is perfect and do not want to take the chance of getting something worse. When I calibrated the screen to my standards of a target of 100 cd/m2. I had t turn the brightness down to 8 and the contrast to 85. I left it is AdobeRGB mode. I do not think this could cause the problem. I did turn up the brightness and noticed the screen seemed more even or it was just bright it is hard to tell. It is hard for me to compare this monitor to others in this price range. What I use at work they are dead on even but they are Eizo's at 10x the price. Any advice?

My U2410 got here ahead of my Mac Pro so I've been using it as a second display on my iMac so far. I haven't been impressed with mine so far - I'll probably be returning it tomorrow for either the NEC PA241W or PA271W. Quite a bit more expensive; however, I'm photo editing on this monitor and the U2410 I have (rev A02) has a terrible green cast on the left to magenta cast on the right. Even ignoring the colour cast, I haven't been able to successfully calibrate the monitor using my Spyder3. I might try my luck and just exchange this one, as it seems I have a dud.

 

[strausd]

Can you try running the Ultrasharp on Display Port with a mini DP to DP cable, and put the TV on the DVI port?

And while we're on the subject, are you getting audio from the TV through your MDP connection, and what kind of cable are you using, if so?

Finally, I suggest knocking down that yellow tint by using the OSD controls on the monitor to adjust the RGB values individually.

I don't have a DP to MDP or HDMI to DVI. And for my TV, I just use the audio from my MP to Logitech Z-5500s and not the built in speakers on my TV.

Thanks for the advice, I just changed some settings on it and made it look much better. Also, I just lowered the brightness a tad on the 24" and its almost identical.

 

[3282868]

This may have been posted and addressed already. I have an 08 Mac Pro with the ATI Radeon HD 4870, one MDP and one DVI. I am running the 24" LED LCD on the MDP and a 7 year old 23" ACD on the DVI. The 23" Apple display is crapping out, burn-ins and yellowing, so I grabbed another 24" LED from Apple as they're being discontinued and I didn't want to diff displays with diff specs.

Yet I can't daisy chain the two on my Mac Pro, which I thought DP could do any ways, and the 24" LCD's don't have a MDP in for chaining. I saw this:

http://www.cinemaview.com/product/cinemaview-duo

for $149 it can split one male MDP to two female MDP to power two displays on one port, but they have to be IDENTICAL displays, both the same specs. Otherwise, I have to buy a hub/splitter which go for around $200-$300, on top of the $750 for the 24" LED and I still need MDP to DP adapters.

Any thing I'm missing? I read most of the thread but I'm too slammed with work to read 250+ posts.

Thanks!!!

Also to consider is the Dell U2711; same as the 27" ACD except it's a matte display, you get half a dozen input connectors (including DisplayPort), and it's CCFL backlit.

I would think LED backlighting would be better than CCFL backlighting, especially for brightness, longevity and power consumption. Most manufacturers are slowly working towards LED LCDs and phasing out CCFL (and in the very distance future when OLED is affordable, that will ROCK).

 

[dimme]

My U2410 got here ahead of my Mac Pro so I've been using it as a second display on my iMac so far. I haven't been impressed with mine so far - I'll probably be returning it tomorrow for either the NEC PA241W or PA271W. Quite a bit more expensive; however, I'm photo editing on this monitor and the U2410 I have (rev A02) has a terrible green cast on the left to magenta cast on the right. Even ignoring the colour cast, I haven't been able to successfully calibrate the monitor using my Spyder3. I might try my luck and just exchange this one, as it seems I have a dud.

I am using Coloreyes and a DTP94. The calibration I am getting is great. I have the brightness set for 110cd/m any lower and I found problems. I believe coloreyes works with the spider and they have a free demo/trial. I use Ezio's at my studio at work and have them set for 100cd/m but the lighting is dimmer and more controlled. Plus Ezio's with their internal calibration can go that low. For the money you can't beat the Dell U2410 although it is not as even as the Ezio CG line. Mine is a bit darker or dirtier looking in the bottom left corner. It is noticeable if you create a document with a background of 225 RGB. But for my home setup and the money it works. It's just the IPS screen lottery. As you pay more money the manufactures can afford to be more picky and reject screens that are uneven. If you have the time I would try for a good calibration and then judge the evenness result. Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[blackmtn]

I am using Coloreyes and a DTP94. The calibration I am getting is great. I have the brightness set for 110cd/m any lower and I found problems. I believe coloreyes works with the spider and they have a free demo/trial. I use Ezio's at my studio at work and have them set for 100cd/m but the lighting is dimmer and more controlled. Plus Ezio's with their internal calibration can go that low. For the money you can't beat the Dell U2410 although it is not as even as the Ezio CG line. Mine is a bit darker or dirtier looking in the bottom left corner. It is noticeable if you create a document with a background of 225 RGB. But for my home setup and the money it works. It's just the IPS screen lottery. As you pay more money the manufactures can afford to be more picky and reject screens that are uneven. If you have the time I would try for a good calibration and then judge the evenness result. Good Luck and keep us posted.

I tried calibrating it a half-dozen times without any success. However, I am going to wait for my Mac Pro to arrive (which will now be one day late, gah! - I was expecting it today) and try again on the off-chance my iMac is the problem.

 

[TheStrudel]

I would think LED backlighting would be better than CCFL backlighting, especially for brightness, longevity and power consumption. Most manufacturers are slowly working towards LED LCDs and phasing out CCFL (and in the very distance future when OLED is affordable, that will ROCK).

You're right, but unfortunately LED is not better for wide gamut displays. For the people who want wide gamut displays, there's no substitute for CCFL. One day, but not just yet.

 

[3282868]

I just ordered two Dell U2410 displays to go with my Apple 24" LED LCD. I bought another 24" LED but I think I'm going to return it as I can get two Dell U2410 displays for the cost of one Apple LED, so having a three desktop display will rock.

Question. The Dell U2410 is an IPS panel but I've read some reviews that it's good for gaming and multimedia, and as I do a lot of work in Adobe CS5 Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc., are these displays capable of handling this kind of work?

 

[dimme]

I just ordered two Dell U2410 displays to go with my Apple 24" LED LCD. I bought another 24" LED but I think I'm going to return it as I can get two Dell U2410 displays for the cost of one Apple LED, so having a three desktop display will rock.

Question. The Dell U2410 is an IPS panel but I've read some reviews that it's good for gaming and multimedia, and as I do a lot of work in Adobe CS5 Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc., are these displays capable of handling this kind of work?

I can't speak for the Apple LED but the Dell U2410 has a much bigger color gamut that the Apple Display, So the Dell is great for print work, which is what I do.

 

[3282868]

I can't speak for the Apple LED but the Dell U2410 has a much bigger color gamut that the Apple Display, So the Dell is great for print work, which is what I do.

AWESOME. Relieved as I didn't want to make a mistake. Yet ~$425 for each display, free shipping, and 21 days to use them both and get a full refund if I'm not satisfied AND a three year warranty, easy choice now.

Thanks!

 

[Wild-Bill]

I currently have a Dell 2209WA and a (much) older Samsung 19 inch LCD in portrait mode.
The 2209WA is nice and pretty close to the mark out of the box. Anyway, I was thinking about getting the Dell U2711. Same resolution as the yet-to-be-released Apple 27"plus it's matte finish and myriad of hookups. I would use both the U2711 and 2209WA and ditch the 19" Sammy.

For now I'm on an 8800GT but may opt for the 5870. Only question though is whether to buy Apple's version or buy a PC version and flash with the Apple 5870 ROM. Buying a PC version gets me a card with two DVI and a MDP, while the Apple card only has one DVI and two MDP.

 

[3282868]

I currently have a Dell 2209WA and a (much) older Samsung 19 inch LCD in portrait mode.
The 2209WA is nice and pretty close to the mark out of the box. Anyway, I was thinking about getting the Dell U2711. Same resolution as the yet-to-be-released Apple 27"plus it's matte finish and myriad of hookups. I would use both the U2711 and 2209WA and ditch the 19" Sammy.

For now I'm on an 8800GT but may opt for the 5870. Only question though is whether to buy Apple's version or buy a PC version and flash with the Apple 5870 ROM. Buying a PC version gets me a card with two DVI and a MDP, while the Apple card only has one DVI and two MDP.

That's a tough decision. The 5870 is a sweet card and Apple is pushing MDP as a new standard. Is the PC version cheaper? And do you need a PC based system (motherboard) to flash the ROM? I've tried it to flash the 8800GT for a friends 2006 Mac Pro as his system is 32-bit EFI and my old 8800 i was trying to give him required a 64-bit EFI. Turns out i burned the card as my 2008 8 core was unable to flash it with the 32 ROM using a myriad of techniques, booting from a dos emulator, etc.

I've got the 4870 running a 24" LED and an older 23" ACD and I just bought the GT 120 for $130 to add to the system to power the two additional Dells ill flank with the 24" LED. Two MDP and two DVI ports are great but Apples 5770 even would be great for the two MDP and DVI plus the jump from the 512MB to 1GB card. Hmmmm. Think we should wait it out and see what Apple does?

I can sell the 4870 as it's brand new and since the 5770 is ~$220, I'd break even and I could return the GT 120 and save the ~$130 but it won't ship for weeks right?

 

[aquablue]

Sorry to butt in, but how come Apple offers the only high quality IPS yet environemtally friendly rated (epeat gold) monitor on the market? I want a high quality monitor but with the matte finish, but none exist. Apple is the only one who care about the environment and performance together/

 

[JDoggery]

Also using dual u2410's. Great quality displays. Can't go wrong.

 

[Bokes]

I want a high quality monitor but with the matte finish, but none exist. Apple is the only one who care about the environment and performance together/[/QUOTE]

Have you looked at the HP Dreamcolor? It's high end and matte finish

 

[3282868]

I want a high quality monitor but with the matte finish, but none exist. Apple is the only one who care about the environment and performance together/

Have you looked at the HP Dreamcolor? It's high end and matte finish

Yes, but he's bringing up a good point. Apple is leading the industry with regard to eco-conscious materials. Their systems are composed mostly (95%+) of aluminum, which not only helps cooling but is 100% recyclable, as well as mercury, arsenic and PVP free materials and all of their systems use LED backlighting on their displays (although the base model white MacBook may not, and is the ONLY product Apple makes that is still in a plastic shell, even the Apple Remotes are now aluminum).

Apple chose to replace the plastic LCD screens with glass for the recyclability of glass. Imagine how many LCD's use plastic on the market, and imagine that impact on throwing those systems in landfills. Everyone complains about the "glossy" display. It's GLASS, not glossy. I've used my 24" LED for a year now with no issues, in all possible sets of lighting. True professionals in the industry use shields on their displays, such as EIZO displays, factoring out glare even on matte displays.

Basically, those complaining about the glass fronts being glossy are generally complaining for the sake of complaining. I find it interesting that those who complain about them then go out and buy a plastic GLOSSY HP laptop.

 

[strausd]

Sorry to butt in, but how come Apple offers the only high quality IPS yet environemtally friendly rated (epeat gold) monitor on the market? I want a high quality monitor but with the matte finish, but none exist. Apple is the only one who care about the environment and performance together/

Is the Dell u2711 not matte?