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Best monitor for Mac Pro?
- Thread starter strausd
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For $240.00, I'd say there's not ENOUGH backlight bleed for the U2410 !!!
Try again but this time hide your dock. I don't think that bleed is anything to get into a stir about. It wouldn't bother me.
On another note, I woke up with buyer's remorse this morning and cancelled my U3011. I wouldn't have enough space to go dual-monitor with it. So I ordered the U2410 @ 480.70 (incl. tax & shipping). Still nowhere near as great a deal as you got, but now I can have my 2209WA next to it, and not in portrait mode either.
Hello friends,
After 10 years of heavy use, my beloved 22" matte Apple Cinema Display called it quits, filling my room with a pungent "burning-electronics" smell.
...a moment of silence please...
OK, now I could use some help in choosing a replacement. I have a new Mac Pro with a 5870 (see sig) and would need to share my new display with a PC (which has a DVI/HDMI video card).
My requirements:
1. matte
2. ability to share monitor via DVI KVM switchbox, or by using multiple inputs on display if available.
Unfortunately, I believe I've eliminated Apple displays with my first 2 requirements. Keeping that in mind, my next priorities are:
3. Crisp smooth text! I read/browse a lot, and I've heard of problems with non-Apple displays suffering jagged text under Snow Leopard. Is this truly the case with certain brands? Please enlighten me.
4. Good viewing angle. Do I need an IPS display for this? My 22" Cinema Display seemed OK in this regard. I am not sure if it was IPS or TN.
5. between 24" and 27".
6. $200-$500 price. I don't need perfect color. I use my Mac Pro for home videos, movies, TV, photos, web research, browsing, amateur photoshop, light gaming.
I would be grateful for any recommendations! Thanks.
After 10 years of heavy use, my beloved 22" matte Apple Cinema Display called it quits, filling my room with a pungent "burning-electronics" smell.
...a moment of silence please...
OK, now I could use some help in choosing a replacement. I have a new Mac Pro with a 5870 (see sig) and would need to share my new display with a PC (which has a DVI/HDMI video card).
My requirements:
1. matte
2. ability to share monitor via DVI KVM switchbox, or by using multiple inputs on display if available.
Unfortunately, I believe I've eliminated Apple displays with my first 2 requirements. Keeping that in mind, my next priorities are:
3. Crisp smooth text! I read/browse a lot, and I've heard of problems with non-Apple displays suffering jagged text under Snow Leopard. Is this truly the case with certain brands? Please enlighten me.
4. Good viewing angle. Do I need an IPS display for this? My 22" Cinema Display seemed OK in this regard. I am not sure if it was IPS or TN.
5. between 24" and 27".
6. $200-$500 price. I don't need perfect color. I use my Mac Pro for home videos, movies, TV, photos, web research, browsing, amateur photoshop, light gaming.
I would be grateful for any recommendations! Thanks.
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23" matte Cinema Display second hand? really great display and great colour. unfortunately the specs are a bit limited these days and my brightness has noticeably decreased.
also Dell Ultrasharps and HP business monitors are really great.
also Dell Ultrasharps and HP business monitors are really great.
I got a Dell U2711 for $650. online from Dell and I see the price (at least for Dell in my country) has dropped to $625. now. This is an absolute steal for a superb monitor. It calibrated very well to 90cd/m2 and has dual DVI inputs among (many) others. It is a matte display but there are tutorials online for removing the anti-glare coating for the brave/insane among us.
It's the case with ALL non-Apple monitors under OS X, but it's also very easy to fix. The fix can actually be found earlier in this thread, but I'll post another link to it: How to enable sub-pixel antialiasing.
Samsung 2443BW... Probably one of the best monitors out there... It's been on the market (with some minor changes) for the past 3 years. Great response and color, 1920x1200 and includes a Height/Pivot/Rotate stand- i have two of them and looking at getting a third- they are one of the best monitors on the market. Very minimalist design as well no fancy case just 1/2 frame around the whole thing. Great price point as well- $320CDN at www.memoryexpress.com
A word of precaution for people considering Dell 2311H (which are a real bargain indeed).
Some people (including me) report those Dell models having problems with (presumably) Mac OS X.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=11442405
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1022386/
Some people (including me) report those Dell models having problems with (presumably) Mac OS X.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=11442405
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1022386/
Dell (Trinidad and Tobago) website unfortunately. I don't know why it's so cheap there.
Just out of curiosity: is there a list of "apple certified monitors" somewhere ? Or is it basically "buy apple or buy something else and pray it will work" ?
In general, any monitor will work with the proper adapter. There is nothing inherently special about Apple monitors that would prevent them from working. Issues for some monitors seem to be isolated cases.
Two years ago I bought NEC 2470WNX and it had exactly the same issue as my current Dell's 2311H have. I returned the monitor, being pretty sure (at the time) that it was the monitor's fault. I was using GF8800 back then (it fried couple of months ago). From my perspective this doesn't seem like "isolated cases".
What is even more puzzling is that people report exactly the same issues (pinstriping and shimmering colors) on at least 4 different companies (I found threads for: NEC, HP, Dell and Acer) on many different configurations (Mac Pro's, Mini's Macbooks).
This is most likely OS related, however I lack the technical knowledge to even start wondering about what might be the exact cause.
Ah sorry, didn't realize you were the one who previously commented on Dell U2311h incompatibilities. You can say it's an OS problem if booting into Windows on the same machine solves the problem. I haven't read through the links you posted so I'm not sure if that's the case. A lot of issues I've read ended up arising due to poor adapters being used. All I can really say is I'm happily using a 3rd party monitor and so are many others. Hopefully you get your problem worked out though
The problem might be that Dell 2311H is not a 'true 8-bit' panel.
It uses so called A-FRC (Advanced Frame Rate Control) to simulate 16,7M colors.
Here is the specifications document for the panel used in this model:
http://www.hy-line.de/fileadmin/hy-line/computer/csv/datasheets/LM230WF2-SLC1.pdf
If you compare it to some higher end monitors like NEC WUXI2 2690:
http://lcdtech.no-ip.info/download/specs/LG.Philips/LM260WU2 (SL)(A2).pdf
You can clearly see the difference, specs for NEC's panel say: "16.7M (true)".
This leads me to believe that the issue is somewhere between Mac OS X's dithering algorithms / graphic card drivers / "6bit +2bit" panels itself.
It uses so called A-FRC (Advanced Frame Rate Control) to simulate 16,7M colors.
Here is the specifications document for the panel used in this model:
http://www.hy-line.de/fileadmin/hy-line/computer/csv/datasheets/LM230WF2-SLC1.pdf
If you compare it to some higher end monitors like NEC WUXI2 2690:
http://lcdtech.no-ip.info/download/specs/LG.Philips/LM260WU2 (SL)(A2).pdf
You can clearly see the difference, specs for NEC's panel say: "16.7M (true)".
This leads me to believe that the issue is somewhere between Mac OS X's dithering algorithms / graphic card drivers / "6bit +2bit" panels itself.
Thanks for the replies. I made my choice and bought:
HP ZR24w 24-inch S-IPS "business class" LCD
1920 x 1200.
adequate inputs.
good response time.
excellent viewing angles.
adjustable stand.
anti-glare.
standard gamut, which is enough for my amateur use and less complicated to calibrate.
$399 shipped, comfortably within my budget.
Hopefully this will be a worthy replacement for my 22" Cinema Display. Finally I'm free from that antique ADC connector!
HP ZR24w 24-inch S-IPS "business class" LCD
1920 x 1200.
adequate inputs.
good response time.
excellent viewing angles.
adjustable stand.
anti-glare.
standard gamut, which is enough for my amateur use and less complicated to calibrate.
$399 shipped, comfortably within my budget.
Hopefully this will be a worthy replacement for my 22" Cinema Display. Finally I'm free from that antique ADC connector!
I'm very pleased with my new HP ZR24w, which I've had for a week now. Along with the features I mentioned in my last post, I also like that it has a flat black (non-reflecting) bezel, and an option to turn off the power-indicator LED. I'm free from any distracting lights and glare, a huge plus for me. Colors look fantastic with some basic adjustments after I turned the brightness way down. No flawed pixels, awesome.
As a drawback, the black levels are not the greatest, but this is a cheaper IPS panel so that's to be expected. For me, the IPS advantages far outweigh the mediocre blacks. Also, the input options are limited, no HDMI, this is not an issue for me but may be for others. I use the DVI input for my PC, and DisplayPort for my Mac Pro (via miniDP to DP cable).
As a drawback, the black levels are not the greatest, but this is a cheaper IPS panel so that's to be expected. For me, the IPS advantages far outweigh the mediocre blacks. Also, the input options are limited, no HDMI, this is not an issue for me but may be for others. I use the DVI input for my PC, and DisplayPort for my Mac Pro (via miniDP to DP cable).
Well I recommended a $1,200 model so I missed the goal as well.
But honestly you aren't going to get a consistently accurate monitor if you shoot under a hardware calibrated system like NEC MultiSync uxi line or an Eizo.
What does this remark mean?
i would go for 2560x1440 res.
but that's just my opinion, i reallly think it looks much better in those higher res and its gonna be more futureproof
but that's just my opinion, i reallly think it looks much better in those higher res and its gonna be more futureproof
A little bit of an update... So far I love my Dell u2311h. Having it right next to my 24" ACD really makes me wish that it wasn't so dang glossy. The only benefit of a glossy screen is it looks nice when its turned off, but thats obviously not why people buy monitors.
A glossy screen looks nice turned off but that's only if the surrounding environment is also pretty good.
I'm rolling with an ACD 30", its pretty respectable. I used to have a dual 26" monitors back in this thread somewhere (DS-263N), but I'm enjoying the pixel density so much I don't think I'll go back. I whip out one of the 26" when I'm using Color, though.
I'm rolling with an ACD 30", its pretty respectable. I used to have a dual 26" monitors back in this thread somewhere (DS-263N), but I'm enjoying the pixel density so much I don't think I'll go back. I whip out one of the 26" when I'm using Color, though.