Does the new iMacs handle 30" LCD?

[ohalexis]

Like my title says, does the new Intel iMacs handle 30" LCD?

 

[Chundles]

No, the highest the iMac core duo can handle is an external display at 1920x1200 - the 23" Apple Cinema Display HD.

You will need to purchase the miniDVI -> DVI adapter if you want to plug a DVI monitor into the iMac.

 

[ohalexis]

No, the highest the iMac core duo can handle is an external display at 1920x1200 - the 23" Apple Cinema Display HD.

You will need to purchase the miniDVI -> DVI adapter if you want to plug a DVI monitor into the iMac.

hmm....I was kinda expecting that it could handle the 30" just fine, coz I am in the process of buying a new Dell 30".

The odd thing is, the other day I saw a picture of someone driving the 30" with his MacBook Pro. Since the MBP and iMac share the same video card, why would apple disable the support on the iMac?

 

[Chundles]

It doesn't support the 30" display. The difference is the the MacBook Pro has a Dual-link DVI connector and as such has the power to drive the 30" display.

The iMac is not a professional machine and Apple has only just allowed for extended desktops on it with the release of the core duo machine. Previous models were mirror-display only and VGA out.

That's just the way it is. No point complaining about it. If you want more screen space get the 23" screen.

The image below is from the iMac technical specifications page. It shows the external resolutions that can be powered by the iMac graphics card. It can run a much higher resolution to an analogue display but the Apple and Dell 30" displays are Dual-link DVI ONLY and will not even accept an analogue plug.

 

[Josias]

Here is an article about DVI. It tells that Duallink DVI can hadle up to 3840x2400 pixels, and singlelink can hadle 1920x1200. So the duallink can handle double resolution each way.