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help - suggest a good display for mac pro

S

strider21

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2011
7
0
Hi,
i've to purchase a display to be used with a 2012 mac pro. listed below are the considerations
Price Range: $1000 (+$200 max)
Size: 23inches or 24inches
Usage: graphic design for print (60%) and for web (40%), moderate use for photo-retouching/ photography related work.
Shortlist:
  1. Eizo CS230 http://www.eizo.com/global/products/coloredge/cs230/
  2. Dell U2413 http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2413/pd
  3. NEC-P232W-BK
leaning more towards the Eizo CS230, but there is lack of reviews for this product . let me know your suggestions, do you think Eizo CS230 will be a good purchase?
 
Yeah, if you're dropping a grand on a monitor it's Eizo or NEC. They seem to pull ahead of each other from year to year.
 
thanks for the info, will go for the CS230. CG246 is beyond my budget.
one tech-question, in cs230 tech spec-page it's listed as:
Grayscale Tones
​
DisplayPort: 1024 tones (a palette of 65281 tones)
​
DVI, HDMI: 256 tones (a palette of 65281 tones)
Display Colors
​
DisplayPort: 1.07 billion from a palette of 278 trillion
​
DVI, HDMI: 16.77 million from a palette of 278 trillion
does this mean the display 'performance/ color-rendition' is better when connected via displayport than any other connectors?
 
strider21 said:
thanks for the info, will go for the CS230. CG246 is beyond my budget.
one tech-question, in cs230 tech spec-page it's listed as:
Grayscale Tones
​
DisplayPort: 1024 tones (a palette of 65281 tones)
​
DVI, HDMI: 256 tones (a palette of 65281 tones)
Display Colors
​
DisplayPort: 1.07 billion from a palette of 278 trillion
​
DVI, HDMI: 16.77 million from a palette of 278 trillion
does this mean the display 'performance/ color-rendition' is better when connected via displayport than any other connectors?
Click to expand...

As I understand it yes but you would have to have end-to-end 10bit support including OS and software. As it is now you have 16bit lut delivered to 8-bit DVI/ Mini. Which is just fine. Not sure if just running the display with display port increases fidelity or not.
 
thanks derbothaus, from the info gathered:
Eizo CS230 connected to a pro-card like nvidia Quadro or amd Firepro via displayport would be the "best" setup. (considering Adobe Photoshop CS6 usage)
do any mainstream nvidia (geforce) or amd cards support 10bit per channel output? any suggestions for a good midrange card with 10bit support
 
strider21 said:
thanks derbothaus, from the info gathered:
Eizo CS230 connected to a pro-card like nvidia Quadro or amd Firepro via displayport would be the "best" setup. (considering Adobe Photoshop CS6 usage)
do any mainstream nvidia (geforce) or amd cards support 10bit per channel output? any suggestions for a good midrange card with 10bit support
Click to expand...

If I recall OSX does not support 10 bit. I wouldn't bug anything until smarter people than I chime in
 
Tesselator said:
And avoid LG panels at all cost.
Click to expand...

LOL!
Eizo and Nec almost have a 100% LG lineup todays. Why would they offer 5 year warranty on their panels?
3 years ago, 60-70% was SPVA, but no longer. I do miss the PVA contrast though. My Eizo SX2431W still runs like clockwork and I would buy this screen again for the same price as in 2008, even in today's landscape of screens.

If 1200$ is in cosideration, I would go for the NEC PA271W. Still CCFL, but a proven quality screen, with 3D lut, great out-of-the-box sRGB and AdobeRGB presets with ambient light adjustment and KVM switch to use it alternating on 2 machines.

30 bit colour is useless on a Mac. Only Windows 7&8 can drive that.

Another highlight seems to be the Dell Ultrasharp U2713H (not the HM!!!!). That one is a 3D lut AdobeRGB white-LED backlit screen, that is getting lot of praise and is a serious contender for Eizo/NEC.

Oh, and I would never go for a 1920x1080 screen. It has too few pixels for comfortable work. 1920x1200 is the bare minimum.
 
Last edited:
strider21 said:
thanks derbothaus, from the info gathered:
Eizo CS230 connected to a pro-card like nvidia Quadro or amd Firepro via displayport would be the "best" setup. (considering Adobe Photoshop CS6 usage)
do any mainstream nvidia (geforce) or amd cards support 10bit per channel output? any suggestions for a good midrange card with 10bit support
Click to expand...

A lot of the cards support it but you need to run Windows to get it unfortunately. Apple does not seem to be moving in this direction yet. Maybe they don't see the benefit or maybe there is something better just around the bend. Who knows? It's Apple!
I am pretty sure the CS230 is top bin LG AH-IPS. But Eizo has been using Samsung PLS as well and calling it IPS. Especially the 23" 1080p panels. Not sure if PLS has made it to the Color Edge family. Eizo forbid reviewers from opening the display to check panel manufacturer.
 
strider21 said:
...
do any mainstream nvidia (geforce) or amd cards support 10bit per channel output? any suggestions for a good midrange card with 10bit support
Click to expand...

Generally, if look for cards that support DisplayPort v1.2 it is there.

The overall problem though is that 10-bit support has to extend from the Application down through drivers out the cards and into the display. All the layers have to upgrade or the whole thing doesn't work.

Apple seems more occupied with more pixels rather than more range of a pixel for now. Increasing both at the same time isn't going to be as easy as just doing one of those dimensions.
 
Tesselator said:
Sorry, I should have said "LG branded monitors".
Click to expand...

No. Should have said some LG branded monitors.

Almost all the major players ( Samsung , Dell , HP , LG , etc.) have monitors that go through higher selection criteria and factory calibration.
LG also.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/news_archive/27.htm#lg_27ea83

To some extent the reference design that other folks like Dell use for their models.

As the rest of the monitors all fall below $300 all the major players need ones with better electronics to maintain the higher price points at lower unit volumes. Even LG.
 
Sure...

Since neither one of us know the failure rate of all monitors you can speculate however you like. But since LG branded monitors both low and high dollar models, have a reputation and habit of failing very shortly after their warranty expires I'll just avoid them all together and continue to suggest others do so as well.
 
It is a shame they can make such great bare panels and at the same time have zero clue how to power and tame them properly. I'd never buy an LG branded display. Major backlight bleeds and over the top OD overshoots, uniformity issues. You name it they never seem to get it right. And if they get one right 3 of the same will be wrong and RMA'd. Cheapo market has all their attention.
 
Had a casual chat with a Mac Tech guy. The screens of the Retina MacBook Pro are both made by LG or Samsung. The tech guy told me they often get returns/problems with the rMBPro LG screens.
 
I second the last person's response! I have the 24 inch LED Cinema Display and it works like a charm.. No problems at all, no flickering, nothing.. Its not a bad monitor for the Mac Pro.. if not, then the 27 inch is also a good choice, though expensive!
 
If you like matte displays, perhaps you should also consider a used 23" Aluminum Apple Cinema Display. You can pick one up for $300-$400. For me, 23-inch 16:10 is the perfect display size. 16:9 doesn't make sense to me for work or photo editing, and 27" is a bit too big. And I'd rather have two or more 23" monitors than one 27" or 30". And I like my displays matte.

The PPI of the 23" ACD is 98, so the pixels are a bit larger than on the newer 27" model, which has a PPI of 109. But all in all, the 23" is still a great display. And for your budget, you can get two or even three!
 
thanks for the suggestions,
have placed an order for the Eizo CS230. The confusing factor was choosing between
  1. NEC PA231W-BK http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa231w-bk
  2. Eizo CS230 http://www.eizo.com/global/products/coloredge/cs230/index.html
both are LG panels, price favors the NEC, specwise CS230 gains the upperhand. decided CS230 is a part of the much revered Coloredge series whose entire lineup are way beyond my budget, has introduced one that i can afford now :) hopefully it's a good investment.
can anybody please translate what's being said here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmvS1XN_9bY
 
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