Powerbook G4 & Cinema Display

[robx2]

We have a 30 inch cinema display (older white model with the power brick) at work that I share with another 15" Powerbook user. His Powerbook works perfectly with the monitor, but my DVI connection creates a lot of staticy noise -- especially in the middle color tones. Could this be a product of a dirty DVI connection (we use the same adapter cord) or is it due to the fact that his Powerbook has a 128MB Video card while I'm using the 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600? I have no problems driving a second VGA monitor at home.

Anyone have any experience with the 9600 driving a Cinema Display?

Rob

[grapes911]

One of the following:

Power Mac G5 with an ATI Radeon 9650, ATI Radeon X850 XT, or NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT DDL graphics card (offered as a kit for current Power Mac G5 customers)

PowerBook G4 with ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card and dual-link DVI functionality and Mac OS X v10.3.4 or later

Sorry, you have DVI. The 30-inch requires Dual DVI.

http://www.apple.com/displays/specs.html

[macbaseball]

Your absolutely right. The reason that there's a lot of staticy noise, is because your card it's supposed to drive that monitor. That is also the reason it probably doesn't looks as good when you drive it.

[the future]

Originally Posted by robx2

We have a 30 inch cinema display (older white model with the power brick) at work that I share with another 15" Powerbook user.

There is no "older" 30 inch cinema display, just the Alu version sold today. Are you talking about an older 23 or 22 inch cinema display with the thicker, pinstriped plastic enclosure??

[robx2]

Yeah, I guess I was coveting my office mate's new 30". It is the pinstriped 23" inch, so I guess by looking at the tech specs that I woudn't need dual-link DVI.

So, should my 9600 card be up to the task? Can a dirty connector be the issue? I've tried compressed air but have seen no visible improvement.

[grapes911]

Originally Posted by robx2

So, should my 9600 card be up to the task?

Yep, you only need a 7500.

Do you have another DVI monitor you could plug in? Just to test it out.

[robx2]

Yep, same problem on another 23".

[grapes911]

Two options:

1. Keep trying to clean that DVI port.
2. Contact Apple / Take it to an Apple Store.

[Rod Rod]

If the native resolution on that screen is 1600x1024, it's a 22".
If the native resolution on that screen is 1920x1200, it's a 23".

My guess is it's a 22" because that monitor came in both DVI and ADC versions, whereas (as far as I know) the 23" has always been ADC-only.

To the original question - is the software on your 15" PowerBook up to date? Apple may have fixed the drivers to run the 22" from your machine since whatever version of the Mac OS you're running.