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Advice on 23" Al Display

James_C

James_C

macrumors 68030
Original poster
I am thinking of getting a 23" Al Display. However I have seen some posts that concern me about some displays having a pink colour cast to them. I have been somewhat unlucky buying 1st Gen products from Apple ( PowerMac 1st Gen MDD had the wind tunnel problem, 15" Al Powerbook had white spot problem). I know that people tend to post when they have a problem, so I am hoping that all the users happy with their 23" displays will let me know. I am aware some people have suggested getting the old style 23" display but it is too big and bulky for me and I want it to go with a G5 PowerMac sometime next year. Thanks in advance.
 
The pinkish cast is real and it is caused by the fact that the lamps are directly behind the display, vs on top and bottom like the other ones (including the new 20").

This can be calibrated out, but requires additional hardware and software. Don't know if the built-in calibration utilities will fix it.
 
emw said:
This can be calibrated out, but requires additional hardware and software. Don't know if the built-in calibration utilities will fix it.
Click to expand...

Is this something that can be fixed, as in will apple fix it, or are you just screwed when you have the problem?
 
morkintosh said:
Is this something that can be fixed, as in will apple fix it, or are you just screwed when you have the problem?
Click to expand...

It's caused by essentially staring into the lamps. It is fixed by calibration, so I don't think Apple will do a hardware fix.
 
Can anyone confirm that this is easy to calibrate out using the software tools? Has anyone got a 23" that doesn't have this problem, I thought I saw some people in the 2.5Ghz G5 shipping thread that said that the 23" they received is OK. Has anyone spoken to Apple and that they have confirmed it is an issue?
 
James Craner said:
Can anyone confirm that this is easy to calibrate out using the software tools? Has anyone got a 23" that doesn't have this problem, I thought I saw some people in the 2.5Ghz G5 shipping thread that said that the 23" they received is OK. Has anyone spoken to Apple and that they have confirmed it is an issue?
Click to expand...

Nope, they haven't confirmed the issue. It migth help to tone down the brightness to 50%, it's way too bright anyway.

I'll get mine if my 2.5 arrives, but I'll examin it at the store, and won't take it with me if it's not ok
 
Mac2004 said:
Read this article and get the older 23 inch display.....

http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/whats_wrong_with_apples_new_cinema_displays/
Click to expand...

Did you read the entire article?

What’s surprising is that the image saved from the new 23” aluminum Cinema HD display looks BETTER than the old 20” clear plastic Cinema display.
Click to expand...

However, the new display appears to be a more accurate rendering of the actual images. It’s subtle, but it’s there. What’s wrong with Apple’s new displays? They’re accurate. So accurate that they don’t look as “good” as the older displays.
Click to expand...

What’s wrong with these new displays? They’re good. Very good. So good that realistic doesn’t look as good as the previous display’s Kodachrome effect.
Click to expand...
 
Mac2004 said:
Read this article and get the older 23 inch display.....

http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/whats_wrong_with_apples_new_cinema_displays/
Click to expand...

Thanks Mac2004, but as I already mentioned in my post, as was aware that some people have suggested the old display, but I was not interested as IMO it is too bulky and will not fit in with the style of the G5 Powermac when I can afford to get one ( also waiting of the magic Dual 3Ghz).

Interesting article as it suggests the new display shows colours more accurately, although peoples eyes suggest otherwise ?
 
My advice would be to wait or spend your money elsewere. These problems are being talked about at the apple disscussion support forum. Only problem is Apple is removing our posts so you will have missed much of the truth. They are keeping a close eye and removing post much more quickly than before.

My 23" ACD has all of the problems being discussed and so did the replacement display sent out to me.

The bigger problem is the unveven backlighting and color shifts. The left and right sides of the display have a yellow tint and the bottom left corner is completely washed out. Light colors wash out and appear white. This wash out also happens at the bottom center and right corner but not as bad.

Calibration does not fix this problem as you can not target only the problem
areas.
 
The following is the text of an email from Apple. I guess this is their idea of how to deal with an unhappy customer.

"Your post titled "My Advice...Wait" has been removed from Apple Discussions. This area is intended to address technical issues. Posts that do not conform to the Apple Discussions Terms of Use are inappropriate.

Nice...thanx Apple, I really appreciate the help.....
DD



My reply to that post:
We need to move these discussions to as many mac news sites, mac rumor sites, and any other place where we can be heard. This will be much more damaging as it will be seen by thousands of potential switchers and mac loyalist. I think we have all been extremely patient, cool and calm. Our posts are being removed, Applecare is playing dumb and those that have sent their displays in are getting them back with absolutely no work done to them. How much longer are we going to have to wait for this to be addressed. The imac is already receiving a power supply noise problem fix. All we are asking for is a simple were working on it.
 
That's why I would get the old 23 inch Apple Cinema display than the new one. It matches my G5 just fine!!!!!!!!!!! I have several friends who have the same problems with their new 23 inch ones. I was told a while back that the best display to get is the old 20 inch one. I have no idea why but I have heard many praises on that model.
 
I am currently typing on the old 23 inch with a G5 tower sitting next to it and they look great together. The colors, contrast, and brightness is fantastic. I couldn't be more happy with this display.
 
James Craner said:
Can anyone confirm that this is easy to calibrate out using the software tools? Has anyone got a 23" that doesn't have this problem, I thought I saw some people in the 2.5Ghz G5 shipping thread that said that the 23" they received is OK. Has anyone spoken to Apple and that they have confirmed it is an issue?
Click to expand...

I tested the new 23" ACD for about 4 weeks and just had to return it. We did significant color and consistency checks, and were easily able to calibrate out the warmness effect. I did not see the large color variations or inconsistencies across the display.

This is not to say my experience was typical - I had one display, and so obviously couldn't look at a large population.
 
Thanks for all your posts. I think my worst fears are being confirmed here, in that there is a problem with at least a large number of 23" Displays as no one has posted yet to say they had that actually works like it should out of the box.

Not sure what to do now either;

1. Wait until Apple fix the problem.

2. Buy the 20" display instead, although not sure how much extra space that will give me over the 17" that I already have.

3. Go for the old style 23", which I don't really like.

I hate this I have saved for a few months, deliberately waiting until the new AL displays were released and now have the $, but I don't know what to do.
 
I have just returned from John Lewis in Bristol (who were extremely helpful). They had the 23" Al, 20" Al and the old style 23" all on display. I could tell straight away that the 23" Al has slight magenta colour cast, and the 23 old style and the 20" Al don't. The assistant that I spoke to was unaware of the issue when I first mentioned it, but did agree with me that the new 23" Al had a magenta shift. it was most noticeable on the frames around applications, documents and panels. I brought my Powerbook into the store and compared the screen with that. The Cinema displays are much brighter, and we thought that may be part of the problem. We tried playing with the software calibration tools, but did not get a very good result.

I find it difficult to believe that Apple has released this product, especially as graphic work is one of their core markets, either they don't test the displays once they are released for manufacturing, or their testers are colour blind.
 
James Craner said:
I find it difficult to believe that Apple has released this product, especially as graphic work is one of their core markets, either they don't test the displays once they are released for manufacturing, or their testers are colour blind.
Click to expand...

Yes, in order to get the brightness up, which is a requirement in the ever-growing soft-proofing market, they needed to place the lamps where they did. I think they figured that anyone doing serious graphic editing or soft-proofing would invest the $300 in calibration utilities to neutralize the cast.

Unfortunately, they neglected to consider those who really don't want to spend more money on top of a $2000 display to get it to look right. Note that the new 20" won't have the same problem.
 
I just bought myself a 23" aluminum display on Wednesday. So far, it is absolutely gorgeous and I have zero complaints.
 
Santiago said:
I just bought myself a 23" aluminum display on Wednesday. So far, it is absolutely gorgeous and I have zero complaints.
Click to expand...

Santiago, have you got anything to compare the display to, previous LCD display or Powerbook ? No pink colour cast ? If you choose a white background do you get any yellow banding at the edges? When you chose a single tone grey background do you get any noticeable banding (specifically vertical slightly off center)? These are issues that have been picked up at the Apple discussion forums.

Perhaps if as you say you purchased it recently Apple have now found a fix, or they are not all effected.

Have you had to calibrate the display at all, or using straight out of the box?
 
i have the 23" and it has a slight magenta cast, mainly on the left edge of the screen! so, it's not just that there is a magenta cast, but that there is uneven coloration. i've been able to get the magenta out using apple's color calibration tool (the expert settings) and turning down the brightness to about 50%. still, i'm undecided whether to return it or not...the subtle but evident color inconsistency bothers me, but not so much that i can't do my work (i don't do work that requires absolute color fidelity)...my suggestion to others would be to wait until apple fixes this problem.

on another note, i was at the s.f. apple store yesterday and ALL the 23" cinema displays were pink...not just a little cast, but PINK! you'd think they'd calibrate all of them before opening up in the morning...the 20" displays were okay.
 
HP 23" has pink too?

Does anyone have any comments on the HP widescreen 23" display (L2335) regarding the pink issue? I understand that both HP and Apple displays are from LG so I am wondering if that is a viable alternative....
 
I just got the older 23 inch Apple Cinema display (plastic frame) and the screen is nice with no dead pixels...... I would buy the old 23 inch if you can still find one available. I don't think there were any issues with that model.
 
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