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notheremuch

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 11, 2005
50
0
I am doing enough work with photos, and sooo many of them are in portrait mode, that I am seriously considering adding a 2nd 23" ACD. I am on a Powermac G5 2x2.0 stock, except for max RAM and running Tiger.

1) Can I do it?

2) If yes, what hardware will I need to stand the new ACD on portrait mode on my desk?

3) Anything else I need to consider or be aware of?

Thanks
 
ACD's won't do portrait mode. There are LCD's that will do portrait, or switch back and forth. Do a froogle search and you'll get a bunch.

I feel your pain.. I think it'd be a great thing if Apple's monitors switched (and would justify the premium), especially sonce so many of us Apple Devotees do page layout.

notheremuch said:
I am doing enough work with photos, and sooo many of them are in portrait mode, that I am seriously considering adding a 2nd 23" ACD. I am on a Powermac G5 2x2.0 stock, except for max RAM and running Tiger.

1) Can I do it?

2) If yes, what hardware will I need to stand the new ACD on portrait mode on my desk?

3) Anything else I need to consider or be aware of?

Thanks
 
Is it actually a limitation of the ACD display, i.e. does Apple purposely stop it from working or are you saying its a limit because there is no physical tilt system. I've got an LCD display (non Apple) attatched to a Mini and in the display system settings I can rotate the screen. I've fiddled around with it and it certainly works! I would have to physically find a way to stand the screen up on its side though.
 
I think it is perfectly possible if you can find a VESA compliant stand that can rotate 90 degrees. There is an option in the System display preferences to rotate the screen in software, it's physical rotation that cannot be done out of the box.
 
I'm looking in Sys Prefs now.. where's the rotation option? I've never seen it and all monitors I've seen that rotate either have bundled software or some other such thing.

vasaz said:
I think it is perfectly possible if you can find a VESA compliant stand that can rotate 90 degrees. There is an option in the System display preferences to rotate the screen in software, it's physical rotation that cannot be done out of the box.
 
Ah, only works with non-Apple displays? Never saw that since I use an imac and PB.. I have to try that with an external. Any screen shots of the options with the monitor attached? Thnx.

Spanky Deluxe said:
Is it actually a limitation of the ACD display, i.e. does Apple purposely stop it from working or are you saying its a limit because there is no physical tilt system. I've got an LCD display (non Apple) attatched to a Mini and in the display system settings I can rotate the screen. I've fiddled around with it and it certainly works! I would have to physically find a way to stand the screen up on its side though.
 
Some_Big_Spoon said:
Ah, only works with non-Apple displays? Never saw that since I use an imac and PB.. I have to try that with an external. Any screen shots of the options with the monitor attached? Thnx.

What's the shortcut for taking a screenshot in OS X? Let me know and I'll put up a screeny.

Edit: Don't worry I found it...
 

Attachments

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    Picture 1.png
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command+shift+3
Full screenshot

command+shift+4
Crosshair to allow selection of screenshot area

command+shift+4, then spacebar
Camera to capture specific screen object

Spanky Deluxe said:
What's the shortcut for taking a screenshot in OS X? Let me know and I'll put up a screeny.
 
Some_Big_Spoon said:
command+shift+3
Full screenshot

command+shift+4
Crosshair to allow selection of screenshot area

command+shift+4, then spacebar
Camera to capture specific screen object

Cool cheers! I just found out how to do it by googling though and a shot is up. :)

I'm heading back from Uni tomorrow so I might put it on its side and have a play with it in portrait mode while I unpack. :D
 
OMG! I feel cheated, fer real! I had no idea you could do this from a non-Apple display >:-(

I stand corrected! I'm not sure about the older Apple LCD's, but by all means yes, you could do a VESA mount with another monitor.

So, question is now, where's the hack to do this with an ACD? I'm off to try and find one. Someone post it here if they find it first.

Spanky Deluxe said:
What's the shortcut for taking a screenshot in OS X? Let me know and I'll put up a screeny.

Edit: Don't worry I found it...
 
So does it actually stop you from doing it with an ACD or does it only stop it from working on an internal display such as a Powerbook or iMac's?

Edit: BTW in regards to the original poster, if external ACDs can do this and if OS X displays a seperate page for each monitor like in the dialogue I posted above then I see no reason why one screen couldn't be in portrait with the other in landscape mode.
 
Seems like ACD does stop you, which is weird, no? Maybe I'm wrong? Apple does have a habit of diabling useful things for their own reasons (see screen spanning in previous iMacs and ibooks)

Spanky Deluxe said:
So does it actually stop you from doing it with an ACD or does it only stop it from working on an internal display such as a Powerbook or iMac's?

Edit: BTW in regards to the original poster, if external ACDs can do this and if OS X displays a seperate page for each monitor like in the dialogue I posted above then I see no reason why one screen couldn't be in portrait with the other in landscape mode.
 
Some_Big_Spoon said:
ACD's won't do portrait mode. There are LCD's that will do portrait, or switch back and forth. Do a froogle search and you'll get a bunch.

I feel your pain.. I think it'd be a great thing if Apple's monitors switched (and would justify the premium), especially sonce so many of us Apple Devotees do page layout.


Also, dont only ATI video card drivers in OS X support rotating. NVidia drivers do not.
 
trogdor! said:
Also, dont only ATI video card drivers in OS X support rotating. NVidia drivers do not.

No. My PB 12 inch can do it on an external display with its NVidia GeForce FX Go5200 card.

EDIT: Sorry, you're right. It works with my Mini, but actually doesn't work with my PB 12 inch (just checked again).
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
So does it actually stop you from doing it with an ACD or does it only stop it from working on an internal display such as a Powerbook or iMac's?

Edit: BTW in regards to the original poster, if external ACDs can do this and if OS X displays a seperate page for each monitor like in the dialogue I posted above then I see no reason why one screen couldn't be in portrait with the other in landscape mode.

I tried a nice setup: Intel IMac 20 inch with second display (Fujitsu Siemens) which has a stand that allows it to be rotated. I turned on the 90 degree rotation for the external monitor. It's perfect for working on Letter or A4 size documents or portrait fotos.
 
Granted, you are a professional when it comes to color, but we warned about some quality issues of the 23" ACDs. I had one 23" ACD, and last summer, decided to add another. I brought the 2nd one home, hooked it up, and noticed quite a color disparity between the 2. The older one (11 months) had become rather pink, with no fix available. Luckily, the Apple Genius agreed it was not right, and they fixed it. However, while running just one screen, I noticed issues with color consistency across the screen of the 2nd one. (move the itunes screen around, and notice how the blue bars on every other song will fade in and out)

I brought that one back, and replaced it with 2 20" ACDs, which dont seem to have any issues. A friend, who didnt mind the repair, bought my old fixed 23"

To note, last week in the apple store, i did the itunes test on a few 23"s, and they didnt exhibit any color issues.


They are great, when they work right, just want you to be forewarned, nothing more disappointing then finally having the "hot setup" of 2 23s and not have them look the same!

EDIT: I have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card (got off ebay) and it will allow me to put one, or both screens, in portrait mode. So it is possible, provided you have the right card, to run one landscape and one portrait.
 
I've got the ATI Radeon 9600 (stock with my PowerMac). So, I'm sorry, but I got a bit lost in the posts.....

It is possible, as long as I can find the correct hardware to stand the 2nd 23" ACD???

Also, I have a very good Apple center that let me proof the monitor in store before I bought it (late model anyway!). I would have loved the 30... but it's just too much money.
 
From my testing, yes, you can run one screen in landscape mode, and the 2nd display in portrait mode, using the video card you have (If it works with the 20" ACD, no reason why it shouldnt work with the 23")

Provided you get the proper VESA display arm to physically mount the monitor sideways, OSX, and your video card, can support what you want to do.
 
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