20" & 23" Aluminum Displays Now Shipping

[danhaupt]

Sparkles on PBs only?

I posted about the problem of little specks on a black background earlier with my new 23" and I see another poster has this problem.

The sparkles are a bit mysterious. As far as I can tell, they only affect 23" displays driven by PBs. On the Apple discussions, one poster discusses that an AppleCare rep attributed it to the charging system, that running on battery power cures the prob, and that Apple was willing to accept his PB for repair/replacement to fix the issue. Another poster indicated that turning off his AE card solved the problem. Neither of these workarounds seem to help my sparkles.

What I, and another poster, have observed, is that the sparkles decrease over time as the PB and display are on. That is, it's worst in the morning when you first fire everything up, then nearly resolved by midmorning or afternoon.

yayfrogs: Do any of these scenarios apply to your setup?

I plan to (continue to) wait for my dual 2.5 GHz and see how things look when the monitor is connected to its intended.

-Dan

 

[wdlove]

The sparkles are a bit mysterious. As far as I can tell, they only affect 23" displays driven by PBs. On the Apple discussions, one poster discusses that an AppleCare rep attributed it to the charging system, that running on battery power cures the prob, and that Apple was willing to accept his PB for repair/replacement to fix the issue. Another poster indicated that turning off his AE card solved the problem. Neither of these workarounds seem to help my sparkles.

What I, and another poster, have observed, is that the sparkles decrease over time as the PB and display are on. That is, it's worst in the morning when you first fire everything up, then nearly resolved by midmorning or afternoon.

yayfrogs: Do any of these scenarios apply to your setup?

I plan to (continue to) wait for my dual 2.5 GHz and see how things look when the monitor is connected to its intended.

-Dan

I really enjoyed your use of wording, thank you. It would seem best to just have all your order shipped at the same time. That way all the new items will be booted for the first time together.

 

[yayfrogs]

The sparkles are a bit mysterious. As far as I can tell, they only affect 23" displays driven by PBs. On the Apple discussions, one poster discusses that an AppleCare rep attributed it to the charging system, that running on battery power cures the prob, and that Apple was willing to accept his PB for repair/replacement to fix the issue. Another poster indicated that turning off his AE card solved the problem. Neither of these workarounds seem to help my sparkles.

What I, and another poster, have observed, is that the sparkles decrease over time as the PB and display are on. That is, it's worst in the morning when you first fire everything up, then nearly resolved by midmorning or afternoon.

yayfrogs: Do any of these scenarios apply to your setup?

I personally haven't noticed a difference in the number of sparkles after it's been running longer. As to the AE card, it's the same whether the card is installed or not. One thing I've noticed is that certain images tend to create more sparkles on the black background within their proximity than other images. For instance, the password window after the system is resumed from sleep creates a tremendous amount of sparkles on the black background to the right of it---more so than the black background surrounding a rotating OpenGL object. Another thing I once noticed is that after turning on anti-aliasing during an OpenGL demo, there was an instant increase in sparkles, suggesting more of a PB 15 problem than a 23" problem, as anti-aliasing OpenGL modes use several times the video memory of non-anti-aliased modes and thus cause a significant change in the system board's electrical state. (OpenGL anti-aliasing works by rendering the scene at several times the size it is to be displayed at and then scaling down the scene.)

The password window on the black background seems to be the best, clearest way for me to demonstrate the sparkles problem. Has this been the case for you, or do other objects on black backgrounds more intensely illustrate the effect?

(PS: For the sake of some readers that don't have the password box turned on, it's turned on by a little checkbox in the Security section of System Preferences, not the Desktop & Screen Saver section. It took myself and the floor tech at the Apple Store a minute to find it on the G5 before we could test the password box on the G5 with my 23" connected, as we both began by looking in the Desktop & Screen Saver section only to not find it there.)

 

[danhaupt]

The password window on the black background seems to be the best, clearest way for me to demonstrate the sparkles problem. Has this been the case for you, or do other objects on black backgrounds more intensely illustrate the effect?

Yeah, the password background does it, along with the black background when iDVD is burning.

The other interesting thing is that I've previously used this PB with an NEC 2180UX 21" LCD that makes a beautiful 1600x1200 image, with no sparkles. I want THOSE electronics packed into the 23" CD's case.

-Dan

 

[yayfrogs]

Yeah, the password background does it, along with the black background when iDVD is burning.

The other interesting thing is that I've previously used this PB with an NEC 2180UX 21" LCD that makes a beautiful 1600x1200 image, with no sparkles. I want THOSE electronics packed into the 23" CD's case.

I wonder what the exact problem is with the 23" CD's electronics that gives it sparkles with certain DVI connections, particularly the Powerbook 15's? Some kind of "impedance mismatch"? I wonder if both the PB and the 23" are to fault but the problem doesn't really manifest until they're both used together. My PB 15 also has run every other monitor I've hooked it up to without sparkles, and my 23" was sparkle-free with the on-floor machines at the Apple Store. Such a strange, strange problem.

My 'repaired' PB 15 should be back at the Apple Store between Monday and Thursday, and I'll post updates about whether the sparkles go away or not.

 

[BWhaler]

I got my 23" Display today. After reading about the problems here and the Apple boards I was nervous setting it up.

It looks like everything is a-ok so far. Luckily. Of course, the one year warranty is a nice safety net.

 

[drewm]

got mine yesterday from Online Micro. what an awesome piece. makes my PB screen look bad....

 

[BigEvan23]

SPARKLES!

I used to have sparkles on my 15 inch pb and 23 inch display. I didn't think much about it because I had to return the pb for cause of a faulty cd drive. My current powerbook does not have the problem when driving the monitor at all. I guess its a hit or miss kinda thing.

 

[BWhaler]

got mine yesterday from Online Micro. what an awesome piece. makes my PB screen look bad....

LOL...I thought the same thing. I used to think my 17" PB screen was incredible until I got the 23". It's amazing.

 

[erroneous]

UK 23"

Downside: There are two stuck red subpixels on the centre right. There was, to my uneducated eye, a slight pink cast to midgray greys on, but a calibration cleared that right up. The backlight intensity seems to drop off a little in the bottom left corner of the display along the outer edge - it's a minor effect to my eye, but someone with more demanding requirements might find it distracting.

Not sure how practical the 3G iPod-like touch buttons on the right hand side are. Like with the iPod, if you can't see them directly, you'll probably press the wrong button. Not such a user issue like it was with the iPod, since there are only three buttons, and you're not going to spend all day turning it off and on, or constantly update the brightness, but still: it's a minor triumph of industrial design over genuine practicality.

Upside: it's a gorgeous piece of kit. The picture is bright - not bright enough to be dazzling, but substantially brighter than my old CRT and with sensible indoor lighting I do turn the brightness down to about 50%. It's crisp, smoothly lit, in all a huge improvement over the clunky Compaq 1280x1024 I have to use it work. Worked out of the box with first my rev B 12" PB DVI with the mini->maxi DVI adaptor, and then my rev B 2x1.8 G5/9600XT. I've got an ADC->DVI adaptor, which it's running off, while my old Iiyama 19" CRT hangs off the DVI port with the supplied VGA adaptor.

Have some pictures of it.

I'm pretty happy. Heck, I'm delerious.

 

[recursivejon]

Almost here!!!

I just checked FedEx tracking to see if my 23" HD Display had gotten any further than Sacramento over the past 5 days, lo and behold...

Aug 12, 2004 | 7:51 pm | Departed FedEx sort facility | WOODBRIDGE, NJ

(its coming to New York)

Sure it took two days to leave NJ after it got there on the 10th, but that means it's coming tomorrow like they promised!

I'll post pictures when they drop it off tomorrow.

 

[wdlove]

I just checked FedEx tracking to see if my 23" HD Display had gotten any further than Sacramento over the past 5 days, lo and behold...

Aug 12, 2004 | 7:51 pm | Departed FedEx sort facility | WOODBRIDGE, NJ

(its coming to New York)

Sure it took two days to leave NJ after it got there on the 10th, but that means it's coming tomorrow like they promised!

I'll post pictures when they drop it off tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to your pictures, hopefully very soon. What type of Mac will it be using?

 

[recursivejon]

I'm looking forward to your pictures, hopefully very soon. What type of Mac will it be using?

The 2.5Ghz MP G5... which won't ship for another 7 days...

Haha, I'll post pictures as soon as I clean my room... at the moment the parent is using the camera.

 

[Ge4-ce]

Downside: There are two stuck red subpixels on the centre right. There was, to my uneducated eye, a slight pink cast to midgray greys on, but a calibration cleared that right up. The backlight intensity seems to drop off a little in the bottom left corner of the display along the outer edge - it's a minor effect to my eye, but someone with more demanding requirements might find it distracting.

Not sure how practical the 3G iPod-like touch buttons on the right hand side are. Like with the iPod, if you can't see them directly, you'll probably press the wrong button. Not such a user issue like it was with the iPod, since there are only three buttons, and you're not going to spend all day turning it off and on, or constantly update the brightness, but still: it's a minor triumph of industrial design over genuine practicality.

Upside: it's a gorgeous piece of kit. The picture is bright - not bright enough to be dazzling, but substantially brighter than my old CRT and with sensible indoor lighting I do turn the brightness down to about 50%. It's crisp, smoothly lit, in all a huge improvement over the clunky Compaq 1280x1024 I have to use it work. Worked out of the box with first my rev B 12" PB DVI with the mini->maxi DVI adaptor, and then my rev B 2x1.8 G5/9600XT. I've got an ADC->DVI adaptor, which it's running off, while my old Iiyama 19" CRT hangs off the DVI port with the supplied VGA adaptor.

Have some pictures of it.

I'm pretty happy. Heck, I'm delerious.

I have the same display! 23". I hooked up to my powerbook while waiting for my G5 to arrive

But I must say that I don't share some of your feelings.. My screen was cool when it came out of the box! It has no dead or stuck pixels.. And the backlight is equal over the entire screen. I have no redisch look like some of other 23" receivers had. I was even able to calibrate the display with a Lacie Blue-eye calibrator and the result is just phenomonal!! My father owns a photostore with a minilab for developing pictures and we are very picky when it comes to coloraccuracy! We both were astonished when we saw the result!

Especially when I drag over a picture to the powerbook screen! Then the difference is really really noticable!

 

[wdlove]

The 2.5Ghz MP G5... which won't ship for another 7 days...

Haha, I'll post pictures as soon as I clean my room... at the moment the parent is using the camera.

Seven days should pass by before you realize. At least you will have plenty of time to clean your room. Hopefully with a clean room your parent will allow use of the camera. Are they excited about the G5 also?

 

[recursivejon]

Seven days should pass by before you realize. At least you will have plenty of time to clean your room. Hopefully with a clean room your parent will allow use of the camera. Are they excited about the G5 also?

Haha, yeah but it didn't take that long.

I'm just happy the display got here ok... as far as I can tell.

 

[wdlove]

Haha, yeah but it didn't take that long.

I'm just happy the display got here ok... as far as I can tell.

Your setup looks awesome. A very neat and organized room. Your parents must be very proud. Thank you for sharing.

 

[macsrus]

Haha, yeah but it didn't take that long.

I'm just happy the display got here ok... as far as I can tell.

Since the new displays are shipping im hoping to pick up an older 23
" for a steal

 

[therealbeef]

i just saw the 23 incher at the apple store...its awesome and although the 20 incher looks good. the 23 incher looks so much better. my school is selling the 23 incher at a deeply discounted rate....only 1700 but im a student...sigh....

 

[nfocus design]

I bought the 23" Saturday at my local Apple store and I love it. I was a little worried that it might have a pink tint to it, but luckily my color looks great. There are a few stuck pixels, but I can only see it on a black background. PiXel Check (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10793) is a free program that makes it easy to check for stuck or dead pixels. Talk about bright. This monitor lights up my entire room at night. Last night I was sitting in my chair talking on the phone and when my screen went black, I thought the electricity had gone out. It sure makes my 12" PowerBook look small...

 

[bpd115]

I got my 23 inch on Friday night....my Dual 2.0 is in for repair until Sat. so I am running it off my 12 inch PB and it is an AWESOME screen. I have an NEC 17 inch that I plan on running with my G5 when it gets home so I'll see how it looks dual.

I'll post pictures next week.

 

[wdlove]

nfocus design, your setup looks very nice also. I see what you mean about your 12" PB looking almost lost. Your G4 and 23" CD seem to be very compatible. What is the item under your desk on the left side?

bpd115, I hope that there is nothing too seriously wrong with your new G5. Your probably really missing your G5. Looking forward to pictures.

 

[nfocus design]

nfocus design, your setup looks very nice also. I see what you mean about your 12" PB looking almost lost. Your G4 and 23" CD seem to be very compatible. What is the item under your desk on the left side?

bpd115, I hope that there is nothing too seriously wrong with your new G5. Your probably really missing your G5. Looking forward to pictures.

I did have to buy an ADC to DVI adapter to make it work on my G4. I'll just ebay it when my G5 comes in and I don't need it any longer.

Are you talking about the subwoofer for my JBL creature speakers? I have the "REAL" silver ones and not the Creature II version with the flat gray.

 

[wdlove]

I did have to buy an ADC to DVI adapter to make it work on my G4. I'll just ebay it when my G5 comes in and I don't need it any longer.

Are you talking about the subwoofer for my JBL creature speakers? I have the "REAL" silver ones and not the Creature II version with the flat gray.

Isn't the subwoofer the silver item in the center of the floor? I was referring to the black and silver item next to the window.

 

[nfocus design]

Isn't the subwoofer the silver item in the center of the floor? I was referring to the black and silver item next to the window.

Oh, are you talking about the little drawers? I have three small containers stacked on top of each other. The left side of the desk is supposed to hold a tower, but mine is too big to go in there. I was afraid it would slip off.