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23" ACD - good?

S

sr5878

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Hey folks,

I've seen several negative reviews of the 23" and 30" ACD here on the boards, and I wanted some opinions from some people who own one.

Do you see a noticable grain or glitter effect on whites?

How are blacks?

I am a graphic designer who is slowly moving into print work, and I really want good color representation -- the 20" Acer TN panel I'm using with my MBP is just not trustworthy with colors. I was going to go for a 24" Dell ultrasharp, but I actually found an ACD for $450. I'm waiting for that to ship, but in the meantime can anyone confirm or relieve my slight case of buyers remorse? 🙂 Please be honest!
 
The ACD is an awesome display for color accuracy. I've really seen a difference in the stability of the display. The panel is great and the blacks are fairly black. I believe that the 23" ACD has the shortest warm up time to unchanging colors (not sure where I read that at the moment). Trust me, this is a purchase you won't regret making.
 
thanks iToaster.

has anyone observed the shimmering effect? I've seen it on a 20" acd, but i didn't have any problems with ghosting or flickering.
 
No shimmering, ghosting, flickering on the one I bought a few weeks ago.

I did have 3 stuck pixels when I first turned it on, but one light flick of my finger fixed them.
 
thanks guys, you rock.

if anyone else has experience with this display, please post!
 
I have nothing but good things to say about both of mine. They are great monitors...you won't regret getting them.
 
I have owned a 20", two 23"'s and a 30" since the aluminium displays were released (I also have a 17" and a 20" acrylic model), and on the most part I have nothing but good things to say about them.

My only disappointment was after paying somewhere around £1299 for one of the early 23" displays sometime in early 2005, and ending up with one with a pinkish hue. I swapped it for a 20" in the end, as it was all I really needed at the time and that was absolutely fine. I had another 23" last year and that one was perfect. My current 30" really in excellent and has improved my work flow immensely since getting it. I am a photographer so colour does matter but I do not doing any serious print proofing on it so I can't comment about accuracy at the real bleeding edge.
 
I have experience with the 23" and 30" ACDs and love them both. Great screens and quite elegant looking, not unimportant in my opinion as it is going to decorate your room for a number of years to come whether it is a thing of beauty or an ugly plastic monstrosity. The aluminum case and stand are lovely.
 
my 23" cinema display is awesome. displays unbelievable colours (you really have to see it to believe it) and has no flickering, ghosting etc. the only minor trouble is about 1/4" of the bottom and corner backlighting is slightly dimmer… i still have my warranty… should i get it replaced/returned or am i being too picky?
 
I have two 23"s that are perfect, and one 20" before it. I bought them all used, and have had zero dead pixels and zero issues between the three.

They are pretty expensive, even used, but I am very happy with the quality.

I spend a LOT of time looking at computer displays, and I am very happy with the 23"s.

I am thinking about switching them out for a Dell 30" (size) and 24" (inputs), but I will likely happily keep what I have now.
 
I personally don't own an ACD, but I have seen two displays, one ACD and another display side-by-side. The color difference is very noticeable. Also, I have also heard positive reviews about the ACD's calibration to have very accurate colors.
 
23 inch ACD

I've had the 23 inch ACD since 2006 and I think it's an excellent display. Personally I never experienced any pink hue though I remember at the time this was a common issue.

Like gotzero above, I'm thinking of upgrading to a 24 or 30 inch Dell because one of my main requirements now is that I want to plug in multiple devices (console, desktop etc.) but the Apple ACD only supports one DVD-D.

Does anyone know of any good DVI switcher boxes for use with the ACD?

Thanks,

C
 
I went through three 23" ACDs a few years ago and returned them all due to various defects, such as uneven backlighting, color inconsistencies and whites that look yellow around the edges. Perhaps Apple has since quietly fixed these defects, but, I won't go near Apple's ACDs anymore until they release new ones with better panels.

IMO, the current ACDs are not suitable for color-critical work.
 
I just got my 23 ACD about 3 months ago. I spent a lot of time looking and comparing screens from dell, samsung, nec, plus others.
By far the ACD had the best color reproduction that I have seen. It has a very wide viewing angle. It looks good even with considerable backlight glare from my studio. I also like the fact that the display not only has 2 USB ports, but also 2 firewire ports.
 
I sell many 23" or 30" Apple Cinema Displays. From what I see , I can say that I dont like the image quality of 30" display. 23" ACD has better image quality but 24" inch iMac ( white ) has better image quality than 23" ACD 🙂.

I think 23" ACD does not worth buying, especially when you consider the price. I use a 24" Samsung at home, I m pretty happy with it.

Have a nice day
 
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