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Apologies for the thread resurrection :)

I really, really wish that there were some new ACDs now - I've got a 10% discount card and money burning a hole in my pocket. Was hoping for something at WWDC.

Anyone got any tasty rumours for me to feed my brain on? Or alternative 30" displays that'd be great for an Aperture > Photoshop > print workflow, p'raps?
 
Apologies for the thread resurrection :)

I really, really wish that there were some new ACDs now - I've got a 10% discount card and money burning a hole in my pocket. Was hoping for something at WWDC.

Anyone got any tasty rumours for me to feed my brain on? Or alternative 30" displays that'd be great for an Aperture > Photoshop > print workflow, p'raps?

Why an alternative?? I just picked up a 30"ACD about a 2 months ago, and let me tell you, you WILL NOT be dissapointed!
 
In short - I know I'd love the current one, but I'd imagine I'd love the upcoming one more :)

A few possible reasons:

  • The new one will almost certainly be better :D
  • Better off-axis response - seemed when I used one in the Apple Store here that unless you were a good distance away there was a fair bit of colour shift on the sides (they *are* a long way away...)
  • Screen uniformity (self-calibrating like the Eizos would be great)
  • Deeper blacks
  • Better contrast ratio

It'd also be great to have it be a nicer screen for movie watching than my current ACD (a 20" plastic framed one), which doesn't do that well in dark sequences. I don't know whether such a screen exists - maybe I'm dreaming - but it'd be great if it did. Here's hoping!
 
Apologies for the thread resurrection :)

I really, really wish that there were some new ACDs now - I've got a 10% discount card and money burning a hole in my pocket. Was hoping for something at WWDC.

Anyone got any tasty rumours for me to feed my brain on? Or alternative 30" displays that'd be great for an Aperture > Photoshop > print workflow, p'raps?

if i were to guess, i'd say apple won't release a lineup of cinema displays until it can get them to be led-backlit. and i don't think that will happen until sometime in 2008. again, just a guess.
 
if i were to guess, i'd say apple won't release a lineup of cinema displays until it can get them to be led-backlit. and i don't think that will happen until sometime in 2008. again, just a guess.

I doubt Apple will wait that long. They really need to sell a stand-alone monitor with built-in iSight if their customers are going to be able to take advantage of all the cool news features in the upcoming version of iChat.
 
if i were to guess, i'd say apple won't release a lineup of cinema displays until it can get them to be led-backlit. and i don't think that will happen until sometime in 2008. again, just a guess.

I agree that Apple will certainly want to move to all LED back lighting, but no updates until then? Yeow, that's a long time. However, from a technology perspective, are the ACD's "old" technology at this point? Sure, I'd like to have all of the connections of some of the Dell screens, but otherwise I'm not so sure they need an update. Please correct me if this is not the case.:)
 
I agree that Apple will certainly want to move to all LED back lighting, but no updates until then? Yeow, that's a long time. However, from a technology perspective, are the ACD's "old" technology at this point? Sure, I'd like to have all of the connections of some of the Dell screens, but otherwise I'm not so sure they need an update. Please correct me if this is not the case.:)

the next time apple updates their display line, another update won't follow for several more years to come. so it only makes sense for apple to want to include led backlighting in their next round of updates. if you remember back to apple's "a greener apple" statement, it read:

To eliminate mercury in our displays, we need to transition from fluorescent lamps to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the displays. Fortunately, all iPod displays already use LEDs for illumination, and therefore contain no mercury. We plan to introduce our first Macs with LED backlight technology in 2007. Our ability to completely eliminate fluorescent lamps in all of our displays depends on how fast the LCD industry can transition to LED backlighting for larger displays.

Apple plans to completely eliminate the use of arsenic in all of its displays by the end of 2008.

Apple plans to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of mercury by transitioning to LED backlighting for all displays when technically and economically feasible.

so again, i don't think displays will be updated until they're led-backlit, and i'm guessing that'll happen some time in 2008.
 
the next time apple updates their display line, another update won't follow for several more years to come. so it only makes sense for apple to want to include led backlighting in their next round of updates. if you remember back to apple's "a greener apple" statement, it read:

so again, i don't think displays will be updated until they're led-backlit, and i'm guessing that'll happen some time in 2008.

Sure, I could see that. Wow, a 30" w/LCD backlighting... :cool:
 
Oh, the waiting - the waiting! I want one now :)

It looks increasingly as if it won't be anytime soon, though, doesn't it?

I've read varying reports about companies not moving their large LCDs to LED backlights because of the recent price drops on the older tech - and there just aren't any large LED-lit screens anywhere on the market that I've seen. The biggest is the NEC LCD2180WG-LED-BK 21 inch at a whopping $6k.

That leaves:

a) the panels they're using currently, which by most accounts are excellent for colour-critical work but less so for video
b) newer panels like the one that the HP 3065 and Dell 3007 HC use and which have the opposite pros and cons to a)
c) panels that I've not seen in use anywhere, which'd be either really, really expensive, or just plain not available until much later. There's only the 20"

And if those are the options on the table at the moment I guess I'd spring for a). Which I could have done months ago. What a tit!

Anyone know any more about the current crop of screens and what might be coming from other manufacturers that are more forthcoming about new products?
 
Anyone know any more about the current crop of screens and what might be coming from other manufacturers that are more forthcoming about new products?

I believe Samsung is releasing 30" display that is LED backlit BUT it is in 4:3 format (Yuk!) : ) But it has 3000:1 contract ratio! Wow!

I too am waiting for the ACD 30" update. I think I also read that Apple is planning a 40" display to take the new flag ship model position. Maybe I will just buy one now and get rid of it when the new model comes out since no body knows when that will be... 1 week or 6 months.
 
Well I caved in and bought one on Friday.

I got the store to set one up so that I could check it, and I'm glad I did, because the first one had five dead pixels and a darker cast on the left-hand side. The second one was absolutely perfect once it had warmed up. It looks absolutely enormous at home - it couldn't have been any bigger.

It'll do me a while now - and it'd need to be an incredible step up to get me to go through the hassle of moving this one on in order to get something else.

I'm not convinced there'll be anything LED based until the end of next year, anyway, so this is a good half-way house.

Happy camper! :)
 
I just wish they would have a higher contrast ratio and a little lower in price. I need another monitor very soon, and the dell 24" priced at $599 it looking like a great deal compared to the 23" ACD at $899 is a big difference. Being a small business owner $300 makes a difference, even though I would rather give apple my money :confused:
 
FWIW I've read quite a bit about that Dell in particular not being much cop for photography work. DPreview has some good posts in the forum if you have a search.

Dante has posted some enlightening material in this thread, too.

I just wish they would have a higher contrast ratio and a little lower in price. I need another monitor very soon, and the dell 24" priced at $599 it looking like a great deal compared to the 23" ACD at $899 is a big difference. Being a small business owner $300 makes a difference, even though I would rather give apple my money :confused:
 
Thanks for the heads up all2ofme, looks like some good info on dpreview. I think i will go with one of the ACD 23", looks to be better for color sensitive material and matching prints.
 
The 30 -inch Apple Cinema Display is $1729 at B&H Photovideo, free shipping and they don't charge sales tax (unless you live in New York). I just bought two of them. Boy, those suckers do radiate the heat.

B&H is as reliable a store as you can get in my extensive experience with them, and based on their reviews at http://resellerratings.com. They're rated substantially higher than MacConnection, for example. They package the sealed Apple box inside another big box with peanuts or those little air bags -- IOW, they do their utmost to make the shipping UPS-proof. Customer Service tends to be New York-brusque, but they always get the job done.
 
I too am waiting for the ACD 30" update. I think I also read that Apple is planning a 40" display to take the new flag ship model position. Maybe I will just buy one now and get rid of it when the new model comes out since no body knows when that will be... 1 week or 6 months.

O_O, Wonder what resolution a 40" will be if its to be a true desktop. Not a TV.


Well I caved in and bought one on Friday.

I got the store to set one up so that I could check it, and I'm glad I did, because the first one had five dead pixels and a darker cast on the left-hand side. The second one was absolutely perfect once it had warmed up. It looks absolutely enormous at home - it couldn't have been any bigger.

It'll do me a while now - and it'd need to be an incredible step up to get me to go through the hassle of moving this one on in order to get something else.

I'm not convinced there'll be anything LED based until the end of next year, anyway, so this is a good half-way house.

Happy camper! :)

Yeah, I love it. A dual setup of 30" + 23" ACD. Best purchase I've ever made. Plus I don't plan to get anything for quite sometime either. Applecare covers it to May 2010.
Do you ever find it a bit over powering at times? I have to use certain subtle backgrounds to tone down the brightness, even though its at 0.

I just wish they would have a higher contrast ratio and a little lower in price. I need another monitor very soon, and the dell 24" priced at $599 it looking like a great deal compared to the 23" ACD at $899 is a big difference. Being a small business owner $300 makes a difference, even though I would rather give apple my money :confused:

I don't know, but personally I still find 700:1 quite bright. My Dell is 1000:1 and it hurts my eyes even though its at 0 brightness, same goes for the 30" ACD.
 
I still can't believe this is the least updated product in the Apple line. It's been years since a serious revamp, while the iMac has seen numerous updates, as well as the Pro and iPod line, and the laptops. It'd be nice to see a built in IR sensor to go with the Mac Pro so us Mac Pro owners could finally use Front Row (I find it extremely annoying that the most expensive system Apple sells isn't capable of a simple program that even the Mac Mini has access to). Maybe even built-in iSights, something, anything.... :(
 
I still can't believe this is the least updated product in the Apple line. It's been years since a serious revamp, while the iMac has seen numerous updates, as well as the Pro and iPod line, and the laptops. It'd be nice to see a built in IR sensor to go with the Mac Pro so us Mac Pro owners could finally use Front Row (I find it extremely annoying that the most expensive system Apple sells isn't capable of a simple program that even the Mac Mini has access to). Maybe even built-in iSights, something, anything.... :(

I'm hoping for an updated set of Apple Cinema Displays as well. I have a DVI KVM hooked to my Mini, my gaming rig, and my notebook, so I can only use a 24" display. That's what I'm holding out for.

As a Mini owner, I have the same problem you do with the lack of iSight, etc.

I'm hoping that Apple will show them off for Leopard, saying that they have a great new visual interface in the OS, why not put out some new displays that show it off.

One can dream...
 
Hey! Five hundred days exactly since the last "update." And only 1,510 days since the 30" display was introduced. Awesome.
 
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