Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Cinema Displays.. worth it for the lack of inputs? Updates soon? Worthy buying now?

wangchunggti337

wangchunggti337

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 14, 2007
208
0
I have an opportunity to buy a used Cinema Display at a really good price. But since they are so expensive to start with I could pretty much buy a cheaper monitor with more inputs for roughly the same price. Is it worth buying one over the other?

I know the Cinemas look really nice, but do you owners feel hindered without being able to plug in your xbox for example. I don't really have any gaming systems or anything to be plugging in but I'm thinking for the future.

Also, it seems they might be updating soon, HDMI? I wouldn't want to buy a monitor that will have one input when the standard will be HDMI, Composte, S-Video, etc.

I would be using this as an extension to the laptop for better viewing. I don't have any particular viewing needs, but I want to eventually get an external monitor.

Any thoughts?
 
It sounds as if it will work with your current gear but to be honest - if you do photo editing or anything that is demanding in color fidelity/accuracy get it.

If not then weigh out your options - buying for the future is fleeting being that it is constantly changing (if you buy an HDMI monitor it may change in 1,2, or 3 years)

I suggest buying within your budget, needs and aesthetic taste as opposed to trying to future proof yourself.
 
If its a good price, get it. I just picked up a 20" ACD for a great price and I'm glad I did. Yeah, I could have bought a Dell monitor for slightly cheaper, but why would I want to. I bought it for use with my computer. If I want to hook up a game system, I'll hook it up to my TV. The ACD has a great picture and looks awesome next to my MacBook Pro.
 
That is something I never understood, why the ACD were so expensive even though they had less inputs. I know they definitely look good, but it's for the color accuracy?

What would be a really good price on one of these? One that was seven months old.

Do the recent price adjustment have anything to do with an update?

Thanks!
 
Thanks for the idea on the HDMI cable! I actually had thought of that and did a little research. I think I came to the conclusion that the scaling on an Apple Display is different than that of an HDTV, therefore the signal doesn't go through correctly. That is something I read which could be completely wrong. Any other opinions on this would be appreciated.


Also, what's a really good price on a 7 month old 20in ACD?
 
I have an opportunity to buy an ACD but it's an 'exploding offer' haha, so I'm just seeing what's a good price.

Can I plug a gaming system to this?
 
That DVI-HDMI cord on the Apple Store is ridiclous! You can go to Best Buy and get the same thing for more than half that price.

And as for the HD on the Cinema Display.. it's called an HD Cinema Display for a reason ;)
 
Oh, I know, I wouldn't pay that price. But would that work? Could I plug in anything that's HDMI?

Anyone have a good price limit?
 
Father Jack said:
Remember it's only the 23" and 30" ACD that are HD

FJ
Click to expand...

*only the 23 and 30 are 1080P

720P is very much HD and any modern widescreen monitor meets the spec for HD these days. However, the Apple cinema display is a HORRIBLE choice if you even have the remotest desire to do anything except hook a computer to it. The internal scaler is balls and even though, yes, you can use HDMI->DVI to hook a HDMI source to it, it won't look nearly as good as I'm sure you're imagining.

Try Dell. Better monitors, better prices. They're part of the very few things that Dell does well.
 
taylorwilsdon said:
*only the 23 and 30 are 1080P

720P is very much HD and any modern widescreen monitor meets the spec for HD these days. However, the Apple cinema display is a HORRIBLE choice if you even have the remotest desire to do anything except hook a computer to it. The internal scaler is balls and even though, yes, you can use HDMI->DVI to hook a HDMI source to it, it won't look nearly as good as I'm sure you're imagining.

Try Dell. Better monitors, better prices. They're part of the very few things that Dell does well.
Click to expand...
According to Apple the 20" ACD is not HD but the 23" & 30" are.
I should like to think that Apple know what they are making and selling.

FJ
 
taylorwilsdon said:
*only the 23 and 30 are 1080P

720P is very much HD and any modern widescreen monitor meets the spec for HD these days. However, the Apple cinema display is a HORRIBLE choice if you even have the remotest desire to do anything except hook a computer to it. The internal scaler is balls and even though, yes, you can use HDMI->DVI to hook a HDMI source to it, it won't look nearly as good as I'm sure you're imagining.

Try Dell. Better monitors, better prices. They're part of the very few things that Dell does well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on the dell display scalers. I'm going to be in the market for a large display this summer and am planning to use it for other sources. How do you think the HD scaling on the dell displays compares to a native resolution display?
 
Father Jack said:
According to Apple the 20" ACD is not HD but the 23" & 30" are.
I should like to think that Apple know what they are making and selling.

FJ
Click to expand...

I'd like to think so, but heres the thing. How can it not be...

hdresolutionspr0.jpg

hdrequirementsgs1.jpg


Lets forget what Apple says and what High Definition requirements are.

1080i/p = 1920x1080, any 23" display(s) support that up to 30" and higher.

720p = 1280x720, any 20" widescreen display supports that, because the standard resolution they come in is 1680x1050. Now 1680x1050 is higher than 1280x720.

480p = 852x480.


So unless theres something else in the 20" ACD display that doesn't make it HD compliant, then what does?

You can buy HDTV's that support 480 & 720 and its still marked as HD ready. The 20" may not support 1920x1080 but it still supports the two lower HD resolutions.
 
Since I don't have anything running HDMI yet I will probably only have a laptop hooked up to it for awhile. I also have an iSight I can mount on it.

So $300 is a solid price?

What updates would come at WWDC if any?
 
vohdoun said:
I'd like to think so, but heres the thing. How can it not be...

hdresolutionspr0.jpg

hdrequirementsgs1.jpg


Lets forget what Apple says and what High Definition requirements are.

1080i/p = 1920x1080, any 23" display(s) support that up to 30" and higher.

720p = 1280x720, any 20" widescreen display supports that, because the standard resolution they come in is 1680x1050. Now 1680x1050 is higher than 1280x720.

480p = 852x480.


So unless theres something else in the 20" ACD display that doesn't make it HD compliant, then what does?

You can buy HDTV's that support 480 & 720 and its still marked as HD ready. The 20" may not support 1920x1080 but it still supports the two lower HD resolutions.
Click to expand...
Perhaps then I should rephrase what I said.
According to Apple, they state that the 23" and 30" ACD are HD but not the 20"

I foolishly thought Apple would know. :eek:

If as you say the 20" is HD, then why don't apple advertise it as such?

FJ
 
wangchunggti337 said:
Since I don't have anything running HDMI yet I will probably only have a laptop hooked up to it for awhile. I also have an iSight I can mount on it.

So $300 is a solid price?

What updates would come at WWDC if any?
Click to expand...

$300 for what a 20"? yes thats a solid price. of course, assuming theres no faults.

also i am very intrested in knowing what updates people are expecting screen wise from wwdc??
 
dejo said:
Probably because the 20" cannot handle all HD resolutions whereas the 23" and 30" can. Apple is actually being modest in this respect.
Click to expand...

Thing is it can handle 3 HD sizes and just doesn't support 1, the biggest 1920x1080, to rule it out as its not HD at all seems daft no?
The 20" is capable of viewing 480, 720, 768, it just can't support 1920x1080. Three is better than one.

Why can't they just list it supports the main two HD resolutions. Its not hard to create a fine print describing what it is capable of rather than ruling it out its just not HD compliant. Then state if you want to watch 1080 content, you'll need 23" and higher.
Using this as an example that not a lot of people use or have 1080 on HD tv's as there's very little content that uses it and also the cost. Mainly 720 is well used and cheaper, its usually people with consoles that get HD screens for 1080 or the die hard movie buffs that want HD-DVD and Blu-Ray for the future.
 
vohdoun said:
The 20" is capable of viewing 480, 720, 768, it just can't support 1920x1080. Three is better than one.
Click to expand...
But four is better than three! ;)

I find it interesting how Apple is handling this. But I must admit I find it better than some of the HDTV manufacturers who claim HD TVs but their resolutions are 1366x768 and thus not able to handle either of the common HD programming resolutions (720p and 1080p) without needing some scaling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back