**New iMac 27" monitor calibration

[Rhobes]

I plan to buy a new iMac 27" 2.8GHz Quad i7. My question is in calibrating the monitor. I have read that on the 24" monitors(or 21? one of them) there is a brightness problem & some of the calibrators can't function because the monitor is too bright therefore requiring "Shades" or "Coloreyes Display Pro" to enable the calibrators to work. Is this a problem for the 27" monitor?

Which calibrator will inclusively do the job on this monitor(without buying additional software to enable it), Colormunki?, Spyder3?

Question #2: If I want to add an additional monitor similar to that which the 27" iMac has what are my options & price. I would want both monitors to be the same resolution but I see Apple doesn't even offer one the same resolution that I can find. I believe the Dell 2209WA is available again, a viable option/compatible but don't know the resolution. I assume the 27" is 24 bit color and IPS so I would expect the second monitor to be also. Do I need additional wiring to do this, do I need another graphics card??

 

[Rhobes]

Ttt

 

[MacinDoc]

ATM, nobody offers a monitor with the same specs. Short of buying a second iMac just for the monitor, that is...

 

[Rhobes]

Essentially Apple has the 30" cinema for like $1800 then the 24" which has the ISight camera etc.(don't need that in a second monitor). Any Rec's on 3rd party displays that maybe smaller than the 30" but spec out close to it?

 

[MacinDoc]

Essentially Apple has the 30" cinema for like $1800 then the 24" which has the ISight camera etc.(don't need that in a second monitor). Any Rec's on 3rd party displays that maybe smaller than the 30" but spec out close to it?

AFAIK, the iMac has the only monitor smaller than 30" that currently has these specs, although I suspect that LG will be coming out with one in the coming months, since they apparently make this monitor. Of course, if you don't mind having a lower resolution than the iMac's 1440p, there are plenty of choices, but this would likely simply be annoying, because the dot pitch on the two monitors would not match.

 

[Rhobes]

Thanks for your reply MacinDoc-

That's something to keep an eye on for sure but who is LG?

I've never worked with dual monitors but I just assume if they aren't the same resolution that can mess you up? Unless you always know one monitor shows a different size although in reality both monitors are showing the same size. Guess you could get accustomed to the variance?

I would think if a monitor were at least close to the same resolution as the 27" iMac you may not notice it by eye?

Then again, I'm worried about calibrating the two so the colors match. Seems like two Apple monitors would be hands down the way to go but you can't buy two the same...

 

[Umbongo]

Thanks for your reply MacinDoc-

That's something to keep an eye on for sure but who is LG?

I've never worked with dual monitors but I just assume if they aren't the same resolution that can mess you up? Unless you always know one monitor shows a different size although in reality both monitors are showing the same size. Guess you could get accustomed to the variance?

I would think if a monitor were at least close to the same resolution as the 27" iMac you may not notice it by eye?

Then again, I'm worried about calibrating the two so the colors match. Seems like two Apple monitors would be hands down the way to go but you can't buy two the same...

LG is the second biggest LCD manufacturer. Among other things they produce all IPS panels for high end displays. They will probably use the 27" panel in their own display line at some point, or maybe another manufacturer will use it, but I wouldn't hold out for it. Apple probably have all the supply tied up for some time. If you want an additional display to match then the closest thing is Apple's 24".