Why should I buy Apple displays?

[LeKiD]

Is there a reason why I should really spend my money on apple's HD displays or is there a better deal, compatible and as good as... somewhere else?!?

 

[irishgrizzly]

If you get the right Dell monitor it will have the same panel inside – you'll just have to deal with it not matching your mac

 

[l33r0y]

I'd recommend the NEC - it'll be less 'PC' like

It's one of the best LCDs out there: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824002168

Or get a Lacie if money is no object

http://www.lacie.com/

 

[Scarlet Fever]

Don't buy it if you feel its not worth it. You don't have to buy everything from Apple

 

[eXan]

If you are a color professional, get Apple.

If you like it's design, get Apple.

Otherwise, get Dell or whatever.

 

[TBi]

If you are a color professional, get Apple.

If you like it's design, get Apple.

Otherwise, get Dell or whatever.

Actually... apple don't make the best displays for color accuracy. There are much more expensive displays out there by other manufacturers which are more than likely better.

Only buy an apple if you like the design. I'm not really that bothered by design so i bought a Dell, which had the exact same panel as the 20" apple display at the time. Never regretted it.

 

[koobcamuk]

If you can afford it, do it

If you are a color professional, get Apple.

If you like it's design, get Apple.

Otherwise, get Dell or whatever.

I got a 22" Samsung monitor to replace the ACD 20" for use with my xbox.

After using it for 6 hours, I missed the ACD so much. The DPI is higher than most monitors out there and whilst the DELL might be just as good, I would always find myself lusting over the ACD. So now I have one.

I also kept the 22" Samsung for my Xbox which gets here tomorrow.

 

[eXan]

Actually... apple don't make the best displays for color accuracy. There are much more expensive displays out there by other manufacturers which are more than likely better.

Actually, no. We compared a 820$ 20" ACD (yea high prices here, I know) to a 1500$ NEC, both 20", but NEC is 4:3. The color was about the same, probably better on NEC.

Apple's displays are extremely good at color accuracy, but dont get 20" - its the worst in the line up. 23" and 30" are absolutely the best, especially for their price. 23" Apple is cheaper than that 20" NEC, yet is the same or even better at colors + its higher resolution and is 16:10.

All the crap Dell sells is for home use for people with no style (or no money) who are fine with probably saturated, but inaccurate color and ugly displays.

I know a lot of Pro photographers, they know what are talking about.

 

[TBi]

Apple's displays are extremely good at color accuracy, but dont get 20" - its the worst in the line up. 23" and 30" are absolutely the best, especially for their price. 23" Apple is cheaper than that 20" NEC, yet is the same or even better at colors + its higher resolution and is 16:10.

All the crap Dell sells is for home use for people with no style (or no money) who are fine with probably saturated, but inaccurate color and ugly displays.

I know a lot of Pro photographers, they know what are talking about.

This is all just hear-say without proof. All you have said is that your pro photographer colleagues believe that the apple is better than the dell.

Just because something is more expensive does not make it better. Unless you can show that a Apple Display uses a better panel than a dell then you can't make the assertion that it is.

When i bought my Dell 20" everyone said the apple 20" was better, then i read they used the exact same panel. How can two screens with the same panel be different?

 

[koobcamuk]

This is all just hear-say without proof. All you have said is that your pro photographer colleagues believe that the apple is better than the dell.

Just because something is more expensive does not make it better. Unless you can show that a Apple Display uses a better panel than a dell then you can't make the assertion that it is.

When i bought my Dell 20" everyone said the apple 20" was better, then i read they used the exact same panel. How can two screens with the same panel be different?

Doesn't saying which is 'better' come down to user opinion? If the Dell and the Apple use the same display, I would say the Apple is better because it looks much better and is more environmentally friendly. Having said that, you could say the dell is better because it's cheaper. We get nowhere...

 

[eXan]

This is all just hear-say without proof. All you have said is that your pro photographer colleagues believe that the apple is better than the dell.

Just because something is more expensive does not make it better. Unless you can show that a Apple Display uses a better panel than a dell then you can't make the assertion that it is.

When i bought my Dell 20" everyone said the apple 20" was better, then i read they used the exact same panel. How can two screens with the same panel be different?

Well, I can tell the same about you - you believe that Apple's displays are no better than Dell, Asus, etc.

When photographers I know say that "this display shows more accurate color" they mean that the color on display better matches the color on print (and no, its not the same printer all the time), is there any other benchmark?

Also, did you know that Apple displays after production go to labs where they are being calibrated and tested?

I dont think Dells pass through same procedure, so in the end, even if they have same panels, the picture on Apple's displays is better.

Dells are positioned for consumer market, Apples are built for pros.

If you cant see the difference between the two, and you are not willing to pay extra for the features Apple's displays have, you are just a consumer and the Dell is for you. Simple

 

[kolax]

I read somewhere the coating over the panel is better on the Apple's than the Dell's - not entirely sure.

Anyone know anything about that?

 

[TBi]

Bare Feats seem to think that the dell is as good as or better than the apple equivalent.

A lot of people "imagine" things are better than others due to lots of reasons, brand name being one.

Give a person two cups of coke to try. Label one coca-cola (or pepsi) and the other regular cola and most people will say the one in the coca-cola cup tastes better even though it's the same.

Placebo effect.

 

[eXan]

Bare Feats seem to think that the dell is as good as or better than the apple equivalent.

A lot of people "imagine" things are better than others due to lots of reasons, brand name being one.

Give a person two cups of coke to try. Label one coca-cola (or pepsi) and the other regular cola and most people will say the one in the coca-cola cup tastes better even though it's the same.

Placebo effect.

After reading the article on the link you provided, I can to a conclusion that BF give most of their attention to insignificant points - wether display has a card reader or not, how many inputs it has, how many buttons it has, etc. Dell wins in that and Apple "lacks" all those little things for a simple reason that the target audience has no need for these things!

And even BF states, that ACD has better quality picture - which is THE most important criteria for the people it was built for.

Anyway, this conversation is getting pointless. I quit now.

 

[TBi]

It seems you missed this

I have read complaints about the grays in the Apple 23" Cinema looking pinkish and the blacks being less than black. We hooked up both displays simultaneously to our G5's X800 XT. We went to the Desktop & Screen Saver tile in System Preferences and selected the first Desktop image in "Black & White" folder called "Lightning." The Dell 24" was truly black at the bottom of the image. The 23" Cinema was dark gray. We selected the Flurry screen saver and clicked Test. The 24" Dell was black in the background while the 23" Cinema was dark gray.

Yes of course Apple has better image quality... in the land where dark gray is the new black.

 

[volvoben]

Although using the same panel is a good indicator of a monitor’s quality, there are other factors. Apparently (according to a friend who designs circuits or some other crazy complicated terrible sounding job) the circuit board that runs the inputs etc. is actually rather important, as well as coatings and other customizations from the panel manufacturer. Some companies even have deals with panel manufacturers to only get the best performing panels in a batch etc. I don’t like thinking about all these other factors, makes the whole thing too darn complicated, so I’ve resorted to my own basic tests. Apple’s monitors are all very nice, but I thought the dell 30” looks at least as good as Apple’s, and although dell’s 24” HC looks pretty nice, I definitely preferred a 23” acd next to it. I couldn’t tell the difference between a crazy expensive NEC and a much less expensive Samsung next to it.

I suppose if I was pickier about my prints matching my monitor I might care, but I was happy enough with prints from my uncalibrated old dell laptop screen, and I’m very happy with prints from my calibrated apple and dell monitors now.

More annoying to me is the ‘image persistence’ on my dell 2005fpw. Good monitor, slight backlight bleed, dim when first turned on, but I don’t care about that stuff. I share it between my old windows/server box and a mac, so when I switch it to the mac after being in windows all day the edges of the taskbar and any windows I had open for a few hours are pretty evident until it’s shut off for a few hours.

 

[bld44]

When i bought my Dell 20" everyone said the apple 20" was better, then i read they used the exact same panel. How can two screens with the same panel be different?

The ACD uses a different backlight.

And best of all, can you say that the Dell has firewire, USB, data and power all in one cord? Simplicity? No.

 

[TBi]

And best of all, can you say that the Dell has firewire, USB, data and power all in one cord? Simplicity? No.

Neither does the apple display. Older models had this but not the newer ones.

 

[ChrisA]

Is there a reason why I should really spend my money on apple's HD displays or is there a better deal, compatible and as good as... somewhere else?!?

What to you used the computer for? Do you care about "color fidelity" enough to calibrate your monitor? Are you a serious photographer? If yes then you do want something comparable to an ACD. Maybe not from Apple but still a high end LCD. If you mostly just browse the net on Saferi and watch movies then you can save a lot of money and never notice.

The simpler question: Do you think of yourself as a "media consumer" or a "media producer". The ACDs are for the later.

 

[suneohair]

Apple displays are hardly the best. Not even close. If you like the look, and more like NEED the look, buy the ACD. There are better displays that are cheaper. And there are better displays for "pros" than the ACD. Eizo, Lacie, NEC, etc.

And to say a pro (the target audience) doesn't need the things the Dell offers is foolish. Hell, you are talking about photographers, what photographer wouldn't want a card reader? What video editor wouldn't want other inputs to do video? Heck you can't even put an analog signal into these things without a $300 box.

Firewire... Apple doesn't make an iSight anymore which was a major reason to have FW on the LCD. Plugging a external drive is moot when the computer has firewire, not mention firewire 800.

The 23" has the following problems: Pink cast, image persistence, ghosting, etc. It also happens to have an outdated panel along with being overpriced.

And to the person who says how can two panels be different (visually I am assuming) if they use the same panel. Well, it is about the electronics. The panel simply has pixels and certain properties like black level, viewing angles, color etc, but the hardware behind that is what does the "right stuff," LUT control is one aspect of this. Proper scaling is another. Simply put, the bulk of a displays quality in derived from the behind the scenes stuff. A good panel helps of course, but lets take Eizo for example they use *VA panels in some of their displays. These display have great viewing angles (same as IPS), better blacks, but the color isn't as good. So, Eizo compensates with better electronics to make that display perform wonderfully. You could have the best panel in the world but when you stick the electronics from a General Electric LCD in there you can guess what the result will be.

That said, the ACDs are nice, but don't be fooled by those who purport it is better because they love the aluminum.

Oh yeah, backlight. bld44, the new Dell 2407-HC and the 2707-HC use a better backlight system than the ACDs. Also, tack on terrible backlight bleeding to the list of problems with the ACDs, not just the 23" either. Furthermore, Apple is using the same backlights everyone else does. Hence the backlight bleed, which is more a feature of poor manufacturing, but also inherent in the type of backlighting being used today. LED and SED will start to take this away.

 

[LeKiD]

What to you used the computer for? Do you care about "color fidelity" enough to calibrate your monitor?

Mostly pro video editing. But I've checked the prices from Apple and concidering what they are... they are not as overpriced as they used to be... so I'm thinking about adding an HD display to my next MacPro... I can't wait for it... I'm checking this site everyday mainly for that.

 

[LeKiD]

Apple displays are hardly the best. Not even close.

What would you recommend?

 

[dante@sisna.com]

So Wrong

This is all just hear-say without proof. All you have said is that your pro photographer colleagues believe that the apple is better than the dell.

Just because something is more expensive does not make it better. Unless you can show that a Apple Display uses a better panel than a dell then you can't make the assertion that it is.

When i bought my Dell 20" everyone said the apple 20" was better, then i read they used the exact same panel. How can two screens with the same panel be different?

Sorry but you are way wrong on this. Two screens with the same panel can be radically different due to the factory calibration of the Color Lookup Tables (LUTS) and how they interact with Colorsync, the Mac OS, the Video Card in the CPU and the Card in the Monitor.

That is why apple boxes are SWOP certified and Dells are not.

No Comparison.

 

[Aranince]

You can buy an Dell 22" widescreen LCD for $270. The 23" ACD is $900.

 

[bld44]

Neither does the apple display. Older models had this but not the newer ones.

??? Am I missing something? The new monitors sure as hell do have one cord coming out the back. Maybe not at the back of the computer, but that's not what I was talking about.