Apple 27" LED Cinema Display

There is no display driver. Windows autodetects it as 'LED Cinema'. If you are having trouble, try installing the latest drivers for your video card.

Yeah, no luck with that... already running the latest ati drivers. Any other way to get the computer to autodetect the monitor as LED Cinema?
 
I have Control Catalyst showing it as a LED Cinema, but Windows still shows it as Generic PnP. Any guesses?
 
I've used one at my old school and to me it's amazing. My friend has 3 in a eyefinity configuration and they're just beautiful.
 
Has anyone used a displayport switch that switches between 2 pc's to one monitor (the ACD in this case) ?

The most important thing would be that the switch remembers the monitor and emulates the monitor still being connected on the original input machine so that my other monitors in the group on the main pc don't reset their display group every time I switch the ACD over to the other pc.

I don't like the athlona one because I read that it will only do hdmi scaled on the 2nd input, which turns out fuzzy and not 1:1 native 2560x1440. Scaling on the hdmi input wouldn't be a bad thing otherwise since I'm not really gaming on it (scalers introduce some input lag). However if I had a hdmi scaler I might be tempted to try ps3 on it at some point.
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.Basically the inability to have unscaled/native 2560x1440 from the reports I read would seem to rule out the athlona one with hdmi... but I really need a switch that will not drop the monitor out of the original group on the main pc when I switch over. I'm planning on connecting my old pc to the non-displayport port on whatever switch I get, or adapting hdmi-->dvi ----> displayport or dvi --> displayport if I have to depending on the switch. As long as its a good switch.
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I thought I'd ask here since everyone with the ACD is using displayport.
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Thanks I'll read up on that one. The Startech one can be had for $166 but from what I read it won't emulate the monitor still being attached to the first pc when you switch to the second pc, which causes a whole scramble of plug and play/monitor group screen flashing, blanking, and even orientation loss on portrait mode monitors. It would not be worth it if that happened every time I switch.
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I was looking for a way to switch over while fullscreen gaming on my other monitor. I supposed I could just run two pc's (with one being exlusively attached to the acd) at same desk if I had to but it would be a shame to miss out on having my most powerful pc on all monitors when outside of a game/not gaming.
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Another idea I was considering was assigning a mouse and keyboard to a VM of win7 fullscreen on the ACD... hoping that using that the "VM dedicated" mouse and keyboard wouldn't make the game lose focus on the host machine/other monitor.
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I run simpler games like L4D2 in windowed+fullscreen mode which makes all that a non-issue. However the more demanding games take a huge unacceptable frames per second loss when I do that. ALT-Tabbing is also laggy and messy on the most gpu-crushing games, blacking out all screens for what seems like 15seconds or so.. and lagging on reactivating the game as well, if it responds at all after being minimized. I guess being locked out of other monitors while gaming isn't as bad as the old days where you had to reboot into dos mode to play a game though :p
 
Does anyone still have a link ot the apple copntrol panel file used to set the brightness level?
 
Thank you. Any idea on how to get the error to go away so I can actually use this? I have the windows 7 CD in the drive, but I am still getting the error?
 
,,,
I actually found a better way to get the AppleControlPanel for Brightness to work in Windows 7.
#1) Right Click on "Computer" -> Select "Manage" and in the users area create a user account called: Test (with password: Test) -> Not an admin account!

#2) You have to create a shortcut to the EXE itself, and in the shortcut box change the part that points to the EXE itself (Not the 'Start In" area) Change to: "C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /user:test C:\AppleControlPanel.exe" (Or whatever/whereever your ControlPanel filename is...If shortcut is in the same folder as Exe you do not need to enter a harddisk or filepath before AppleControlPanel.exe)

Before creating shortcut like this I was getting the Startup Error every time I tried to control brightness, And there was no way I was going to depreciate my Win7 install with unneeded bootcamp pollution. BTW: My disk drives run in AHCI mode and theres no chance I'll be changing that to IDE to make something run right :)
 
@elvn: If you find a better (mini-)DP KVM than the Atlona I have, in other words doesn't reset window positions and screw up randomly, I'd love to know.
 
Thanks elvn. I tried what you suggested and it worked like a charm. I appreciate your help on this!
 
Question: Is it my monitor that's not HDCP? or my GTX 580? I can't watch HD videos via iTunes.
 
As much as I hate to do it, I just gave crApple money. I pulled the trigger on a refurb ACD27. The link is showing that it's a September 2010 model and that it has the mDP cable. Time to shop for DP<>mDP adapter and hope my HIS Radeon HD6850 will be able to push the pixels sufficiently.

Thanks for the info in the thread, dudes.
 
Yup, it tell me it's good to go, but why can't I watch HD rentals from iTunes then? Is it a option I can turn on or something.

So I was reading up on it and it's a DRM thing, and my Displayport connector is probably the problem.
 
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As much as I hate to do it, I just gave crApple money. I pulled the trigger on a refurb ACD27. The link is showing that it's a September 2010 model and that it has the mDP cable. Time to shop for DP<>mDP adapter and hope my HIS Radeon HD6850 will be able to push the pixels sufficiently.

Thanks for the info in the thread, dudes.

If it makes you feel better, it is one of the least overpriced products that apple sells.

When I bought mine, it actually cost me $1200.. because I had to buy a 6970 (with mini displayport) to use it properly :D

My 5870 had something wrong with the displayport output, so it didn't work with the monitor.. your 6850 will probably work perfectly with the DP>mDP adapter.
 
If it makes you feel better, it is one of the least overpriced products that apple sells.

When I bought mine, it actually cost me $1200.. because I had to buy a 6970 (with mini displayport) to use it properly :D

My 5870 had something wrong with the displayport output, so it didn't work with the monitor.. your 6850 will probably work perfectly with the DP>mDP adapter.

We'll find out. Just got the shipping notification and the display should arrive on Wednesday. Now I'm expecting the DP>mDP adapter to arrive next week just to antagonize me. ;)
 
Where in CCC would one find some sort of HDCP status (like in the nvidia control panel)????
 
cant get my led brightness up , only get get brightness working thru amd cc , and that makes everything look washed out , i tried load every version of boot camp but unsuccessful , and help be appreciated
 
cant get my led brightness up , only get get brightness working thru amd cc , and that makes everything look washed out , i tried load every version of boot camp but unsuccessful , and help be appreciated

scratch that i did it the old way with changing achi to ide . . .man scree is looking great ;)
 
So are other image adjustments available when using the ACD 27 with a PC, or only brightness ?
ie: gamma, contrast, etc through CCC
 
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Argh, Apple is just a major PITA in whatever they create. I'm not able to get the AppleControlPanel.exe to start without the, "You may not have privileges to change the start up disk." message.

My P8Z68-V/GEN3 mobo has no IDE connectors and it's apparently not going to work with the DVD drive on one of the SATA ports either. I haven't found anything to emulate IDE as of yet. None of the other systems I've got have a display port either.

I think my ability to adjust the brightness is screwed thus far.
 
Argh, Apple is just a major PITA in whatever they create. I'm not able to get the AppleControlPanel.exe to start without the, "You may not have privileges to change the start up disk." message.

My P8Z68-V/GEN3 mobo has no IDE connectors and it's apparently not going to work with the DVD drive on one of the SATA ports either. I haven't found anything to emulate IDE as of yet. None of the other systems I've got have a display port either.

I think my ability to adjust the brightness is screwed thus far.

The display remembers whatever brightness it was last set at. If you can find another computer to plug it into using USB, you can set the brightness there, and then bring it back to your main PC and it will stay at that brightness. Or just find someone with any mac (laptop or desktop), and do the same thing there.
 
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Argh, Apple is just a major PITA in whatever they create. I'm not able to get the AppleControlPanel.exe to start without the, "You may not have privileges to change the start up disk." message.

My P8Z68-V/GEN3 mobo has no IDE connectors and it's apparently not going to work with the DVD drive on one of the SATA ports either. I haven't found anything to emulate IDE as of yet. None of the other systems I've got have a display port either.

I think my ability to adjust the brightness is screwed thus far.


Easy fix really I had same problem , and without raises led brightness this display will look like crap because led set at 50 percnet from factory . .
Just set you c:drive in bios from achi to ide , plug in apple display usb , run apple controlpanel set brightness , then reverse procedure . . . Enjoy man takes a bit of tweaking but display is amazing
 
My boot volume is RAID 0 on the main box. After I'm through rearranging things, I'll have to move the USB to another system and give it a shot.

Thanks for the input though guys! :)
 
This link seems to have a working download of the 64bit version of the brightness exe from bootcamp that is for 64bit windows. The 32 bit download is missing.

http://www.facingblend.com/blog/?p=925

The old links on this actual [H] thread we are on are all dead too I think.

I actually found a better way to get the AppleControlPanel for Brightness to work in Windows 7.
#1) Right Click on "Computer" -> Select "Manage" and in the users area create a user account called: Test (with password: Test) -> Not an admin account!

#2) You have to create a shortcut to the EXE itself, and in the shortcut box change the part that points to the EXE itself (Not the 'Start In" area) Change to: "C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /user:test C:\AppleControlPanel.exe" (Or whatever/whereever your ControlPanel filename is...If shortcut is in the same folder as Exe you do not need to enter a harddisk or filepath before AppleControlPanel.exe)

Before creating shortcut like this I was getting the Startup Error every time I tried to control brightness, And there was no way I was going to depreciate my Win7 install with unneeded bootcamp pollution. BTW: My disk drives run in AHCI mode and theres no chance I'll be changing that to IDE to make something run right :)

......
 

The temporary user deal did the trick. Thanks, elvn and, of course, cide_ for the original post. I vaguely remember reading that a few weeks ago now that I've seen it again. It's much quicker than the IDE and bootable disk process.
 
As i'm unable to try the screen before having it purchased, it will be helpful if you would write a more detailed about your gaming experience playing on an ACD.
I'm still wondering how a fast-moving scenes/single objects looks on that screen in comparison to a fast 2ms 60hz tn like my current samsung 226 bw.
 
As i'm unable to try the screen before having it purchased, it will be helpful if you would write a more detailed about your gaming experience playing on an ACD.
I'm still wondering how a fast-moving scenes/single objects looks on that screen in comparison to a fast 2ms 60hz tn like my current samsung 226 bw.

youll see a big difference will be images blur on textures in the background when moving fast , so if your getting this screen for gaming alone , you might want to go eleswhere , but it does have least amount of gaming lag of any monitor ive ever used so when your not watching the background and just killing your score will go up , ;) , i hear the hazro is faster if you can get one
 
As i'm unable to try the screen before having it purchased, it will be helpful if you would write a more detailed about your gaming experience playing on an ACD.
I'm still wondering how a fast-moving scenes/single objects looks on that screen in comparison to a fast 2ms 60hz tn like my current samsung 226 bw.

The first day I unboxed my ACD27", I put it side by side a 5ms TN display. I play a lot of games (Dead Space 2, StarCraft 2, The Witcher 2, The Old Republic, etc.) and on my ACD27", I could see some minor blurring if I stared at the edge of the screen while moving extremely fast. I didn't find it terribly noticable though, and while this is just personal preference, I could never give up gaming @ 2560x1440. The Apple display is gorgeous with respect to its real estate and high resolution, and the extra fluidity of the TN display just wasn't worth it to me even for FPS games. I could see a slight difference though OP, and if "smoothness" is really important to you, you may want to invest in a 120Hz 1080p monitor.
 
The first day I unboxed my ACD27", I put it side by side a 5ms TN display. I play a lot of games (Dead Space 2, StarCraft 2, The Witcher 2, The Old Republic, etc.) and on my ACD27", I could see some minor blurring if I stared at the edge of the screen while moving extremely fast. I didn't find it terribly noticable though, and while this is just personal preference, I could never give up gaming @ 2560x1440. The Apple display is gorgeous with respect to its real estate and high resolution, and the extra fluidity of the TN display just wasn't worth it to me even for FPS games. I could see a slight difference though OP, and if "smoothness" is really important to you, you may want to invest in a 120Hz 1080p monitor.

I agree with everything said here.
 
How well does the 27 inch display do for games like BF3? Also if I am running mini display port to mini display port with a 6950 2GB will I see the boot screen and will I be able to enter the bios?
 
How well does the 27 inch display do for games like BF3? Also if I am running mini display port to mini display port with a 6950 2GB will I see the boot screen and will I be able to enter the bios?

Another poster in this thread confirmed his ACD27" worked perfectly with AMD 6850, 6870, 6950 and a 6970's. Your boot screen and BIOS will work fine. I play "Battlefield 3" on mine with no issues, aside from the fact that driving the game @ 2560x1440 is obviously very GPU intensive. My GTX 570 (which has less VRAM than the 6950) isn't fast enough to run "Battlefield 3" on Ultra at my native resolution, but if I scale down some of the video settings the game still looks gorgeous and I can average ~45fps which feels pretty fluid.
 
I would probably go with either a single 7950 or crossfire 7950
 
Also can you in fact control the brightness and contrast within windows 7 64 bit? I want to just plug this monitor in to my display port and have it work right off the bat without any fancy things I have to buy or download. I want to control the options on the monitor without a problem and play games...
 
Also can you in fact control the brightness and contrast within windows 7 64 bit? I want to just plug this monitor in to my display port and have it work right off the bat without any fancy things I have to buy or download. I want to control the options on the monitor without a problem and play games...

Yup, I plugged the ACD27" USB and miniDP cables into my PC and everything (iSight camera, speakers, light sensor, brightness control) worked perfect w/o any problems. To control brightness, you have to use the Apple Control Panel utility (just like a real Mac). You can download it here: https://rs952l36.rapidshare.com/#!download|952dt|424506361|AppleControlPanel.zip

The only tricky aspect of using the ACD27" on a PC is that the brightness utility will not launch in Windows if your BIOS is set to AHCI mode. Luckily, _cide found a pretty easy and hassle free workaround for people who use AHCI:

I actually found a better way to get the AppleControlPanel for Brightness to work in Windows 7.
#1) Right Click on "Computer" -> Select "Manage" and in the users area create a user account called: Test (with password: Test) -> Not an admin account!

#2) You have to create a shortcut to the EXE itself, and in the shortcut box change the part that points to the EXE itself (Not the 'Start In" area) Change to: "C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /user:test C:\AppleControlPanel.exe" (Or whatever/whereever your ControlPanel filename is...If shortcut is in the same folder as Exe you do not need to enter a harddisk or filepath before AppleControlPanel.exe)
 
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