Apple 27" LED Cinema Display

the_real_7 said:
hey zod96 me are one of us will pass you a profile , no lcd is the same they will tell you but mostly youll be off maybe under 5% , ill put up my settings later with a profile download i hope other here do same
Click to expand...
I would like to know your monitor model. Is it the new one with thunderbolt?
I am using a 2010 model with 6970.

And would you please upload your calibrated profile on some free web storage so that every one could get it?

Thank you so much!
 
Unless he is specifically talking about an Apple he has, his sig rig cannot run Thunderbolt with 7970's.
 
just want to chime in my ACD 27" has been working perfectly with my computer in my sig for 2 months now
 
i am using a Radeon HD 6670 + StarTech.com DP2MDPMF6IN adapter

control brightness via CCC,although I haven't needed to change it from the default value much at all
 
anyone who has an ACD non thunderbolt have any other 27 or 30" ips they have side by sided with? I have a pa301w and a u2410 i want to look into a glossy to replace my busted fw-900
 
Can you use the new thunderbolt display on a PC with an adapter and get the full resolution of the monitor?
 
zod96 said:
Can you use the new thunderbolt display on a PC with an adapter and get the full resolution of the monitor?
Click to expand...

It is impossible to use the new Thunderbolt display with a PC period. AMD or nVidia would need to release a desktop video card with Thunderbolt, and no such product currently exists.
 
Sooo.... I have two things to add about using a 27" cinema display on my normal PC...

1.
Having that second "Display iSight" as "Unknown" in the device manager pissed me off good. So i did a little digging on the bootcamp CD and found out that driver matching the unknown device is "Drivers\Apple\x64\AppleNullDriver64.exe".
Kinda strange naming but that is where it is.... no more unknown device here.

2.
The AppleControlPanel.exe sucks big time!!!
It has tabs with other stuff and i have to insert a bootable cd to use it (AHCI SSD here)
Besides i don't want a brightness control program that can mess with the boot drive.
And worst of all it has no way of binding hotkeys so i cant change brightness with a keyboard shortcut.
Using the catalyst control software is even worse as it only changes the picture sent to the screen. It does not change the screen backlight brightness at all.
I saw no other solution than to write my own backlight control program. After a bit of USB monitoring and getting to know the relevant API's i have a working application.
It does the same thing as AppleControlPanel but without all the hazzel...

The things i am missing is:
make it run in system tray.
assing global hotkeys to change brightness
and i need some help from users in here if i am to add other display sizes and models than the 27" cinema display i have. (they have different USB product ID's and i dont know them)

i have a screenshot of the brightness control app on my google+ profile
https://plus.google.com/111186389808378451401/posts/UeNpjXGni2P

If anyone is interested in beta testing and helping to add support for other models (different product id's) please contact me on google+
 
Wow, really awesome work there gensplejs! Can't wait until your utility is complete, I can finally get rid of my other Windows user account and AppleControlPanel.exe shortcut. :)
 
Ashok0 said:
Wow, really awesome work there gensplejs! Can't wait until your utility is complete, I can finally get rid of my other Windows user account and AppleControlPanel.exe shortcut. :)
Click to expand...
It's very close to done now. But as i mentioned it is only working on cinema displays with product id 0x9226 (the 27" model with mini display port).
Other displays probably have different product id's. (i know for a fact that the older models have different id's)

So what i need to do now.
1.
Add some nice way to customize the global shortcut buttons.

2.
Decide on a strategy for deployment. (click once, normal installer, update check? and so on)

3.
Add an option (or seperate program) to collect data about attatched HID devices with apples vendor id so i can add support for other models. (For some models i might only need to ad the new product id and for others i may need to change some code. I will try my best but i can't promise anything for models i don't own)
 
Also i rewrote the UI in WPF in stead of windows forms. This makes it easy to change the styling of the app at a later point. (i suck at making nice UI's.)
 
sounds promising. I'll try it out later. Very good of you thanks.
 
I'm a long time lurker but I felt the need to register just to thank gensplejs for his brightness controller. Thank you for putting the time into making it, it works perfectly.
 
If you by nice screen mean the cinema display and your card has a mini display port.... then yes... 6xxx and 7xxx series ati cards will work fine....
but you can not use the new thunderbolt display....
 
Jens,

I too registered today to praise your Work!
Thank you so much! Your App works for me. I almost returned my ACD.
I really didn't want to mess with my ssd (AHCI to IDE) settings or install bootcamp. As for the Apple control Panel .exe, I did not have a bootup disc on hand.
Everything works perfectly!
You are a Genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I wanted to run dual ACD monitors how do I control brightness for both? Please Advise. ( ATI radeon 7970)

Thanks Again
 
CMU said:
Jens,

I too registered today to praise your Work!
Thank you so much! Your App works for me. I almost returned my ACD.
I really didn't want to mess with my ssd (AHCI to IDE) settings or install bootcamp. As for the Apple control Panel .exe, I did not have a bootup disc on hand.
Everything works perfectly!
You are a Genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I wanted to run dual ACD monitors how do I control brightness for both? Please Advise. ( ATI radeon 7970)

Thanks Again
Click to expand...
Aaaah. Multi display support.
I considered adding it. But as i don't have the money nor the desk space for a second screen i did not have any way of testing it. It's not really something i need myself but it can be done.

So your options if you buy a second cinema display.

Option 1 - The workaround
Only plug in one of the USB cables at a time and control them one at a time. :-(

Option 2 - The solution
Jump on the donate button real hard and be willing to test a few very broken builds :)
 
Dear all,

I am planing to build a new rig based on a 7970 or, if performing better a new Kepler 680 which will probably feature a regular Displayport.

So here my questions: I will have no problems (apart of the brightness workaround ofc) what so ever to connect my LED Cinema display to the radeon 7970, right?

However if I would go for a GTX solution with regular DP I will need an adapter. Most people here seem to use the Stardock one. Its 15cm long and i would prefer a simple adapter without any cable attached to it.

Like this one

Now I read that some adapter producers mention that their adapters support resolutions up to 1080p, which is of course not enough for my LCD 24".

Is this referring to HDTV or all also normal screens? Which adapters proofed to work with GTX cards and the Apple display?

thx to everybody!!!!
 
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Dear Jens,

I am using the 24" LED Cinema display on windows 7.

If there is any information I could provide you, please let me know!
 
Lukasdesign said:
Dear Jens,

I am using the 24" LED Cinema display on windows 7.

If there is any information I could provide you, please let me know!
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Hi Lukasdesign.

Have you tested if the current version of brightness controller works with your 24" display?

If it does not work i should be able to add support if you are willing to supply me with some additional information.
 
Hey guys,

Just wanted to report here on my ACD 27" experiences. First of all, man I love this thing. Secondly with my setup I also have an Apple wired keyboard, with the keyboard shortcuts/function keys working as well as the 'infamous' on-screen-display for increasing and decreasing the volume.

Also, I can report that when I first set up my system the brightness controls ALSO worked on the keyboard but that was only with the standard VGA driver. However, the AppleControl panel was not initialising of course without having a Windows/OSX boot CD in the drive. I figured out how to fix this as well without having to run your drives in IDE (not an option for me since I run RAID 0 SSD's). Plug all your main drives into the Intel SATA ports, while plugging in just your CD drive to your Marvell SATA ports. Voila, AHCI for your optical drive, and BootCamp control panel boots up.

I like to leave BootCamp on to boot with windows (no delay at all in boot etc. after first boot - just simply get a hold of and install Bootcamp and upgrade to 3.3 like normal) and disable the apple time sync services etc. in the Windows services console for the keyboard shortcutes on OSD of the volume level. The only thing that does NOT work now, is the brightness control on the keyboard - but I think this might have more to do with the driver being used?

I would love to fix this -- but also, gensplejs .... awesome work man. You're a lifesaver for a ton of people for sure! If I didn't have my setup working I'd be using your utility -- though perhaps I will just for the keyboard shortcuts for now. Any way to allow you to use the Fn+F1/F2 keys like on the Mac keyboard?? =)

p.s - just checked now, your brightness control program doesn't work while using BootCamp as it detects something is using the displays HID connection.
 
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Nothing i can do there really... USB is like serial port or file access... one program at a time :eek:

As long as Boot Camp has an open handle to the device i have no way of accessing it.
 
True enough - you're absolutely right. Not sure why I glossed over that :p "Universal Serial Bus" lol
 
Brightness controller 0.7 is out :)

Changelog
0.7.0 - 19/03-2012
- USB changes to allow the program to be compiled for both x86 and x64
- Settings are now upgraded from previous versions
- Options window now opens centered on main window
- No longer installs in "Program Files (x86)" on x64 systems
- Added Supports for fast user switching
- Fixed a crash bug that occured when opening about box from system tray
- Installer now detects if program is running

Important upgrade note.
Users on x64 systems coming from v 0.6 or below must uninstall the previous version of brightness controller as the installer is not capable of correctly updating from x86 to x64.

LINK
 
chorner said:
True enough - you're absolutely right. Not sure why I glossed over that :p "Universal Serial Bus" lol
Click to expand...

Yeah well... i could try to find the process than has an open handle to the USB HID and kill it :) but that would be an ugly ass hack and not really what you want anyway :)

but if you close bootcamp then my tool should work fine.
 
chorner said:
Any way to allow you to use the Fn+F1/F2 keys like on the Mac keyboard?? =)
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I dont really get to decide what modifier keys can be used. i have to register the hotkeys with windows so they work when another program has focus. But that limits the modifier keys to the following enum.
public enum ModifierKeys
{
// Summary:
// No modifiers are pressed.
None = 0,
//
// Summary:
// The ALT key.
Alt = 1,
//
// Summary:
// The CTRL key.
Control = 2,
//
// Summary:
// The SHIFT key.
Shift = 4,
//
// Summary:
// The Windows logo key.
Windows = 8,
}

so the apple FN key is out unless it can be mapped to something else when running windows... :-(

i will add support for F1 to F24 buttons in v0.8
edit: NO i won't i dont get any messages from windows when i use F buttons :-(
 
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I also investigated miltiple displays a bit. But i need a user to test it before it can be done.
 
gensplejs said:
I dont really get to decide what modifier keys can be used. i have to register the hotkeys with windows so they work when another program has focus. But that limits the modifier keys to the following enum.
public enum ModifierKeys
{
// Summary:
// No modifiers are pressed.
None = 0,
//
// Summary:
// The ALT key.
Alt = 1,
//
// Summary:
// The CTRL key.
Control = 2,
//
// Summary:
// The SHIFT key.
Shift = 4,
//
// Summary:
// The Windows logo key.
Windows = 8,
}

so the apple FN key is out unless it can be mapped to something else when running windows... :-(

i will add support for F1 to F24 buttons in v0.8
edit: NO i won't i dont get any messages from windows when i use F buttons :-(
Click to expand...

Bummer :p That's too bad it's kind of limited. I know the Fn key does work in Windows as that's how I control the Play/Pause, FF, RW, Mute, Audio -/+ buttons and the brightness keys. I've got the row as standard F1-F19 without holding the Fn modifier. But I guess in what you've got setup you're limited to the regular windows keys. Would the Fn key not just be the 'insert' key under windows? I have no clue... just that I know there is no insert key on the apple usb keyboard,
 
Hey there everyone-
I must start by saying this thread has been very helpful in my decision toward snagging the 27" ACD. Getting a killer deal from a buddy and I couldn't pass it up. So far, I am set on THISadapter for my GTX580 that has no native MDP or DP.

Second, the brightness controller looks like it will be awesome. I will absolutely be donating once I get my monitor later this week. With that said, I have a few questions.

1) It really is just plug and play yea? I mean I have read through people running bootcamp discs to get certain files - does the controller from gensplejs address most of the issues? Do you need the disc for iSight compatability?

2)Does anyone else use the ACD through an adapter like I posted above? Unfortunately, I love my MSI GTX580 twin frozr II, and selling it now to get a 7970 would just be painful due to recent 580 price drops. I have read with some adapters people won't see BIOS on boot, it just shows once it get to Windows.

Overall, I am quite excited on the upgrade from my 24" ASUS. It has been a wonderful display, but I am ready for this new beauty.
 
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nerdybeat said:
Hey there everyone-
I must start by saying this thread has been very helpful in my decision toward snagging the 27" ACD. Getting a killer deal from a buddy and I couldn't pass it up. So far, I am set on THISadapter for my GTX580 that has no native MDP or DP.

Second, the brightness controller looks like it will be awesome. I will absolutely be donating once I get my monitor later this week. With that said, I have a few questions.

1) It really is just plug and play yea? I mean I have read through people running bootcamp discs to get certain files - does the controller from gensplejs address most of the issues? Do you need the disc for iSight compatability?

2)Does anyone else use the ACD through an adapter like I posted above? Unfortunately, I love my MSI GTX580 twin frozr II, and selling it now to get a 7970 would just be painful due to recent 580 price drops. I have read with some adapters people won't see BIOS on boot, it just shows once it get to Windows.

Overall, I am quite excited on the upgrade from my 24" ASUS. It has been a wonderful display, but I am ready for this new beauty.
Click to expand...
the iSight driver and drivers for the speakers are automatically loaded from windows update... no need for the bootcamp cd.
I have no idea if your setup will work... all i can say for certain is that 6xxx and 7xxx AMD cards with native mini Display port work problem free.
 
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chorner said:
Bummer :p That's too bad it's kind of limited. I know the Fn key does work in Windows as that's how I control the Play/Pause, FF, RW, Mute, Audio -/+ buttons and the brightness keys. I've got the row as standard F1-F19 without holding the Fn modifier. But I guess in what you've got setup you're limited to the regular windows keys. Would the Fn key not just be the 'insert' key under windows? I have no clue... just that I know there is no insert key on the apple usb keyboard,
Click to expand...
I got the F keys working. (some of then just registerd as Key.System and the read value was hidden away a bit... odd...)

Hotkeys allways consist of a flag specefying the Modifiers and excatly one key.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms646309(v=vs.85).aspx

There is no way i can tell that would allow me to use the Fn key as a Modifier key.
BUT.... i actually have a Fn key on my razer keyboard that can be used to make some of the other keys turn volume and stuff like that up and down. When i press Fn+F3 the keyboard only sens one keystroke (the VolumeUp key).
I wonder if the apple keyboard works the same way... and if the brightness up an down keys are something i can catch (they are not in the list but there are several OEM reserved keys that might be it.)

i made a small program where i don't filter the keystrokes...
can you check what the fn + volume up /down and the fn + brightness up/down show in that program?
KeyDiag
 
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I came home today and found this display sitting on my desk with a note from my brother saying it was mine! couldn't believe it so I called him and he said his work had given him the Thunderbolt display.

I had just ordered an Asus VG236he because I heard that 120hz is the business when it comes to gaming which I primarily use my pc for. I don't really play shooters so i'll have to see how that works out when it gets here on Thursday. I have a feeling I'll be sending it back really quickly cause is ACD is so sweet.

So much bigger than the 20wmgx2 i was using. I think I'll need a bigger desk. right now it feels way too close to me.
 
anyone know if the new GTX680's will work with the 2010 Apple displays? My current Sapphire 6990 works fine with my 2010 Apple display but it also has a MDP out.

04MBU.jpg



The EVGA GTX680 looks like it has a Display port out. Can I use an adapter to go from DP to MDP into the Apple display?
 
Alright well got my http://store.apple.com/us/product/H3938LL/A sitting in my room and my buddy is gonna drop off my 2010 27" ACD this weekend...

I am expecting no POST/BIOS screens, I have a 2nd monitor for that when I need it. I just hope it all works out since my MSI GTX580 has no native DP..

I will post pics and feedback once it is all set up!

(I am also considering picking up a 7970 or 680 for native support and I can return that adapter... but 580's took such a price cut -_-)
 
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