Apple 27" LED Cinema Display

TheManko said:
EDIT: So I read the thread from the start and the adapters available that would make it work cost pretty much like a new 6870 card here in Sweden. Let's see if I can somehow rationalize getting a slightly slower GPU in order to use the monitor or if I'll get an adapter which might not even work.
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Don't you just need a mini-displayport to displayport plug or cable?
Such as this one for US$5?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6007&seq=1&format=2

Never mind, wrong gender. In any case, the adapter plug/cable can be had cheaper than a new card.
 
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I can confirm the 6850 does indeed work with the 27" LED Cinema Display; the 6870 most likely does as well. My 5770 with DisplayPort did NOT work. Many (most?) 5700 and 5800 cards with DisplayPort do not work with the ACD.

The ACD has a built-in mini-DP male, so an adapter is not needed for the 6870, which has two mini-DP inputs. For the 6850 with standard DP, an adapter such as this is needed:
http://us.startech.com/product/DP2MDPMF6IN-6in-DisplayPort-to-Mini-DisplayPort-Video-Cable-Adapter-Male-to-Female
 
bad144 said:
Don't you just need a mini-displayport to displayport plug or cable?
Such as this one for US$5?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6007&seq=1&format=2

Never mind, wrong gender. In any case, the adapter plug/cable can be had cheaper than a new card.
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The 5870 cards don't support either the 27 or 24 inch Cinema Displays because of hardware problems with the card, so you need a newer revision 5870 (I think there are some of them) or the Eyefinity 6 version which has mini-displayport or a new 6000-series card. The active dvi-displayport adapters that could enable the DVI out on the 5870 to work are so expensive here in Sweden that I might just get a 6870 instead.

"Luckily" for me my 5870 has been having strange issues which causes the driver to restart all the time if I run it at stock speeds, so I'm underclocking the card right now and the problem has reappeared now even with underclocked speeds being stable for a few months. So there might be a point in getting the 6870 not just from the standpoint of getting ACD support. My 5870 is out of warranty since I've had it for a while now.

EDIT: It's not often that I get such an irrational urge to get something, but the ACD 27 has really clicked with me. I went to a store and looked at it and despite the extra cost and hassle I'm getting myself into by changing GPU I feel it's worth it. I really like glossy screens since I'm using a LG 42SL90 tv right now as my monitor and the "pure" look you get to everything is well worth whatever glare I get when the sun is out. I have a NEC 2490WUXI2 and while it has reference quality colors I really don't like the anti-glare coating.
 
TheManko said:
The 5870 cards don't support either the 27 or 24 inch Cinema Displays because of hardware problems with the card,
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Sorry I didn't realize there were any displayport to displayport compatability issues. References?
I thought there was just the hdmi/dvi to displayport active conversion issue.
 
bad144 said:
Sorry I didn't realize there were any displayport to displayport compatability issues. References?
I thought there was just the hdmi/dvi to displayport active conversion issue.
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There's a bunch of posts about it in this thread, especially on page 11 someone links to a similar discussion about the iMac 27' which has the same issue with the 58xx cards not being compatible.
 
TheManko said:
There's a bunch of posts about it in this thread, especially on page 11 someone links to a similar discussion about the iMac 27' which has the same issue with the 58xx cards not being compatible.
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Sorry I missed that. Didn't show up in my google search for whatever that's worth.:) Here's hoping the apparent interoperability problem gets documented better than page 11 where there are just conflicting reports.
 
Haiku214 said:
This is great news! Has anyone else confirmed this working on their ACD 27? So based on what you said, the following are true:

1. ACD 27 camera, mic, etc. works out of the box with windows 7. No need to install bootcamp, etc.

2. Brightness control will work with the AppleControlPanel.exe alone.

In that case, I just need the ACD27 + adapter(or AMD 6800 GPUs) + AppleControlPanel.exe.
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Can anyone confirm the above ?
 
topfuel said:
Can anyone confirm the above ?
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Can't confirm the Windows 7 part and no drivers needed. But yes the adapter works, and yes you can control the brightness just fine with that one file.

Also, there are a few Nvidia 460/470 cards that do have displayport output. Its not MINI displayport, so you would still need a cable adapter, but it would be a lot cheaper than the DP400 adapter. Its just an option in case you don't like ATI cards.
 
@topfuel: Yes I can confirm that the camera, mic, USB ports, and speakers work out of the box in Windows 7 x64. There is absolutely zero reason to install Boot Camp.
 
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thx I have the powercolor 6870 that comes with mini display ports so other than brightness which needs to be controlled via the extracted applecontrol.exe I do not need anything else to connect the cinema display?

I was reading that I need some drivers for win7 64 update to make the USB ports work?
 
topfuel said:
thx I have the powercolor 6870 that comes with mini display ports so other than brightness which needs to be controlled via the extracted applecontrol.exe I do not need anything else to connect the cinema display?

I was reading that I need some drivers for win7 64 update to make the USB ports work?
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Correct, you need nothing other than the applecontrolpanel.exe. My ACD27" is running on a vanilla installation of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and Windows Update has never been run. No USB drivers required.
 
great, can anyone kindly re-upload that controlpanel.exe file as rapidshare seems overloaded
 
topfuel said:
great, can anyone kindly re-upload that controlpanel.exe file as rapidshare seems overloaded
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Link seems to be working okay here... Otherwise just download the 27-inch LED Cinema Display Update from the official Apple website and extract "AppleControlPanel.exe" using UniExtract.
 
well this bites; I have 2 dead pixels both are towards the bottom of each corner. Been talking to Apple support...I'm still in the 14 days to return the monitor(after exchanging out one that had really bad bleed/ip glow) Not sure if it's worth the hassle and possible cost of restocking fee.
 
As I decided to part ways with my 10+ year old CRT, I decided to had to step into the 21st century and finally pick up an LCD. Being so used to looking at a glass display, and not being terribly fond of the sparkle effect of most matte displays, I decided early on that I needed glossy. And IPS. That left me with few choices, ultimately deciding on the ACD. Well, got my 27" Display in the other day. So after playing with it during the weekend, I thought i'd give my impressions.

First of all, its damn heavy. A lot heavier than I would have imagined. But the construction is great. You can tell that its not just another cheap plastic display, and it shows. Though I personally prefer the brushed metal bezel of the previous generation of Cinema Displays, it still looks very nice.

Secondly, the cord is WAY TOO SHORT. I don't mean the power cord, which is average length, but the input connections. I realize that this display is being marketed towards people who have a Macbook and want to utilize a nice external display when at home. But seriously, would an extra foot or two really killed anyone? With my PC right under my desk and approx 16 inches to the right of the display, it barely reaches. Actually, if it wasn't for the Atlona converter which adds an extra couple of inches in length, it would not have reached. Be prepared to get an extension cord!

Visual assessment:

Being LED backlit, it reaches full brightness instantly. The colors are bright and vivid, with no hint of banding or other strange artifacts. Unlike the ACD that I played with at the Apple store, this one shows no hint of banding in the Lagom test. Someone might have simply tinkered with the OSX calibration utility in the store to throw it off.

Brightness is very good, and the brightness is adjustable using the 'Applecontrolpanel.exe', and ranges from blinding to barely visible. I prefer to keep it a notch or two above 50%.

Despite the Atlona converter box, the ACD doesn't have any apparent lag. Fast paced gaming on this is just fine, and i've already gotten several games of Left for Dead 2 in. Ghosting does exist, but is fairly minimal and for me, not intrusive. Its most apparent when playing a top down game (such as Diablo 2) and watching the ground texture "smear" as your character walks around. Again, its very minimal.

Viewing angles are typical for an IPS display - excellent. Have a look for yourself:

photo5kol.jpg



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Here is a popular game - and something with a bit more color

photo1we.jpg



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However, there is one major problem with the display - black levels, and the lack of a polarizer. While black levels look great in scenes with a lot of contrast (lots of bright colors next to dark or black colors), it begins to fail once the display has to display ONLY dark color. Here is a scene from Amnesia - a game that features many dark if not pitch black corridors.


photo4w.jpg


As you can see, there is a very large loss of detail once the ACD is pushed to display a dark scene. While there is no black crush to speak of, the inherent limitation of the technology keeps it from looking as good as a CRT.

Now, before you say "woah look at that backlight bleeding", let me say that while there is some very minor bleeding, most of the effect that you see is due to the "white glow" of the IPS display being viewed from an angle. "But what angle? You are looking at it straight on!" I can hear you say.
Well, the problem is that the display is so large, and so WIDE, that if you sit too close to the display, the extreme left and right actually ARE at an angle to your eyes in comparison to the center of the screen. And in dark scenes, this becomes apparent.
So what does it look like when you actually DO look at a dark scene from an angle?

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Woah! Where'd the game go? Yeah, it looks that bad. All because of a lack of a polarizer. Again, this is not a defect in the ACD itself, its a limitation in all LCD technology, caused by the black LCD crystals trying to block out the bright backlight sitting directly behind it (and not doing a very good job of it).


For those wondering, the ACD does appear to have a fan somewhere in its thin housing. If you place your hand under the left side by the speaker grills, you can feel a *very* faint release of warm air. Its so small that I only stumbled upon it accidentally by following my nose to that area while searching for the source of that "new electronics smell". The fan itself is all but inaudible, and i'm not even convinced that its always running. There is also zero whine coming from the display, no matter what the brightness is set to. I know there are many people that are sensitive to this and easily put off by a whining display.

The heat generated by the display is also very little. Most displays that i've seen that use cold cathode bulbs tend to generate heat towards the actual user. For example, if you place your hands on the screen, you can usually feel warmth. And in the hot summer months, you might actually feel the warmth of the backlight against your face (almost like getting a tan). The LED backlights in the ACD dont seem to have the same effect however. The front screen is always cool to the touch.

Speaking of the screen, Apple would have you believe its glass. However, it doesn't make the same "tink tink" sound when tapping against it with my fingernails as does my CRT. My guess is that its made of the same "gorilla glass" plastic that houses the iPhone.

Overall its a great display that does have its cons and limitations. Its a great gaming monitor, and looks fantastic playing most games. Those that enjoy playing "dark" games however, might want to look elsewhere. However, I doubt we will see a good all around screen until something like OLED becomes available.
 
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Just to let everyone know who might have a 5870 or other incompatible card and were thinking of the Atlona 400 box.

IT DOES NOT WORK at 2560x1440, it was designed for the imac 27 and the acd 24.

I just got off the phone with them and the PC is seeing the monitor as the 24'' ACD and the EDID to go along with it.(max 1920x1080 which does not work obviously but 720p does) This monitor was not ready when they released the box and the imac 27 and the acd 27 have different EDID.

They are going to work on a new firmware but do not get your hopes up they seem a little out of it when I talk to them on the phone.

This guy I spoke to said he only had an nvidia card there?!?! They make these products and do not test them on ATI cards....haha.
 
hornkiku23 said:
Just to let everyone know who might have a 5870 or other incompatible card and were thinking of the Atlona 400 box.

IT DOES NOT WORK at 2560x1440, it was designed for the imac 27 and the acd 24.

I just got off the phone with them and the PC is seeing the monitor as the 24'' ACD and the EDID to go along with it.(max 1920x1080 which does not work obviously but 720p does) This monitor was not ready when they released the box and the imac 27 and the acd 27 have different EDID.

They are going to work on a new firmware but do not get your hopes up they seem a little out of it when I talk to them on the phone.

This guy I spoke to said he only had an nvidia card there?!?! They make these products and do not test them on ATI cards....haha.
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Thanks for testing out , makes me feel better now i sold my 5870 crossfire setup :) hopefully 6970 will support , I really want this screen
 
hi i got my display and it's marvellous just a few points to clarify:

1. Do u guys remove all the plastic wraps round the silver borders or leave it?

2. Is it necessary to remove the front thin plasic sheet or leave it on as a screen protector?

3. I have one small dust particle on the side under the glass which I have verified, how does one remove it since no air can get through to blow it off

4. For those using the display with windows7 64 bit do u get a unidentified driver not available for the iSight display under device manager but the camera and speakers work well...there are infact 2 iSight display devices shown under device manager in windows with 1 of them installed well but the other has an asterix showing that there isn't a driver avail for it, something along that line how do I solve it?

Thanks!
 
topfuel said:
hi i got my display and it's marvellous just a few points to clarify:

1. Do u guys remove all the plastic wraps round the silver borders or leave it?

2. Is it necessary to remove the front thin plasic sheet or leave it on as a screen protector?

3. I have one small dust particle on the side under the glass which I have verified, how does one remove it since no air can get through to blow it off

4. For those using the display with windows7 64 bit do u get a unidentified driver not available for the iSight display under device manager but the camera and speakers work well...there are infact 2 iSight display devices shown under device manager in windows with 1 of them installed well but the other has an asterix showing that there isn't a driver avail for it, something along that line how do I solve it?

Thanks!
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1. The plastic wraps are just protection through processing and delivery. You definitely want to remove them, tacky otherwise. :D
2. If this is what I think it is, the same as #1, remove it.
3. Not sure about this one.. How small we talking? Can't be as bothersome as a dead pixel. (and you're sure it's not a dead pixel?)
4. I don't own the monitor, but it should have came with a driver CD or you can probably download the iSight drivers from the Apple website?
 
Thanks I have indeed removed all the plastic otherwise it blocks the vent at the bottom border especially!

I have verified it's not a dead pixel bcos I can see my mouse cursor under that dust particle when I look at it beneath at an angle. If only I could use a can of compressed air or something to blow it, it would definetly fall off
 
hornkiku23 said:
Just to let everyone know who might have a 5870 or other incompatible card and were thinking of the Atlona 400 box.

IT DOES NOT WORK at 2560x1440, it was designed for the imac 27 and the acd 24.

I just got off the phone with them and the PC is seeing the monitor as the 24'' ACD and the EDID to go along with it.(max 1920x1080 which does not work obviously but 720p does) This monitor was not ready when they released the box and the imac 27 and the acd 27 have different EDID.

They are going to work on a new firmware but do not get your hopes up they seem a little out of it when I talk to them on the phone.

This guy I spoke to said he only had an nvidia card there?!?! They make these products and do not test them on ATI cards....haha.
Click to expand...

I ordered Atlona dp400 box. My plan is to buy Apple Led Cinema Display 27 and connect my nvidia gt9500 video card to that display with Atlona dp400box. The problem is also the ACD 27 minidisplayport cable is to short so I have to use 6 feet minidisplayport extender cable. I am worrying about two things: Thing 1: nvidia 9500gt compatibility with atlona dp400 and the ACD 27. thing 2: whether the extender cable not to cause any trouble. My question would be: will this setup work flawlessly?

Thanks for your advise.
 
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the camera is working fine and im able to use it for webcam chats etc however this still shows up in my device manager and the camera still works even if i disable this 2nd "display isight" item.

anyone else using the display with windows 7 64bits have this encounter?

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@topfuel: I have the same Windows 7 x64 issue with the Display iSight reporting an error in the Device Manager. The camera works perfectly fine though, so I never bothered with troubleshooting it.
 
Good Day All

First, thanks to all who have researched using the ACD 27 on a standard PC.

I have a dumb question: how does one turn off the ACD 27, without shutting down the PC? In Mac OS X, and presumably Boot Camp/Windows, I believe one uses the SHFT-CNTL-Eject on the apple keyboard to put the monitor to sleep/off. If one is only using the Applecontrolpanel.exe without Boot Camp, how does one accomplish this?

I was toying with the idea of using an apple keyboard, and installing the necessary apple drivers (keyboard, and perhaps others) and trying it that way, but I am not sure that will work. Does anybody have experience with this? I haven't purchased the monitor yet, so I can't try it out yet, and I would like more info before I take the plunge.

Thanks.
 
Coordinate_System said:
Good Day All

First, thanks to all who have researched using the ACD 27 on a standard PC.

I have a dumb question: how does one turn off the ACD 27, without shutting down the PC? In Mac OS X, and presumably Boot Camp/Windows, I believe one uses the SHFT-CNTL-Eject on the apple keyboard to put the monitor to sleep/off. If one is only using the Applecontrolpanel.exe without Boot Camp, how does one accomplish this?

I was toying with the idea of using an apple keyboard, and installing the necessary apple drivers (keyboard, and perhaps others) and trying it that way, but I am not sure that will work. Does anybody have experience with this? I haven't purchased the monitor yet, so I can't try it out yet, and I would like more info before I take the plunge.

Thanks.
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There should be a setting in Windows 7 where you can have the monitor turn off after x amount of minutes. That's what I do and it works fine. It's under power settings in control panel, if I remember correctly.
 
is there an extended or longer ac power cord available as the default power cord is a tad too short or could we just use those 3rd party power cords instead of the supplied one
 
Big thank you to Ashoko for all his posting in this thread. Really helpful!

I just bought this with the Atlona DP-400 :) Got it on Amazon Prime too, should be here Tues :D !
 
I saw one of these at the Apple Store, the display look okay, but the Bezels were HUGE. They were bigger then the one on my 3007's.
 
Just hooked up a 27" Cinema LED to my PC with MSI GTX 460 Hawk SLI. I'm using the Atlona DP-400 and everything works great in Windows at 2560x1440. But I am getting nothing on the display during post, i.e. I cannot see the bootup text or get into the BIOS or boot device override menu. The monitor only comes on at the Windows 7 login screen.

I tinkered with NiBiTor changing the bootup settings in the VGA BIOS (scaling, non-native display, etc) but no success as of yet despite a bunch of flashes with various combinations of settings. Any ideas on how to get this screen to turn on during post ?

On another note, the AppleControlPanel.exe file does allow for brightness adjustments, as long as a bootable DVD is in the drive, otherwise it exits with an error. The speakers work fine too.
 
ekovalsky said:
Just hooked up a 27" Cinema LED to my PC with MSI GTX 460 Hawk SLI. I'm using the Atlona DP-400 and everything works great in Windows at 2560x1440. But I am getting nothing on the display during post, i.e. I cannot see the bootup text or get into the BIOS or boot device override menu. The monitor only comes on at the Windows 7 login screen.

I tinkered with NiBiTor changing the bootup settings in the VGA BIOS (scaling, non-native display, etc) but no success as of yet despite a bunch of flashes with various combinations of settings. Any ideas on how to get this screen to turn on during post ?

On another note, the AppleControlPanel.exe file does allow for brightness adjustments, as long as a bootable DVD is in the drive, otherwise it exits with an error. The speakers work fine too.
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I've noticed a similar issue with the BIOS not always showing up. I don't know if its an issue with the display itself (long startup time) or with the Atlona adapter taking a while to sync the signal. I have found a way around it though - boot up normally until you are at your desktop and your screen turns on. Then reboot from windows. All POST and BIOS info should now show up.
 
brom42 said:
My windows disk doesn't show up at all. I think it needs atleast 1 disk it can work with.

I have 2 questions:

1) Is your system formatted with the 100mb reserved partition?
2) How are your drives set up? IDE, RAID, or AHCI?


**Edit**

Set up my Marvell ESATA ports as standard IDE and plugged a drive into them. Then it shows up. This leads me to the conclusion that Bootcamp doesn't work with AHCI, which is how my main drives are set up.

Thats a deal breaker for me. I have a SSD and need to run as AHCI so that trim works. Grr.

**Edit #2**

Turns out that any bootable CD in CD-ROM 0 will make it work. So basically throw in a bootable CD and click on bootcamp and it works. This is actually an acceptable solution for me. I picked up 2 cds and one of them was Windows7 and the other was ESXI. I always have something like this lying around in reach. This is the least painful option since the other involves a reformat.
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BEAUTIFUL!

Thank you so much for this. I am now fully functional thanks to Ash0ko for uploading that file and you :)

AND OMG THIS DISPLAY IS AMAZING LOOKING. I've never seen more beautiful text. Now I feel like I need to take this into work.
 
LarsMarkelson said:
Big thank you to Ashoko for all his posting in this thread. Really helpful!

I just bought this with the Atlona DP-400 :) Got it on Amazon Prime too, should be here Tues :D !
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Which card are you using with the Atlona DP400? I've got an iMac and 27" Cinema display and I'm trying to use them both from my Mac Pro. I've got an ATI 5970 in the Mac Pro, which is connected to the iMac via mini-DP and to the 27" Cinema display via the Atlona DP400 (DVI => mini-DP). Unfortunately, the DVI output seems limited to a max res. of 1280x720 for some reason. The ATI 5970 isn't seeing 2560x1440 as an available resolution.

I've switched them around and both the iMac and 27" Cinema display work perfectly fine at 2560x1440 when connected via mini-DP directly. I have a NVIDIA GT120 in the Mac Pro also, and this sees the 2560x1440 resolution fine when connected from the DVI port via the Atlona DP400. I'm guessing there's a problem with the ATI card and the display's EDID when the signal is output from the DVI port. Has anyone else run into a problem with ATI cards and the Atlona DP400 DVI to mini-DP converter?
 
TheManko said:
At my own peril I have fallen for the design. I really want a glossy 2560*1440 display and as far as I can tell there really only is one alternative. There aren't any glossy 2560*1600 displays either, right?

So my problem is that I have a pc with a 5870 with regular displayport outputs. I'm ready to buy whatever adapters I need to get this to work, but I'm not sure which adapters it is I need. Do I need to convert the Displayport out on the GPU with some adapter or is it the DVI output from the GPU that I need to attach an adapter to?

EDIT: So I read the thread from the start and the adapters available that would make it work cost pretty much like a new 6870 card here in Sweden. Let's see if I can somehow rationalize getting a slightly slower GPU in order to use the monitor or if I'll get an adapter which might not even work.
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You're better off buying a new GPU (6970) than buying that adapter.
 
LarsMarkelson said:
not if u need a new PSU to support it.

anyone know how to get the webcam working on skype?
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So you buy a new one that works with your PSU. He has a 5870.

A 6950 will almost certainly give better performance, within the same power envelope.
 
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