Apple 27" LED Cinema Display

To be honest I am not ecstatic about this display coming off the NEC PA301W, but I got it because it doesn't seem to exhibit pulse width modulation. Brightness Controller is a life saver. Apple is so ridiculous... I tried installing boot camp 3.0 to Windows 8 thinking between this and a magic track pad it was a good idea and it pissed Windows off so bad it did a huge rollback and botched the installation I'd played with all day. So dirty.

But I got this harebrained scheme! Can anyone think of a way in Windows to make the cinema display act as a center channel while a sound card outputs everything else?
 
First time poster, great forums btw.

So I was looking at the Dell u2711 and the ACD online and liked reviews for both so went to my local Frys to see them in person. Had to admit I was disappointed with the u2711 as while I didnt see the "sparkle" people have mentioned, text and areas of white color seemed not a sharp as they should be almost grainy, guessing that is the AG causing this?

Anyways then looked at the ACD and was impressed to say the least. I currently have a glossy monitor so am not concerned about reflections and after seeing this monitor am now going to purchase it. I have in SLI this GPU and since it has a display port figure I need this to connect to my PC. Then comes the ability to adjust the brightness and if I understand it right I need to first download the the 64 bit AppleControlPanel link (I have WIndows 7 64 bit) found in the blog in the 2nd part of this post, then follow the instructions in the top half of that post and I should be good to go? or am I missing anything? I admit I am a little iffy here so please let me know if I there are other steps I need to take.

Thanks in advance.
 
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ln8367 said:
I have in SLI this GPU and since it has a display port figure I need this to connect to my PC.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...



ACD has a built in minidp cable with a male end. With your video card you need THIS.

You dont need AppleControl Panel. gensplejs made a brightness controller which can be found HERE.
 
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shaft06 said:
ACD has a built in minidp cable with a male end. With your video card you need THIS.

You dont need AppleControl Panel. gensplejs made a brightness controller which can be found HERE.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks shaft now just to wait for the monitor to be delivered.
 
6887403062_a8d344e374_b.jpg
 
I know it is possible to control the brightness in Windows.

I own a MBP with a MDP output. If I were to adjust the brightness using a laptop, would these settings carry over to my PC?
 
Tsaar said:
I know it is possible to control the brightness in Windows.

I own a MBP with a MDP output. If I were to adjust the brightness using a laptop, would these settings carry over to my PC?
Click to expand...

Yes it would.
 
Tsaar said:
I know it is possible to control the brightness in Windows.

I own a MBP with a MDP output. If I were to adjust the brightness using a laptop, would these settings carry over to my PC?
Click to expand...

Sure... but it is no hazzel at all to change the brightness on a PC... so why bother with the laptop :)
 
Brightness controller 0.8.0 is out

Changelog
0.8.0 - 07/04-2012
- More keys allowed as hotkeys.
- Added support for direct Hotkeys without any modifier keys.
- Improved Update checking (now with a fallback site if my home server is down)
- Lots of changes behind the scenes like improved threading and preperations for multi monitor support (TESTER NEEDED)

http://www.holstschumacher.dk/p/brightness-controller.html
 
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anyone able to watch premium (hdcp) media center tv channels with this monitor? I just can't get it to work (ACD version).
 
thelead said:
5770 that has MDP
Click to expand...
Hmmmm.
I watch HDTV recorded with my media center (differen pc) without any problems.BD movies too. So HDCP seems to be working. I don't have the time to move the tuner to test right now but maybe in a few days.
 
It's possible, I just upgraded my drivers and now cannot watch even the local channels...
 
Here's the USB ID for the thunderbolt display, so it can be supported in Brightness Controller!

0x9227

I'm planning on building my next PC and keep my Thunderbolt screen, just waiting for motherboard with the right output, coming soon from MSI (Z77A-GD80) and Intel.

28b5uyo.png
 
So it works with a gtx 680 without any issues? You can get into the bios
And see the boot screen as well? All i would need is a mini displayport to
Displayport adapter correct? And brightness can be controlled in windows
With an app?
 
zod96 said:
So it works with a gtx 680 without any issues? You can get into the bios
And see the boot screen as well? All i would need is a mini displayport to
Displayport adapter correct? And brightness can be controlled in windows
With an app?
Click to expand...

Yep, works as expected.
 
zod96 said:
So it works with a gtx 680 without any issues? You can get into the bios
And see the boot screen as well? All i would need is a mini displayport to
Displayport adapter correct? And brightness can be controlled in windows
With an app?
Click to expand...

YEP

my ZOTAC GTX680 works flawless, with the $10 Amazon adapter
 
And you control the brightness and contrast with the user app?
 
zod96 said:
And you control the brightness and contrast with the user app?
Click to expand...

Brightness is controlles via the USB port with apple control panel or my brightness controller..
It makes no difference what GFX card you get. (as far as brightness control is concerned)
 
I am releasing a new version of Brightness Controller later this weekend...
The primary change is that it can collect detailed HID capability information from connected HID devices.
With the collected information i should have no problem adding Thunderbolt Display support as soon as someone gets one of those thunderbolt enabled motherboards. :)
 
gensplejs said:
I am releasing a new version of Brightness Controller later this weekend...
The primary change is that it can collect detailed HID capability information from connected HID devices.
With the collected information i should have no problem adding Thunderbolt Display support as soon as someone gets one of those thunderbolt enabled motherboards. :)
Click to expand...

How would you hook that up? Would that only support the integrated gpu?
 
seamusmc said:
How would you hook that up? Would that only support the integrated gpu?
Click to expand...

Well... i am sure integrated GFX will work but why bother really...
What is noticed was this description of the MSI Z77A-GD80 mobo....

, and display relayed from Intel processor-integrated graphics. Lucid VirtuMVP lets you harness the pixel-crunching power of your favourite discrete graphics card over this port, as well.
Click to expand...
This section kinda caught my attention...
I have no idea what Lucid VirtuMVP is but the article suggests you can use the mobo TB port as output for your discrete GFX card...

... IMO getting that board and a TB display is gona be a big gamble... It might not work at all or only work with the integrated GFX... But if someone does get it or someone runs windows on a TB compatible mac i will upgrade my tool to control the brightness...

EDIT:
Description of how VirtuMVP works with conventional dvi/hdmi/dp outputs here...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5728/...ew-asrock-asus-gigabyte-msi-ecs-and-biostar/3
And yes... it lets the integrated gfx handle the output for the discrete... (it also lets you run on the integrated until u start a program that needs 3d. Just like laptops with switchable graphics)
If thees features translate directly to the TB port... well who knows..
 
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I've heard you can create a custom .inf for the ACD to allow for greater refresh rates....like 75,90 or more.

Anyone tried this or have instructions?
 
Ashok0 said:
Anandtech just did a preview of the MSI Z77A-GD80 Thunderbolt motherboard + Apple LED Cinema Display 27" TB. They confirmed it worked on their PC using an nVidia GTX 680 via Lucid VirtuMVP. :D
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5829/a-first-look-at-thunderbolt-on-windows-with-msis-z77agd80/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajA0TylSoXo&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...

I just released BC 0.9 and sent an email to the reviewer asking him if he would run the new option for gathering HID information so i can add support for the Thunderbolt display.
 
MrDeas said:
I've heard you can create a custom .inf for the ACD to allow for greater refresh rates....like 75,90 or more.

Anyone tried this or have instructions?
Click to expand...

I think that was some old old old Apple studio displays. Never heard of it for the current cinema display but i can try to force it but i am not hopeful at all...
 
gensplejs said:
I think that was some old old old Apple studio displays. Never heard of it for the current cinema display but i can try to force it but i am not hopeful at all...
Click to expand...

Apparently the 27" panel is the same LG panel used in other brands...some of which allow refresh rates of 80, or higher.

You have to create a custom display driver for windows to allow it, haven't tried it myself, but was hoping someone else has

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7947-force-dvi-hdmi-resolutions-refresh-rates.html
 
MrDeas said:
Apparently the 27" panel is the same LG panel used in other brands...some of which allow refresh rates of 80, or higher.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, the only 27" 2560x1440 panels that can hit 80Hz or higher are the South Korean displays which have no overdrive circuit.
 
If anyone gets higher Hz working let me know... i can include it as an option in the Brightness controller setup.
 
this explains why 120hz TN gaming monitor tech works to appreciably reduce smearing (and even reduce artifacts caused by the smearing reduction) on FoV moment.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/samsung-sm2233rz_10.html#sect0


A 10ms + ips with no aggressive high/very high overdrive isn't going to do that no matter how many screen updates you send it per second.
.
I love my acd though. All monitors are tradeoffs, being better at some things while other monitors are better at others.
 
This is a beautiful monitor, but it didn't work with my 5870 video card. Got it for christmas one year, but had to sell it off because of that. Now i'm using Samsung's S27A950D, which I'm extremely happy with.
 
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