What is it about the 'Apple Cinema Display'?

jm240 · 22 Dec 2011 at 16:15

From a technological standpoint, what is it about the Apple cinema displays that make them so good? Why are they the king of displays?

And what comes close or matches them in technological terms and of course performance?

I mean I know they are IPS but many monitors are IPS and are not as good as them.

Anyone care to enlighten me?

Axeia · 22 Dec 2011 at 16:23

They're glossy. The only other IPS monitors that aren't matte are the Hazro's (the HZ27WC is very very similar to the Mac Cinema display).
Advantage of the Hazro, they have a glossy one without a plate of glass in front of it. Way less reflection, still the same image quality. Disadvantage: Just look at the Hazro topic.

[edit]
Other than that they're nothing special, they're 8 bits like all other monitors with that resolution (well some are "10 bits" - 8 bits + RFC). They don't have an OSD so not much help in getting the colours perfect. I think the Apple logo is enough reason for some people to think they're the best thing since sliced bread as well

The folks who also have an iEverything.

Matte displays make the colours look dirty, like they're covered in something (which they are.. the AG-coating).

joey1211 · 22 Dec 2011 at 16:32

Don't Dell use the same panel in one of it's monitors? Cheaper and an all-round better monitor?

PCM2 · 22 Dec 2011 at 16:36

joey1211 said:
Don't Dell use the same panel in one of it's monitors? Cheaper and an all-round better monitor?

Same panel, yes, but all-round better? Not really. The panel is only the start of it. The backlight (which in this case isn't part of the panel as a package), driving electronics and polarising layers are just as important. The U2711 is more practical in terms of adjustability, the inclusion of pixel overdrive (reducing trailing) and better for work requiring a large colour space. But as above - a critical point, not glossy. The polar opposite in fact. Another positive attribute of the Apple Cinema Display is that Apple are very stringent in their testing and manufacturing processes for their LED Cinema Displays and as such they tend to have very good luminance uniformity. They are excellent monitors if you have the money and lighting conditions and don't want to do any particularly fast-paced gaming.

icedbullet · 22 Dec 2011 at 16:37

I really like the 27 inch Apple LED monitor. I've seen it up and running and I have to say I really do want one. Aside from the obvious shiny, I really liked how the colours looked through the glass front of the monitor.

I want to use it with my pc, but reading around it seems a bit hit and miss if it will actually work with my graphics card.