Please help me choose a monitor

[Caravaggio]

Hi, I am on a Power PC mac G5 that was brand new in 2004.

Recently my 24 inch cinema display monitor that I loved died. It would not turn on when I turned on the computer. I think it may have died because it had no external power source other than the computer itself and I had recently disconnected the monitor from the computer for the first time. When I reconnected it , it would not light up so it may have received a power surge from the computer itself. The computer itself made its usual start up chime. I took it in to a repair place and they were unable to get it to display after testing the monitor on two different computers. They told me that either the invertor or the board led needed replacing and the repair charges would more than likely be very high so that it made more sense to buy a brand new monitor.


So now I need to buy a new monitor on which I can do professional retouching. I would like either a 24 or 30 inch monitor. Should I get a new Apple Cinema Display or another manufacturer? Thanks for your help? I was wondering if by buying a mac monitor, I was just paying extra for the nice design and if there are better options? Thanks for your help.

[mfischer]

Eizo CG Series.

[pixelzombie]

apple monitors may have slipped somewhat in their performance but at least they stay consistent(the exception being the 23" model) during the production run which is one of the reasons Kodak recommends them for their MVP systems..

[zogdart]

NEC 2690WUXi

[Benny Profane]

After using an expensive Eizo for a few months at work, I say, meh. Not worth the price over an Apple. Which is, what, like 10x more money?

[mseydel]

I've used some excellent NEC and LaCie monitors in the past, but have been using the Eiizo CG210 for about 2 years- the color consistentcy across the monitor, accuracy to other monitors of its type, ergonomics, viewing angle, and the ease of the calibration software make it a much better bet than the Apple Cinema displays. I will say that from the tests we've conducted on the Apple 30" displays, they seem to be much more accurate than the smaller Apple monitors.

[pixelzombie]

the viewing angle on our Eizo CG241W is ridicules considering how much that thing cost...

[DiamondsDr47]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...&A=details&Q=#

[skydog]

I tried many monitors Samsung and others and returned them all (looking ofr the past 9months). Samsung was too bright and killed my eyes. I just bought a high resolution 24" Dell 2408WFP and love it...just wish I could have afforded the 27". I did wait and wait an finally this monitor went on sale and I bought it and it is really nice.

[JavierT]

Originally Posted by zogdart

NEC 2690WUXi

I agree. I know many people working with this monitor and have a very good price and very good quality.

No doubt

[twopoint0]

I love my 30" Apple. Think drive in movie theater.

[zogdart]

One important thing to check is the warranty!

Apple is only one year i think? i think i have 4 or 5 year's on my NEC.

I heard some horror story's from apple after a year and a half!!!

The probleme with apple is you dont' know from wich comapany comes de lCD and you don't know de grade of it .

Someone was telling me that the LaCie Have the NEC LDC panel. you just pay more for the name!

[Caravaggio]

Thank you everyone for responding and helping me choose. I am researching and getting specs on all the different brands and models that you are recommending. One thing I am confused by is response time. What is that? I notice that the response time for Apple's 23" cinema monitor is 16 ms. Some others have a faster response time. Basically I want to use this monitor for high-end professional retouching of fashion models. Also do the monitors that are higher priced like LaCie and Nec display more colors than the Apple monitors? Thanks a lot for all your input and responses. I am somewhat technologically challenged.

[zogdart]

the NEC 2690 is as a wider gammut display, NOt the NEC 2490 and none of the apple's LCD. I think the reponse time is more important if you want to use it for gamming! XBOX PS3... I strongly recommend The NEC. I did a lot of search before bying it...I have mine since almost 2 year's and it's beautifull...and i have a good warranty!

[cricket1961]

Benny

On many of my trips to help people out with color management, I have found that of those who own the good eizo monitors, most of them had them hooked up wrong.
For instance the usb cable was not there from the back of the monitor to the computer, etc.
Or they were setting wrong black, whitepoints, etc.

Not that you or your company did, just some observations.

I have been using a eizo cg21 at home for 3 years and the color etc has not changed at all. Love it.

But it is too bad that they are not cheaper.

Chris

[Caravaggio]

Hey Zogart, does Nec make drivers that you can use on a power PC G5 mac platform. They are vague about how all the drivers which appear as for window systems are installed for mac.

I am comparing the LCD 2690WUXi-BK and the LCD 2690WUXiSV. The main difference is that the later has better more professional color calibration?

[Caravaggio]

Hey, I am confused about how the Nec drivers are used in a mac as they all seem designed for windows.

Also I am comparing the Nec LCD 2690@UXi-bK to the LCK2690WUXiSV. The main difference is that the later has better more professional color calibration equipment?

Thanks.

[cricket1961]

You don't need to worry about drivers for the mac as far as I know.

Chris

[zogdart]

I have a Power mac G5 and it work's fine.

The difference between the 2 is that the SV is a package that comes with the Eye-one Puck for calibrating your monitor. and i think you get the spectraview software that utilise the 10 or 12 bits of the monitor...I already had a eye-one puck so i went for the first package. I was able to calibrate it with the eye one software. i bought the Spectraview software seperatly a few month's later...Do a google search for the spectraview software i'm sure you will find some review and lot's of info.

[Markzebra]

Eizo's are to customer usability what George Bush is to golf, they need to learn a few lessons from Apple in that respect.

I agree with Benny I've used them at work too, and saw better results with cheaper monitors. Main problem I have is the gamut and tonal range seems to be too narrow and limited. Powerful reds and oranges were useless, really useless. One thing they do have is that colour subtlety is quite high, but the disadvantages outweigh that in my opinion. Maybe I didn't know how to hook them up, to be honest the instructions and help files were like looking for a needle in haystack, like they were trying to self consciously pitch themselves at "professionals" - aggravating when you've got a job to do

[Caravaggio]

I am liking or interested in the Nec Multisync LCD2690. Have never seen one so probably go to some store to take a look. One concern that I do have about the Nec and some other monitors is the crispness of the resolution. It is 25.5 inches wide, but only supports a native resolution of 1920 x 1200. The apple cinema display is 23' and has the same resolution. I assume this means that on the Nec Multisync the image is not as crisp as each pixel is stretched out over a large space on the screen. I am kind of used to the crispness of the image that my old 23 inch Apple monitor had.

How do you think that the crispness of the image on a 23" mac cinema display compares to the larger Nec? Is this something I should consider or is the loss of crispness on a Nec not really noticeable?

[garibaldi]

Originally Posted by mfischer

Eizo CG Series.

I was in the market for a new car not too long ago so I asked someone which car I should buy.

They said a Ferrari F430

[cricket1961]

Well, the lower end Eizo's are certainly like that Mark.

But the hi-ends are definitely not. Kodak uses the apple and or the eizo only for their soft proofing system. And Apple mostly because they are more affordable.
Just Normlicht, arguably the top color management hardware company around just launched an incredible package The picture on their web site features the eizo.

Its just to bad they are expensive.

Chris

[mfischer]

Originally Posted by garibaldi

They said a Ferrari F430

If that is the right tool to get the job done, go for it.

[Caravaggio]

So I bought the NEC MultiSyn LCD3090WQXi. I am having some problems with it. Basically my PSD documents that were created on a 23 inch cinema display are now appearing all stretched out, for example people's heads and bodies that were once normally proportioned are now all stretched out so that the heads and bodies are fat! I don't know how to fix this problem and NEC tech support is not much help. NEC told me before I bought it that it would work fine with a Power PC G5.

I am kind of freaking out and wondering what is causing this problem. I checked under system preferences on my G5 and the maximum resolution that is offered is 1600 x1200. How am I supposed to use a monitor that offers a resolution of 2560 x 1600 on it? Another thing I noticed is that my macbook pro only offers a resolution of 1440 x 900. Supposedly both machines are capable of operating the Apple 30 inch cinema display that has a resolution of 2560 x1600.

I used to view files my PSD files on both the G5 and macbook pro and they appeared identical without any distortion.

Does someone know what is causing my problem?

I tested some of the Adobe stock photos on my NEC and they also appear to have a proportional distortion.

I really need help.
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

[mfischer]

Do you use a Dual Link DVI-Cable?

[pixel_monkey]

A 2004 Power PC G5? What's the video card in that build? If you don't see either the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT or the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra in it, then your build can't run 30" displays with native resolution at 2560x1600.

[Caravaggio]

The card is a ATI Radeon 9600 Pro. I think I am using a dual link DVI-Cable, although am not sure. There is a cable that runs from the back of the monitor and couples with the computer that I believe is called the Dual link DVI-Cable.

[Caravaggio]

Apple told me that I wold need a ATI radeon hd 2600 xt to run this monitor and that they cost $800. Perhaps it is time to return the NEC monitor and just get a whole new computer as these cards come installed in the macpro? The cost of this monitor and all the additional time and expenses involved in trying to get it to run off of my Power PC G5 are becoming tiresome.

[pixelzombie]

where did you get that price from?...see if any on this page fit your budget:

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ult#ps-sellers