[TheSpaz]

I have a question about my new 20" Apple Cinema Display.

I'm looking at this screen and one side has a slight cyan tint to it and the other side has a slight red tint to it. It really makes grays and whites look odd. Is this a defect or is this acceptable? Should it be one solid shad the whole way from left to right? If not, can I return it for another one?

I'm running this display from my PowerBook G4 1GHz with only 32MB of VRAM. Could the video card play a roll in this?

[TheSpaz]

Nobody knows?

[MichiganRich]

Sounds like standard operating procedure for the Apple aluminum LCD displays.

You could try what I wound up doing with the two 23" ones we got here at work. I do retouching for a big photo studio so the Neapolitan ice cream look wasn't cutting it for me. I returned them and a few weeks later I got them back saying they were within spec. I had our reseller look at them, and he couldn't believe Apple didn't see anything wrong with them and sent them back again. A few more weeks later, I got 2 'new' units (refurbs most likely) which had equally annoying but different vertical 'stripes' on the sides. They also included, free of charge, 3 stuck pixels on one and 4 stuck pixels on the other (so I've got that going for me). I gave up after that. They're not my personal property or I would have kept going.

Neither the Dell 2001FP or 2005FPW that I own at home have pronounced color shifts or dead or stuck pixels. They also don't limit me to ONE input, DVI only please.

I don't think the video card wood play any roll at all. :-)

[TheSpaz]

I guess any NORMAL person wouldn't notice this effect but, I definitely can. I'm a graphic designer too and I like my colors consistent! Do you think Circuit City would take this back or would they have one of their sales people look at it and tell me I'm crazy. I wonder if they even look at it or if they just take my word for it.

[TheSpaz]

Do you think this is abnormal enough to bring back? I mean... should I expect a consistent color completely across the entire screen? I'm used to a 12" screen so I don't know what goes into making them so big but, it seems like the bigger they are, the more flaws can happen.

[TheSpaz]

Okay... I'm torn on what I should do. I still have the same display but, I'm worried that if I return it, I may get one that is worse or I may get one that has dead pixels. According to Apple, their screens can have up to 5 dead pixels and it's still considered to spec. I don't want ANY dead pixels and this display has none. So is it worth it to try and bring it back and I could end up with something I'm still not going to like? Why is this so hard to do? On the other hand, I could return it, get another one and it could be PERFECT. What are the odds of getting a perfect screen? Is it more likely that I'll get a good one or is it more likely I'll get the same or worse?

[TheSpaz]

Okay, I returned my Display for an exchange and the problem is still there but, not as bad so I think I'll keep this one. they didn't even plug it in and look at it... for all they know, it could've been perfectly fine. Anyways... it wasn't fine and I got a new one. This one is actually better, but the effect it still slightly there but, I'll keep it since it's not as apparent. I didn't see this effect happening on the 23" ACD but, the same thing was happening on the 20" Display Model they had out but, that one was worse than this new one. I think it's just how they come... or maybe a bad batch... I wouldn't really classify this as BAD because most people wouldn't even notice it to even care or even if their screen has it... they might not even know it. I think I said before that I work with photos at work and they need to be "color corrected" to be printed on a flexo press and my eyes have become very observant to every color shift such as being able to tell if something is too warm, too cold, too dark, too light and there's very fine adjustments that we do to them to make them look as good on press as they do on screen. Maybe that's why I criticize these displays. However, after all that, I must say that this is a very well built display and the hardware is amazing and the brightness is top notch... whites are very white (unlike my yellowish whites on the PowerBook) and overall I'm satisfied with this display as a whole.

So in conclusion... if you're thinking of getting a high quality widescreen LCD... definitely choose Apple for the most professional looking hardware and sharp image. Trust me, I looked all around for a third party display and they all disappointed me in one way or another. A lot of them felt cheesy or there was too much design to them or ugly buttons on the face of the display. On the other hand, Apple's displays are very sleek and beautiful as well as very very well put together with a nice aluminum case and that solid feel. Also, it's very easy to tilt the display up and down... you almost don't have to use any force yet when you're not touching it, it stays exactly in place. The brightness buttons are on the side and so is the power button (touch buttons). Lastly, there's 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports on the back and there's only 1 cable that pops out the back and it goes through the stand and splits into 1 connector cable and 1 USB cable and 1 Firewire cable (to make the ports on the display work) and the power cable that plugs into the power block which then plugs into the wall or powerstrip. There's my mini-review.

Quality: 10
Design: 10
Ease of use: 10
Ease of setting up: 10
Price: 5
Picture Quality: 8

Overall Rating: 9

[TheSpaz]

I guess everyone got over it. Sweet... I got over it already too. I have a 20" Apple Cinema Display and I'm very satisfied with it even though it's a tad grainy but, it depends on how far away I view it from or if I even look and TRY to see it.

For example... it's a lot less noticeable when I'm closer to the display (about 12" from it) but, when I'm about 17" away from it, it's a little visible. I'd like to say it's better than the MacBook Pro but, I can't even tell anymore... maybe I just got used to it and that's just how it's gonna be so I don't even care anymore. Oh, and another thing... I just saw a MacBook Pro today at the store and the screen didn't look too bad... sure, I could see a little bit of grain but, from my memory, the 15" MBP that I had was really annoying me. Perhaps I should have given it more time for my eyes to get more used to it and to be able to see passed it and concentrate more on the actual image on the display rather than the coating on the outside. No one can really tell. All I can say right now is that I don't mind using this 20"... it's probably the best display I've ever used.

PS: I looked at a BUNCH of display models set up at Circuit City (some from Apple and a lot from other companies) and to tell you the truth... almost all of them suffered from the same problem... although some were a little worse than others... but, they all had it... interesting.