Calling all 24" LED Cinema Display users
How much of a problem is the glossy panel in real world work environments? We've all seen the photos where the display looks like a mirror ? but few of us have actually used the display for any length of time.
I'm not interested in specially built dark rooms. I want to know whether or not you had to make any concessions to work with this monitor. Did you have to move your workstation to beat the reflections etc. etc.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
I'm not interested in specially built dark rooms. I want to know whether or not you had to make any concessions to work with this monitor. Did you have to move your workstation to beat the reflections etc. etc.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
Comments
I'm going to try to be helpful, but I might not be, so I apologize upfront for the following comment.
I don't have many minutes (never mind hours) logged with the 24" LED Cinema Display...but the glare wasn't too obnoxious when I used it for 20 minutes at one of the brightly lit Apple Stores. This was over a month ago. I was enamored with the image quality.
FWIW
Messiah,
I'm going to try to be helpful, but I might not be, so I apologize upfront for the following comment.
I don't have many minutes (never mind hours) logged with the 24" LED Cinema Display...but the glare wasn't too obnoxious when I used it for 20 minutes at one of the brightly lit Apple Stores. This was over a month ago. I was enamored with the image quality.
FWIW
Thanks for your help.
I'm hopefully going to drive through to the nearest Apple Store tomorrow and have a look at one of these displays again. I find to hard to judge the displays in the store because I always tend to be standing in front of them in the store, but seated in front of them at home.
I guess if the worst comes to the worst, Apple offer a 14 day money back guarantee!
I do not have the new display but I do however have a new MacBook Pro. I only got it yesterday but have already used it in a very different lighting situations and my first impressions are that the glare is WAY over exaggerated. I get a decent amount of sunlight in my room and I keep my desk lamp on all the time but this display is so bright that I hardly see ANY reflections whatsoever. However, when I take a picture of the screen, the glare appears to be MUCH more problematic due to the flash on the camera.
Yeah, I've worked with MacBooks and MacBook Airs that have plastic-glossy screens, and their displays have never been a problem for me. But I've also worked with 20" & 24" glassy-glossy iMacs and they certainly have been a problem. A big problem.
I think with laptops, you're working with a smaller screen at a greater angle so the reflections aren't an issue. I generally tend to see more of the upper surface of a wall or indeed the ceiling, I rarely see a window. But when you get up to desktop sized displays there is a lot more glass to capture the reflections and the display itself is a lot nearer 90º than a laptops display. As a result you regularly see light sources such as windows behind you.
Knowing that the 24" iMac is unworkable for me, I'm wondering if the LED backlighting on the LED Cinema Display does indeed overcome the reflection issue...
Yeah, I've worked with MacBooks and MacBook Airs that have plastic-glossy screens, and their displays have never been a problem for me. But I've also worked with 20" & 24" glassy-glossy iMacs and they certainly have been a problem. A big problem.
I think with laptops, you're working with a smaller screen at a greater angle so the reflections aren't an issue. I generally tend to see more of the upper surface of a wall or indeed the ceiling, I rarely see a window. But when you get up to desktop sized displays there is a lot more glass to capture the reflections and the display itself is a lot nearer 90º than a laptops display. As a result you regularly see light sources such as windows behind you.
Knowing that the 24" iMac is unworkable for me, I'm wondering if the LED backlighting on the LED Cinema Display does indeed overcome the reflection issue...
I'm also curious about the possible next 20" LED iMac. I wonder whether that will overcome some glare issues.
Yeah, I've worked with MacBooks and MacBook Airs that have plastic-glossy screens, and their displays have never been a problem for me. But I've also worked with 20" & 24" glassy-glossy iMacs and they certainly have been a problem. A big problem.
I think with laptops, you're working with a smaller screen at a greater angle so the reflections aren't an issue. I generally tend to see more of the upper surface of a wall or indeed the ceiling, I rarely see a window. But when you get up to desktop sized displays there is a lot more glass to capture the reflections and the display itself is a lot nearer 90º than a laptops display. As a result you regularly see light sources such as windows behind you.
Knowing that the 24" iMac is unworkable for me, I'm wondering if the LED backlighting on the LED Cinema Display does indeed overcome the reflection issue...
First, reflection on the glossy displays is not governed by whether or not the display is LED backlit. Any reflections come from the outside of the display. Having said that, I use a 24" iMac w/glossy display, and I have absolutely no issues with it. Mine is used for photo editing with various editors, Aperture, Photoshop, etc, and it's calibrated regularly. My prints match the display, perfectly.
One can setup a glossy screen to directly reflect light sources, but why would anyone do that? It's an easy matter to setup the display so that reflections are not an issue. The Apple Store is not the best place to view a glossy display because of their overhead light sources, but if one sits in front of the display at the store, some tilting of the display helps.
For those that insist on setting up a glossy display in situations where reflections are a problem, it's a self inflicted problem.
I think this is very indicative of how the display brightness can overcome the issue of glare:
First, reflection on the glossy displays is not governed by whether or not the display is LED backlit. Any reflections come from the outside of the display.
From what I can gather, the strength of the backlighting has a huge effect on the visibility of the reflections. Looking at the 24" iMac next to the LED ACD in the store really highlights it (sic).
Some of the pics around the web of people complaining about refelctions look like they've taken it on purpose show how bad it can be if you put it infront of a window, turn your flash on and Hey Presto! Big reflections - just like any monitor that's in front of a window with a camera flash.
When you look at the important specs, the ACD wins hands down, LED backlit + H-IPS panel = superbight, (mostly) colour accurate display.
As you might be able to tell, I've made my mind up to get one so all this could just be me justifying it to myself.
Before I pull the trigger - does anyone know of a display that gets anywhere near the ACD in terms of aesthetics? The closest I found was LG but even they have a horrible port array on the back.
Before I pull the trigger - does anyone know of a display that gets anywhere near the ACD in terms of aesthetics? The closest I found was LG but even they have a horrible port array on the back.
Well, I'm as concerned about aesthetics as I am performance, and the best "wow" factor for me is bitting the bullet and buying the beautiful 30" ACD. I've used one (calibrated) at work for photo work and for music composition (Cubase, soft samples, etc.). It's a great solid performer even without dozens of connections or game-quality refresh rates (I don't play games on my Mac).
We have about every brand and flavor of 20+ inch displays in our design department, including an NEC 3090. Even though some have advantages over the ACD, they all look like government issue hardware compared to the gorgeous ACD. We always use the ACD to show work to clients and they never fail to ooh and awe over the display.
I can get one new for $1600 w/3-year Apple Care (company discount) to go with the new octo MP I'm ordering.
Any one know if there is one out there somewhere??
I have an aluminum Macbook and I would like to purchase the 24" LED display also. I need to put the display at a table on the other side of my office and need an extension cable with the mini display port connectors. It would need to be approx 25' in length. Apparantly Apple does not make one. Iv'e done a quick search for another source but no luck.
Any one know if there is one out there somewhere??
Why don't you just make one?
Maybe I should substitute the word obnoxious in my original post with obvious. That said, I don't know if you caught the front page of AppleInsider and their high rez photos of the new 24".
I think this is very indicative of how the display brightness can overcome the issue of glare:
I think this is very indicative of how the display brightness can overcome the issue of glare:
Again that only works when you are working on a bright image.
Once you start working with dark areas the brightness of the backlight is neither here nor there, and glare becomes a real issue.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....38568&tstart=0