Apple 30" vs (2x) 23" Cinema Displays

S

Spiral

Active member
Hello all,

I have searched and not found this direct question...but apologies if it has already been addressed....

I am just about to drop a load on a Macpro, but wondering if anyone has a 30" cinema Display?

Would you buy a single 30" display, or opt for 2 X 23" displays, and why ?

Thanks in advance for saving me from a bad decision :thumbsup:
 
Personally I like 2 displays- much more flexibility and it looks cooler to a client IMHO. For example Color all but demands two displays. And if you're not planning to use an AJA card with a true HD monitor for your editing/color correction having two ACD's is the next best thing.

Noah
 
NoahK said:
it looks cooler to a client IMHO.
Click to expand...

While I know so many hobbyists that have a dual monitor setup, that perception from clients is so true. The amount of people we've brought into the office that do the whole ooh and ahh over the fact that the edit suites have 2 monitors. Then the follow up comments, "so if I guess if I ever want to do any home editing I'll have to buy another monitor."

cheers.
 
For sure 2 widescreen displays. I go with 2 dell 24" because you can get the for about $700 each or my friend runs a 21 and a 24 which is super cheap and works good with the browser on the 21 and the rest on the 24. I am looking to add a 3rd for full screen display but need to work out what kind of second video card I need.
 
Thanks for the input :), Much appreciated!

Does anyone here actually own one of the 30" monitors? If so, can you compare? Is there anything besides the "look" that makes it worth while?

Thanks and sorry for all the Q's
 
Yes I have worked with a 30". Not sure what you mean by look. I suppose if you wanted to have people impressed by the size of your 30" you could go that way. But as someone who's been using and teaching FCP since version 1.25 I can assure you two monitors are better than one big one.

Noah
 
....and the winner is!

....and the winner is!

Hey Noah...

Great Stuff! I *really* appreciate your time (and the rest of the dvx'ers) in answering my question. This is a BIG investment and I want to make the right choice, so 2 x 23" monitors it is!
 
If you haven't purchased it yet here is my two cents:

I have owned both the 23" and now currently the 30" monitor. I think a question you need to ask yourself is what all you will be using your monitor for. I opted for the 30" instead of two 23" because I do a lot of photography work (which is great on a 30") and my monitor also doubles my screen for watching movies. I do a lot of video editing as well and i personally get along fine with just the one 30" monitor. Personally it gives me less headaches than trying to look back and forth from one screen to the other. But then that's just me.

Another thing to consider is that the 23" are more prone than the 30" to have dead pixels, pinkish tint, ghosting, and banding. I think I had three dead pixels in my 23" where as I don't have any in my 30" and I haven't had any other problems as well. I think Apple has even come forth and verified this. But if you check the apple support forum you'll find a lot more information about these problems.

As for buying I'd wait a couple weeks to see if they role out a new display. There's been rumors for awhile that they're going to be updating the cinema display line soon.

Whether you choose two 23" or the 30" I think you'll be very happy with either. Also remember to pick up a color calibrator for the monitor(s). I recommend the Huey. Cost about $80 and does the job very well.

- Isaac
 
Y-ikes!

Y-ikes!

Ok Ike...make a difficult decision even more difficult *lol*

Well, so far, feedback from *all* sources are about 70% for dual screen and 30% for single.

I suspect the reason might be because the 30" was (is) so expensive, which leads to a load of dual screen users. I also heard about the Photograph editing being much better on the 30". I have to say though, I like the idea of sending my palettes to boon-town and having *just* the images on another.

Thanks for the feedback...perhaps 2 30" when the bucks role in :shocked:
 
2 monitors! NLE's to me are just begging for it. and being able to use the internet on one and do word processing or email on the other is just so nice.
 
You can really use a single or double monitor setup for the same things, but having your computer recognize a second monitor makes the workflow of sizing and arranging windows much easier. I wonder if someone's written a program to create virtual monitors out of a single large monitor. Then you could maximize programs within their virtual monitor spaces without them sitting on top of each other. In that case, the bigger monitor would be the easy choice.
 
Virtual monitors

Virtual monitors

....Hi Barry (spiral bows,)

I wouldn't be surprised if something like that was in the works, of course, in 6 months, my system will be looking like yesterdays news anyway. Great idea though, you should patent it :-)

I did hear about the work flow being easier with 2 monitors, and it makes sense to go with that option if one plans on lots of production.

Thanks a mill :happy: !
 
I personally have the two 23" monitors for my editing system. I really like it for color correction within FCP because then I can have all my different tool windows (waveform, histogram, vectorscope, parade) on one monitor while maintaining everything else on the other.
 
Barry_S said:
You can really use a single or double monitor setup for the same things, but having your computer recognize a second monitor makes the workflow of sizing and arranging windows much easier. I wonder if someone's written a program to create virtual monitors out of a single large monitor. Then you could maximize programs within their virtual monitor spaces without them sitting on top of each other. In that case, the bigger monitor would be the easy choice.
Click to expand...

Sounds like "SPACES" on Leopard.
 
ncje said:
Sounds like "SPACES" on Leopard.
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SPACES is a good idea, but it still doesn't allow you to define virtual monitors that display concurrently. I'm sure we'll see something like that pretty soon--it can't be that hard to program. As high quality display panels keep getting larger, it seems ridiculous to arbitrarily split our workspace into multiple panels to address a software workflow and display issue.

Spiral--I think you can't really make a bad decision here. A two-monitor setup is probably the best workflow, but like the great eye of sauron--that 30" display clouds our mind and holds us in its sway. :)
 
Barry_S said:
Spiral--I think you can't really make a bad decision here. A two-monitor setup is probably the best workflow, but like the great eye of sauron--that 30" display clouds our mind and holds us in its sway. :)
Click to expand...

*lol*...now your speaking my language, better give the ring to someone else....must....not...look....at.....30" monitor!!
 
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