Apple Cinema display or HDTV for monitor

Chris Adams

Chris Adams

Active member
I am considering buying a 24" Apple display for a mac pro I will be getting.

However, a good friend of mine does all his editing on an plasma HDTV, its about 42".

Considering that a midrange plasma is right about the same price as the apple display, what would you recommend getting? Is there any reason to not get the TV?

Thanks
 
Hi Chris,

ACD's can be calibrated using a matrox for pretty precise monitoring (matrox shows interlacing, has blue only...). Can't say the same for an HDTV. If, however, for some reason you need your canvas to be very large, than the 42" might be a better idea. The best bet is to use a true broadcast monitor.

One thing to check is the mini port on the new ACDs. Not sure if they are actually compatible with a Matrox.

I edit on ACDs. If I need to view something on a normal TV, than I hook up a CRT and/or HDTV.


Jason
 
Apple's 24" ACD is no good for use w/the MXO. The only ACD that can be used w/the MXO is the discontinued 23". Are you looking for something that is b'cast quality, something you can use to color correct or just something bigger to view the footage on so you aren't just looking at the small Canvas window in FCP?


-A
 
adkimery said:
Apple's 24" ACD is no good for use w/the MXO. The only ACD that can be used w/the MXO is the discontinued 23". Are you looking for something that is b'cast quality, something you can use to color correct or just something bigger to view the footage on so you aren't just looking at the small Canvas window in FCP?


-A
Click to expand...

According to Matrox's site:

"Matrox MXO turns your Apple Cinema Display or other DVI monitor into an artifact-
free, true-color video display you can trust, even for color grading."

So it should work well with the 24" ACD (you'd need the mini-display to DVI adapter), or, as they imply, any other DVI monitor. Theoretically, it seems an HDMI-equipped plasma or LCD HDTV should also work fine since they can be easily connected via a cheap HDMI to DVI adapter. Evidently HDMI and DVI are largely based on the same protocol.
 
If you check out the compatibility chart Matrox has not approved the 24" ACD for use w/the MXO and given the glossy nature of the 24" I don't know how good of a choice it would be anyway. This goes back to the Q of does the OP want an accurate picture or just a bigger picture?

Also, from what I've seen on the MXO forums using a DVI-to-HDMI adapter is hit or miss and not recommended or supported by Matrox. Part of the reason for this, AFAIK, is that the MXO passes thru a 1920x1200 resolution out the DVI port intended for a computer monitor and not a standard 1920x1080 HD signal. I assume you should have no problem though using an HD SDI-to-HDMI converter to hook an MXO up to an HDTV.


-A
 
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