Apple 20 inch Cinema Display LCD on my PC!
Last night, using the Apple ADC to DVI Adapter I bought to run my 17 inch Apple Studio LCD with my PowerBook, I hooked up one of my 20 inch Apple Cinema Displays (LCD) to my Windows XP PC. The machine currently has in it an ATI Radeon 9000 video card.
As I expected, none of the machine’s BIOS screens displayed. During the computer’s boot up, the display’s power button light blinked in cycles of three. The first screen that appeared on an otherwise black display was the Windows XP Welcome Screen and the pictures looked stretched. Once I selected my user account and the machine booted into the XP desktop, I found that XP had loaded it as a “Plug and Play Monitor” and that it was still running at the last set resolution, i.e., 1024 x 1280. I reset the resolution to the Cinema Display’s native 1680 x 1050 which the Radeon 9000 seemed ready for. I have only one word for the picture quality:
Amazing!
For grins, I ran Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. When I reset the display resolution to match the monitor (1680 x 1050x32), the Cessna 182’s instrument panel filled the screen, making the flight instruments close to real size! I then flew flights out of my real airfield (Clover Field, TX) in both a Cessna 182 and a Learjet 45. Graphics display was outstanding with no noticeable motion effects, and the clouds looked exactly like the real things.
You can bet when I fly any of my XP powered flight simulators, I’ll be using my Apple Cinema Display from now on!
Running it as my sole display, however, would not be a good idea. I’d have to keep another display around to do any kind of troubleshooting or BIOS setting adjustment. Also, since the BIOS screens don’t show, neither does the Windows XP/Windows 98SE boot menu that allows me to select which operating system I want. I’d have to learn to select Win98 using a timer. That’s more hassle than I’d want to go to. But if you have only XP loaded on your computer, it would work rather well. I’d keep an el cheapo 14 inch LCD in the closet for those times when I needed into the BIOS. Another solution I might pursue if I wanted a 20 inch display would be to look at the Formac 20 inch LCD. The reviews I’ve seen say it’s almost as good as the Apple Cinema, is slightly cheaper, and comes with DVI and ADC interfaces and is PC and Mac compatible. It has a slightly different resolution, though, at 1600 x 1200. For running flight sims, the Apple Cinema Display is therefore slightly better.
That said, the crispness of the Apple Cinema Display is amazing. Brightness can not be adjusted on the PC, but frankly it was unnecessary on mine. Colors were bright and text was sharp. It was all I could ever ask for out of an LCD monitor.
I really loved running it on my PC, and you can bet from time to time, I’ll do it again!
As I expected, none of the machine’s BIOS screens displayed. During the computer’s boot up, the display’s power button light blinked in cycles of three. The first screen that appeared on an otherwise black display was the Windows XP Welcome Screen and the pictures looked stretched. Once I selected my user account and the machine booted into the XP desktop, I found that XP had loaded it as a “Plug and Play Monitor” and that it was still running at the last set resolution, i.e., 1024 x 1280. I reset the resolution to the Cinema Display’s native 1680 x 1050 which the Radeon 9000 seemed ready for. I have only one word for the picture quality:
Amazing!
For grins, I ran Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. When I reset the display resolution to match the monitor (1680 x 1050x32), the Cessna 182’s instrument panel filled the screen, making the flight instruments close to real size! I then flew flights out of my real airfield (Clover Field, TX) in both a Cessna 182 and a Learjet 45. Graphics display was outstanding with no noticeable motion effects, and the clouds looked exactly like the real things.
You can bet when I fly any of my XP powered flight simulators, I’ll be using my Apple Cinema Display from now on!
Running it as my sole display, however, would not be a good idea. I’d have to keep another display around to do any kind of troubleshooting or BIOS setting adjustment. Also, since the BIOS screens don’t show, neither does the Windows XP/Windows 98SE boot menu that allows me to select which operating system I want. I’d have to learn to select Win98 using a timer. That’s more hassle than I’d want to go to. But if you have only XP loaded on your computer, it would work rather well. I’d keep an el cheapo 14 inch LCD in the closet for those times when I needed into the BIOS. Another solution I might pursue if I wanted a 20 inch display would be to look at the Formac 20 inch LCD. The reviews I’ve seen say it’s almost as good as the Apple Cinema, is slightly cheaper, and comes with DVI and ADC interfaces and is PC and Mac compatible. It has a slightly different resolution, though, at 1600 x 1200. For running flight sims, the Apple Cinema Display is therefore slightly better.
That said, the crispness of the Apple Cinema Display is amazing. Brightness can not be adjusted on the PC, but frankly it was unnecessary on mine. Colors were bright and text was sharp. It was all I could ever ask for out of an LCD monitor.
I really loved running it on my PC, and you can bet from time to time, I’ll do it again!
posted by Andy Foster at
2:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home