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Apple Cinema Display (23-inch)

Manufacturer: Apple Part number: M9178LL/A

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$839.97 - $899.99 at 11 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 41 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The Apple 23-inch Cinema Display is low on extras and high on price. Still, one look at this gorgeous LCD, and you'll kiss your practicality good-bye.
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CNET editors' review

Apple Cinema Display (23-inch)

price range: $839.97 - $899.99

Reviewed by: Kristina Blachere
Edited by: Felisa Yang
Reviewed on: 09/14/2004
Released on: 06/28/2004

The good: Beautiful image quality; stunning design; PC-compatible; integrated USB and FireWire ports.

The bad: A bit pricey; limited adjustability options; no home entertainment video inputs.

The bottom line: The Apple 23-inch Cinema Display is low on extras and high on price. Still, one look at this gorgeous LCD, and you'll kiss your practicality good-bye.

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Apple's latest line of Cinema Displays (available in 20-inch, 23-inch, and 30-inch models) ushers in a renewed spirit of cross-platform cooperation. Thanks to a DVI connector on each and every Apple Cinema Display, PC users can now enjoy the fabulous design and stunning image quality that Apple aficionados have been luxuriating in since the iMac. The 23-inch Cinema HD Display LCD, in particular, is a looker. It's so lovely that we're willing to forgive its high price, limited adjustability, and lack of video inputs. In fact, hooking it up to a comparatively hideous Intel-based PC feels like such a crime that we're beginning to suspect an ulterior motive on Apple's part. How much was that Apple Power Mac G5 again?

The Cinema HD Display's design leaves no detail overlooked. The sleek, 0.75-inch brushed-aluminum bezel is unblemished by anything so vulgar as a power button (it's tucked discreetly into the right-side edge of the display), and the aluminum neck and base form a simple, elegant L shape that's both completely stable and smooth enough on the bottom to turn and slide easily across your desktop. As you contemplate the Cinema Display's pristine beauty, you'll notice small, elegant details, such as the oval cable pass-through ringed with white plastic; the single white cord, which meets the glossy white power brick and splits into signal, power, USB, and FireWire cables; and the DVI connector, which also wears a tidy, white, iPod-style suit.

The simple design, however, limits the adjustments you can make to the display panel. The neck height is fixed, so very tall users may have to set the Cinema Display on a riser (though it's almost painful to contemplate sullying the display's minimalist appearance with such a device). Also, unlike many large LCDs, such as the Eizo FlexScan L885, the Cinema HD lacks the ability to pivot between Portrait and Landscape modes--a feature that would have made it even easier to view legal documents and Web pages. But while the display doesn't have a hinge or a lazy Susan for swiveling left and right, the slippery aluminum base lets you accomplish the same thing by sliding the monitor around. The panel also tilts back and forth about 20 degrees and 5 degrees, respectively; it's by far the smoothest, easiest tilt function we've ever seen in an LCD.

This generation of Cinema Displays marks Apple's return to a DVI connection (after years of using a proprietary ADC connection), making the Cinema HD Display PC compatible. Also, for the first time, the new Cinema Displays are compatible with VESA mounts, allowing you to attach the monitors to walls. But unlike many jumbo LCDs that incorporate home entertainment features such as picture-in-picture, a TV tuner, or composite and S-Video ports, the Cinema Display provides only two USB and two FireWire ports. We're willing to forgive these omissions because this LCD looks so pretty, but you should know that you can get these video extras in a 23-inch LCD (such as the Planar PX212M or the HP L2035) that costs several hundred dollars less than the Apple Cinema HD Display.

If you're using the Cinema Display with a Wintel machine, the only adjustment you can make to the display's image is to its brightness. The touch-sensitive brightness-control buttons are nestled out of sight along the right-side edge of the panel (below the power button) and blend perfectly with the white plastic end pieces. Luckily, the image quality is so good that the average Wintel user won't miss the ability to tweak contrast or individual color values. When we hooked it up to our Power Mac G4, we were able to tweak the image using Apple's Display Calibrator Assistant. CNET Labs' DisplayMate intensity and grayscale test screens revealed some obvious color-tracking errors; very light grays have a distinctly pinkish hue. Otherwise, we see very little hue shift in the Cinema HD Display's nicely linear progression from black to white. Our only other criticism is one that's common for LCDs: there's a fair amount of ghosting in high-contrast test screens; the display seems to have trouble switching from black to gray and back to black again without leaving reverse video trails. But overall, the display looks stunning: colors are vibrant and warm, details are crisply rendered, and video looks quite smooth and free of noise. (Video playback looks even better when you hook the display up to a G5.) Text also looks very sharp, with excellent contrast; the monitor does a great job reproducing pure, bright whites and dark blacks.

Given that the Cinema HD Display is significantly more expensive than competing LCDs, we're disappointed with its skimpy one-year warranty. The industry standard for LCDs is three years--appropriate for a piece of hardware that costs $2,000.

CNET Labs DisplayMate tests (Longer bars indicate better performance)

Eizo FlexScan L885

Apple Cinema HD Display

Planar PX212M

Sony SDM-P234

HP L2035

Brightness in cd/m²

Apple Cinema HD Display

282

Eizo FlexScan L885

216

Planar PX212M

204

Sony SDM-P234

202

HP L2035

182

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 41 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 41

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10 stars

Best color consistency I have had in YEARS (and it is sleek)

by tjod123 on February 28, 2005

Pros: Color!!! WOW!

Cons: Wish I could get in 40"

Summary: Not sure which fool thinks the color is poor-- I do digital photography touch-ups for a fortune 100 ad agency and my life has been made so much better with ...

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Summary: Not sure which fool thinks the color is poor-- I do digital photography touch-ups for a fortune 100 ad agency and my life has been made so much better with the clear, consistent color of the 23" model.

Apple always seems to get it right, and get it right they have with this one. A digital photographers DREAM come true.

I HIGHLY recommend this monitor (and I use one of the two we got on a windows machine as well....

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3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 stars

Surprisingly poor clarity, fuzzy image & low refresh rate

by awmawm on October 2, 2006

Pros: Nice large display, excellent design

Cons: Low refresh rate caused headache after 15 min, not a crisp image

Summary: I was so enthusiastic about buying this monitor but was disappointed by the lack of clarity, and the low flicker rate actually caused a headache after 15-20 minutes of use. ...

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Summary: I was so enthusiastic about buying this monitor but was disappointed by the lack of clarity, and the low flicker rate actually caused a headache after 15-20 minutes of use. Alternating display settings didnt fix the issue, I had someone else use it and the headache issue was replicated. I have four LCDs and this was supposed to be "the good one" but it was inferior to the others. The monitor was so problematic that I suspected that it potentially had a defect, I spent over 90 minutes (mostly on hold) on the tech support line with five different people. I had to start over and re-explain each time I got a new person on the line. No one admitted to a problem but I did get Apple to agree to take it back although they initially told me that I would have to pay $100 for restocking fees. With the $1000 cost and the Apple name I had expected much better clarity, and at least helpful technical support if the issue warranted it; I was unfortunately dissapointed by both.

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2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 stars

Severe Color Problems

by on February 14, 2005

Pros: Nice large screen, bright, looks stylish and sleek.

Cons: Color consistency is very poor. 2-3 inches on the left and right side, color is washed out and very uneven (very visible with solid-colored backgrounds). Not good for color-critical work.

2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 stars

Great Even for gaming

by jgilflamer on February 28, 2005

Pros: Large clear picture

Cons: Not PC compatible

Summary: I wanted a large monitor that delivered great picture quality and fast response (fast enough) time for gaming, this monitor delivered. The only sacrifice you have to make is:1. ...

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Summary: I wanted a large monitor that delivered great picture quality and fast response (fast enough) time for gaming, this monitor delivered. The only sacrifice you have to make is:1. Price, 2. No PC compatibility; which only means you cannot use the USB ports or connect the monitor to a PC USB. 3. Actually goes with #2, since is not PC compatible, you will not see any DOS promt, bios screen, or the "Windows" load up screen, first thing you will see is the "Welcome" screen. This is all fine except if you are trying to get into your system bios, or even if you just want to delete old video card drivers for a new one, you will need to plug in PC monitor to do this. My suggestion, keep a old 15" LCD around just in case. Otherwise this monito is great for normal work, viewing movies, and playing games, there is no ghosting at all.

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3 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

you better take an Apple Care contract as well

by clarifix on January 4, 2007

Pros: It looks cool, even when it's not working ( like right now! )

Cons: Apple repair service pricing

Summary: Apple doesn't say that any repair to the monitor itself costs... the price of the monitor. So you better pay the extra 100 for Apple Care.
I didn't,
...

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Summary: Apple doesn't say that any repair to the monitor itself costs... the price of the monitor. So you better pay the extra 100 for Apple Care.
I didn't, and I guess I'll go for the Dell now -- it has 3 years standard warranty, with replacement on the next working day.

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2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

A Must LCD Monitor For Gamers

by on December 6, 2004

Pros: Ive been researching LCD's now for over a year, looking into which LCD would provide me with the best gaming experience. I ended up with the Apple 23" and I must say it is perfect. Ive run Half Life 2, Doom 3, UT2004, Call Of Duty, Medal Of Honor Pacific

Cons: -Its pricey, $2000 -You can only get brightness to work on a PC. All other features you cant use. -USB ports on back of LCD also dont work on a PC

2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
5 stars

Image ghosting is unacceptable

by cyclemaniac on July 9, 2006

Pros: Stylish and elegant design

Cons: Only supports DVI connection

Summary: I have two big beefs with this monitor, I hope this helps some of you.

I am currently on the second monitor, the first was returned because of the problem

...

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Summary: I have two big beefs with this monitor, I hope this helps some of you.

I am currently on the second monitor, the first was returned because of the problem I am about to describe. This one exhibits the same problem, so it's going back too. As much as I love the looks of it, the performance is poor. This is my first experience with an LCD panel for high-end graphics work, and I'm very disappointed. A high-end CRT is far superior.

The problem I have encountered is that the screen displays faint 'ghosting' when windows are repositioned on the desktop. It depends very much on the image in the background - I saw it quite obviously on a plain blue standard Windows 2000 background colour. When I move a window I can still see the outlines of it in the old position, I can even read text and make-out the images that used to be there. The window needs to be in the same place for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before this will happen, and it does clear-up after some time (although powering the monitor off and on again DOES NOT resolve it). When working with images this is a problem because it affects the colour - if another window obscures any part of the working image and is then repositioned, the colour of the displayed image is altered as a result of this ghosting issue. In my opinion this is unacceptable from a monitor that is considered by many to be top of the line for graphics professionals.

The second problem is that it only supports a DVI connection. At first I did not anticipate that this would be a problem, but it is. In order to drive the high resolution I had to purchase a new video card (I chose an ATI Radeon X700 Pro). After installation I booted the machine and got no picture. In order to activate the DVI connection I had to first connect a VGA monitor (good thing I still had it!) and then change the display properties to send the signal through DVI. Maybe there's a way around this, but I don't know what it is. I certainly can't keep a VGA monitor around just to support the occasional time when I reinstall the OS or something. This is unacceptable in my opinion, the monitor shoud support a VGA input signal, if only for setup.

Sadly this monitor is going back to the store.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Expensive but awesome

by c|nuts on December 18, 2005

Pros: Brilliant, sharp, no-fuss

Cons: DVI-only, expensive

Summary: This LCD stands out as the most vivid and sharp 1600x1200+ pixel monitor among several stores that I visited. It's intense. The DVI-only input is somewhat of a drawback ...

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Summary: This LCD stands out as the most vivid and sharp 1600x1200+ pixel monitor among several stores that I visited. It's intense. The DVI-only input is somewhat of a drawback but it also means that there's no fussing with black-levels, gamma, pixel phase, offsets, auto-adjust errors, or highlight blow-outs. The backlight power is the only adjustment there is. My display was perfect for photo editing just by plugging it in.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 stars

beautiful but won't work with many PCs

by on February 12, 2005

Pros: Picture quality is second to none. Brighter, sharper, and better color than any other monitor I've worked with. Beautiful case.

Cons: Despite Apple's advertising PC compatability, many systems won't work with it. I tried 3 different video cards; none worked. I spent many hours trying different drivers and settings; no joy. Apple tech support basically refuses to help. "We can't hel

1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

Apple Cinema Display (23-inch)

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