Type Display Company Apple Inc | Invented by Apple Inc Availability Discontinued | |
Launch year September 1, 1999; 17 years ago (1999-09-01) Last production year July 20, 2011 (2011-07-20) | ||
The Apple Cinema Display was a line of flat panel computer monitors introduced in September 1999 by Apple Inc. It was initially sold alongside the older line of Studio Displays, but eventually replaced them. In July 2011, Apple introduced its successor, the Thunderbolt Display, and the Cinema Display was no longer offered on the Apple Store website as of August 2014. Apple offered 20-, 22-, 23-, 24-, 27- and 30-inch sizes, with the last model being a 27-inch size with LED backlighting.
Contents
- Early Cinema Displays
- 30 inch model compatibility
- Matte vs glossy screen
- Technical specifications
- LED Cinema Display
- References
There have been three designs for the Cinema Display, one featuring polycarbonate plastic and two featuring anodized aluminum. The first displays were designed to match the colorful plastic of the Power Mac G3 and later the Power Mac G4, while the second revisions were designed to match the more professional aesthetics of the Power Mac G5 and PowerBook G4. The last available design matched the unibody laptops released in October 2008. The newer Thunderbolt Display uses the same design as the 27-inch size Cinema LED Display.
Early Cinema Displays
The first model—the 22-inch Apple Cinema Display—was introduced in September 1999 alongside the Power Mac G4 and used DVI for video input. It was enclosed in a high-density plastic frame with an easel-style stand and had a display resolution of 1600×1024. This model was upgraded in July 2000 with the Apple Display Connector (ADC), which ran DVI, USB, and 25V power through a single connector. It was eventually replaced by a 20-inch model on January 28, 2003, that sported a widescreen display with up to 1680×1050 resolution.
The 23-inch model, dubbed the "Cinema HD Display," was introduced on March 20, 2002, and supported full 1080p resolution.
On June 28, 2004, Apple introduced a redesigned line of Cinema Displays, along with a new 30-inch model that, like the 23-inch model, carried the "Cinema HD Display" name. The new models had an anodized aluminum enclosure that matched Apple's high-end lines of professional products. An alternative stand or a wall mount could be used with a VESA mount adapter kit that was sold separately. Though the display enclosures had not been redesigned for a long period of time, several "silent" improvements were made to the brightness levels and contrast ratios.
With the introduction of the 24-inch LED Cinema Display in October 2008, the 23-inch Cinema HD Display was discontinued. The 20-inch model was also discontinued in February 2009, leaving the 30-inch display as the only model left.
30-inch model compatibility
Due to the high resolution (2560×1600), the 30-inch model requires a graphics card that supports dual-link DVI. Currently, no Macintosh is sold with a dual-link DVI port. However, all current Macs come with a Thunderbolt connector which can be used with a separately sold adapter to run the 30-inch display.
All Power Mac G5, PowerBook G4 and Mac Pro models since the release of the said display are capable of supporting it without the use of any adapters. Discrete MacBook Pros are also capable of driving the 30-inch display, while all Macs released after October 2008 require an additional adapter. The 30-inch Cinema Display was introduced together with the GeForce 6800, which supports two DVI-DL ports. ATI's aftermarket AGP X800 Mac Edition also supports dual-link DVI, but has only one port. The Radeon 9600 Mac/PC was another aftermarket graphics card that supported dual-link DVI and was also compatible with older AGP-based Power Macs.
If a computer with a single-link DVI port (such as a Mac laptop with a mini-DVI connector) is connected to the 30-inch display, it will only run at 1280×800, even if the computer is capable of supporting 1920×1200 over a single-link connection.
Matte vs glossy screen
Since the aluminum and glass models were launched on October 14, 2008, Apple removed the matte, anti-glare screen panels in its Cinema Display lineup, except for the 30" Cinema Display. Apple moved away from matte screens in its line of iMac desktop computers on August 7, 2007. Apple no longer offers any equipment with a matte, anti-glare screen after the 15" non-Retina MacBook Pro was discontinued in October 2013. This has caused concern among users who want matte screens for their particular area of work, particularly graphic designers, photographers and users who extensively view their screens.
The Wall Street Journal referred to Apple's removal of the matte screen as one of Apple's worst design decisions.
Technical specifications
LED Cinema Display
On October 14, 2008, the 23-inch Cinema Display was replaced with a 24-inch model made with aluminium and glass, reflecting the appearances of the latest iMac, MacBook Pro and unibody MacBook designs. The display features a built-in iSight camera, microphone and dual speaker system. A MagSafe cable runs from the back of the display for charging notebooks. It is the first Cinema Display to use LED backlighting and Mini DisplayPort for video input; however, the LED backlighting is edge-lit as opposed to the fully back-lit CCFL of the previous models, resulting in a lower brightness cd/m2 output. This display is only officially compatible with Macs that have the Mini DisplayPort connector. A third-party converter must be used in order to use this display with older Macs.
On July 26, 2010, the 24-inch and 30-inch Cinema Displays were replaced by a 27-inch model that supports up to 2560×1440 resolution.
On July 20, 2011, the Cinema Display line was superseded by the Apple Thunderbolt Display.