Specifications

Color Quality
For many Mac users, color quality is a critical factor in their work. Traditionally, CRTs
have been an important link in the color proofing system for content ultimately
destined for print, web, or video distribution. Flat-panel displays must provide equal
or better results in these color-critical applications if media professionals are to accept
them. Since Apple introduced the first LCD displays in 2001, they have performed
superbly in color-critical environments.
Many factors define a color-accurate monitor. For example, a monitor must be able
to display a broad color gamut that is consistent from edge to edge and over time—
no matter where it’s located. In short, it must provide accurate, predictable, and
consistent colors.
Color gamut
Earlier this century, a group of scientists and intellectuals who called themselves the
Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) had the goal of defining color. Using
as much objectivity as is possible with this highly subjective topic, they developed a
coordinate system for categorizing the world of colors. Theoretically, based on this
system, every color we see can be described in terms of x, y coordinates for red, green,
and blue components. Taking it one step further, every device that reproduces colors
can also be described based on the x and y values of its red, green, and blue colors.
The total number of colors prescribed by the two-dimensional plot of these x and y
coordinates is often referred to as the device’s “color gamut.”
The first question in a comparison of LCD versus CRT color quality is whether the
color gamut of today’s best LCDs is as extensive as that of the CRT. The answer is yes.
Plotting the x, y values for the red, green, and blue colors shows that the color gamut
of an LCD is as large as that of a typical CRT. In other words, there are no longer any
compromises in the total colors available when using a flat-panel display.
In addition to this two-dimensional color description, color has a third dimension: its
brightness. As previously described, a flat panel substantially outperforms a CRT on
the brightness axis. Adding this third dimension to the color comparison shows that
the total volume of colors perceived from an LCD such as the Apple Cinema Display
actually becomes larger than the volume of colors corresponding to a CRT.
While it’s difficult to notice the impact of brightness on color when you view CRTs
and LCDs independently, it’s easy to see the difference when you put the two types
of monitors side by side. You’ll immediately notice that the LCD’s colors appear more
vivid and lifelike because its total color gamut is perceptually larger than that of
the CRT. The benefit of this larger perceptual gamut is that you can use the LCD in
normally lit settings such as offices and homes—with little reduction in the dynamic
range of colors being displayed (that is, without the colors becoming washed out).
A CRT in a darkened room performs similarly to an LCD in this regard, but the LCD
provides a greater color range in a room that isn’t dark. Content creators who have
been forced to sit in darkened rooms to do their work on a CRT will appreciate
this difference.
Uniform color
We described how important it is for a display to be capable of reproducing a large
number of colors; that is, providing a large color gamut. Equally important is that it
be able to display that broad color gamut over the entire screen, over a wide range
of physical locations, and over time. Each of these concerns is an aspect of color
uniformity—a goal that display manufacturers are constantly striving to improve.
13
Technology Overview
Apple Cinema Displays
1931 CIE chromaticity diagram
The broad color gamut of the Apple Cinema
Display is virtually the same as that of
professional-quality CRT displays.
Comparison of a typical 21-inch CRT
and the Apple Cinema Display
The increased brightness of the Apple
Cinema Display produces a much larger
perceptual color gamut.
CRT
Apple Cinema Display