Modded/upgradded 30" Apple Cinema Display?

[Rico Muerte]

Curious if anyone out there has, or knows of a panel upgrade/mod for the 30" cinema display...

I have 3 x 30" CD's & I do love them but Id love to know if anyone has upgraded the panels to something more modern?

 

[xraydoc]

Curious if anyone out there has, or knows of a panel upgrade/mod for the 30" cinema display...

I have 3 x 30" CD's & I do love them but Id love to know if anyone has upgraded the panels to something more modern?

I'm all for tinkering, but it would certainly be far more cost effective to replace them with something new (32" 4K, for example).

30" panels in the 16:10 aspect ratio of the Apple 30" Cinema Displays are still only 2560x1600, even today. I think Dell sells their 30" 2560x1600 display for over $1000 (though I'm the panel quality has substantially improved since the days of the Apple 30").

4K panels all use a different aspect ratio that'll never fit in the Cinema Display's case.

 

[Rico Muerte]

I'm all for tinkering, but it would certainly be far more cost effective to replace them with something new (32" 4K, for example).

30" panels in the 16:10 aspect ratio of the Apple 30" Cinema Displays are still only 2560x1600, even today. I think Dell sells their 30" 2560x1600 display for over $1000 (though I'm the panel quality has substantially improved since the days of the Apple 30").

4K panels all use a different aspect ratio that'll never fit in the Cinema Display's case.

yeah I understand what you're saying....I just still really like the encosure design & would love to upgrade/update the panel itself...

 

[ruslan120]

Well if money and risks (see first item) are no object you can source a 30”, 2560x1600 panel of your choosing, hope the brackets to the mounting line up or modify them with risk to the panel, hope the driving board and power supply fit in the case (or just the driving board and externalize the power supply), reverse engineer the buttons on the side (or cut holes for the driving boards functions) for power and brightness control, or hire someone to reverse engineer them, engineer an arduino to send the right signals to the side buttons, pray it’s doable and all fits, and then route power and signals through either the original or new cables. Done!

 

[ruslan120]

Would be cheaper to commission someone to get the spec of Apple’s aluminum design and type of aluminum and finish and then commission another person to build a similar case for a 32” 4K panel. Or for the LG Ultrafine.

Kind of like this but with aluminum.

 

[Rico Muerte]

Would be cheaper to commission someone to get the spec of Apple’s aluminum design and type of aluminum and finish and then commission another person to build a similar case for a 32” 4K panel. Or for the LG Ultrafine.

Kind of like this but with aluminum.

View attachment 1763561

I assume that's photoshop...?

Regardless, it's stunning!!

 

[ruslan120]

I assume that's photoshop...?

Regardless, it's stunning!!

iMac G4 MOD with 27' curved screen

Hello, it's me again. Three years ago, I did a little mod work on my first iMac G4, and post it here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/sinoneptunes-imac-g4-mod-with-reproduced-screen-and-android-system.181972/ After the first one, I did another two iMac G4 Mod: zMac G4: iMac G4 MOD with 27'...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[Amethyst1]

upgraded the panels to something more modern?

What are you looking for? LED backlight (should be doable), higher resolution (forget about that thanks to 16:9) or something else?

 

[Rico Muerte]

What are you looking for? LED backlight (should be doable), higher resolution (forget about that thanks to 16:9) or something else?

Backlid led & a faster refresh rate would be enough

 

[Rico Muerte]

iMac G4 MOD with 27' curved screen

Hello, it's me again. Three years ago, I did a little mod work on my first iMac G4, and post it here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/sinoneptunes-imac-g4-mod-with-reproduced-screen-and-android-system.181972/ After the first one, I did another two iMac G4 Mod: zMac G4: iMac G4 MOD with 27'...

www.tonymacx86.com

MOTHER OF GOD!!! 😲 😍

 

[Amethyst1]

Kind of like this but with aluminum.

Woah. That's just great. A shame it's just a 1920x1080 panel - that crap needs to die ASAP!

 

[LiTeL]

Backlid led & a faster refresh rate would be enough

Did you find any panel that fit into the cinema display?? I am trying to do the same ?

 

[gagigu]

What are you looking for? LED backlight (should be doable), higher resolution (forget about that thanks to 16:9) or something else?

Any Idea how it's doable with LED backlight? I don't see any threads for those mods but I know someone here in this forum used 3 of the 30" with custom LED mod.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I too just found a couple great condition ACD30‘s boxed up in our network storage room and one that is totally Blued out that we used to use in an always-on kiosk. I think i’ll sell the two good ones off and trudge through the dizzying supply of displays and TV’s to cannibalize to find something that fits within the aluminum frame. I assume I’ll have to create a bezel since there’ll be a bit of letterboxing as everyrthing modern is 16:9, but it’ll be a fun side project to tinker with. I’ll post whatever I come up with.

 

[Rico Muerte]

I too just found a couple great condition ACD30‘s boxed up in our network storage room and one that is totally Blued out that we used to use in an always-on kiosk. I think i’ll sell the two good ones off and trudge through the dizzying supply of displays and TV’s to cannibalize to find something that fits within the aluminum frame. I assume I’ll have to create a bezel since there’ll be a bit of letterboxing as everyrthing modern is 16:9, but it’ll be a fun side project to tinker with. I’ll post whatever I come up with.

I got another 30" last week with black lines down the horizontal centre of the screen - might use this as a doner assembly...eventually

 

[greentofu]

Curious if anyone out there has, or knows of a panel upgrade/mod for the 30" cinema display...

I have 3 x 30" CD's & I do love them but Id love to know if anyone has upgraded the panels to something more modern?

I understand how you feel as the enclosures for these monitors are very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and has a modern look to them still today.

You can approach it in two different ways.

First is to find a 30 inch monitor (does not matter aspect ratio as long as it physically fits inside the enclosure). Modern computer monitors are all slim and can easily fit inside the enclosure. You would have to customize it inside to make the third party monitor fit snuggly to align with the enclosure. Don't have to worry about the button control you can preset it before inserting into the enclosure or control it via program. I have done this with inserting a LG 30 inch Gaming Monitor into the enclosure. The back will show the generic power cable to the third party monitor but you don't see it as most of the time your monitor is against a wall of some sort.

The second option is to replace the CCFL lamps backlighting which would require you to disassemble the entire lcd panel which is not recommended unless you want to tinker and do it for fun. Only do this on a ACD 30 inch that has already been heavily used and going to the recycling so that in case you break it during the disassembly its not a big deal. Once you disassemble it to the base you will see the CCFL bulbs which you have to unsolder/resolder as they are not plug and play (like those old kitchen ceiling lights everyone had back in the 80s). Then you have to reassemble everything back together correctly. You will need 16 CCFL lamps that are 650mm long by 3mm wide. It is more practical to use these old type of bulbs as you don't need to do any special modification. However if you already torn down the monitor you can go even further and get a custom inverter board to convert to LED. But again I recommend replacing the CCFL lamps with new ones and that's it. It will still last you a long time and CCFL seems to be easier on the eyes compared to LED from my experience. This route is much more time consuming however it can be fun and you can go this route to learn how to tinker.

Furthermore as the ACD is so old and if you already have taken it apart it is recommended to replace the acrylic panel that is part of the few layers of the screen as it would be yellowing by now. If it has not turned yellow then it would be fine to not replace it.

 

[Rico Muerte]

I understand how you feel as the enclosures for these monitors are very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and has a modern look to them still today.

You can approach it in two different ways.

First is to find a 30 inch monitor (does not matter aspect ratio as long as it physically fits inside the enclosure). Modern computer monitors are all slim and can easily fit inside the enclosure. You would have to customize it inside to make the third party monitor fit snuggly to align with the enclosure. Don't have to worry about the button control you can preset it before inserting into the enclosure or control it via program. I have done this with inserting a LG 30 inch Gaming Monitor into the enclosure. The back will show the generic power cable to the third party monitor but you don't see it as most of the time your monitor is against a wall of some sort.

The second option is to replace the CCFL lamps backlighting which would require you to disassemble the entire lcd panel which is not recommended unless you want to tinker and do it for fun. Only do this on a ACD 30 inch that has already been heavily used and going to the recycling so that in case you break it during the disassembly its not a big deal. Once you disassemble it to the base you will see the CCFL bulbs which you have to unsolder/resolder as they are not plug and play (like those old kitchen ceiling lights everyone had back in the 80s). Then you have to reassemble everything back together correctly. You will need 16 CCFL lamps that are 650mm long by 3mm wide. It is more practical to use these old type of bulbs as you don't need to do any special modification. However if you already torn down the monitor you can go even further and get a custom inverter board to convert to LED. But again I recommend replacing the CCFL lamps with new ones and that's it. It will still last you a long time and CCFL seems to be easier on the eyes compared to LED from my experience. This route is much more time consuming however it can be fun and you can go this route to learn how to tinker.

Furthermore as the ACD is so old and if you already have taken it apart it is recommended to replace the acrylic panel that is part of the few layers of the screen as it would be yellowing by now. If it has not turned yellow then it would be fine to not replace it.

Thanks for the detailed response!

To be honest, with my lack of patience & limited soldering/tinkering skills...I think both methods are a little outside of my reach!
Would happily pay some to do it for me if they were local...or maybe I can convince my dad? 😅

Do you have any photos of the LG panel that you did?

 

[macpro2000]

I threw all 5 of my 30" ACDs away and bought an XDR and 3 ASDs. Worked perfect but put out so much heat. New setup is waaaaay better!

 

[Rico Muerte]

I threw all 5 of my 30" ACDs away and bought an XDR and 3 ASDs. Worked perfect but put out so much heat. New setup is waaaaay better!

I had 3 x 30" ACDs set up for about 72hrs & the heat was crazy! It was bad enough with just one during summer, but 3 was too much!

 

[rorydaredking]

I have a spare ACD30 which has some sort of backlight issue and has gone dim, so I have been considering this for a little while.

Would I need to backlight the entire rectangle or just the edges?

Stuff on a smaller scale on instructables and similar sites people just do the edges but I thought that would be a bit weak.

Would there be a point where the LEDs are too bright and the display is unusable? Would love to get up to the same brightness as my MBP.

 

[rorydaredking]

Made some progress with this, but the LEDs are not bright enough.

Full disassembly of the display is no small feat.

Have got some new LEDs to try which will hopefully be brighter. For now I am just going to leave them fully powered but I will aim to add in a brightness controller.

Annoyingly I couldn't workout the pinout from the connector from the controller board to the inverter board, so current setup is with the LEDs directly powered from the supply input 24v.

 

[gagigu]

Made some progress with this, but the LEDs are not bright enough.

Full disassembly of the display is no small feat.

Have got some new LEDs to try which will hopefully be brighter. For now I am just going to leave them fully powered but I will aim to add in a brightness controller.

Annoyingly I couldn't workout the pinout from the connector from the controller board to the inverter board, so current setup is with the LEDs directly powered from the supply input 24v.

Will you try to connect them with the brightness control buttons on the side, even if it's not the original brightness controller?

If everything succeeds a step by step guide would be very nice!

 

[rorydaredking]

Will you try to connect them with the brightness control buttons on the side, even if it's not the original brightness controller?

If everything succeeds a step by step guide would be very nice!

yep I will - need to get an oscilloscope so I can work out the pinout of the connector

 

[Mark.g4]

Curious if anyone out there has, or knows of a panel upgrade/mod for the 30" cinema display...

I have 3 x 30" CD's & I do love them but Id love to know if anyone has upgraded the panels to something more modern?

I believe no one can help because it's a monitor that is difficult to mod, even though it's possible.
Additionally, the costs are high. There are several limitations: the CFFL backlight, which degrades in quality over time, the 16:10 resolution of the monitor, and the dual DVI input. It's much simpler to mod an iMac 27 5K to achieve a 5K cinema display

 

[rorydaredking]

In respect of the OP, I did look into a complete panel change, none suitable exist. I considered a glass overlay with black blanking to cover any edges if a slightly smaller panel was used; which would mean a bit more availability and there used to be panels manufactured which would work, but none available any more.

for example: https://www.panelook.com/NL328204AC19-01_NLT_30.0_LCM_overview_29558.html or R300SFE-L02