PCElectronicsMonitors

What are the best cheaper alternatives to the Apple Cinema Display?

6

Options
Considered

50

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Recs.

Jul 15, 2018

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

6 Options Considered

Best cheaper alternatives to the Apple Cinema Display	Price	Screen size	Frequency Response
89 Monoprice CrystalPro	$390	–	–
72 Crossover 27Q	$417	–	–
70 Yamakasi Catleap Q270	$390	–	–
-- ASUS PB278Q	$348.99	–	–
-- Acer GN246HL	$182.99+	24''	1 ms (gray-to-gray)

Monoprice CrystalPro

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Top Pro

Good image quality

Good image quality due to IPS (In-Plane Switching) LED backlit panel made by LG in Korea with 6ms (grey-to-grey) response time, 60Hz refresh rate and standard 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8-bit colors. This is the same LG IPS panel used in Apple displays, but sold at a fraction of what Apple charges. See More

Top Con

Weak built-in speakers

Sound quality of the built in speakers is quite poor. See More

Top Pro

Great value for money

With Monoprice CrystalPro listed as $390 with image quality the same as Apple Cinema Displays and excellent support this is a good choice if you are OK with not having additional bells and whistles. See More

Top Con

DVI only

Monoprice CrystalPro lacks USB, Ethernet, HDMI and Thunderbolt connectors. A higher priced version with more inputs is promised at a later date. See More

Top Pro

1 year warranty

Monoprice has a full 1 year warranty. Additionally, they promise less than 5 dead pixels. If you can find 5 dead pixels, they will send you a replacement. See More

Top Con

Frail stand

The stand is somewhat poor. See More

Top Pro

Audio I/O

Monoprice CrystalPro has 1x 3.5mm TRS stereo input and 1x 3.5mm TRS stereo output. See More

Crossover 27Q

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Top Pro

Good image quality

Good image quality due to IPS (In-Plane Switching) LED backlit panel made by LG in Korea with 6ms response time and standard 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8-bit colors. This is the same LG IPS panel used in Apple displays, but sold at a fraction of what Apple charges. See More

Top Con

No input scaling

Make sure your graphics card can handle resolution of 2650x1440. See More

Top Pro

Good build quality

Most customers report that Crossover 27Q is of high quality. See More

Top Con

Unsupported

Top Pro

Virtually no light bleed

Compared to other monitors this is practically non-existent light bleed. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

Crossover 27Q weighs about 7kg. Because of this it is easier to find VESA mounts. See More

Top Pro

Almost 90° tilt

You can use it as a vertical monitor if you're OK with a 3-4 degree offset. See More

Top Pro

40° left & right swivel

You can turn the monitor to both sides about 40°. See More

Top Pro

Solid stand

Stand is rectangular, made of metal encased in plastic and of good build quality. See More

Top Pro

Great value for money

With Crossover 27Q listed at $417 with image quality the same as Apple Cinema Displays this is a good choice of monitor. See More

Top Pro

Can calibrate the monitor yourself

You can adjust the monitor to display colors and blacks accurately as needed. See More

Yamakasi Catleap Q270

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Top Pro

Good image quality

Good image quality due to IPS (In-Plane Switching) LED backlit panel made by LG in Korea with 6ms (grey-to-grey) response time, 60Hz refresh rate and standard 1000:1 contrast ratio and 8-bit colors. Same LG IPS panels are used in Apple displays, but cost less than half of what Apple charges. See More

Top Con

No scaling support

Make sure your graphics card can handle full DVI Dual Link resolution of 2650x1440. See More

Top Pro

Great value for money

With Yamakasi Catleap Q270 listed as $390 (and you can find even lower e-bay offers at $300) with image quality the same as Apple Cinema Displays this is a good choice of monitor. See More

Top Con

No On Screen Display (OSD)

You can only adjust colors with software. See More

Top Con

Glossy display

Take note that light will reflect off of this monitor. See More

Top Con

DVI only

Single DVI-D dual link with HDCP) input. Multi-connector version is available at a higher price. See More

Top Con

Marginally higher chance of failure

About ~12% of monitors received are not good. See More

ASUS PB278Q

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Top Pro

Sharp, color rich screen

ASUS PB278Q is among the first non-Samsung monitors to use PLS. PLS (plane-to-line) is a Samsung-developed update on IPS. It has a 5ms (grey-to-grey) response time, 16.7 million colors, 1000:1 contrast ratio and is LED-backlit. See More

Top Con

No USB ports

There are no USB ports. See More

Top Pro

QuickFit Virtual Scale

PB278Q has the ASUS exclusive QuickFit Virtual Scale that allows for previewing documents as they would appear when printed. See More

Top Con

Poor stand

Although the footstand is wide it's rather flimsy. See More

Top Pro

Lightweight

ASUS PB278Q weighs about 8kg. Because of this it is easier to find VESA mounts. See More

Top Pro

DVI, DisplayPort, VGA, HDMI connections

DVI is dual-link with HDCP. See More

Top Pro

Audio I/O

Headphone jack and microphone port available. See More

Acer GN246HL

Top Pro

Support for NVIDIA's 3D Vision 2

This BenQ display offers support for playing games in 3D with NVIDIA 3D Vision 2. See More

Top Con

No FreeSync or GSync support

The monitor does not support AMD's FreeSync nor NVIDIA's GSync for adaptive refresh rates without stuttering and screen tearing. See More

Specs

Screen size:24''

Frequency Response:1 ms (gray-to-gray)

Contrast ratio:100 Million:1

Display Panel Type:LCD w/ LED Backlit

Top Pro

Fast 144Hz refresh rate

The Acer GN246HL features a very fast refresh rate of 144Hz (144 times per second). This allows for extremely fluent gameplay and is a major improvement over regular 60Hz displays. See More

Top Con

No DisplayPort

The monitor does not have a DisplayPort connection, which means some of DisplayPort's advantages over other connection types such as adaptive scaling can't be used. See More

Top Pro

Inexpensive

With a retail price of around $200, the GN246HL is one of the cheapest 144Hz monitors available. See More

Top Pro

Fast response time

With a response time of just 1ms, the Acer GN246HL is one of the fastest monitors on the market. Ideal for fast-paced gaming situations such as first person shooters. See More

LG 25UM57

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Top Pro

Great for watching movies

This ultra widescreen feature comes in handy when watching movies. This is the default resolution at which almost all of the majority of the films are shot. Hence, you can watch your movies without having two black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. See More

Top Con

Limited number of ports

Has two HMDI ports that are pretty good. However, it does not have other display inputs such as DVI or Display Port. So it's not compatible with older computers. See More

Specs

Screen size:25"

Frequency Response:5 ms (gray-to-gray)

Contrast ratio:5000000:1

Display Panel Type:IPS LED

Top Pro

Built-in speakers and audio ports

As good as a small TV. It's got two speakers at the back along with audio jack for headphone connectivity. Without need for external speakers, this can clear up some extra space on your desk. See More

Top Con

The slow response time

5ms response time on a gaming monitor is pretty awful. Although, considering it's refresh rate, it is understandable but not acceptable. Should note that the response time is from gray-to-gray. See More

Top Pro

Amazing contrast ratio

5000000:1 contrast is simply astonishing for this price range. With this you can get cinema like picture quality especially for dark-ish images right at your desk. See More

Top Con

Lack of support for ultra-widescreen in (old) games

A handful of games do not support 21:9 aspect ratio by default. Some examples are Overwatch, Fallout 3, and Starcraft 2. Thus, it is recommended to try it out in your local store if possible before getting one yourself. But if you are just an enthusiast gamer, then you can either install fixes (only works for some games) or play in windowed mode instead of full-screen (in a different aspect ratio). See More

Top Pro

Decent resolution and PPI

The 21:9 ratio calls for a 2560x1080 resolution which is immersive enough for work and play. You can view multiple documents without losing legibility of text. It's equivalent to (but better) having two monitors with 1280x1080 screens. See More

Top Con

Sandwiching of mainstream 720p and 1080p videos

Another problem with this aspect ratio is that your favorite Netflix shows or YouTube videos will have black spaces on the sides. Unless the lights are out in your room, you will definitely notice them passively as our peripheral vision is better on the sides. See More

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