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DVIator Compatibility

Displays – Video Cards - Computers - Operating Systems

Displays

DVIator works with the following ADC displays from Apple Computer Inc.:
DVIator is incompatible with the old 17" ADC CRT display, as this display uses analog signals rather than the digital signals necessary for DVIator. There is no exception or workaround.
* PC Compatibility: The 23" Cinema HD Display and the smaller 15" und 17" Apple ADC Studio Displays do not permit changing the brightness level on a PC as the necessary software is not available for Windows or Linux. Apple clearly states that such software will not be made in the future. This issue aside you may use these models with a PC just like the 22" Cinema Display (see below).

** PC Compatibility: The Apple 22" ADC Cinema Display is fully compatible with Windows PCs (an experience unto itself!). DVIator and a compatible video card are required to enjoy this setup.

*** PC Compatibility: The Apple 20" ADC Cinema Display is not fully compatible with Windows PCs. Use as a second display is possible but limited by the need for workarounds. Also, this display lacks brightness adjustment like the 15, 17 and 23" displays. While we have several satisfied users, we cannot recommend this display to the general PC-using public.

Video Cards

Video Cards for Notebooks

We offer a special version of the Margi Display-to-Go™ 4 MB CardBus card.

The Margi Display-to-Go (4 MB) card supports 22" Cinema Displays and 17" Studio Displays with 16 Bit color depth (HiColor) and 15" Studio Displays with 24 Bit color depth (TrueColor).

The Margi Display-to-Go Karte works in all PC Notebooks with Windows 98 and a CardBus port. Apple PowerBooks with a CardBus port (PowerBook G3 Wallstreet 1998 through PowerBook G4 Titanium, Mac OS 9) are also supported.

Video Cards for Desktop Power Macs

All built-in DVI cards in G4 Cube and desktop Power Mac G4/G5 models as well as Mac mini will work very nicely with DVIator.

If you are considering adding an ADC display as a second display you will most certainly look at the ATI Radeon products.

Both the older ATI Radeon DVI card and the current ATI Radeon 7000 DVI card are made for use in any PCI slot your Power Macintosh can offer (33 and 66 MHz).

Both Radeon and Radeon 7000 DVI PCI graphics cards will work nicely with DVIator and the supported ADC displays in current and older PCI-based Power Macintosh models.

The ATI Radeon 8500 works very well, too - just like the DVI Port on the current ATI Radeon 9000 Pro. The Radeon 8500 neatly displayed its prowess with DVIator and ADC displays on 18 workstations in the gaming area of Mac World Tokyo 2002 to the full satisfaction of all who had the opportunity to test drive the system!

Video Cards for Desktop PCs

A large number of PC video cards can be used to drive Apple ADC Displays.

We used to offer the Asus 8440, a compatible AGPx4 DVI-card based on the nVidia GeForce4 Ti4400 chipset with 128 MB DDR-RAM. Not only does the card support the Apple 22" Cinema Display - it is also an exceptionally quiet GeForce 4 model!

Unfortunately this card is no longer sold and quiet graphic cards have become rare!

Both our tests and those from independent users and test labs show that at the time of writing (mid-2003) it is possible to use any ATI or nVidia card with one or two DVI ports that is currently sold to obtain compatibility as outlined at the top of this page. All such cards support proper operation in Win 98/2k/XP within the limits of the respective operating system.

Note that at the time of this writing there is no known Matrox card that works with Apple ADC displays!

The following older cards were tested extensively by us - we keep the information listed for those who might need it:

  • Asus AGP-7100/2V1D DVI+VGA
    This Dual-Head card only supports 15" and 17" ADC displays. We tested the card under Win 98/NT/2000/XP - the Apple Cinema Display does not work properly under any of the Windows versions we tested.
  • Asus 8440
    This GeForce 4 Ti4400 card works under Win 98/Me/2000 and XP as well as SuSE Linux 7.3 and higher (and similar flavours). All Apple flat panel ADC displays are supported properly in all listed Windows systems. It is the quietest GeForce 4 card we have found - and the only one we would install without having ear-plugs handy!
  • ATI Radeon VE, Radeon 7500 and Radeon 8500
    These dual-head cards support all ADC displays (15", 17" und 22") under Windows NT/2000. When used with Windows 98 only the 15" and 17" are supported, not the 22" Cinema Display.
  • ATI Rage128Pro, AGPx4 DVI-card with 16 MB RAM
    This card only supports the 15" Apple Studio Display using Win98/Me/2000.
  • ELSA Gladiac 511 DVI+VGA
    This card, only available in an OEM version, works under Win 98/Me/NT/2000 and XP. All Apple flat panel ADC displays are supported properly in all listed Windows systems. Unfortunately this card has gone out of production and is no longer available from ELSA.
  • Leadtek WinFast A250
    This GeForce 4 Ti4400 card works under Win 98/Me/2000 and XP. All Apple flat panel ADC displays are supported properly in all listed Windows systems. The A250 is a loud card - keep some ear-plugs handy, as you will hear this card even in a server room packed with noisy computers! However, if you remove the protective foam from the dual fans, you may be able to reduce the noise to an acceptable level (this hack is not recommended!)
  • Matrox Millennium G550
    This card does not work with any ADC display.
  • MSI G4Ti4400-VTD (MS-8871)
    This GeForce 4 Ti4400 card works under Win 98/Me/2000 and XP. All Apple flat panel ADC displays are supported properly in all listed Windows systems. It is the loudest GeForce 4 card we have found - the fan and cooling assembly does not only look like a turbine - it sounds like a turbine, too! We don't know what you think but we feel this card is best in a display cabinet where it looks great but does not make any noise at all ;)
  • Siluro GF4 Ti
    This GeForce 4 Ti4400 card works under Win 98/Me. All Apple flat panel ADC displays are supported properly in all listed Windows systems. Unfortunately the card, while being relatively quiet, had trouble when we tried to use Windows 2000/XP. We are currently investigating this issue - pending the result we suggest use of the Asus, LeadTek or MSI Ti4400 cards.

We will test any other video card for compatibility. We only require a loaner of the card with current drivers for about a week. The remaining test equipment is already set up here!

Computers

Macintosh Computers

DVIator works with all Apple Macintosh that have PCI slots, i.e. Power Macintosh 9500 and up, including G5 and Mac mini.

The use of certain video cards may require Mac OS 8.6 or later - this is a requirement of the drivers of that particular card, not a requirement of DVIator.

PowerBooks with a CardBus slot are also supported. Compatible models are: PowerBook G3 1998 (Wallstreet), PowerBook G3 1999 (Lombard), PowerBook G3 2000 (Pismo) and PowerBook G4 Titanium (Rev. 1 and 2).

PowerBook G4 12", 15" and 17" models with DVI connectors work very nicely, too!

iBooks are not supported as they do not have CardBus slots.

Windows Computers

Windows PCs require a special DVI video card for use with DVIator.

This requirement arises because most video cards do not recognize the Apple ADC displays automatically in their driver. DVIator itself is not involved with this issue.

A driver update to support Apple ADC displays would be sufficient to make the combination work - ask the manufacturer of the video card for availability!

We have compiled a list of the varying degrees of compatibility of tested video cards. In the same section Video Cards you will also find how Apple ADC displays can be used with notebooks running Windows 98.

Operating Systems

 Mac OS Classic

We recommend Mac OS 8.6 as a minimum and Mac OS 9.2.2 as the most up-to-date version.

Depending on the drivers of your video card you may need Mac OS 9.04 or later.

When using Mac OS 9.0.4 or earlier the ADC displays work well but you may encounter cosmetic issues with controlling the display.

DVIator itself does not require a certain operating system. The requirements for the setup are always set by the video card and the display software.
Mac OS X

We recommend using Mac OS 10.2 or later.

DVIator itself does not require a certain operating system. The requirements for the setup are always set by the video card and the display software.
Windows 98/2000/XP

For PCs we recommend numerous video cards that support Apple ADC displays under all the above Windows versions.

DVIator itself does not require a certain operating system. The requirements for the setup are always set by the video card and the display software.
Linux & Unix

We have not tested much in this sector.

In all cases the caveats are the same as for Windows (no brightness control for 15", 17", 20" and 23" Apple Studio Displays).

The GeForce 4 Ti4400 card we used offer for PCs works well with DVIator and all ADC flat panel displays in a PC running SuSE Linux 7.3. We expect similar performance in SuSE Linux 8.x and other Linux distributions.

For other cards things should work as for Windows if you have a DVI video card that supports ADC displays and comes with drivers for your Linux distribution.


DVIator is made by Dr. Bott a company with years of Macintosh experience based in Germany, France and the US.

Our purpose is to provide specialized 3rd party Macintosh products of selected manufacturers and Dr. Bott products of our own design to distributors, resellers, VARs and consultants.

If you are a reseller or a distributor we would love to talk to you about how we might be of service.

We believe our unique approach to distribution will be refreshing to you.
 
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