NEC PA241W advice / help needed

[lennypierramos]

Hi guys,
I just received my PA241 ( european model) this morning. I'm a photography student, and REALLY NEW to all this technical stuff. I had previously bought the new Apple Cinema Display which I returned in favor of the PA241 since color accuracy is important to me.  It sounds like the people on this forum are expert so maybe you can help answer a few questions.

1- This probably sound quite dumb but the screen came with 3 different connection options Displayport / DVI / D-SUB .  I have a recent macbook pro with mini displayport.
    The obvious question is which is the best way to connect them to get the best image possible.  I often read about this screen that it allows 1 billion colors  IF CONECTED WITH        DISPLAYPORT ?.  Does it mean that the other types of connections won't allow as many colors?   And if I use an adapter displayport to minidisplay will I get the same results?
Right now it is connected with the D-SUB cable because I happened to have a D-SUB / mini display adapter around. I also have a upstream USB cable connecting my macbook pro and the screen.

2-The Second Issue is calibration.  I do not have a probe yet. I will get one soon but in the meantime what can i do to make the screen as accurate as possible? Is there anything I need to do before I start working on photos?  Set the monitor to some specific settins better suited to photography?  lower the contrast? Change the white point? Can the MultiProfiler app help getting a decent result?

I would REALLY appreciate a bit of advice!
Thanks!!

[Czornyj]

1) AFAIK it won't work in 10bit mode - neither OS-X, nor Macbook graphic card, nor Photoshop support it, so don't bother it

2) Multiprofiler is excellent and will give decent result. Don't buy a sensor/profiler before March (unless you buy SVII kit from US)...

[lennypierramos]

Thanks for replying!
Ho ! ok.
Why before March?  What is coming out in March I should be buying?

[Czornyj]

I'm not sure - but I have a feeling bordering on certainty that it might be interesting for a PA series display user.

[lennypierramos]

Thanks, I will take your work for it!

So what would you suggest as far as connection goes then?  Mini Display to Displayport  ,  Mini display to DVI?  or Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter ?
I am assuming that the D-SUB option is the worst.

[howardm]

definitely download Multiprofiler.  It will let the display *create* it's own ICC profile and register it w/ the Mac's color management system and it works pretty well.

[lennypierramos]

Thanks,
I did but it says : unable to connect with any supported display monitors, verify that your system is supported.
Which is weird because It's connected with USB  ( and set to the right USB in the OSD) so it should work fine.  Any idea what could be the problem?

[Czornyj]

I think MiniDP>DP Kanex cable should be the best and safest solution.

In Multiprofiler press display configuration (hammer&wrench icon), and choose "PA241W" for "Display 1 is"

[howardm]

I'm using the iMac DP -> DVI adaptor and DVI cable w/o problem to the PA241

[Czornyj]

It works, but it's not as convenient as mDP>DP cable and may be prone to interference.

[lennypierramos]

Thanks!

on the Kanex website it says to goes Up to 1080p resolution support.  Does it mean it wont support the 1920x1200 resolution?
http://www.kanexlive.com/products/mdp_to_dp_mm.html

Also I did select the PA241W in the display 1 tab , so I guess it is seeing it but in parenthesis it says ( No communications ). Could it be because It is curently connect with D-SUB + USB ?   

Thanks a lot !

[Czornyj]

It should work, my friend had connected PA271W (2540x1440px) with Kanex mDP>DP and there was no problem.

I've never try to connect any PA display via D-SUB so can't really tell whether that's the reason, but maybe.