The new interface is Gefen’s solution to a problem first noted by Mac users last year when Apple introduced the ADC, or Apple Display Connector. The connector is standard equipment on all of Apple’s monitors — the 15″ Digital Flat Panel Studio Display, the 17″ CRT-based Studio Display and the 22″ Cinema Display. The ADC connector carries not only the video signal but power and USB as well, enabling users to utilize only one cable to connect their display to their Mac.
Although the ADC is convenient for people who don’t want wires snaked around their desk, there’s been no solution for users who want to use the new displays with older Macs that lack a video card equipped with an ADC connector. A US$39 cable accessory from the Apple Store achieves the opposite, enabling DVI-equipped displays from Apple and other companies to work with newer ADC-equipped Macs.
Gefen hopes to allay that shortcoming with its new conversion device. Now, any Mac equipped with a DVI-enabled video card can use the new Apple monitors. Gefen Inc. CEO and President Hagai Gefen said that there are other benefits to the box, as well. Users who want to hook up a second ADC-equipped monitor to their Mac could conceivably do so now with a PCI-based graphics card via DVI, through the box.
Gefen also indicated that a VGA to ADC conversion box is also available. The box works identically, but enables VGA equipped computers (including Macs without DVI connectors) to attach to ADC-equipped displays.
The box comes equipped with 6 foot DVI cable, a 6 foot USB cable, and a 208 watt 28volt power supply (since the ADC carries power, the power to drive the monitor comes from the DVI to ADC conversion box itself). The DVI to ADC conversion box carries a suggested price of $299 plus shipping.