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Taras F

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2020
5
2
Perhaps this is a bug, or an indication of the maximum possible output bit rate in the system, because XDR Display is limited to 10 bits.

No idea. The monitor I had before ACER Predator XB32HK was limited to 8bit only and it was correct for that model despite it used to be marketed as 10 bit with 8bit screen. For Apple XDR on Titan V and previous driver version it offered 12bit for 4K which could be selected and applied too. Drivers had a clean install option when RTX 3090 got in. And still, 12bit is there. Now for 6K. So I don't think "this bug" has anything to do with the max video card spec
 

4ever4

macrumors newbie
Dec 2, 2016
10
2
I can concur that at least 2 cables work:
- Moshi 5K. I have tested it only with Titan V so it works up to 5K 6bit @60Hz max. I assume it may work with the native resolution on newer video cards but there will be no USB support.
- Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable. This cable works with Apple XDR at native 6K 12bit @60Hz, HDR mode can be enabled also. And that's the best option as it enables USB support on Apple XDR and thus makes it possible to install Apple Bootcamp to control the display settings.
That's very good news, thanks for the info.
I'd like to add that Belkin "Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass" 4.5m (model no. CAZ001yz5MBK) did not work for me with RTX 3090.
I have no idea how to get "Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable" yet. Its 3m and 21.6Gbps, much more reasonable specs...

Here is a list of (identical) cables I successfully used for 6+ month with 2080ti virtuallink:
(ali)PD 100W Cable USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps Thunderbolt 3 Cable QC 4.0 Type C USB C Cable PPS E-MARK Power Delivery cable for MacBook Pro
(ali)5A Type C Cable USB C to USB C 3.1 Gen2 5A PD 100W 10Gbps 4K60Hz Thunderbolt3 for Macbook Pro Nintendo Switch s9 huawei p20
(ali)WOTOBE USB C Cable E-MARK 5A PD 100W USB3.1 Gen2 10Gbps 4K for Thunderbolt 3 Matebook MacBook iPad Pro Pixel Nexus 6P Matebook
(amazon)CBUS 5A 100W USB-C Cable, 6.6ft USB Power Delivery (PD) Fast Charge USB 3.1 Gen2, 10Gbps Data — Compatible with PD Docking Stations, Hard Drives, MacBook Pro, Air, iPad Pro, PixelBook, 4K/5K Displays
Cables and packaging are identical despite different names and brands. One cable shown extremely rare non FEC recoverable error visible as corrupt vertical slice ~1/6 screen width and random height.

PS. problem fixed by grinding plastic from Belkin VR Displayport connector (do not forget to connect both USB-A)
 
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Taras F

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2020
5
2
That's very good news, thanks for the info.
I'd like to add that Belkin "Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass" 4.5m (model no. CAZ001yz5MBK) did not work for me with RTX 3090.
I have no idea how to get "Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable" yet. Its 3m and 21.6Gbps, much more reasonable specs...


That's weird. I've got BELKIN brand too. BELKIN Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass 4,5 m: CAZ001yz5MBK * 8830yz26259 rev. B00

Make sure the cable is connected to the DisplayPort (i had to press in firmly) and both USB into USB PC ports. Thunderbolt 3 should go into Thunderbolt 3 -in port at the XDR. My RTX 3090 is EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA 24-P5-3987-KR which has 3 display ports and 1 HDMI. I've got XDR connected to the Display Port opposite side of the HDMI port if that makes any importance. My HDMI port is also occupied by UHD TV Samsung capable of 4K UHD 12bit color 4-4-4. Everything works as it should.
 

4ever4

macrumors newbie
Dec 2, 2016
10
2
That's weird. I've got BELKIN brand too. BELKIN Charge and Sync Cable for HUAWEI VR Glass 4,5 m: CAZ001yz5MBK * 8830yz26259 rev. B00

Make sure the cable is connected to the DisplayPort (i had to press in firmly) and both USB into USB PC ports. Thunderbolt 3 should go into Thunderbolt 3 -in port at the XDR. My RTX 3090 is EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA 24-P5-3987-KR which has 3 display ports and 1 HDMI. I've got XDR connected to the Display Port opposite side of the HDMI port if that makes any importance. My HDMI port is also occupied by UHD TV Samsung capable of 4K UHD 12bit color 4-4-4. Everything works as it should.
It works!!! I grinded about 2mm of plastic from displayport connector periodically switching it on for testing without USB-A (to speed up the process). When i finally grinded to metal and empty space I decided to give up.
I did final test with both USB-A, fully unwound and it works!!!!
After about 50 tries!!!!!
Got brightness control too
OMG THANKS
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
Apple XDR manual says that "Pro Display XDR requires a GPU capable of supporting DisplayPort 1.4 with Display Stream Compression (DSC) and Forward Error Correction (FEC), or a GPU supporting DisplayPort 1.4 with HBR3 link rate and Thunderbolt Titan Ridge for native 6K resolution... You can connect Pro Display XDR to a Windows or Linux PC equipped with a GPU that supports DisplayPort over Thunderbolt or DisplayPort Alt-mode over USB-C."

I had Nvidia Titan V and Windows 10 x64. Titan V is a pretty rare card so I had no info whether it supports DSC or not.

Nvidia presentation says that DSC has been introduced since RTX 20xx series GPU and Titan V is Volta GPU which was released a bit earlier than those.
Titan V is Volta architecture which predates RTX so doesn't support DSC.

According to the open sources HBR3 is only supported by DisplayPort 1.3 and up (1.4) and Thunderbolt 3 only supports DisplayPort 1.2.
Thunderbolt 3 from Alpine Ridge only supports DisplayPort 1.2. Thunderbolt 3 from Titan Ridge or Ice Lake supports DisplayPort 1.4.

My setup with Titan V and Apple XDR could never run at native 6K 12bit @60Hz but had always been limited to 5K 6bit @60Hz max. And that was HBR2 connection (as per GPU-Z utility) even though the card supported DisplayPort 1.4 and hence HBR3.
I've never seen anyone get a single link HBR3 connection working. I guess it's not one of the possible connection methods. It must be single link HBR2 (with or without DSC) over DisplayPort or Thunderbolt, or dual link HBR3 over Thunderbolt 3.

I was able to run dual DisplayPort configuration via TitanRidge DisplayPort-in connections and -out to Thunderbolt-3 using ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR card however the whole thing was fiddly and the display always went off upon Windows boot (on the second display I was able to see Apple XDR was connected but I could not check the enable box in Nvidia driver's multidisplay setup tab). This could be the 1st working solution as per Apple documentation - "Pro Display XDR requires a ... GPU supporting DisplayPort 1.4 with HBR3 link rate and Thunderbolt Titan Ridge for native 6K resolution".
I think you might be the first to see dual HBR3 from a PC's Titan Ridge controller. I thought maybe they would not allow dual HBR3 like Apple's or the BlackMagic eGPU's Titan Ridge controllers do. I wonder if the ASUS Thunderbolt EX3-TR has a newer firmware than the GC-TITAN RIDGE cards I've tried? My tests were without an XDR so maybe that's why...

Maybe I needed more time to get it sorted with Nvidia drivers but I gave up and went the 2nd working solution getting a new card which supported DSC. So I've upgraded my video card to the new Nvidia RTX 30xx series - RTX 3090.

RTX 3090 does fully work with Apple XDR at native 6K 12bit @60Hz, HDR available. The display identifies itself, no need to change or correct anything. With Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable and Apple BootCamp installed full functionality is enabled: USB ports and the display setup (brightness control, display color scheme presets).

I can concur that at least 2 cables work:
- Moshi 5K. I have tested it only with Titan V so it works up to 5K 6bit @60Hz max. I assume it may work with the native resolution on newer video cards but there will be no USB support.
Yes, it should allow 6K with DSC. Too bad macOS doesn't support 6 bpc (I wonder if it could be patched to allow it?).

- Huawei VR 2 Computer Connection Cable. This cable works with Apple XDR at native 6K 12bit @60Hz, HDR mode can be enabled also. And that's the best option as it enables USB support on Apple XDR and thus makes it possible to install Apple Bootcamp to control the display settings.
Should also work with the newer Belkin Charge and Sync cable.

But where did you get 12 bits? XDR display is 10 bit.
XDR uses 12 bpc when DSC is available. 12 bit is part of the DSC compression. The XDR has many different EDIDs depending on how it's connected. Some of them have 12 bpc (as in the DSC case) and some have 10 bpc.
 
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Ilysia

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2020
4
0
A somewhat stupid question, for those who use the Apple XDR display with a PC running Windows 10.
I'm hesitating to make the acquisition, but I have a small question, when I lock the PC or when it goes to sleep after 5 minutes, does the screen also shut down automatically? Because I know that there is no physical button on the device, so is it still possible to turn off the screen without having to turn off the whole PC? Because I leave my PC on 24/24h and 7/7 days.
 

Taras F

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2020
5
2
A somewhat stupid question, for those who use the Apple XDR display with a PC running Windows 10.
I'm hesitating to make the acquisition, but I have a small question, when I lock the PC or when it goes to sleep after 5 minutes, does the screen also shut down automatically? Because I know that there is no physical button on the device, so is it still possible to turn off the screen without having to turn off the whole PC? Because I leave my PC on 24/24h and 7/7 days.

XDR works as any other monitor. If there is no signal from the video card (ie turn monitor off or sleep mode) it switches itself off same moment.
 

pixbroker22

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2020
3
0
California, USA
I am trying to use my XDR Pro Display on a Windows 10 PC with Gigabyte Titan Ridge Rev 2.0 and Quadro RTX 4000 GPU.

When i connect the XDR to the Quadro RTX 4000 directly using the "Moshi USB-C to Displayport" cable, i get the 6k resolution. But of course, no USB hub functionality of the XDR.

When i connect a "displayport to mini-displayport" cable (the one that came with titan ridge) from the Quadro RTX 4000 to the Titan ridge MDP1, and then connect the XDR to the Titan Ridge thunderbolt USB-C port 1 using the Thunderbolt cable that came with the XDR, i get only 5k resolution. The good news is that i DO get USB-C functionality of the XDR's USB hub.

Sadly, the NVIDIA control panel has the custom resolution button greyed out, so i was unable to try to add 6k manually.

I have attached some screenshots of the relevant settings for both cases. Anyone has some ideas what i could try to get the full 6k via thunderbolt?
 

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joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
I am trying to use my XDR Pro Display on a Windows 10 PC with Gigabyte Titan Ridge Rev 2.0 and Quadro RTX 4000 GPU.

When i connect the XDR to the Quadro RTX 4000 directly using the "Moshi USB-C to Displayport" cable, i get the 6k resolution. But of course, no USB hub functionality of the XDR.

When i connect a "displayport to mini-displayport" cable (the one that came with titan ridge) from the Quadro RTX 4000 to the Titan ridge MDP1, and then connect the XDR to the Titan Ridge thunderbolt USB-C port 1 using the Thunderbolt cable that came with the XDR, i get only 5k resolution. The good news is that i DO get USB-C functionality of the XDR's USB hub.

Sadly, the NVIDIA control panel has the custom resolution button greyed out, so i was unable to try to add 6k manually.

I have attached some screenshots of the relevant settings for both cases. Anyone has some ideas what i could try to get the full 6k via thunderbolt?
The Moshi cable direct to the XDR is using HBR2 with DSC to get 6K

Connection to the Titan Ridge is probably using Thunderbolt (you can tell by looking at Device Manager, view by connection, and noting that the USB bus used for the USB devices of the display is behind the Thunderbolt controller in the display instead of the GC-TITAN RIDGE). Thunderbolt should allow HBR2 with DSC but maybe the XDR is expected dual HBR3 over Thunderbolt? Are you connecting one or two DisplayPort to Mini-DisplayPort cables to the Titan Ridge? Try just one.

You could try using CRU to override the EDID (see if the XDR is advertising the 6K single connection mode).

The simplest solution is to use a Belkin Charge and Sync cable to avoid the Thunderbolt issue.
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
@joevt Thanks for your reply. I tried with 1 and 2 cables between GPU and TB card and the result is the same. Do you have the link for the "Belkin Charge and Sync cable"?
 

Ilysia

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2020
4
0
Hi, I have a 2080ti (PC Corsair i160), there is no C usb or VirtualLink port on this model.
So I have to take this cable from Belkin (BELKIN CHARGE AND SYNC CABLE FOR HUAWEI VR GLASS)
and everything will be fine, I will have access to the screen settings after installing the bootcamps drivers, correct ?


If I upgrade in the futur to a RTX 3080 the cable will still be good too ? I've read all the posts and I'm sure it will be but it's just to be sure one last time before buying.

Everything will be fine in 6K with HDR and everything?

And last question the Moshi USB-C to Displayport is cheaper, but if i take that i will have access to settings or no ? or i just loose usb port from the back of xdr ?

Sorry if all this was already answered, it's just to have a recap
Thanks !
 
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RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9
Hello all,


I registered just to participate in this thread. Just to clarify (or compile) the details in this thread.

  1. You can connect your video card directly (Ampere or NAVI based card) using a Displayport to USB-C cable (10GBs) and it will work at full 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth except for USB and control (brightness, contrast etc..)
  2. Using a Titan Ridge thunderbolt card (and motherboard with TB3 header) you can pass through the Displayport connection and get USB and control features working. Also 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth.
  3. Using a cable that has USB and Displayport to a single USB-C (10GBs) cable will work the same as the Titan Ridge (2) with 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth with USB and control features working.


I fell down this rabbit hole looking into getting one of those fancy ASUS 32" 120Hz 4K mini-LED monitors that were announced just over year ago and still haven't come out (UCX.) I found out that it was finally listed on some Chinese reseller for approx. 6.4K USD and it doesn't have HDMI 2.1. From there I decided to catch up on the Apple XDR on Windows and ended up here.

These are my specs:

AMD 3700X, TUF B550-PLUS (WIFI) uATX (unfortunately only the ATX version has thunderbolt header.) and a 3080 RTX.

I am considering option 3.
 
Last edited:

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
Hello all,


I registered just to participate in this thread. Just to clarify (or compile) the details in this thread.

  1. You can connect your video card directly (Ampere or NAVI based card) using a Displayport to USB-C cable (10GBs) and it will work at full 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth except for USB and control (brightness, contrast etc..)
  2. Using a Titan Ridge thunderbolt card (and motherboard with TB3 header) you can pass through the Displayport connection and get USB and control features working. Also 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth.
  3. Using a cable that has USB and Displayport to a single USB-C (10GBs) cable will work the same as the Titan Ridge (2) with 6K resolution 10 bit and 12 bit color depth with USB and control features working.


I fell down this rabbit hole looking into getting one of those fancy ASUS 32" 120Hz 4K mini-LED monitors that were announced just over year ago and still haven't come out (UCX.) I found out that it was finally listed on some Chinese reseller for approx. 6.4K USD and it doesn't have HDMI 2.1. From there I decided to catch up on the Apple XDR on Windows and ended up here.

These are my specs:

AMD 3700X, TUF B550-PLUS (WIFI) uATX (unfortunately only the ATX version has thunderbolt header.) and a 3080 GTX.

I am considering option 3.
#2 is limited to USB 2.0.
#3 should allow USB 3.0 if PCIe tunnelling of Thunderbolt is working.

All three options require a DSC capable GPU (RTX or Navi or Ice Lake or Tiger Lake). I don't recall if anyone has gotten 6K to work from Windows or GC-TITAN RIDGE with a GPU that doesn't support DSC.
 

RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9
#2 is limited to USB 2.0.
#3 should allow USB 3.0 if PCIe tunnelling of Thunderbolt is working.

All three options require a DSC capable GPU (RTX or Navi or Ice Lake or Tiger Lake). I don't recall if anyone has gotten 6K to work from Windows or GC-TITAN RIDGE with a GPU that doesn't support DSC.

Just updated my post. There is no "3080 GTX" (typo.) It's an 3080 RTX which is the same family as the 3090 RTX (Ampere RTX) so I believe it supports DSC.

Thank you for the info!
 

mattkew_kl

macrumors newbie
Feb 5, 2021
1
1
Poland
Hello all,

I am sorry if I am writing something that makes no sense, but I hope you will help me.
I have a SAPPHIRE NITRO + RX 5700 XT graphics card in my computer

It seems to have all the features mentioned in previous posts (Display Port 1.4 (HBR3) / DSC, etc.)

So the question is whether this card will work with Apple Pro XDR + this cable
and this together will offer full functionality (6k, brightness setting, USB) without using the GC-TITAN RIDGE / ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR?

I will be grateful for your help.
And sorry for my english :)
 
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Executor

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2008
158
167
NYC
Hello all,

I am sorry if I am writing something that makes no sense, but I hope you will help me.
I have a SAPPHIRE NITRO + RX 5700 XT graphics card in my computer

It seems to have all the features mentioned in previous posts (Display Port 1.4 (HBR3) / DSC, etc.)

So the question is whether this card will work with Apple Pro XDR + this cable
and this together will offer full functionality (6k, brightness setting, USB) without using the GC-TITAN RIDGE / ASUS ThunderboltEX 3-TR?

I will be grateful for your help.
And sorry for my english :)
Yes. A 5700xt, together with that cable will work with the Apple XDR display. I used a similar set up before and had no problems.
 

RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9

Has it been confirmed people are getting 3.0 USB speeds with this cable? Curious.
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
Has it been confirmed people are getting 3.0 USB speeds with this cable? Curious.
I don't think anyone said the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable does USB 3.0.

A USB 2.0 Type A connector has only 4 conductors. D+, D-, VBUS, GND.
A USB 3.0 Type A connector has 9 conductors. 4 for USB 2.0, plus SSRx+, SSRx-, SSTx+, SSTx-, GND_DRAIN.
I examined the two USB type A connectors of the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable and both of them are USB 2.0.

The only things I know that convert USB 3.0 + DisplayPort to USB-C are:
1) Sunix UPD2018 / Delock 89582 / Dell 1H0Y3 / Dell M0W58 / Dell WYY76
2) Thunderbolt 3 add-in cards
3) BizLink VirtualLink Interface Adapter (doesn't actually exist)
https://egpu.io/forums/gpu-monitor-...sb-c-to-displayport-cable/paged/4/#post-79127

All other adapters only do USB 2.0 or no USB at all.
 

RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9
Thank you for the help @joevt and to the posters in this thread. Finally received my Pro XDR with the Nano Texture update. Using the Belkin Sync Cable my desktop has no problems connecting to the monitor; I got the full 6K resolution with USB support. The Mac mini M1 also handles it well.

My Windows i7-9750/2070 MAX-Q through TB3 did have issues as well as my work laptop though I believe those require the bootcamp drivers.
 

henrymyf

macrumors regular
Dec 2, 2015
142
59
Thank you for the help @joevt and to the posters in this thread. Finally received my Pro XDR with the Nano Texture update. Using the Belkin Sync Cable my desktop has no problems connecting to the monitor; I got the full 6K resolution with USB support. The Mac mini M1 also handles it well.

My Windows i7-9750/2070 MAX-Q through TB3 did have issues as well as my work laptop though I believe those require the bootcamp drivers.
May I ask what driver did you use to get the 6K resolution? Thanks
 

RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9
May I ask what driver did you use to get the 6K resolution? Thanks

For the desktop I got the 6K resolution out of the box. I was using NVidia’s 465.89 Driver. Did not have to install Apple’s boot camp drivers using the Belkin Sync Cable.
 

ScatteredPixel

macrumors member
Dec 14, 2020
49
43
I've successfully got my PC running on my XDR with the Belkin cable. I was wondering whether anyone has found a switch/KVM that would allow easy swapping between a Mac input and a PC input?
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,971
4,262
I've successfully got my PC running on my XDR with the Belkin cable. I was wondering whether anyone has found a switch/KVM that would allow easy swapping between a Mac input and a PC input?
Any KVM should work since it's using only HBR2 and USB 2.0.
 

RainbowSWE

macrumors newbie
Jan 3, 2021
27
9
Hellos! I am back again.

I’m enjoying my Pro XDR Nano Texture Display. Just some issues with controlling the brightness on Windows. I tried installing the latest boot camp and was able to install. The problem is the drivers to control the brightness are still not there.

I need to get this to work otherwise I am going to have to wear sun glasses using the work laptop. I was hoping to get this working on my personal PC by installing boot camp from Apple, once installed, see if I can locate the specific driver files and install those on the work laptop. Because it’s a work laptop, I have to be able to do this with the Apple sourced boot camp package.

Any tips?
 
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