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Classic Mac Pro Question: Where did all the 5k Displays go ? I need one for my 2010 Mac Pro =(

Dr. Stealth

Dr. Stealth

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 14, 2004
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SoCal-Surf City USA
I didn't have much luck in Mac/Accessories so I moved the question here to my knowledgeable friends in Mac Pro...

I just did a bunch of upgrades to my 2010 Mac Pro and it's running like a brand new computer. Now I'd like to upgrade my old school display (27" Cinema Display, which I love) to something more modern and I've decided on a 27" 5k as I do mostly CADD design, HiRes graphics, photography and a little 4k video editing from my DJI drone. I have plenty of graphics power to drive a couple of them.

One problem. Where did all the 5k's go? Are there any choices left for a Classic Mac Pro?

LG UltraFine 5k - Won't work with cMP

HP 5k Ultra HD Z27q - Discontinued (Plus I don't like Matte displays, Give me GLOSSY like the iMac 5K)

Dell Ultra HD 5k UP2715K - Discontinued (But, GLOSSY like the iMac 5K, and known to work awesome on a cMP)

Philips 5k 275P4VYKEB - Discontinued

So, I ask the experts. What happened? Not enough sales to make them viable? Too many technical problems? Shortage of panels? Am I missing any other 5K displays that have not been discontinued?

Anyway, I'm ready to pull the trigger on a 5K and the only viable solution I see at this point is a refurbished Dell UP2715K from B&M in 9+ condition for around $1500.00. It also seems to be the only known working, semi-available 5k display for the cMP.

Many Thanks in Advanced! Any opinions or insight is very welcome.

h9826790 I know you have insight on this and I would love to hear it.
 
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Dr. Stealth said:
One problem. Where did all the 5k's go? Are there any choices left for a Classic Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

5k is effectively an orphan resolution that only Apple are pursuing - the rest of the display world are going 4k/8k for high resolution.

Unfortunately, there's nothing special about 5k, aside from it being outside the bandwidth of a single DP1.2 connector - it's not "retina" based on anything outside of marketing, it's effectively a hardware kludge for macos not having proper resolution independence.

Dr. Stealth said:
LG UltraFine 5k - Won't work with cMP
Click to expand...

that may not be true - there was talk around here about a gigabyte tb3 pci card that takes dual displayport in with loopback cables, then spits it back out as tb3/type-c. there'd be a lot of compromises, however - none of the peripheral devices in the display would work, and you may not have access to the brightness controls etc.

Dell have just released the new UP2718Q - 4k 27" wide gamut which looks to effectively be the replacement "pro" monitor for their 5k in 27".

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_up2718q.htm <- review
 
I think display manufacturers are also waiting for DisplayPort 1.4 to be more widespread, eliminating the requirement for the horror show that is MST.
5K is definitely the best resolution IMO.
 
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mattspace said:
5k is effectively an orphan resolution that only Apple are pursuing - the rest of the display world are going 4k/8k for high resolution.
Click to expand...

Well, that would be pretty dull since "4k" effectively ends up as 1920x1080. The whole point of moving to 27" is getting more space—meaning 2560x1440. And that in turn means we need 5k.

You can always go 4k pixel-for-pixel in a 27" or smaller monitor, but I believe Kirk Lazarus had a name for that: "full retard". The same name could be applied to using 32" TVs as monitors in a pro environment.

No. Please. Dual 27" is a common setup in a pro environment and the sweet spot for that is 5k HiDPI returning a 2560x1440 GUI with all 'monitors' or 'canvases' being pixel-for-pixel.

Everyone might not agree with this of course, but it is totally a valid option that should be catered to.
 
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Well... Apple and LG have had a very long, close relationship. And I'd be willing to bet that LG is the only manufacturer making that 27" 5k panel. I'm pretty sure that Apple, Dell, HP and Philips were all using the same LG panel. Apple is selling millions of 5k iMacs. This wouldn't be the first time Apple has put the strangle hold on a particular market. =P

We have a couple 5k iMacs in our office and the displays are just awesome. I want the same for my new cMP display if at all possible. I've used an Apple 30" display before but have since found the 27" to be the perfect size for me and my work without having to crank my old neck around to see the whole screen.

So I pulled the trigger on the Dell 5k UP2715K from B&M. I'll see how it goes. A display is not forever. If I have too many issues with it I'll just put it on eBay and get a new 27" 4k. But I'm really hoping it works smoothly enough to keep me satisfied until there are more choices available.

I really wish the 5k iMac had video inputs so it could be used as a standard display. I could have picked up a used one for a lot less money.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I really do find it valuable.
 
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The iMac 5K screen seduced me into selling my 2013 MP. I could not find a 5K screen (almost at any price) that was better.... and i looked for a solid month. The Dell was the closest but conflicting reports on how well it went. Tried a good 4K but it didn't cut it in comparison.

I am betting that Apple will release the iMac screen as a standalone to go as either an extension for the iMac Pro - or certainly with any new Mac Pro that gets released
 
mattspace said:
Please let us know how it goes, because as far as I could tell, that display never became turnkey reliable when it comes to waking it and the computer from sleep etc.
Click to expand...

I will definitely be posting my results. If sleep is the only issue I can deal with that. I'll let everyone know how it goes. In 4 days I'll have it in my hands and on my desk. Really I can't wait to see it.
 
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propower said:
The iMac 5K screen seduced me into selling my 2013 MP. I could not find a 5K screen (almost at any price) that was better.... and i looked for a solid month. The Dell was the closest but conflicting reports on how well it went. Tried a good 4K but it didn't cut it in comparison.

I am betting that Apple will release the iMac screen as a standalone to go as either an extension for the iMac Pro - or certainly with any new Mac Pro that gets released
Click to expand...
The Dell is essentially equal to the iMac screen. It's very good.
 
rkuo said:
The Dell is essentially equal to the iMac screen. It's very good.
Click to expand...
Agreed, we have 3 of these. It’s just a shame that it is MST which brings a whole set of problems to the cMP.
I’m waiting out for a DisplayPort 1.4 5K monitor.
I’m aware however that I could be waiting for a very long time!
 
Squuiid said:
Agreed, we have 3 of these. It’s just a shame that it is MST which brings a whole set of problems to the cMP.
I’m waiting out for a DisplayPort 1.4 5K monitor.
I’m aware however that I could be waiting for a very long time!
Click to expand...

I actually wonder if that is the reason for the discontinuation. Displayport 1.4 is pretty common now and maybe they have realised that running two cables is a bit of a pain.
 
To balance a few of the comments re: 4k here, in my environment (recording studio) a 4k 40" TV works very nicely running 1:1. Tons of screen real estate makes life better when working with large multi-track audio projects, not to mention when auditioning AV projects for producers.
 
William Payne said:
I actually wonder if that is the reason for the discontinuation. Displayport 1.4 is pretty common now and maybe they have realised that running two cables is a bit of a pain.
Click to expand...

That, or Apple being currently the only company shipping volume of 5k panels suggested to LG that "a single cable displayport 1.4 5k display isn't going to happen with panels you supply, or else we'll find a new panel supplier for all of our devices".

5k single cable monitors being a TB3, and therefore a new Mac only feature isn't so far-fetched as a strategic move.
 
5k downsampled to 4k and output on a 4k panel (which macOS can do for the desktop) doesn't look bad, but isn't great if you're a designer. I know a few people who run their 4k panel that way though.

Myself I like the pixel accuracy on my 5k.
 
mattspace said:
That, or Apple being currently the only company shipping volume of 5k panels suggested to LG that "a single cable displayport 1.4 5k display isn't going to happen with panels you supply, or else we'll find a new panel supplier for all of our devices".

5k single cable monitors being a TB3, and therefore a new Mac only feature isn't so far-fetched as a strategic move.
Click to expand...
TB3 may be single cable but it's still carrying dual displayport streams internally and can't drive 5K with a single displayport stream. The monitor does not need to be much different, in other words.

Maybe LG needed the space to make all of Apple's new OLED's?
 
Squuiid said:
Agreed, we have 3 of these. It’s just a shame that it is MST which brings a whole set of problems to the cMP.
I’m waiting out for a DisplayPort 1.4 5K monitor.
I’m aware however that I could be waiting for a very long time!
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat - this MST with 2 DisplayPorts is a real pain. I am running two Z27Qs at home, one is being driven by an nVidia card (with 2 cables), and the other one - by Intel graphics, via Thunderbolt 3. A really hacky setup. Unstable when the computer wakes up - frequently display connected to Intel graphics does not come up. Perhaps they were discontinued due to these instabilities and too much support required.

But - the picture is really beautiful and sharp. Though I believe my life would have been easier with 2 23.8 4K screens, with some loss of picture quality.

Can't wait to upgrade these two DisplayPort 1.4, where I can connect each with one cable to the nVidia video card and forget these MST things. But - wait is gonna be for a while, until someone starts making these panels with DisplayPort 1.4. I believe there is different panel interface/electronics required to make that work. There are video cards with DP 1.4 (latest AMD and nVidia), but I think there's lack of DP1.4 panel controllers, they just start to appear.

These 5K panels are also made by Samsung, Sharp and LG. Former 2 are real 10 bit panels, while LG (used my Apple presumably) are 16M colors.
 
I would imagine that if they come back into production it will be via a single display port 1.4 cable. That would be the most logical thing to do. Nvidia claim that the card I just brought which has 4 DisplayPort 1.4 ports can run 4 5k displays at once. I guess its just a waiting game for single cable monitors.

There also was not a huge across the board adoption of 5k displays on their own, it was pretty much just LG, Dell, and HP. Apple were really the main players in 5k screens and still are but mostly in the iMac.

Most consumer display manufacturers just never went there and the specialty hyper accurate display makers like Eizo and Flanders scientific never went there either they maxed out at DCI 4K.

8k will be interesting but how many of those is Dell really selling? The specs on it look good but it still really a consumer grade screen really. I doubt any of the design studios, or colour graders/retouchers are buying them though I could be wrong. I actually wonder if even people who shoot 8k video with Reds are using them.
 
anrec80 said:
I am in the same boat - this MST with 2 DisplayPorts is a real pain. I am running two Z27Qs at home, one is being driven by an nVidia card (with 2 cables), and the other one - by Intel graphics, via Thunderbolt 3. A really hacky setup. Unstable when the computer wakes up - frequently display connected to Intel graphics does not come up. Perhaps they were discontinued due to these instabilities and too much support required.

But - the picture is really beautiful and sharp. Though I believe my life would have been easier with 2 23.8 4K screens, with some loss of picture quality.

Can't wait to upgrade these two DisplayPort 1.4, where I can connect each with one cable to the nVidia video card and forget these MST things. But - wait is gonna be for a while, until someone starts making these panels with DisplayPort 1.4. I believe there is different panel interface/electronics required to make that work. There are video cards with DP 1.4 (latest AMD and nVidia), but I think there's lack of DP1.4 panel controllers, they just start to appear.

These 5K panels are also made by Samsung, Sharp and LG. Former 2 are real 10 bit panels, while LG (used my Apple presumably) are 16M colors.
Click to expand...

My current monitor has two DP1.4 input. However, it's a gaming monitor, not build for work. Samsung use DP1.4 to achieve 3840x1080 144Hz 10bit HDR. Not for 5k. But this new DP1.4 monitor is definitely exist, and the DP1.4 5K monitor most likely on the way (they already have everything, just need to put them together).
 
h9826790 said:
My current monitor has two DP1.4 input. However, it's a gaming monitor, not build for work. Samsung use DP1.4 to achieve 3840x1080 144Hz 10bit HDR. Not for 5k. But this new DP1.4 monitor is definitely exist, and the DP1.4 5K monitor most likely on the way (they already have everything, just need to put them together).
Click to expand...

Yeah on the consumer side, the whole HDR thing is pushing certain things.
 
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