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DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

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@ldx0 Intermittent short blackouts always seem to be a result of momentary interruptions in the supply of power, or physical shocks to the board that cause power interruptions.
I think it’s a fail-safe protection in the board’s circuitry.
If it is persistent then I would suspect the PSU.
But that is only a guess.
 
Hi everyone,
Decided why not to post an update since my build will be celebrating its birthday in about a month.

TLDR; it still just works daily, without any issues.
So don’t be afraid to build and use :)

My setup includes A1419 iMac foundations, JRY board, wires speakers, original PSU, soldered power button, installed joystick for OSD, usb-C and DP (mini DP) connectors via extension cables, standard fan with Noctua controller.
3D printed desk riser.

The monitor’s been used pretty much daily in my home office with MBP via USB-C connection, as well as for occasional gaming via DP cable with a windows PC.

Features wise, it’s super used to control display brightness from MBP via software.
As well as I’ve got used to using the built in speakers while gaming for OK ish sound quality.

Additionally, the monitor survived air freight transportation when I was moving to another country (hi, UK!) and just powered on after unboxing!

Well, sometimes I wish it was brighter and had less glare. Sometimes I wish it had OLED or higher refresh rate when gaming.
But it’s still a pretty damn decent monitor for office work, especially for what it’s worth.

If you have any specific questions about my experience - let me know!
 
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PaulD-UK said:
@share_and_enjoy
I don't think the interior space of the iMac case changed much after late-2015.
The late-2014/mid-2015 cases have a logic board stand-off post missing, and smaller HD mounting brackets.

Both the LRS-200-24 and the LRS-150-24 have been used by builders in this thread:
@Aiwi has written a lengthy blog about his LRS-200-24 build process.

And this one uses the LRS-150-24:
The builder @kevinherring had no-load noise problems with this PSU.
Click to expand...
Thanks @PaulD-UK - I’ll have a go with the lrs-200-24! Mine is slightly different to the version in that photo, including the power supply case continuing at full height to the end of the terminals on the left hand side, which is where it’s at the highest point. I’ll have a go and report back!
 
PaulD-UK said:
@ldx0 Периодические последовательные отключения электроэнергии, по-видимому, всегда являются последовательными перебоев в подаче электричества или физических ударов на плате, которые вызывают перебои в подаче электричества.
Я думаю, что это отказоустойчивая защита в шаблонной плате.
Если проблема сохранится, то я бы заподозрил блокировку питания.
Но это только предположение.
Click to expand...
у меня было что-то похожее, периодически выключался экран и уходил как-бы в сон на секунду-две, решилось заменой кабель HDMI
 
Morning all. I’m using the JRY-…-AA1 board with extensions for the periphery plugs run outside the chassis for ease of access - HDMI, DP, Thunderbolt, USB-A hub, power, and notably 3.5mm audio jack.

I’ve also kept the internal speakers, wired up with some crossovers Paul D suggested in a much earlier post.

When I plug in the 3.5mm audio extension to the board, so that I can access it externally, the audio cuts out from the onboard speakers. I figure that’s the normal behaviour for when headphones get plugged in, but wasn’t expecting it for an extension cable.

Is there a way to solve that?
95% of the time I’ll be using the internal speakers, but it’d be nice to have the option to use the headphone jack
 
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Finally have initial side by side of the FA1 and T18 boards now. There's definitely more difference than I expected - the T18 on the right (my first build and used daily for more than 15 months now) is at around 75% brightness, the FA1 on the left is as bright as any settings would allow me to get it... I can run a calibration that adjusts the native white point of the FA1 to be a little less yellow, but this also results in reducing the brightness as well.

IMG_0426.jpg


Now I don't know which way to go. I have a sneaking suspicion the colour might be slightly more accurate on the FA1 but the brightness is too low, and I have mentally adjusted for the ever so slight colour shift on the T18 but I think the next thing is to sit and reference to my MacBook Pro monitor to see which one is closest to standard before I pull the trigger on which board will be my dual screen option, and which will move to my wife's desk (she's a teacher, not a graphic designer so I need the most accurate ones ;)).
 
Regulus67 said:
Are there larger steps in the gradient on the FA1? Or is it just the photo that makes it look this way?
Click to expand...
It does seems to be but I can’t quite resolve whether it is because the T18 is that much brighter or not. On the full screen gradients both look smooth, just the 256 step one looks a bit more delineated - the photo does make it look slightly worse though.
 
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To make sure that the difference is comming from the board and not from the screen you have to switch the boards and compare again unless you have seen both screens side by side before the conversion. The backlite can change with time and usage.
 
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Guenter said:
To make sure that the difference is comming from the board and not from the screen you have to switch the boards and compare again unless you have seen both screens side by side before the conversion. The backlite can change with time and usage.
Click to expand...
It’s the same issue across the other 3 panels I’ve tested so far, the T18 in the picture is on a mid 2017 panel, the FA1 is on a late 2019 panel, but both give the same result on all the 2019 panels I have.

It may be that the FA1 seems duller to me as the T18 is brighter than the iMac Pro it used to sit next to. Technically the FA1 is within a few percent brightness of the panel in my 2020 i9 MBP. I’m going to keep running them side by side for a while to figure out which is giving me the more accurate colour representation. That said I can’t change any colour settings other than white point in calibration on the Mac with the FA1 unless I turn HDR off.

The FA1 is definitely crisp and vibrant, just not quite as bright so I need to pick my trade off I guess.
 
@jag001 "It may be that the FA1 seems duller to me as the T18 is brighter than the iMac Pro it used to sit next to. Technically the FA1 is within a few percent brightness of the panel in my 2020 i9 MBP. I’m going to keep running them side by side for a while to figure out which is giving me the more accurate colour representation. That said I can’t change any colour settings other than white point in calibration on the Mac with the FA1 unless I turn HDR off."

Firstly, I don't think any of the Chinese conversion boards can reproduce an accurate colour gamut in HDR mode.
I think they originally only manage HDR10 using the 4K firmware that they were originally developed with.

It is quite possible that the transfer of the HDR10 mode to the 5K firmware for iMac conversions is better with the Mediatek video controller chips in the JRY boards, compared to the RealTek chip in the T18 and R1811.

RealTek has countered the challenge of the introduction of the MediaTek chipped boards by coming up with better firmware (HDMI 2.1) for the R1811.
So competition is good. ;)

EDIT: However setting the monitors to HDR might be an easy way to get each to show the maximum brightness that they are capable of.
And for it to be HDR means they are in 10 bit mode. 😀

The iMac Pro is definitely not displaying an HDR colour gamut - the screen panel is only capable of accurate SDR.
In SDR, a colour gamut is three dimensional - Hue, Saturation and Brightness.
For 100% compliance to a profile each pixel has to be in place on a 3 axis graph:


The brightness value is defined by the numerical definition of the colour.
That's why the iMac Pro's brightness setting is constrained by the Display P3 colour profile that Apple has enabled on it.

My R1811 is capable of higher maximum brightness in its own default colour profile than it is if I select DCI-P3.
So the colour profile is constraining the brightness to fit the P3 colour gamut, when that is selected.
I am using an iMac Pro D1 panel in my monitor, so I am seeing a straight comparison, as far as I can...

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in all this, so please correct any misunderstandings ... 😃
 
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pnwkayaker said:
@valexv You're completely right, clearance is extremely tight; don't know what I was thinking when I designed it.

I've uploaded a low profile version of the board that I think will provide better access to the ports (see pic below):

iMac 5K conversion using SA1 board

This project has been entertaining (forced me learn about 3d modeling) but I think I'm ready to close it out - most likely will not try to reuse the speakers (at least for now) since the SA1 board amplifier is supposed to not be very good. Will upload the remaining models once I'm done.

View attachment 2495041
Click to expand...

I'm printing the SA1 board mount now to try out, if you have more models you designed that might help mount pieces to the iMac frame I'd greatly appreciate if you could upload them, even if they're not polished. Much easier than starting from scratch :)

Thank you!
 
share_and_enjoy said:
Thanks @PaulD-UK - I’ll have a go with the lrs-200-24! Mine is slightly different to the version in that photo, including the power supply case continuing at full height to the end of the terminals on the left hand side, which is where it’s at the highest point. I’ll have a go and report back!
Click to expand...
Just a thought - Maybe the LRS-200-24 you have is an OEM version instead of an authentic Mean Well PSU? I have seen some PSUs on Amazon and other sites listed as LRS-200-24 that are clearly manufactured by other companies. These could have some different specs for things that don't impact the PSU rating or performance, such as the casing.
 
Hello everyone,
Thank you for joining the forum!
I have embarked on the adventure of transforming an iMac into an external screen. You guys are top notch!
I followed your advice but now I have a vertical black band on the screen. It moves slightly when I press on the link with the backlight. Is this repairable or do I have to change the screen?
If you can help me. Thank you
 

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Kevin26 said:
Hello everyone,
Thank you for joining the forum!
I have embarked on the adventure of transforming an iMac into an external screen. You guys are top notch!
I followed your advice but now I have a vertical black band on the screen. It moves slightly when I press on the link with the backlight. Is this repairable or do I have to change the screen?
If you can help me. Thank you
Click to expand...
try reseating the LVDS cable connectors on both the control board and monitor sides of the cable - one of the pins might be making poor contact.
 
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Oh dear… The backlight isn’t the problem.
When you press it you are actually pressing on the metal shielding which is protecting the PCB across the top of the screen.

Under that shielding the controller chips on the PCB are connected to the screen matrix by a ribbon cable across the width of the top.

Unfortunately, when the screen has been removed that ribbon cable as been cut into by a sharp blade where the screen has failed, and so the pixels at that section are no longer receiving any colour information.

I’m afraid the screen is unusable. Sorry.

iMacScreenDamageCU.jpg


 
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Many thanks for your feedback.
I know now that I failed 😞
Do you know of a reliable site where I can buy a screen alone?
The SA1 card is no longer of any use to me in this case.
 
Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice.

I’m considering buying a used iMac 5K 2017 and an SA1 board to build a standalone display. The total cost should be around €450 — possibly less if I manage to sell the iMac internals. I don't mind tinkering, of course.

I have a few questions about how good this setup really is:
  • How does it perform in terms of color accuracy, stability, wake-up time, auto input switching, and all the other small things that separate a good monitor from a great one?
  • Does the SA1 board enable VRR for the iMac panel?
  • Has anyone tested 4K @ 60Hz input from a PS5? Does it look as good as expected?
  • Is achieving full brightness still dependent on an extra driver board, or is that handled by the SA1 now?
Thanks in advance!
 
@JonathanX64
I use a R1811 conversion, which meets all your requested criteria except VRR, which no 5K panel is really capable of.

The BOE 5K panel in the Kuycon and maybe Viewsonic monitors can manage 75Hz as well as 60Hz (or 30Hz) that all LG iMac 5K panels are limited to.

In theory the JRY-W9RQUHD-SA1 board should perform as well, but the R1811 is on the fifth revision of its firmware, whereas the JRY firmware is at a more basic level. Presumably to match it's price.

However with its original 4K/160 firmware in a Chinese monitor (in this YT review) the SA1 gives good colour and works as well with a PS5 through its HDMI port.

EDIT:
However that video shows the USB-C input only working at 8 bits, when the DP input gives 10 bits…

Whether that performance is retained with 5K firmware is still a bit unclear.
It gives an excellent image through DisplayPort, and should also perform the same with USB-C, or maybe only give 8 bits?
Mixed reviews earlier in this thread don't appear to report the same quality using HDMI...

All the boards give sufficient brightness without the extra backlight board, unless you have a 'rebuilt' screen panel with damaged backlight LEDs. The extra DZ-LP0818 board can make such a panel more usable.

Hopefully JRY--SA1 users can give more in-depth info. 👍
 
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@Kevin26
I have bought 5K iMac screen panels from eBay (in the UK) very successfully.
The ones for sale "as new" or “open box, unused” for about £350 are often remanufactured ones from China, they replace the broken glass front screen on a used panel, so maybe not all they seem.
 
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Has anyone else experienced LED flickering with JRY-W9RQUHD-SA1 or any other board?
I have felt discomfort, headaches and blurry vision using my JRY-SA1 + 2017 iMac panel since I got it setup in December 2024. Since I used an Late 2014 5K iMac for 7 years 8h a day with no issues at all I know I should in theory be able to use this type of screen again comfortably. So at first I thought it was due to DSC so I switched from USB-C input to DisplayPort and reduced color depth to 8bit but apparently it did not help. Then I went to see an optician and was ordinated computer glasses. With computer glasses my vision gets slightly improved but the issues with the 5K monitor did not go away. I have also tested eliminating reflections, tried with different contrast/brightness settings, altering distance to screen but nothing helped. For the last three weeks I have been working in the office with a LG 4K monitor (27UP850) and experienced no issues at all. That made me more eager again to find out if there is some issue with my SA1 5K setup anyway so I made a slow motion movie with my iPhone with no other light source and noticed that the screen actually flickers, even at 100% brightness. Then I pointed the camera to two other screens, one 2021 MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro and one 2009 Apple LED Cinema Display and none of them showed any flickering.

The video showing LED flickering of the JRY-SA1 + 2017 iMac panel:
(uploading the video as it was recorded, the flickering was not visible so I did slow down the video to 12 images/s and then after upload it was noticeable. YouTube probably reduces frame rate on upload)

I tried to move the backlight cable but it did not change anything in case of any interference. I have read also that the power supply could cause issues and in my case I use a Mean Well 24V 8,8A so I think it should suffice.

So now I am curios to know if any one else with SA1 board having the same kind of LED flickering and also if there are any other boards that don't have? Sadly I am not sure this is what causing my issues but at least this is something that I can measure and I really hope it is. My assumption is even though PWM is used for controlling the backlight it should not flicker att 100%.
 
Hi! Back on the track with my monitor conversion of a 21.5" iMac Retina late 2015. Have received a new board (R9513 v5) after the first one (probably) shortcircuited against monitor casing. More precautios about this now! Am keeping the original fan and have connected a 4 pin 12v PWM controller, with temperature controll. The Question is;
1) would you put the temperature controll "free" in the monitor casing or in any special location?
2) What would you use for temperature settings? - I can set a "shut down" temperature, below wich always fan is off, a PWM acceleration temperature, from where the PWM modulates up the fanspeed with rising temperature, and a "fan max" temperature, above wich always full fan speed.
I have no idea what to expect as acceptable temperatures within the casing, and what would be "bad" for the board.
Offcourse i do not want the fan to run more than necessary.
 
In my R1811 27” monitor I run the A1418 21” fan as slow as it will run.

It has a temperature probe which I set to speed up at 40 degrees C, but it’s never speeded up in the 2 years I’ve been using it.

The only time the internal temperature rose above about 32 degrees C was watching a dark movie at full backlight brightness but the temperature rise was not enough to cause the fan to speed up.

If you set the fan to switch off at low temps it will never run at all…..

Without the low speed fan the case would get gradually warmer, so it is a good idea to use one.

It’s worth ducting the exhaust out of the case like I did otherwise you are just blowing warm air around.
 
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