LG 31MU97 4k Display

[SaxPlayer]

With HP's 5K coming out soon, I'm surprised prices are going up?

That's a fair point, although I'd be surprised if the new HP 5K works with the nMP. The 5K Dell only gives 4K. It's not just 2 thunderbolt/mini display ports that are required they also need to support DisplayID which they currently don't. That's a driver based problem so it might be solved soon, perhaps even in 10.10.3 which (as you now know) fixes other display driver problems and looks to drive the LG at 60Hz.

I also have D700's. How is the monitor working for you?

I spoke to Apple about the nMP and true 4K with scaled resolutions. I have D300 's in mine and they say it'll cope with it no problem so I think you should be OK.

 

[rdav]

..they also need to support DisplayID which they currently don't. That's a driver based problem so it might be solved soon, perhaps even in 10.10.3 which (as you now know) fixes other display driver problems and looks to drive the LG at 60Hz.

Perhaps off-topic, but it looks like OS-X 10.11 (Mojave?) will be announced @WWDC in June. Along with the nMP(7) & rMBP(15"). Suspect a solution to the MST/5k monitor problems will be provided then. Especially since the new lineup should feature significantly improved GPUs.

And if the nMP(7) includes upgraded graphic cards based on the AMD FirePro series (from August 2014) as expected [https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/mac-pro/] - then it may be possible to run up to 6x/4k monitors, one from each TB2 port.

 

[SaxPlayer]

Perhaps off-topic, but it looks like OS-X 10.11 (Mojave?) will be announced @WWDC in June. Along with the nMP(7) & rMBP(15"). Suspect a solution to the MST/5k monitor problems will be provided then. Especially since the new lineup should feature significantly improved GPUs.

And if the nMP(7) includes upgraded graphic cards based on the AMD FirePro series (from August 2014) as expected [https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/mac-pro/] - then it may be possible to run up to 6x/4k monitors, one from each TB2 port.

That's a fair comment. The usual technology problem that there's always something better around the corner.

It's not a huge leap to believe that monitors are going to go through a rapid period of development with corresponding updates to graphic card capabilities and (perhaps most importantly) the cables that shift all these millions of pixels around. We'll get to the point within the next few years where we no longer worry too much about how many pixels a monitor has, just that it's "retina" and has a good refresh rate.

There's no doubt that 27" is the sweet spot for 5K and it's more like 24" for 4K (basically achieving over 200ppi for retina). I have an ACD 30" at the moment so for me 27" is too small (however crisp the display looks). Similarly one of the (now many) 32" 4K displays would be too large as the ppi drops down to around 110 then which is the same as an (old) iMac. The LG seems to strike a good balance between physical screen size and an (almost) retina pixel density of 149ppi.

(See how I cleverly got back on topic there.)

 

[toomanyipods]

Anyway, I figured I'd give it a try and return it if I was disappointed. I have a nMP (late-2013) with dual D500s and mainly use it for event photography editing. I was therefore keen to find a good high-res screen to use as the main screen for my Photoshop & Lightroom workflow. Games are not a factor for me personally. Like many, I spent most of 2014 waiting for an updated TB2 display from Apple and was pretty frustrated when the iMac display effectively leapfrogged the capabilities of a machine I had dropped a lot of cash on. I wish Apple had made it clear at the Mac Pro release that they would not be developing a high res screen. Although disappointed, I feel like it would have avoided a lot of frustration for many of us and allowed us to choose appropriate third party alternatives.

AMEN! AMEN! Still living the frustration.

 

[larrysing1963]

Anyway, I figured I'd give it a try and return it if I was disappointed. I have a nMP (late-2013) with dual D500s and mainly use it for event photography editing. I was therefore keen to find a good high-res screen to use as the main screen for my Photoshop & Lightroom workflow. Games are not a factor for me personally. Like many, I spent most of 2014 waiting for an updated TB2 display from Apple and was pretty frustrated when the iMac display effectively leapfrogged the capabilities of a machine I had dropped a lot of cash on. I wish Apple had made it clear at the Mac Pro release that they would not be developing a high res screen. Although disappointed, I feel like it would have avoided a lot of frustration for many of us and allowed us to choose appropriate third party alternatives.

I think expecting Apple to show their hand is expecting too much. They have NEVER done that. They keep their development and future products a secret. It is frustrating, but by now, we should expect nothing less from them. Their track record in this regard is clear.

 

[lisagurl]

BH lists it for $1299. How did you get it for $1167? With HP's 5K coming out soon, I'm surprised prices are going up?

I also have D700's. How is the monitor working for you?

When you say Beta 3, is this monitor firmware, OS X, or something else?

They match the lowest price on the web every day you just have to watch it and put it in the cart.
I have it scaled for now next to my SyncMaster SA850 every now and then depending on loading software or startup the Samsung Monitor with go out of scaling and I have to turn it of and on to get it back to the setting. I figure it is a bug in OS X. I will wait for the Up date before calibration of color The LG is more yellow than the Samsung is more red. Next to it seems the size difference is only an inch taller and maybe 2 inches wider.

----------

Good question! Looks like a ~10% reduction off the B&H list price.

========
They change price everyday to match the web lowest. Put it in the cart and watch it for a low day.

 

[lisagurl]

Sub Total: $1,154.29
Shipping: $12.76
Sales Tax: $0.00
Total $1,167.05

 

[MacMutsch]

Originally Posted by PeteNYC View Post
Anyway, I figured I'd give it a try and return it if I was disappointed. I have a nMP (late-2013) with dual D500s and mainly use it for event photography editing. I was therefore keen to find a good high-res screen to use as the main screen for my Photoshop & Lightroom workflow. Games are not a factor for me personally. Like many, I spent most of 2014 waiting for an updated TB2 display from Apple and was pretty frustrated when the iMac display effectively leapfrogged the capabilities of a machine I had dropped a lot of cash on. I wish Apple had made it clear at the Mac Pro release that they would not be developing a high res screen. Although disappointed, I feel like it would have avoided a lot of frustration for many of us and allowed us to choose appropriate third party alternatives.

AMEN! AMEN! Still living the frustration.

I’m still using an old 27“ ACD (mainly because of the camera + microphone) and was also interested in the successor oft he TBD – but to be honest, many Mac user having to do with graphics and photos favour displays fom Eizo, Quato or NEC etc. anyway.

In the past years ACD/TBD weren’t non-reflecting, to my knowledge they couldn’t display Adobe RGB, were not intended for serious hardware calibration, they only had one (mDP/TB)connection and you couldn’t even change their height.
And of course – they were or still are, in case oft he TBD, quite expensive.

Yes, I’m still interested to see what kind of nicely designed high-res display Apple will bring us but I’m not frustrated at all as there are already good alternatives.

 

[toomanyipods]

Sub Total: $1,154.29
Shipping: $12.76
Sales Tax: $0.00
Total $1,167.05

Your posts were very helpful. Wasn't aware B&H did that. I ended up waiting, watching the prices, and purchasing from Amazon. (Both prices dropped). The Amazon price was higher, but warranty was three times less expensive than B&H. I realize the monitor comes with (generally) a three year warranty, but for $42 or whatever, it may help if LG's customer service is non-responsive.

GOOD
Default color profile was pleasant. Brightness wasn't blinding.


BETTER
Worked out of the box. Used included cable. 4096x2160 @ 50 Hz. Mac Pro 2013 with Dual AMD FirePro D700. OS X 10.10.2. SST. Not sue what will happen at 60 Hz, may try 10.10.3 beta.
Amazing display, even given it's limitations.

NOT SO GOOD
The screen unevenness is quite noticeable, especially on dark screens. Appears it's a result of the LCD polarizing filter. Can see a color disparity. The screen is large enough that there is no "sweet spot". If you move, part of the screen may improve, but another will get worse. The bottom left corner is particularly bright.
Two dark pixels, side by side. Given the resolution, it looks like a small spec of dust. Difficult to notice. Ran through three screen colors before I saw it. Had to take a photo to see it was two pixels. Will probably just live with it.

VERDICT
GREAT display!! 5K at 31" for me would be ideal. 27" Just doesn't give me enough space to spread out on with some apps, even with a second monitor.

Nice to not have to deal with the MST issues. I like the 4x2 ratio. Works well with expansive apps, as well as being able to put things side by side for comparison. (Financial statements, financial ledger.) Won't need to resize windows repeatedly.

My last two monitors (HP / iMac) started to delaminate. The unevenness isn't that bad. This monitor has several great points above the competition. I'll keep it!

----------

Many have said they prefer the 3k mode in OS X. I can see that. Menu items and tools are still small, but do not take a large part of the real estate like on low-res monitors.

I actually prefer the native 4k mode. Text and elements are smaller, but they are not resampled, so they are a bit sharper (relatively speaking). Native resolution is perhaps a bit smaller than I'd prefer, but still doable.

My reading glasses are a must, though.

 

[rdav]

price reductions /more?

Starting to see some discounts on the 31MU97 - now that it's been out for a few months. It was briefly at $1,138 (plus tax, free shipping) on B& earlier this week. That deal has definitely gone for now (about 18% off the $1,399 list), but I'm sure there will be more reductions out there soon.

 

[darkenergymedia]

these monitors have been a nightmare for me.

i purchased two of them from amazon to use with my nMP (8-core, D700s, 64GB).

i haven't seen any of the resolution problems - perhaps because i was already on 10.10.2, 4096x2160 was available out of the box.

HOWEVER.

these displays have given me nothing but headaches, and it's VERY bizarre.

EVERY SINGLE MORNING i have to do a dance with them. they glitch, flicker, belch out horrible glitchy sounds from the speakers, and eventually either just go black or give me the "entering the power saver mode shortly" message.

i power the machine down, reseat cables, reboot monitors, and the problem persists. glitching, flickering, burping... as you might imagine, it becomes rather infuriating pretty quickly.

NOW... that said... after about an hour and a half of this every morning (and increasingly randomly throughout the day) they'll work. they'll be stable, the image is beautiful, i can get work done, and i'm happy. usually for the better part of the day.

as i sit here typing this on my macbook pro (as i'm having a particularly rough morning with the LGs today) the right display on my mac pro is glitching, flickering, burping, and cutting on and off. the left one is fine (although it did the same thing for about a half hour today.)

i'm in contact with LG support but in spite of a careful and exhaustive description of the problem (including the fact that i've tried connecting ONLY the monitors to the machine via every possible combination of TB2 buses) i got an inane "are you sure you're using the right ports?" email.

i'm at the end of my rope with these things. when they function, i couldn't be happier. but they don't function enough.

so now 7 days into my purchase i'm stuck deciding if i should give up on these (the ONLY monitors to support true 4k) and suffer the 5 days of downtime waiting for new displays.

disgusted, really. and disappointed.

 

[larrysing1963]

these monitors have been a nightmare for me.

i purchased two of them from amazon to use with my nMP (8-core, D700s, 64GB).

i haven't seen any of the resolution problems - perhaps because i was already on 10.10.2, 4096x2160 was available out of the box.

HOWEVER.

these displays have given me nothing but headaches, and it's VERY bizarre.

EVERY SINGLE MORNING i have to do a dance with them. they glitch, flicker, belch out horrible glitchy sounds from the speakers, and eventually either just go black or give me the "entering the power saver mode shortly" message.

i power the machine down, reseat cables, reboot monitors, and the problem persists. glitching, flickering, burping... as you might imagine, it becomes rather infuriating pretty quickly.

NOW... that said... after about an hour and a half of this every morning (and increasingly randomly throughout the day) they'll work. they'll be stable, the image is beautiful, i can get work done, and i'm happy. usually for the better part of the day.

as i sit here typing this on my macbook pro (as i'm having a particularly rough morning with the LGs today) the right display on my mac pro is glitching, flickering, burping, and cutting on and off. the left one is fine (although it did the same thing for about a half hour today.)

i'm in contact with LG support but in spite of a careful and exhaustive description of the problem (including the fact that i've tried connecting ONLY the monitors to the machine via every possible combination of TB2 buses) i got an inane "are you sure you're using the right ports?" email.

i'm at the end of my rope with these things. when they function, i couldn't be happier. but they don't function enough.

so now 7 days into my purchase i'm stuck deciding if i should give up on these (the ONLY monitors to support true 4k) and suffer the 5 days of downtime waiting for new displays.

disgusted, really. and disappointed.

After reading that story, I think they should be returned. Life is too short to deal with that crap.

 

[darkenergymedia]

After reading that story, I think they should be returned. Life is too short to deal with that crap.

i agree with you. here is the official reply from the LG rep... apparently TB2 ports are not supported with the 31MU97...:

"

------Reply to Your Inquiry-------


Hi Chris,

Good day again!

I understand the frustration and please accept our apology for the inconvenience that you are experiencing right now with those 2 monitors.

I’ve checked everything here on the system and on the technical specification; it doesn’t show that it supports Thunderbolt connection. This might be the reason why it is giving us that problem. Because Thunderbolt has a high frequency data transfer rate and the ports on the monitors can’t handle it. This is the reason why LG decided to create monitors that has Thunderbolt ports. Examples would be the latest monitor model which is curved, 34UC97-S and 34UM97-P, the flat version.

By the way, have you already tried using the other ports on your Mac Pro computer aside from the Thunderbolt connections?

If you already tried other ports on your Mac Pro aside from Thunderbolt ports and still giving you the same problem, then there might be problem with the ports of the monitor itself.

If the monitors need service, we can process it so that a technician will personally visit your monitors and see if it needs repair. "

 

[darkenergymedia]

...i should mention that while going back and forth with the LG guy on email, both displays eventually "settled" and are now both working brilliantly. for now.

so clearly this guy is talking out of his ass.

the end result is that SOMETHING is wrong here... LG doesn't seem keen to admit anything - for what it's worth i replied to the above service email with something to the effect of:

"so LG's official stance is that TB2 is not supported? this is useful information because a lot of people are discussing these monitors with the new mac pro, so i'll be sure to spread that information!"

so we'll see.

these were my first LG purchase, and it's looking like they're my last.

 

[SaxPlayer]

...i should mention that while going back and forth with the LG guy on email, both displays eventually "settled" and are now both working brilliantly. for now.

so clearly this guy is talking out of his ass.

the end result is that SOMETHING is wrong here... LG doesn't seem keen to admit anything - for what it's worth i replied to the above service email with something to the effect of:

"so LG's official stance is that TB2 is not supported? this is useful information because a lot of people are discussing these monitors with the new mac pro, so i'll be sure to spread that information!"

so we'll see.

these were my first LG purchase, and it's looking like they're my last.

Yikes! I was about to pull the trigger on one of these babies. Not so sure now...

Please continue to post your experiences as I'm sure I'm not the only person who will watch progress with your issues with keen interest. I do hope you get everything sorted out. For your sanity if nothing else?!

 

[rdav]

LG: Monitor Specifications - nMP(6) /Yes.

"so LG's official stance is that TB2 is not supported? this is useful information because a lot of people are discussing these monitors with the new mac pro, so i'll be sure to spread that information!"

When it was originally announced and released, the specifications were clear on Mac/Tb2 (yes). Some of this has been changed by LG (from TB to DP) recently. But, as of today, they are still promoting compatibility. Eg. [ http://www.lg.com/au/it-monitors/lg-31MU97/technical-specifications ].

Quote: "If you have a Mac, you can connect the 31MU97 via MiniDP to DP cable. Also, the configured USB Up and three USB 3.0 ports allow you to directly connect a tablet and external HD." One of many examples -

Image from the LG website.

 

[darkenergymedia]

i will certainly keep the thread updated as i hear more (if i hear more).

after indicating i planned to let people know he was telling me TB2 isn't supported, the correspondence has vanished. i plan to open a new support ticket as well as call LG later this afternoon.

as of this moment, both displays are working beautifully. if this was the case all the time, these would probably be the best monitors i've ever owned.

that's why this is so damn frustrating.

c

 

[SaxPlayer]

i will certainly keep the thread updated as i hear more (if i hear more).

after indicating i planned to let people know he was telling me TB2 isn't supported, the correspondence has vanished. i plan to open a new support ticket as well as call LG later this afternoon.

as of this moment, both displays are working beautifully. if this was the case all the time, these would probably be the best monitors i've ever owned.

that's why this is so damn frustrating.

c

Thanks very much for saying you'll keep us updated. Much appreciated.

As there are clearly driver improvements coming in 10.10.3 (if the experiences of those running the beta is anything to go by) it'll be interesting to see if it helps you - if you've still got the displays by the time it ships officially, that is! (Unless you're willing to give the beta a go yourself?)

 

[darkenergymedia]

Thanks very much for saying you'll keep us updated. Much appreciated.

As there are clearly driver improvements coming in 10.10.3 (if the experiences of those running the beta is anything to go by) it'll be interesting to see if it helps you - if you've still got the displays by the time it ships officially, that is! (Unless you're willing to give the beta a go yourself?)

i'm thinking about it - not sure when 10.10.3 is meant to be out officially, but i'd hate to send these back and have that fix the problem. unfortunately this is my mission-critical machine so im' a bit nervous about putting the beta on here... as of right now the 31MUs are behaving themselves which makes me even less inclined to rock the boat.

LG still silent since the last communication...

 

[Darby67]

i will certainly keep the thread updated as i hear more (if i hear more).

after indicating i planned to let people know he was telling me TB2 isn't supported, the correspondence has vanished. i plan to open a new support ticket as well as call LG later this afternoon.

as of this moment, both displays are working beautifully. if this was the case all the time, these would probably be the best monitors i've ever owned.

that's why this is so damn frustrating.

c

I have a similar system as yours, but with only 1 of the LG31MU97s (since mid-December 2014) and an Apple Thunderbolt monitor. I've been thouroughly pleased with mine and with the 10.10.3 beta in native resolution and frequency. Really the only thing I don't like about it is the lack of software support of the monitor such as adjusting the brightness and volume that I have with the Apple monitor. I agree with the other post that if they are causing that kind of headache it would be horribly frustrating and if you are within the return window, return them.

The only strange complaint I have is occasionally with the Thunderbolt monitor behaving strangely after reboot from Boot Camp: completely garbled screen that I can only fix by unplugging the monitor and replugging it in. The LG has really been flawless for me and met my expectations.

My guess is that the tech doesn't understand the TB2 protocol. The artifact on the spec page that Thunderbolt is interesting, quite honestly I never noticed it and it wasn't a key point to my purchase either. All TB is in a nutshell is PCIe and DisplayPort protocols rolled up into one cable with a Mini DisplayPort style connection. So it may not act as a hub/repeater, but as long as it the version of DP is supported I don't understand where the issue would be. I'm not an electrical engineer, so I may be missing something as well...

 

[darkenergymedia]

so i received another reply from my support person, who was quite defensive and annoyed that i mentioned that i would spread the lack of TB2 compatilibilty - indeed he now says he "never said they were incompatible" which is technically true, but you guys can read the implication in his original email as well as i can, so side with who you will...

he now wants to send a technician out to my house to look at the monitors, which i'm willing to do if it helps the greater good, but i find it hard to believe that whoever they send out is going to do any good at all.

i'm presently downloading the 10.10.3 beta, because while it might make my primary system unstable, having monitors that don't work is equally unstable...

will post more when i hear more!

cheers,
chris

 

[SaxPlayer]

so i received another reply from my support person, who was quite defensive and annoyed that i mentioned that i would spread the lack of TB2 compatilibilty - indeed he now says he "never said they were incompatible" which is technically true, but you guys can read the implication in his original email as well as i can, so side with who you will...

he now wants to send a technician out to my house to look at the monitors, which i'm willing to do if it helps the greater good, but i find it hard to believe that whoever they send out is going to do any good at all.

i'm presently downloading the 10.10.3 beta, because while it might make my primary system unstable, having monitors that don't work is equally unstable...

will post more when i hear more!

cheers,
chris

Completely agree with all you've said. I wish you well with 10.10.3. It's a few betas down the line so must be getting pretty stable now and likely not far from a final release. Will be really interesting to see if it makes any difference! As you say, you haven't got much to lose so why not...?

 

[rdav]

TB2/DP - Application.

The 34" wide-screen LG-34UC87 monitor was released at about the same time as the 31"/4k LG-31MU97. And the 34UC87 has two genuine TB2 ports. One nMP(6) can run six of the 34UC87 monitors at full spec. But these are not Hi-Rez screens (3440x1440).
http://www.lg.com/us/commercial/21-9-ultrawide-monitors/lg-34UC87M-B

However, the bandwidth required to drive a single 4k/31MU97 monitor is about 80% more, and it approaches the practical limits of the TB2 standard (& cables etc). Not much head-room there for any other connected devices. So the difference between TB2/DP may be of limited relevance. - At least until TB3 eventually shows up.

 

[oldhifi]

Lg 34uc97-s

I just bought the LG34UC97-S and I really like it, but two issues:

1. audio is terrible, sounds like a old radio
2. display flickers when startup from sleep mode, I have to reboot my Mac Mini.

But the screen is beautiful..picture is perfect..

 

[theluggage]

so clearly this guy is talking out of his ass.

What he's saying about 'not being compatible with Thunderbolt 2' is certainly rectal dialogue. If you plug a DisplayPort or MiniDisplayPort cable into a Thunderbolt port, the port switches to 'legacy' DisplayPort mode and only sends DisplayPort signals. It will only send out fancy-schmancy "high frequency" Thunderbolt signals if you plug in a Thunderbolt cable (which has a 'cable controller chip' built into the connectors at each end).

Presumably you're not using a Thunderbolt cable...