It just so happens that I also have a 13" rMBP. No 4096x2160 option appeared when I plugged it in but I was able to set 3048x2160 at 30Hz (no option 60Hz appeared either). The 13" only has Intel Iris graphics, so the 15" with Nvidia might do better.
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LG 31MU97 4k Display
- Thread starter Zorn
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It just so happens that I also have a 13" rMBP. No 4096x2160 option appeared when I plugged it in but I was able to set 3048x2160 at 30Hz (no option 60Hz appeared either). The 13" only has Intel Iris graphics, so the 15" with Nvidia might do better.
After checking a few websites incl. Apple., the nMP SHOULD support 4096x2160, but only at 24 Hz. Since that's a DCI standard the low rate makes sense (Tinsel Town loves their 24). Is it a problem with the new LG and Mac or a driver issue? Everything else I've read says it's an incredible bargain for the buck, and the samples I've seen are stunning. They're pushing it to radiologists too for D-Xray and MRI reading. Those samples really show the right stuff.
After poking around a bit, it seems like the issue with the monitor's EDID not indicating 4096x2160 has to do with the fact that the EDID specification doesn't let you specify a horizontal active pixel area of more than 4095 (or at least not in the place where most drivers including OSX look for the horizontal resolution). That's why the monitor defaults to 3840x2160. So, the technical blame doesn't really belong to LG or Apple, except they didn't work together before the display was released (although I'm feeling LG wasn't exactly on the level in their marketing of this monitor to Mac users). Of more concern is that when I go into Bootcamp and try the to set the 4096x2160 resolution in the AMD Firepro control panel, I can't get 4096x2160@60Hz to work. I'm only able to get 4096x2160@30Hz to work. This makes me wonder if the D500 GPU can ever support 4096x2160@60Hz in OSX at all.
I think you're being generous about LG's marketing. If you're going to call out Mac compatibility in your press release, it's pretty bad if we can't then expect our Macs to drive the thing at native resolution.
I found that out after plugging one into my nMP and wondering if I was doing something dumb. It's a beautiful monitor, though, and I'm hoping a solution to this problem appears soon.
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Yeah, I probably am. I don't fault them that much because even if they hadn't explicitly claimed Mac compatibility, I would have purchased it anyway to see if it worked, but to be clear, it is going back to the store. It's arguably the best 4K monitor available but this limitation is unacceptable.
So I just got mine Saturday from Micro Center, and I notice a huge difference from my 34UM95. On that display I saw green lines in places where there was dark sometimes, and everything looked very pixelated. Switching to this everything looks crystal clear.
One issue I'm having though is that I don't get the 4096x2160 resolution in display settings. Attached screenshot of what options I get. Choosing "Best for display" results in a retina-like res that does not give me very much screen space. Anyone have any ideas?
One issue I'm having though is that I don't get the 4096x2160 resolution in display settings. Attached screenshot of what options I get. Choosing "Best for display" results in a retina-like res that does not give me very much screen space. Anyone have any ideas?
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Not to be rude, but have a look through the thread. Short answer is no -- everyone seems to have the same problem but nobody has yet found a solution.
From this post it looks like at least someone has it running at 4096x2160 at 60hz, was mostly wondering if there's something they did to get it working.
I think he's on a classic Mac Pro or a Hackintosh and has an Nividia card in it with different drivers.
I'm on a cMP as well. I am currently using a GeForce 760 while I wait for my GTX 980 to ship, so I'm hoping I may have more success with that card, but I didn't know if there was something I'm missing.
Having just ordered a nMP I came across this monitor and thought it looked great but having read this thread I'm not so sure, I've contacted LG support here in the UK and in the US and they are both unaware of the problem. Not surprising I guess considering how new the product is.
The UK chap said he would do some digging and get back to me, the US guy was less forthcoming, said it was the graphics cards fault and that I should get Apple/AMD to fix it. Not holding out too much hope on that one!
Hope a fix is found as it would drive me nuts to have the black bars either side but it does look ideal from a colour accuracy point of view and a good price too.
The UK chap said he would do some digging and get back to me, the US guy was less forthcoming, said it was the graphics cards fault and that I should get Apple/AMD to fix it. Not holding out too much hope on that one!
Hope a fix is found as it would drive me nuts to have the black bars either side but it does look ideal from a colour accuracy point of view and a good price too.
Yeah basically on a cMP with 760 GPU I'm getting black bars on both sides, but what I can see looks great. The odd thing is that in the System Info, it identifies the display as a 27-inch 3840x2160 display - although that resolution itself is not actually available in display settings. Seems that there is a disconnect somewhere along the line, and I'm hoping it's a software or firmware fix since it doesn't seem to be anything hardware related.
Right, to recap, this is what's known so far - there appears to limits as to what resolutions a monitor can automatically tell a computer it supports via the EDID. Specifically, a resolution of more than 4095 in either direction. So, higher resolutions need to be set with the graphics card software. For a nMP with OSX, your options are limited unless Apple issues an update to Yosemite. Software like SwitchResX basically works by generating a new EDID, so it's also constrained by this limitation. For graphics cards like you have in your cMP, there's possibly a utility that came with it that allows you to set a custom resolution, and that might work. That's how the other user who got the correct resolution working did it.
For nMP users, there's the other problem that if you go to Bootcamp and Windows, and you use the FirePro utility to create a custom resolution, it appears the best you can get it to configure the D500 GPU for is 4096x2160@30Hz which raises the question of whether 4096x2160@60Hz is possible with the nMP at all.
For nMP users, there's the other problem that if you go to Bootcamp and Windows, and you use the FirePro utility to create a custom resolution, it appears the best you can get it to configure the D500 GPU for is 4096x2160@30Hz which raises the question of whether 4096x2160@60Hz is possible with the nMP at all.
Any idea what was used to do it? Or if the original person could let us know? The only thing I have is the nVidia Web Driver, and the control panel doesn't really have any options. Just whether you want to use the nVidia driver or the Mac OS X driver and that's about it.
Have found this in my searching:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19603621
It appears latest version of Yosemite addresses some of the issues with a Dell monitor, can't be as simple as holding down option to get extra choices surely?
Just a thought!
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19603621
It appears latest version of Yosemite addresses some of the issues with a Dell monitor, can't be as simple as holding down option to get extra choices surely?
Just a thought!
Alas no. I tried that over the weekend. Per the discussion of EDID above, it looks like OS X isn't aware of the monitor's true native resolution.
I will try this when I get home, in case there are different answers for different systems/GPUs. Assuming it doesn't work, has anything like this ever come up before where OS X just wasn't aware of a resolution? What kind of fix would be needed or expected?
Does not work well with new Mac Pro
I just received this new LG 31MU97 for my new Mac Pro with D700 graphic cards and Yosemite OS, and unfortunately the maximum resolution i can put it in is UHD and not true 4K, with black bars on the left and right side.
Also "Best for display" in Mac menu sets the resolution to 1920x1080, so I have to put it in scaled 3840x2160.
It is connected via Display port, and every time i restart the computer the resolution rescales itself to 1920x1080 and the desktop background image resets itself !
On the LG monitor, Display port 1.2 is enabled and screen ratio is set to 1:1
No matter what i do i can't get the full resolution of the display !!
I just received this new LG 31MU97 for my new Mac Pro with D700 graphic cards and Yosemite OS, and unfortunately the maximum resolution i can put it in is UHD and not true 4K, with black bars on the left and right side.
Also "Best for display" in Mac menu sets the resolution to 1920x1080, so I have to put it in scaled 3840x2160.
It is connected via Display port, and every time i restart the computer the resolution rescales itself to 1920x1080 and the desktop background image resets itself !
On the LG monitor, Display port 1.2 is enabled and screen ratio is set to 1:1
No matter what i do i can't get the full resolution of the display !!
So sorry to hear all this news.
Guess I'm lucky running a Hack with a Titan Black and getting full 4k pixel doubled.
Just sensational.
What a blow from LG. How can they really expect legit Mac Pro users to want this if you can't use the full native panel resolution?
Check out all the options I can use with QuickRes on this panel (attached)
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It seems because you're running a Hackintosh, it is working for you.
For the rest of us it is really sad indeed, don't know who is to blame Apple or LG, but LG shouldn't have taunted MAC compability and full 4K support this much. Looks like they rushed it to market without fully testing it...
Let's hope the next Yosemite update addresses it as i don't think LG will issue drivers for us MAC users..
Certainly very disappointing so far for those of us who thought we had finally found the 4k display worth waiting for.
I appreciate the research that has gone into this thread so far, thanks to all. This is the best resource on this particular monitor that I can find on the web.
I appreciate the research that has gone into this thread so far, thanks to all. This is the best resource on this particular monitor that I can find on the web.
I exchanged email with the author of SwitchResX and pointed him to this thread. If he is able to figure out a workaround or if Apple decides to support this monitor in an update to Yosemite, then I will happily go back to Fry's and repurchase this monitor since it really is a remarkable display, but otherwise can't recommend it currently for use with an nMP. Seems like LG might want to sponsor the SwitchResX author to work on it.
From what I can tell the problem lies with the AMD cards in the new nMP they are only set to support a max of 3840px wide at 60hz (on the nMP) on the 5 officially Apple recommended 4K monitors. Other models such as the Samsung and the LG have various issues that occur depending on the OS version and whether you have the 300, 500 or the 700 version.
I guess the fact the LG is SST rather than MST means it won't go to 60hz either even with display port?
How wide are the black bars, I'm guessing about an inch either side?
Maybe when more 17:9 screens come out support will be sorted, until then sadly I might have to plump for the Dell instead :-(
I guess the fact the LG is SST rather than MST means it won't go to 60hz either even with display port?
How wide are the black bars, I'm guessing about an inch either side?
Maybe when more 17:9 screens come out support will be sorted, until then sadly I might have to plump for the Dell instead :-(
When i press on "About this Mac" on the apple logo on the top left of the screen and choose display, is it recognizing it as a 27 inch 3840 x 2140 display and I have the top of the line D700 graphics cards. It is doing 60HZ though i think...