LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread

[gadgetfreak98]

Is this monitor usable with Razer eGPU solution and latest Mac OS?

I see there are a lot of threads where people say that this monitor works only with Blackmagic eGPU, but all threads are pretty old.

Would this cable solve it? https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-USB-DisplayPort-Adapter-Resolutions/dp/B01EXKDRAC

I'm using the Razer eGPU with the RX580 Sapphire Pulse connected to my Mac Mini 2018.

Thanks

EDIT: I see the cable is only rated for 4K. Anything else like this out there to look at? What about this? Claims 8K: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...e+mode+5k&qid=1565619426&s=electronics&sr=1-3

 

[busybay]

So I just got the updated model (27MD5KL), and my 2016 MacBook Pro Escape identifies it as a 4k display.
I did some troubleshooting, and the older model (27MD5KA) works fine on my MacBook and is correctly identified as 5k.
And when I plug the newer monitor model into a newer MacBook (2018), it correctly identifies as 5k.
So I guess there's some compatibility issue here, unfortunately :/

LG apparently isn't aware of the issue since it explicitly says my MacBook model is supported. Oh well.

 

[shansoft]

So I just got the updated model (27MD5KL), and my 2016 MacBook Pro Escape identifies it as a 4k display.
I did some troubleshooting, and the older model (27MD5KA) works fine on my MacBook and is correctly identified as 5k.
And when I plug the newer monitor model into a newer MacBook (2018), it correctly identifies as 5k.
So I guess there's some compatibility issue here, unfortunately :/

LG apparently isn't aware of the issue since it explicitly says my MacBook model is supported. Oh well.

Is your 2018 Vega 20? Potentially the monitor is routing DP1.2 to the monitor instead of 2xDP1.2 through TB3, and 2018 model might just pull the DP1.4

 

[jimthing]

So I just got the updated model (27MD5KL), and my 2016 MacBook Pro Escape identifies it as a 4k display.
I did some troubleshooting, and the older model (27MD5KA) works fine on my MacBook and is correctly identified as 5k.
And when I plug the newer monitor model into a newer MacBook (2018), it correctly identifies as 5k.
So I guess there's some compatibility issue here, unfortunately :/

LG apparently isn't aware of the issue since it explicitly says my MacBook model is supported. Oh well.

Have you tried a different cable (or just swapping the A and L models' cables)? One of the first things to test.

 

[busybay]

Is your 2018 Vega 20? Potentially the monitor is routing DP1.2 to the monitor instead of 2xDP1.2 through TB3, and 2018 model might just pull the DP1.4

No, it's a 13 inch model

Have you tried a different cable (or just swapping the A and L models' cables)? One of the first things to test.

I tried the cable from the older model, with the newer model display, and instead got a max resolution of 2560x1440. So strange!!!

 

[cambookpro]

Does anyone have experience with the LG 5K, a touchbar 2016 13" MBP and the Blackmagic eGPU (Radeon Pro 580)?

I bought one to use as my laptop alone was struggling to cope with driving the monitor alone. However it still can't play 4K YouTube without dropping frames every few seconds. Is this a CPU problem? I plugged in a family member's 2018 13" (quad-core) and it seemed to work fine, so wondering if it's a software thing my side or if my CPU is just a bit slow.

It's not a massive deal, would just like to know. The eGPU definitely seems to have helped the general UI to feel a bit slicker.

 

[ducknalddon]

I've just upgraded my Dell P2415Q to the new model. So far I'm very happy with it, it's brighter, has crisper blacks, slightly higher DPI I think. The Dell had problems waking from sleep or even being recognised at all, sometimes it would take ten minutes for me to power the thing on in the mornings. All that has gone away.

The speakers probably aren't quite as good as the Dell sound bar, certainly not as good as the 27" iMac either.

I'm using it with a 2018 MacMini.

 

[Brookzy]

Does the updated model support automatic ambient brightness adjustment at last?

 

[Soliah]

Has anyone tried using the 5K with windows laptops with Thunderbolt 3? My partner is looking to get a Dell XPS 13 9380 and it'd be great if we could share the monitor.

I haven't been able to find anything definitive confirming it works (I've sen reports you have to use this https://github.com/Willian-Zhang/LG-Ultrafine-Brightness-2 to adjust brightness).

 

[EugW]

Has anyone used the new 2019 model with the 3rd gen iPad Pro (at 2160p60)? If so, do you get USB 3 speeds as well?

Also, has anyone used this with the 12" MacBook? If so, do you get 2160p30 or 2160p60, and do you get USB 2 or USB 3 speeds?

 

[kkorinek]

Has anyone tried using the 5K with windows laptops with Thunderbolt 3? My partner is looking to get a Dell XPS 13 9380 and it'd be great if we could share the monitor.

I haven't been able to find anything definitive confirming it works (I've sen reports you have to use this https://github.com/Willian-Zhang/LG-Ultrafine-Brightness-2 to adjust brightness).

I have the older version (27MD5KA) but can confirm the monitor does work with a Lenovo T480s with a couple notable items, but the output is only 4K and NOT 5K (this was also true of the other Lenovo laptop it was compatible with in my testing, but unfortunately the model number eludes me). It does charge the laptop and the USB-C hub does work as well. I did not work with adjusting the brightness, so cannot be of much help there.

Hope that helps!

 

[cambookpro]

Does the updated model support automatic ambient brightness adjustment at last?

Are you referring to the automatically adjust brightness setting? If so, yes, it's there!

 

[Brookzy]

Are you referring to the automatically adjust brightness setting? If so, yes, it's there!

FINALLY. Because that’s always been a touted feature yet never actually work AFAIK.

I wonder if the brightness is calibrated the same as an iMac in that they both dim/brighten to the same level in the same conditions.

 

[shansoft]

FINALLY. Because that’s always been a touted feature yet never actually work AFAIK.

I wonder if the brightness is calibrated the same as an iMac in that they both dim/brighten to the same level in the same conditions.

Didn't they promise this feature but NEVER delivered?

This does not seem fair for the first gen owners.

 

[Macdude2010]

Has anyone experienced this problem on the new generation of UltraFine Displays? I have seen 2 with this issue so far.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-5k-issues-bugs.2024679/page-2#post-24154319

 

[jimthing]

Didn't they promise this feature but NEVER delivered?

This does not seem fair for the first gen owners.

AFAIR without checking, the Auto Brightness setting wasn't enabled until you got to 2018 Macs, which from then on did work. So yes, annoying for 2016/2017 Mac owners. You would have thought that if you had a MBP (with the adjustment enabled) that a connected second screen LG 5K gen.1 would just be able to copy the MBP’s brightness, but alas no.

But this is nothing new in Apple-land, as they often did things in the past, e.g. AFAIR the 2009 & 2010 MBP's only had picture output (with no audio) from mDP ports, then later models did audio as well, especially as the vanilla mDP port was changed to to a Thunderbolt 1 port obviously using the same connector.

It's a bit of a pain, but whaddayagonnado...?
[doublepost=1566230917][/doublepost]

Has anyone experienced this problem on the new generation of UltraFine Displays? I have seen 2 with this issue so far.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-5k-issues-bugs.2024679/page-2#post-24154319

No I have two gen.1's and never seen it.

I have seen 2 with this issue so far.

Where did you see them exactly?

 

[Macdude2010]

AFAIR without checking, the Auto Brightness setting wasn't enabled until you got to 2018 Macs, which from then on did work. So yes, annoying for 2016/2017 Mac owners. You would have thought that if you had a MBP (with the adjustment enabled) that a connected second screen LG 5K gen.1 would just be able to copy the MBP’s brightness, but alas no.

But this is nothing new in Apple-land, as they often did things in the past, e.g. AFAIR the 2009 & 2010 MBP's only had picture output (with no audio) from mDP ports, then later models did audio as well, especially as the vanilla mDP port was changed to to a Thunderbolt 1 port using obviously using the same connector.

It's a bit of a pain, but whaddayagonnado...?
[doublepost=1566230917][/doublepost]
No I have two gen.1's and never seen it.

Where did you see them exactly?

It seems to be a lot more prevalent in the Gen 2's, I had 2 on my desk with this issue but I ended up returning them.

 

[shansoft]

AFAIR without checking, the Auto Brightness setting wasn't enabled until you got to 2018 Macs, which from then on did work. So yes, annoying for 2016/2017 Mac owners. You would have thought that if you had a MBP (with the adjustment enabled) that a connected second screen LG 5K gen.1 would just be able to copy the MBP’s brightness, but alas no.

But this is nothing new in Apple-land, as they often did things in the past, e.g. AFAIR the 2009 & 2010 MBP's only had picture output (with no audio) from mDP ports, then later models did audio as well, especially as the vanilla mDP port was changed to to a Thunderbolt 1 port using obviously using the same connector.

It's a bit of a pain, but whaddayagonnado...?

That is True tone option, not the auto brightness. Auto brightness is not available for gen 1 at all.
And that also only works when it's not in clamshell mode.

 

[jimthing]

That is True tone option, not the auto brightness. Auto brightness is not available for gen 1 at all.
And that also only works when it's not in clamshell mode.

Ah OK, that may be right – I knew it was something that happened around then to do with picture display. ;-)

Then that's strange how gen.2 seemingly does Auto Brightness (but does it work on older 2016 onwards machines, or just newer models?), while gen.1 seemingly doesn't to AB at all on machines of any age...?

 

[mikaella]

I Have had the vertical lines waves issue with my New 2019 Ultrafine 5K. I have exchanged 3 and all of them had a similar problem to a more or lesser degree. Even the one at an Apple Store had it!

Is this an issue with ALL these displays or was I terribly unlucky? I was thinking this is occurring only on the 2019 Update: 27MD5KL - but the message below points to a post from 2017.

What gives?

Created a YT Video to better illustrate this:

Has anyone experienced this problem on the new generation of UltraFine Displays? I have seen 2 with this issue so far.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-5k-issues-bugs.2024679/page-2#post-24154319

 

[jimthing]

I Have had the vertical lines waves issue with my New 2019 Ultrafine 5K. I have exchanged 3 and all of them had a similar problem to a more or lesser degree. Even the one at an Apple Store had it!

Is this an issue with ALL these displays or was I terribly unlucky? I was thinking this is occurring only on the 2019 Update: 27MD5KL - but the message below points to a post from 2017.

What gives?

Created a YT Video to better illustrate this:

(There's no need to hit both threads with exactly the same posting. Just link across from one to the other instead:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/27661459 )

 

[mikaella]

(There's no need to hit both threads with exactly the same posting. Just link across from one to the other instead:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/27661459 )

True, however it's not a duplicate message. It's also a bug / issue report as described with more info in the other thread inviting to a discussion on the subject not necessarily from owners as this might be a more general panel thing:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lg-ultrafine-5k-issues-bugs.2024679/page-37#post-27661459

And also posted to this thread as I'd like to know if other users have experienced anything similar. It's one of those issues some don't always notice immediately, just like a dead pixel and when you're pointed to it, you cannot unsee it.

Having said that, in case you're an Ultrafine 5K owner, what's your experience?

Thanks!

 

[Hessel89]

How's the wake up from sleep time on the new LG Ultrafine (27MD5KL-B)? Is it improved? My old 27MD5KA-B takes about 5 to 7 seconds to wake up..

 

[Soliah]

I have the older version (27MD5KA) but can confirm the monitor does work with a Lenovo T480s with a couple notable items, but the output is only 4K and NOT 5K (this was also true of the other Lenovo laptop it was compatible with in my testing, but unfortunately the model number eludes me). It does charge the laptop and the USB-C hub does work as well. I did not work with adjusting the brightness, so cannot be of much help there.

So I bit the bullet and got a Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 for the wife which has 4 lanes of PCI-e on each Thunderbolt 3 port.

Arrived last night and it works perfectly with the same older 27MD5KA that you have at full 5K so I’m super happy.

Brightness adjustment and webcam aren’t working but the speakers do. Have yet try third party utilities to adjust brightness.

 

[shansoft]

So I bit the bullet and got a Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 for the wife which has 4 lanes of PCI-e on each Thunderbolt 3 port.

Arrived last night and it works perfectly with the same older 27MD5KA that you have at full 5K so I’m super happy.

Brightness adjustment and webcam aren’t working but the speakers do. Have yet try third party utilities to adjust brightness.

View attachment 857766

Webcam should work out of box, at least it did for me on my desktop.

The brightness control is the only one need another program to adjust.