So LG is releasing a new 21:9 4K display (3840 x 1600) that is a whopping 38" big.
http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-38UC99-W-ultrawide-monitor
I read a lot of great things about this display....I'm not a gamer, I'm a photographer and do a good amount of video editing and the display is said to have color of sRGB at over 99%. I have been torn for a while if I should grab one of these large 21:9 displays or get a 27" Dell 5K. I was going to get the 5K from Dell because the 21:9 displays were not even 4K until just as of recent. And now that the price of that display is far less than half from when it was first released...seamed like the way to go. And as a photographer/retoucher...I'm not so crazy about the curved display. Other guys in my line of work said it's something that I can more or less get used to. I still have about 2 weeks to decide if I should stick with this monster display, or spend a few hundred less and get the much smaller 27" 5K Dell...now that would have to run with both Thunderbolt ports....and Apple has said it is supported. This LG is brand new and even though I have seen images of it running on OSX...I had to be sure. Both Apple and LG said it would work....but I did get some confusing and conflicting info from both. I think I have it all sorted out though.
Now, I ran into some trouble trying to find out if this display could work with my new Macbook Pro. And after doing a ton of research and speaking to both Apple and LG...it looks like it can in fact work. However, there is not a Thunderbolt 2 connection to the display and I will have to use the HDMI. However, this display is rated to hit 60Hz. The specs of the HDMI on my machine say that refresh rate is 3840x2160 at 30 Hz....or 4096x2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (and no mirroring at that rate). So I can get 4K, but I wouldn't be able to hit that high of a refresh rate. The solution, a DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 Active Adapter that can hit 4K at 60Hz as well as supporting RGB up to 12 bpc, YCbCr 4:4:4.
LG told me that it was VITAL to use a high speed/quality HDMI cable. Just to be safe, I'll probably grab a monster cable that can transmit 27Gps. Apple told me that I can use the Active Adapter that they sell at the Apple Store made by Belkin. WRONG! I read several reviews on the product and not one person who purchased it was able to get 4K/60Hz. This specific question is actually posted on the Apple Store for this product yet it has never been answered (since 2015). I did some digging and found 3 adapters that should work. I read reviews on all of them...and most of them did work for Mac, some were hit or miss on a PC.
So, in order to get this 4K 21:9 display working with my new MacBook Pro (with AMD Radeon R9 M370X card), I need to get one of these Active Adapters and a high quality HDMI cord. I'm not sure if anyone really cares, but I will go ahead and post the 3 units that I found that should work since it took me forever to find all this info. Perhaps there is someone else looking at this display and wondering if it will work with the MacBook Pro. Oh...but before I go on, the display is said to go on sale in about 2 weeks time from now. B&H Photo has them listed for $1499 but they do give you a $200 gift card...and if you live outside of NY, it's tax free and so is shipping....so figure the display runs $1300 at the end of the day with the promo.
The brands of the converters are as follows:
Uptab
Club3D
Accell
After having read scattered reviews, I decided to go with the Uptab model found here...
http://www.uptab.com/minidisplayport-thunderbolt-to-hdmi-4kat60hz-adapter-cable-gold-plated.html
It can be found on eBay and on Amazon as well. The Club3D can also be found on Amazon as well. All three are said to do the same thing, the more current and recent reviews I read that were more specific to the MacBook Pro were from Uptab, so I decided to go with them. If it doesn't work for whatever reason, I will simply return it and try one of the others. The Uptab seems to promote a bit more to Mac users. Some of the reviews I read about the Club3D were not that great....but I also read some improvements have been made to it. I did read that those using the Uptab confirmed 4K @60hz and 4:4:4: .
B&H is taking pre-orders or you can get an alert as soon as they are available. To be honest...I was going to just grab the 5K Dell. There isn't much out there in 5K other than my high resolution digital camera, so I really can't do much with 5K RIGHT NOW...so I hope I am making a right move here with this display. I would love to hear opinions. This thing was just announced the other day. I saw images of the display working in OSX...so I had assumed it should work with my computer...but needed to be sure. If I do end up with this display, I will post back how the Uptab adapter worked and if I was able to get 4K @60Hz via my HDMI. Do you think these 21:9 displays are worth getting over a smaller 27" Dell 5K display? I was going to get the Dell 5K but now that they make a 21:9 in 4K....I'm really tempted. Watching a movie on this thing must be insane!
Hope this info helps someone else...if I missed anything, PLEASE correct me. If you think I'm making a mistake getting this display, PLEASE tell me why. I think having such a long timeline when rendering/editing video in FCP will be awesome. There sure is a lot of real estate on this thing, and in 3840 x 1600....I can't see why not? I may just start playing some games just to see my jaw drop. THANKS!
-Harry
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