The *COMPLETE* list of 27" 5K Displays?

[i486dx2-66]

To nitpick, PLS is a Samsung-specific variant of IPS...

27MD5KA are Thunderbolt only. They require...

Addendum:
...

Column for PPI would be useful...

You ought to include in your list the refurb Studio Display from Apple for $1,359:
...

I will confirm that the HP screen is matte...

The table in the first post has been updated, thanks everyone for the new data!

 

[i486dx2-66]

OP list should include a column for input ports. That's a pretty important detail.

Good call - I'll add this in the next rev. 👍

 

[Amethyst1]

The early 5K PC displays (HP, Dell, Iiyama, etc.) all required dual DisplayPort inputs because DisplayPort at the time could not drive the monitor at even 60Hz over one cable (each DP input drove half the display, hence the need for two inputs).

DisplayPort 1.2 (HBR2) can do 5K60 at 6bpc RGB.
DisplayPort 1.4 (HBR3) cannot do 5K60 at 10bpc RGB (only 8bpc RGB).
The LG UltraFine 5K requires two discrete DisplayPort 1.2 (HBR2) streams tunneled over Thunderbolt 3 for 5K60 at 10bpc RGB.
The Iiyama XB2779QQS can do 5K60 at 8bpc RGB using DisplayPort 1.4 (HBR3).

As an aside, this is why Apple developed a custom timing controller for the iMac 5K [...]

The iMac 5K panel is tiled (#147).

The table in the first post has been updated, thanks everyone for the new data!

Tidbit: The Iiyama XB2779QQS (and possibly Planar IX2790, but I've only confirmed it on the Iiyama) can do "dual DP" (aka dual-link SST) for 5K60. It has a Picture-by-Picture mode (#706). This will not result in a "combined" desktop on macOS since the EDIDs don't contain tile information and there's no .mtdd overlay for the display.

 

[upthetoffees]

Thunderbolt 3/4 lacks the bandwidth to truly support 5K resolutions with deeper color depths at higher than 60Hz refresh (even with DSC, it can only do so at lower color depths).

The early 5K PC displays (HP, Dell, Iiyama, etc.) all required dual DisplayPort inputs because DisplayPort at the time could not drive the monitor at even 60Hz over one cable (each DP input drove half the display, hence the need for two inputs). This made them somewhat of a hassle for PC owners and market acceptance remained very low so the OEMs eventually stopped selling them. As an aside, this is why Apple developed a custom timing controller for the iMac 5K and this killed Target Display Mode (since, again, you could not drive the iMac 5K display at 5K over a single TB input cable).

Since LG's 5K panel was used with and for Macs, LG had no incentive to make it more than 60Hz. The new BoE 5K panel that is believed to be used in the Samsung S9 will likely also be a 60Hz panel since it offers Thunderbolt connectivity, as well, but it does also have DisplayPort inputs, so it might offer higher refresh rates via DP. We will have to see the specs when they finally get around to shipping it.

Thanks a lot, very interesting post!

 

[antibolo]

The LG UltraFine 5K requires two discrete DisplayPort 1.2 (HBR2) streams tunneled over Thunderbolt 3 for 5K60 at 10bpc RGB.

That's not true, otherwise it wouldn't be compatible with Apple Silicon laptops with only one external display stream available, such as the M1 MBA I'm using mine with.

 

[developeren]

That's not true, otherwise it wouldn't be compatible with Apple Silicon laptops with only one external display stream available, such as the M1 MBA I'm using mine with.

It is true. For some (obvious) reason, M1s accept dual display stream when they are for 5K.

 

[joevt]

That's not true, otherwise it wouldn't be compatible with Apple Silicon laptops with only one external display stream available, such as the M1 MBA I'm using mine with.

M1 is weird. While it can't support two separate displays from Thunderbolt, it does support a dual tiled display with two separate DisplayPort outputs from a Thunderbolt port.

The M1 Mac mini has 3 DisplayPort outputs. One for HDMI, one for Thunderbolt, and a third one for Thunderbolt that can only be used by a dual tiled display.

The MacBook Pro M1 Max has 8 DisplayPort outputs but can support only 4 external displays. Someone connected 3 LG UltraFine 5K to it.
1) built in display
2) hdmi
3,4) 2 for Thunderbolt port 1
5,6) 2 for Thunderbolt port 2
7,8) 2 for Thunderbolt port 3

Only on Intel Macs and PCs does the LG UltraFine 5K count as two displays.

Thunderbolt 3/4 lacks the bandwidth to truly support 5K resolutions with deeper color depths at higher than 60Hz refresh (even with DSC, it can only do so at lower color depths).

Thunderbolt 3/4 supports 5K60 10bpc RGB with dual tiles. You don't need deeper than that.
DSC can do 8K60 at 10bpc. It compresses 12bpc to 12bpp.

The early 5K PC displays (HP, Dell, Iiyama, etc.) all required dual DisplayPort inputs because DisplayPort at the time could not drive the monitor at even 60Hz over one cable (each DP input drove half the display, hence the need for two inputs).

I think the Iiyama used HBR3 for 5K60 8bpc RGB.
5K60 6bpc can be done with HBR2 but Macs don't support 6bpc. For Windows, I think you need a AMD or Nvidia GPU to choose 6bpc but 6bpc has banding.

This made them somewhat of a hassle for PC owners and market acceptance remained very low so the OEMs eventually stopped selling them.

I don't think connecting two DisplayPort cables is much of a hassle. You need a GPU with two DisplayPort outputs and a driver that support dual tiled displays.

As an aside, this is why Apple developed a custom timing controller for the iMac 5K and this killed Target Display Mode (since, again, you could not drive the iMac 5K display at 5K over a single TB input cable).

I don't know how special the custom timing controller is. The iMac 5K display appears as a dual tiled display just like most of the other 5K displays. Target Display Mode for 5K60 could have been possible if there was a Thunderbolt 3 host controller that had two DisplayPort Out Adapters (see DisplayPort In/Out Adapters in the USB4 spec). Thunderbolt host controllers don't usually have DisplayPort Out Adapters except the Thunderbolt 1 host controller used in the 27 inch iMacs that supported Thunderbolt Target Display Mode. A Thunderbolt path is created from a source Mac's DisplayPort In Adapter to the Target iMac's DisplayPort Out Adapter for the tunnelled DisplayPort. I suppose a solution would be to add a second Thunderbolt 3 controller inside the iMac 5K as a peripheral Thunderbolt controller. The peripheral Thunderbolt controller has two DisplayPort Out Adapters that could be switched to the iMac 5K's internal display. The tunnelled DisplayPort path would be more complicated - it would have to go through the host controller to the peripheral controller. I don't know if such a path is possible - if it were, then any Mac could do Thunderbolt Target Display Mode. Only one Thunderbolt port from the host controller could be exposed since the second Thunderbolt port would be used for the peripheral controller. You can expose the two Thunderbolt ports of the peripheral controller so the iMac would have 3 ports instead of 2 but displays connected to those two Thunderbolt ports cannot be used during Thunderbolt Target Display Mode since they would use up DisplayPort Out Adapters (or those displays could be used instead of the iMac's display for Thunderbolt Target Display Mode).

Since LG's 5K panel was used with and for Macs, LG had no incentive to make it more than 60Hz.

70Hz 10bpc RGB is possible with dual HBR2. Maybe the issue was the complication of having dual tiles with multiple refresh rates since you would want to support both 60 and 70Hz. Apple didn't have that ability until the Apple Pro Display XDR.

 

[motrek]

I remember seeing a press release in a remote corner of the internet saying that a major Chinese panel manufacturer was going to start producing 27" 5120x2880 panels early this year. I wonder whatever happened with that.

Meanwhile, if somebody has $530 and is feeling brave, here's a Hopestar monitor on Alibaba:

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

 

[antibolo]

Thank you for the very detailed technical info joevt, much appreciated.

 

[CWallace]

I remember seeing a press release in a remote corner of the internet saying that a major Chinese panel manufacturer was going to start producing 27" 5120x2880 panels early this year. I wonder whatever happened with that.

This is BoE and they are believed to be the source for the panels Samsung will be using for the Viewfinity S9. They also are making an 8K and 6K panel, as well: https://tftcentral.co.uk/news/boe-latest-panel-development-plans-july-2022

 

[i486dx2-66]

But every once in a while, a post comes along, or you find an obscure reference... "but what about the 5K Iiyama?" What Iiyama? Oh... and you learn about a discontinued display, previously unknown to yourself.

Meanwhile, if somebody has $530 and is feeling brave, here's a Hopestar monitor on Alibaba:

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

And there it is. Thanks @motrek, for single-handedly justifying the reason I created this thread. 😁

 

[i486dx2-66]

Meanwhile, if somebody has $530 and is feeling brave, here's a Hopestar monitor on Alibaba:

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

Being serious though, this is a fascinating development.

It is the cheapest 27" 5K monitor, ever, by a significant margin.
They list the panel used (LM270QQ2-SPA1) and a whole bunch of other specs.

Brightness is on the low side (310 cd/m2), but otherwise the specs looks good? The input port types (2x HDMI 2.0, 2x DP) and the connector sequence (power, HDMI, HDMI, DP, DP, Headphone) matches that of the R9A18 circuit board, of which there is tons of stock (based on Aliexpress listings)... So I almost wonder if this is a pre-made equivalent of what folks have been doing with 5K iMac conversions?

DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

My "latest Macs" are a heavily upgraded 2009 Mac Pro (6c CPU, M.2 SSD, USB 3, RX580...) and more recently a 12c 2013 Mac Pro with an eGPU (Vega 56) - both machines with more than enough CPU power, GPU power and RAM for my needs, but I long aspired to upgrade to a nice 5k monitor to replace my...

forums.macrumors.com

If so, this is an amazing development, as the whole monitor is literally the same cost as the bare panel and circuitry - and that doesn't account for the housing, packaging, etc. It's also a believable product, as those parts are essentially off-the-shelf. And the seller has a long history and a good reputation on Aliexpress.

This will be one to keep an eye on!

 

[developeren]

Being serious though, this is a fascinating development.

It is the cheapest 27" 5K monitor, ever, by a significant margin.
They list the panel used (LM270QQ2-SPA1) and a whole bunch of other specs.

Brightness is on the low side (310 cd/m2), but otherwise the specs looks good? The input port types (2x HDMI 2.0, 2x DP) and the connector sequence (power, HDMI, HDMI, DP, DP, Headphone) matches that of the R9A18 circuit board, of which there is tons of stock (based on Aliexpress listings)... So I almost wonder if this is a pre-made equivalent of what folks have been doing with 5K iMac conversions?

DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

My "latest Macs" are a heavily upgraded 2009 Mac Pro (6c CPU, M.2 SSD, USB 3, RX580...) and more recently a 12c 2013 Mac Pro with an eGPU (Vega 56) - both machines with more than enough CPU power, GPU power and RAM for my needs, but I long aspired to upgrade to a nice 5k monitor to replace my...

forums.macrumors.com

If so, this is an amazing development, as the whole monitor is literally the same cost as the bare panel and circuitry - and that doesn't account for the housing, packaging, etc. It's also a believable product, as those parts are essentially off-the-shelf. And the seller has a long history and a good reputation on Aliexpress.

This will be one to keep an eye on!

There are a lot of 5K monitor models on Alibaba as well, it’s just that you can’t buy only one, most of them has minimum 10 piece order limit

 

[AppleTO]

Here is another one, but it's very expensive:

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.us

 

[i486dx2-66]

Here is another one, but it's very expensive:

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.us

"Series: For Gaming"
🤣 🤣

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll add these two new ones to the spreadsheet in a little bit.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

There are not many and nothing touches Apple and the precious LG “Apple”. I’m still on LG 27” and it’s fantastic.

 

[i486dx2-66]

OP list should include a column for input ports. That's a pretty important detail.

Added! I've left the LG sections blank for now due to the long list of model numbers - If something changed between them, I don't want to get it wrong. If anyone knows the general capabilities across these models, please let me know and I'll update the table.

The Iiyama XB2779QQS (and possibly Planar IX2790, but I've only confirmed it on the Iiyama) can do "dual DP" (aka dual-link SST) for 5K60. It has a Picture-by-Picture mode (#706). This will not result in a "combined" desktop on macOS since the EDIDs don't contain tile information and there's no .mtdd overlay for the display.

Added!

Meanwhile, if somebody has $530 and is feeling brave, here's a Hopestar monitor on Alibaba:

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

Wholesale Monitor 27 Inch 2k 4k 165hz Gaming Monitor Pc Computer Screen 2560*1440 120%srgb 1ms Gaming Pc Monitor - Buy 27 Inch Gaming Monitor,27 Inch Monitor 4k 2k 165hz Gaming Monitor,5k Monitor 27 Inch Product on Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

Added!

Here is another one, but it's very expensive:

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.us

Added!


Since input ports are now in the table, I also added a column to indicate whether the display supports USB-C PD, and if so, how much power it provides. I made a few other minor corrections while I was at it (Kuycon panel type, brightness, and enclosure types, iMac display availability).

 

[i486dx2-66]

There are a lot of 5K monitor models on Alibaba as well, it’s just that you can’t buy only one, most of them has minimum 10 piece order limit

If you see any others that look to be different, please let us know! 👍

 

[joevt]

Maybe the first post could be changed to a wiki and the table format could be converted to a forum table like at #1

 

[i486dx2-66]

Let me run a test real quick...

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h	i	j	k	l

 

[i486dx2-66]

Ok, that worked! So the reason I didn't initially make the first post as a table, was because the forum had a 10-column limit, and the table was wider than that. It looks like if you edit the BBCode directly, it will allow >10 columns.

The first post is already a Wiki (A moderator must have changed it on our behalf?) - So I'll copy/paste the spreadsheet data into a forum table when I have a bit of time, and anyone can update it after that. 👍

 

[i486dx2-66]

So I'll copy/paste the spreadsheet data into a forum table when I have a bit of time,

I found a website that converts Excel data directly to forum BBCode, so that was easier than expected!

Convert Excel to BBCode Table Online - Table Convert Online

Effortlessly convert Excel (or other spreadsheets) to BBCode Table. Utilize the Table Editor to create and modify BBCode Table online.

tableconvert.com

Let me know if you see any issues with the format, otherwise, feel free to make direct edits from here on! 👍

 

[joevt]

I forget, is there a way to make MacRumors use the full width of the browser window without using AdBlocker? On one of my Macs I have full width but not on the rest of them.

 

[cinedog]

Thanks @i486dx2-66 for making this thread! I have also been searching for HiDPI Retina monitors and stumbled across the Kuycon G27x. From the looks of it, $699.99 + free shipping from ClickClack.io is still cheaper than these Alibaba displays. Ordering from Alibaba usually incurs high shipping fees.

 

[CWallace]

No price info as of yet, but Samsung Australia has posted the product page for the Viewfinity S9:

https://www.samsung.com/au/business...nity-s9-27-inch-5k-resolution-ls27c900paexxy/