[HN Gopher] I built a 5K iMac Display
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       I built a 5K iMac Display
        
       Author : dsr12
       Score  : 193 points
       Date   : 2021-03-01 04:25 UTC (18 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (twitter.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
        
       | vishnugupta wrote:
       | Tangential. Using my monitor in portrait mode has been a game
       | changer for me. Now when I look back I wonder how is it that I
       | wasted so much display space.
        
         | aequitas wrote:
         | I got a 27" monitor which is essentially 2 portrait mode
         | monitors fused together.
         | 
         | When I could get hold of a 30" monitor years ago at work it was
         | a real eye opener for me. I always had double screens but I
         | tended to used only 2/3 of those screens and one was always to
         | far off to the side to be more usefull than occasionally glance
         | at.
         | 
         | Now with a 27/30" screen I can have 2 windows side by side
         | within my field of view, of 1 large windows and 2 smallers ones
         | like terminal.
        
         | colechristensen wrote:
         | I like a 4:5 display, but they don't really make them any more
         | (or if they do, there's one or two choices)
        
           | fanf2 wrote:
           | I currently have two 1200x1920 panels in portrait mode next
           | to each other, and 2400x1920 is 5:4
           | 
           | It's the aspect ratio I grew up with, but 14x the number of
           | pixels and 4x the screen size, but probably half the weight
           | and power consumption!
        
           | WildParser wrote:
           | 1:1 is also nice.
           | https://www.eizo.com/products/flexscan/ev2730q/
        
             | mchan wrote:
             | I'm using this monitor, and it has replaced a dual-screen
             | FHD setup. The amount of vertical resolution is fantastic.
        
             | vxNsr wrote:
             | That... thing is disturbing to look at, that being said the
             | first thing I started looking for was the price, and it's
             | predictably expensive considering that it's just a great
             | aspect ratio for a 1920p 26" screen.
             | 
             | I'd pay about $500 for a square 2160p 30" screen. But then
             | I'm a cheapskate and I have no way to justify even the $500
             | cost when I could get a couple 27" 2160p's on sale for
             | that.
        
             | ddalex wrote:
             | 8:9 is also a sweet spot, where you divide a 16:9
             | vertically to display two windows. No more awkward monitor
             | rotations !
        
       | stevencorona wrote:
       | It's been slim picking for 5K monitors- especially if you're not
       | on OSX where thunderbolt dispay output is much more complicated.
       | 
       | Besides the (now discontinued) Planar IX2790, which had severe
       | quality control issues (went through 4- all with major dead
       | pixels and burn-in), I don't think there are any readily
       | available DisplayPort-based 5K monitors out there :(
       | 
       | Feels like hidpi displays have pretty much stagnated outside of
       | apple ecosystem
        
         | StillBored wrote:
         | Well 8k is the new hotness. There is the dell UP3218K for
         | example.
         | 
         | That said, 4k @ 27" vs 5k @ 27" is a bit of diminishing
         | returns, and its hard to justify the price, when instead of a
         | single 5k, one can get two 4k.
        
           | lifty wrote:
           | It's not only about pixel density, although that's important.
           | Most importantly, 5k gives you integer scaling for a
           | resolution of 2560 x 1440, which is perfect for 27 inch. If
           | you can get similar results with another setup I would love
           | to hear about it.
        
             | reacharavindh wrote:
             | This and exactly this! I'd love to get one 27 inch 5K
             | monitor for my work(looking at code and text) and have
             | integer scaled MacBook Pro resolution. That would be
             | perfect. But, it's silly that there are zero choices in EU
             | at the moment. The LG ultra fine is taken out of stock due
             | to some EU regulations, and there is nothing else :-(
        
               | andor wrote:
               | _" The LG ultra fine is taken out of stock due to some EU
               | regulations"_
               | 
               | Is that true?
               | 
               | I bought one about two weeks ago from Saturn, for 19%
               | off. Still waiting for the delivery though. According to
               | "geizhals.de" there are a few stores that still have it
               | in stock.
        
               | reacharavindh wrote:
               | Yes, I'd love to buy one, but can't here in Denmark.
               | 
               | https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/21/lg-
               | ultrafine-4k-display...
               | 
               | The wholesale vendor for DK says there is some contention
               | with EU regulations that prompted them to hold on all
               | orders :-( he does not know which regulations they are.
        
             | mcovalt wrote:
             | Does integer scaling matter for text or images? Or is it
             | just for UI elements drawn on a pixel grid?
        
               | lifty wrote:
               | I don't know how text is implemented, but based on my
               | experience, it matters. On my 13inch MBP screen text and
               | everything else is incredibly sharp. I hope someone more
               | knowledgeable can chime in.
        
           | samatman wrote:
           | I've been very happy with a '5k2k' monitor, I have the MSI
           | Prestige PS341WU. The resolution is 5120 x 2160 at 21:9, and
           | it's basically a stretched-out 27" 4k monitor, so same height
           | and vertical resolution, just wider.
           | 
           | Gives enough real estate to have three 'panels' of windows,
           | and it's all one monitor: I find that two-monitor setups mean
           | I have to either always tilt my neck left and right, or set
           | up one centrally and then really kink to the side to view the
           | other one.
        
           | monadic6 wrote:
           | Why is it 8k and not 16k? I thought it was proportional to
           | the logarithm of the number of pixels.
        
             | tverbeure wrote:
             | We went from 1920 wide to 3840 to 7680.
             | 
             | A step of 4x give or take in number of total pixels each
             | time.
             | 
             | It's a logical progression?
             | 
             | But either way, 8K is already pushing the limits of what
             | today's video transports can carry. 16K is currently
             | impossible.
             | 
             | Uncompressed 8K/60Hz requires >64% of the max BW of
             | DisplayPort 2.0 (which is not even on the market yet.)
             | That's why he needed 2 DP cables.
             | 
             | You can check out video timing requirements here:
             | https://tomverbeure.github.io/video_timings_calculator
        
             | AnthonBerg wrote:
             | I believe it's the result of the semi-random
             | crystallization of the effective consensus about what word
             | to use. Partly also what feels like "the next one after".
        
           | hyko wrote:
           | The returns are diminishing, but if your eyesight is good a
           | 5K monitor is much nicer to work with. Ultimately the reason
           | 4K took hold was part marketing and part display
           | interconnection/GPU technology. The Mac was pretty much alone
           | in driving 5K adoption.
           | 
           | The UP3218K was released in 2018 and pretty much stands alone
           | in that space, for the same reasons.
        
         | Yaggo wrote:
         | Yeah. I don't like to use 4K monitors with 15" Macbook Pro,
         | because the latter has 16:10 screen (with emulated 1920x1200
         | resolution, with 2.25 real pixels for every emulated pixel),
         | while typical 4K monitor has 16:9 aspect ratio with 1920x1080
         | emulated resolution (4 real pixels for every emulated pixel),
         | so you'll actually loose vertical desktop estate, unless you
         | run it in non-high-dpi mode which looks just ugly.
        
       | happynacho wrote:
       | I've seen similar builds like this on /r/hackintosh and other
       | DIY.
       | 
       | Have you found a driver board that uses a single DP1.4? Two 1.2
       | would limit me to a single one and wanna run 2.
        
         | phillipcaudell wrote:
         | There's a newer board that uses a single USB-C cable, but it's
         | a bit more expensive:
         | https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001084086628.html?spm=a2g0o...
        
       | sgt wrote:
       | Very cool. I wouldn't mind having this. Right now my setup is my
       | MBP and a 27 4K screen that I use as the primary. I thought about
       | using two 4K or 5K screens and rather change to a Mac Mini, but
       | in which direction would I be looking? If I'd look ahead with two
       | screens, I would look at the space between the two screens. In
       | other words, I actually prefer to have a "primary" screen and I
       | keep wondering whether one actually needs another screen at all.
       | What do you guys think?
        
         | konha wrote:
         | I use a similar setup for the same reason. 32" 4K Dell and a
         | MBP.
         | 
         | When I was still using a dual screen setup I had one in the
         | center as primary and one at the side in portrait mode.
         | 
         | Having dual screens next to each other with the space between
         | the screens in front of you sounds like an ergonomic disaster.
         | Some people seem not to mind though.
        
           | sgt wrote:
           | An option might be one primary large screen, then another
           | screen next to it in portrait mode. Perfect for reading
           | documents or displaying a dashboard.
        
       | adav wrote:
       | Great project! I did a similar project 3 years ago to save the
       | use of the great screen in a 2009(?) 24" iMac with a broken logic
       | board. Learnt about LVDS and went the Chinese control board
       | direction. First iteration was an HDMI cable poking out. Second
       | interaction was integrating a Raspberry Pi for a new-old all-in-
       | one PC - plus, it felt much snappier than the original Core 2 Duo
       | workings from the Mac.
        
       | vsskanth wrote:
       | I wish they made more 5k monitors. Integer scaling looks so much
       | better even on windows which supports fractional scaling
        
       | phillipcaudell wrote:
       | Heya, I'm the guy who put this together. Let me know if you have
       | any questions about it! I've had the setup for about a month now
       | and absolutely love it.
        
         | DoingIsLearning wrote:
         | Great work!
         | 
         | Can you link to the supplier of the driver board?
         | 
         | How did you go about determining the board was ok to plug into
         | a shinny new panel?
         | 
         | My previous experiences with Aliexpress where a bit hit and
         | miss. Either with issues of using obvious counterfeit parts or
         | batch quality issues (order 100 and 70 are OK, etc.).
        
           | phillipcaudell wrote:
           | The supplier was great! I think I received it within a week
           | of ordering (which considering I'm in the UK and it was
           | coming from mainland China is pretty impressive). Here's a
           | link to the exact part and supplier I used: https://www.aliex
           | press.com/item/4001192011831.html?spm=a2g0s...
        
             | iams wrote:
             | would you be able to link to the panel you bought off ebay?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | vldx wrote:
         | Great work!
         | 
         | How is the panel? Do you have any uniformity issues? In total,
         | I've tried 7 units of LG 5K UltraFine (27MD5KA-B and
         | 27MD5KL-B). All had [1] uneven brightness (visible on white
         | background) and backlight bleed. Some of the units also
         | exhibited tinting and/or faint vertical lines. I couldn't
         | swallow these issues for the price that I've paid. Now I'm with
         | Dell U2720Q, but I miss the high PPI of the 5K.
         | 
         | [1] https://imgur.com/a/oVN3kTc#FGOzspK
        
       | auggierose wrote:
       | Cool stuff, but doesn't look like a setup I would enjoy. I hate
       | it when in front of me there is a gap between monitors.
       | 
       | Instead, I am using a Dell 32inch directly in front of me, iMac
       | 27inch to the right of me, and Dell 27inch portrait to the left
       | of me.
        
         | speleding wrote:
         | That's _exactly_ my setup.
         | 
         | But I cannot understand why there are no reasonably priced 5K
         | or 6K monitors of around 30-35 inch. I would buy one in a
         | heartbeat.
        
           | auggierose wrote:
           | It will happen eventually. Until then, 4K is good enough for
           | me.
        
           | eertami wrote:
           | >I cannot understand why there are no reasonably priced 5K or
           | 6K monitors of around 30-35 inch
           | 
           | Because it's a niche market and unless they become more
           | popular they won't be produced at enough scale to bring the
           | retail price down.
        
         | 3327 wrote:
         | Nice tanning bed.
        
           | auggierose wrote:
           | I am using dark mode, mate. Also, I really don't have any
           | need for artificial tanning :-)
        
       | konart wrote:
       | Always wanted to do the same ever since I saw this project in
       | german back in 2019. https://youtu.be/hzTVe6aVgww
        
       | dangwu wrote:
       | Very cool, but how exactly does that look less "hideous" than an
       | LG UltraFine 5K?
       | 
       | https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMUB2LL/A/lg-ultrafine-5k...
        
         | o_m wrote:
         | You can't buy it in Europe anymore, and it has been almost
         | impossible to order one for over a year.
        
         | ipsum2 wrote:
         | Doesn't have the Apple logo? :)
         | 
         | But it looks like it was ~$500 less than the LG version all in
         | all, so a decent project.
        
         | neilsense wrote:
         | Using dual displays with the second one not being the exact
         | height/bezel-size/shape as the other is distracting and is less
         | of a nice experience than when both displays are the same.
         | 
         | Usually with an iMac, the second display is always something
         | else, this is a nice way to make the overall experience nicer.
        
         | rangibaby wrote:
         | It looks like an iMac. That's why people used to shell out big
         | bucks for Apple-branded displays back when they were a thing
        
           | miles wrote:
           | > people used to shell out big bucks for Apple-branded
           | displays back when they were a thing
           | 
           | They still are:
           | 
           | Pro Display XDR https://www.apple.com/pro-display-xdr/
        
             | tpetry wrote:
             | The pricing of the Pro Display XR makes it kind of
             | ,,vaporware". The difference is it does exist, you can buy
             | it but with this insance pricing almost no one will buy it.
             | 
             | The old displays were a thing because they had really been
             | affordable.
        
               | judge2020 wrote:
               | For what it's worth, rumors from last month have
               | speculated that a regular iMac with an XDR-like chassis
               | might be coming.
               | 
               | https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/15/new-imac-2021-apple-
               | silicon/
        
               | lloeki wrote:
               | > almost no one will buy it
               | 
               | Just like reference monitors which are much pricier, it
               | doesn't mean they have no reason to exist.
               | 
               | This Apple Display fits in a strange zone in between
               | reference monitors and high quality "regular" displays
               | (which the previous Apple [Cinema||Thunderbolt] Display
               | went at) that no one else went for.
               | 
               | The question is, is there a market for that niche or is
               | that a "Vader trash can" Mac Pro mistake again?
        
         | zamalek wrote:
         | The Apple interface is highly consistent. The fit and finish on
         | their products is also highly consistent. I assume that this is
         | a quality that Apple users enjoy.
         | 
         | Personally, I find the bezels on both monstrous, so I wouldn't
         | go for either.
        
           | coldtea wrote:
           | When exactly did people start to fear bezels in screens?
        
             | scsilver wrote:
             | They just look like constraints of a less sophisticated
             | production process.
        
             | zamalek wrote:
             | Probably when thin bezels became widely available (as dual
             | monitor setups probably predate that).
        
             | jayd16 wrote:
             | Bezels matter when we're talking about side by side
             | displays.
        
         | Ballas wrote:
         | The LG is almost the price of a 5k mac...
        
       | pkamb wrote:
       | Someone should release a "kit"... the new boards and power supply
       | could even sit inside a nicely designed backpack enclosure on the
       | stand.
       | 
       | Is there any possibility of accessing the needed display
       | connectors via the RAM door or via a surgical cut in the back
       | case? Removing the screen is what I don't want to do.
        
       | hyko wrote:
       | So disappointing that modern iMacs don't have target display
       | mode.
        
         | frankus wrote:
         | Fingers crossed that they bring it back with the M-whatever
         | iMacs when they come out.
         | 
         | 100% speculating but I could see it being something that
         | Intel's TB3 chips weren't set up to handle and that's why they
         | dropped.
        
         | _ph_ wrote:
         | This is something I just can't comprehend. For work, I am using
         | a 16" MB Pro and I had to get a separate screen for it as I
         | cannot connect it to my iMac for display. One would think it
         | isn't too uncommon for iMac owners also to have a laptop.
         | 
         | And if I could use my iMac as a screen, I might have grabbed a
         | M1 Mac already. Instead I am waiting on a refreshed iMac.
        
           | aequitas wrote:
           | I use Screen Sharing to have my Macbook screen show on my
           | iMac. Works flawless over Gigabit, except that cmd-tab
           | sometimes lags. There are tools available[0] that allow you
           | to set a higher resolution for a screen than what would be
           | sensibly supported by the LCD panel. Although it doesn't do
           | retina this way.
           | 
           | [0] https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor
        
             | veidr wrote:
             | That's interesting to hear, because my experience is that I
             | really really _want_ to use Remote Desktop / Screen Sharing
             | but the performance has gotten worse and worse over macOS
             | releases, and it currently abysmal over gigabit, and even
             | 10-gigabit, wired Ethernet. (I could not see any difference
             | between 1Gbps and 10Gbps which made me think bandwidth is
             | not the problem).
             | 
             | I'd love for this to be some flaw in my own setup, though.
             | 
             | I used to use this setup circa Mac OS X 10.6 and it worked
             | very well (1Gbps wired connection). I could leave my home
             | office and screen share in from the living room via my
             | MacBook Pro from the living room, when I had to watch my
             | kids or whatever.
             | 
             | Today, I don't even try that. Command-Tab lags, yes, but
             | almost everything lags to the point of being super-annoying
             | to use. Even typing lags. I also have a Windows box in my
             | office, and this setup basically works (even from my MBP).
             | So I've been assuming this is one of those features that
             | Apple has let degrade to the point of unusability.
             | 
             | But am I wrong? I'd like to be. Are others using Screen
             | Sharing or Remote Desktop on macOS with success beyond like
             | click... wait... click... whew I got a system update
             | installed? I mean, for like typing emails or coding?
             | 
             | (One thing I'd been thinking of debugging was whether my
             | office Mac having 3 5K screens is an issue -- I am only
             | trying to screenshare one of them, but maybe they have a
             | bug or something where total pixels of the host kill perf
             | even if those pixels aren't being shared.)
        
               | aequitas wrote:
               | One issue I had is that it was constantly using the WiFi
               | connection instead of the wired one. So I created a
               | shortcut where I replaced the hostname with the wired IP
               | address, this solved a lot of problems for me.
               | 
               | For my usecase of development, it works fine. No
               | noticable lag, even as I type this comment, also video
               | calls and web browsing/scolling/youtube are fluid on
               | 2560x1440 using around 7MB/s.
               | 
               | With 3 5K screen I could image video memory or some GPU
               | bandwidth being an issue, limiting the screensharing
               | although sharing only 1 screen. But the problem must be
               | either one of lag or one of bandwidth. Maybe try
               | measuring network throughput and ping?
        
               | neurostimulant wrote:
               | Maybe try using a 3rd party remote desktop system with
               | focus on performance instead of the standard vnc server
               | included in mac? Parsec might work for your use case. The
               | disadvantage is these kind of remote desktop system
               | achieve the performance by utilizing lossy codecs instead
               | of lossless compression used by vnc, so you might notice
               | some banding/artefacts depending on your network
               | condition / compression level. The advantage is the
               | hardware encoding/decoding is very fast, even fast enough
               | for gaming.
               | 
               | https://parsec.app/
        
             | _ph_ wrote:
             | I have used it, but over wifi it is a bit laggy. Works for
             | emergencies, but isn't really a replacement for a proper
             | monitor connection.
        
           | sgt wrote:
           | It's about respect. How would you feel if you were an iMac
           | and people just wanted to plug into you to use you as a
           | screen?
        
             | neurostimulant wrote:
             | Apple already has Sidecar that turns your iPad into a
             | monitor. It's not a stretch to enable that feature on Mac
             | so you can turn your Mac into a monitor too whenever you
             | need it for some reason.
        
               | _ph_ wrote:
               | That is another sad story. As far as I know, Sidecar
               | works in both directions, you can use it to make your
               | iMac a monitor for another mac. However, there is a huge
               | catch: those two devices need to run on the same Apple
               | ID. Which of course makes it impossible when trying to
               | connect your work with your private computer. Of all
               | companies, Apple should have an understanding of keeping
               | your work files in a separate environment :p.
        
           | madeofpalk wrote:
           | I think it was just at the time when 5k iMacs were introduced
           | there was no (good?) way to support that resolution over a
           | thunderbolt or what, so support was dropped. Then it was just
           | never added back...
        
             | bzzzt wrote:
             | The 5k iMac was really ahead of it's time in late 2014. I
             | remember reading some technical blog talking about the
             | custom designed driver board for that panel. The 2015
             | MacBook pro could drive a 5k panel using two displayport
             | cables (some 5k monitors from that period supported that
             | solution for full resolution at 60Hz), and with modern
             | displayport there should be no problems, but maybe Apple
             | does not really want their computers used as 'dumb'
             | displays anymore...
        
         | jackpeterfletch wrote:
         | It would be nice if all all-in-ones / laptops had target
         | display mode. The versatility would be great.
         | 
         | The number of times I've wanted to use, say a console when the
         | TVs taken, or use my mini-itx desktop away from home. Being
         | able to plug into a laptop that im carrying anyway would be
         | great.
        
         | sudhirj wrote:
         | It seems like this was a technical limitation more than a
         | business one. Apple had to do some very non-standard stuff for
         | 5K and that's when they stopped supporting the target display
         | mode. See the article as well - the only was the author could
         | get it work was with two display port connections, so if Apple
         | were to support target display, they'd likely have to put in
         | two display ports in the back just for that.
        
         | mrweasel wrote:
         | While it a useful feature, it was always an expensive and
         | wasteful way of buying a secondary display. Arguable it was the
         | only way of making a dual-display iMac setup look good.
        
           | fabioborellini wrote:
           | I wouldn't deem it wasteful. Monitors have evolved a lot
           | slower than computer parts generally and using a monitor for
           | a relatively long period is quite common with desktop PC
           | users. A midrange 1920x1200 display bought 10 or 12 years ago
           | is quite similar in specs compared to today's low end
           | displays.
           | 
           | A few years old 4K and 5K iMacs have high end integrated
           | displays even from today's point of view, but their CPUs and
           | especially GPUs are outdated for quite a few serious use
           | cases. I think it would make a lot of sense to use one as a
           | display for a new workstation setup.
           | 
           | But obviously my described use case is a "second chance" for
           | an iMac having served as a standalone computer until its EOL.
        
           | yreg wrote:
           | Quite the contrary, I'd love to be able to continue using the
           | 5K iMac as a screen once I get a new computer.
        
           | Lio wrote:
           | At one point people were speculating about monitors with
           | eGPUs built in.
           | 
           | What would be super cool is if Apple could take this further
           | and you could use an iMac as both a second screen and off
           | load work to the CPU and GPU.
           | 
           | I'd like that from an eWaste perspective if nothing else.
           | i.e. just add a new iMac to your existing set up.
           | 
           | For myself I've been using the same external 27" Dell 1440
           | monitor for about 7 years. It's not like it's worn out in
           | anyway.
        
         | Terretta wrote:
         | At the same time, the latest iPad Pros connected to a Macbook
         | via USB-C provide a remarkably convenient and performant second
         | screen experience when doing dev or other creative (multi-
         | screen) work on the road.
         | 
         | The magnetic mount of the iPad Pro magic keyboard means you can
         | just grab the iPad and pop it back, making it super convenient
         | to use either way.
        
         | awiesenhofer wrote:
         | Absolutley, I have 3 old iMacs with perfectly good displays
         | that I could only use by running the computers attached to them
         | (via VNC or similar). I would definitely pay 150 bucks like in
         | TFA for a driverboard that would allow me to rip out the Mac-
         | parts and only keep the display...
        
       | awiesenhofer wrote:
       | https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1352692104707919872.html
        
       | walrus01 wrote:
       | Question, why would it require two displayport cables and two
       | outputs from a video card? A displayport 1.4 cable and connection
       | are supposed to support 5K at 60Hz.
       | 
       | Is that a limitation of the driver board?
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort
        
         | StillBored wrote:
         | if its the dell control board (I've got the dell) it predates
         | the faster DP standards. It only supports 5k via dual link.
         | Which is why a couple years ago when the newer 5k displays came
         | out, I snapped up mine from some guy on ebay upgrading and
         | selling it at fire sale prices (nothing like new hardware to
         | lower the value of perfectly good old stuff).
        
           | phillipcaudell wrote:
           | This is correct! Though there is a newer driver board which
           | supports USB-C (and thus one cable), but it's a lot more
           | expensive. And since I was connecting to an 2015 iMac, wasn't
           | needed in my case.
        
         | andor wrote:
         | Because the Dell UP2715K has 10 bits per color channel, even
         | DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 would not be enough. It would work with
         | Display Stream Compression, but that appears to be an optional
         | feature of DP 1.4 that is not universally supported. Also, the
         | compression is lossy.
         | 
         | Additional speculation: all 5k displays on the market so far
         | (LG, Dell, Iiyama, ...?) were made as Apple accessories,
         | probably with Thunderbolt ports in mind. Because the market is
         | not that large they might share some components. TB3 only
         | requires DP 1.2, but can carry multiple streams. The expensive
         | LG display includes a TB3 hub that demultiplexes the
         | DisplayPort streams and sends them off to a dual-link DP
         | controller. Less expensive displays leave out the Thunderbolt
         | part and require dual DisplayPort inputs for full resolution.
        
           | andor wrote:
           | With HBR3, net bandwidth for uncompressed image data is 25.92
           | Gbit/s.
           | 
           | 8bit 4k at 120Hz:                 >>> (3840 * 2160 * 24 *
           | 120) / (1000*1000*1000)       23.887872
           | 
           | 10bit 5k at 60Hz:                 >>> (5120 * 2880 * 30 * 60)
           | / (1000*1000*1000)       26.54208
        
       | baybal2 wrote:
       | Calling this "building an own display" is a bit of a stretch.
       | 
       | He just wired a panel, off-the shelf driver board, ac-dc brick,
       | and put it into body.
        
         | andy_ppp wrote:
         | What were you expecting? Screen printing an OLED? Gluing
         | together 14.7 million (=== 5k) LEDs for each channel? (-:
        
           | baybal2 wrote:
           | Well, at least to not to use "tape, and glue" as an assembly
           | method.
           | 
           | Even if DP panels all have their real drivers, and tcons
           | internally, there is still a lot left for a designer to do.
        
             | phillipcaudell wrote:
             | Tape and glue is literally how iMac panels are held on
             | https://www.replacebase.co.uk/for-apple-imac-a1419-27-lcd-
             | gl...
        
             | Yaggo wrote:
             | Nothing wrong with tape or glue. Even car chassis parts are
             | glued together!
        
               | baybal2 wrote:
               | Tape, and glue are bad! Falling off glued door hinges on
               | GM cars were an apex of engineering stupidity.
               | 
               | Glue cannot provide _stiffness_ as such. Hard adhesives,
               | soft adhesives, filler, no filler, all inferior to any
               | mechanical connection. Adhesive is usually the worst of
               | possible compromises.
               | 
               | Hard adhesive is stiff, but dies from most minuscule
               | repeated stresses.
               | 
               | Soft adhesive does not die to repeated stresses, but
               | isn't stiff.
               | 
               | High fill adhesive layers absorb loads, but can't stiffen
               | anything.
               | 
               | Low fill adhesive layers are stiff, but put all stress
               | into the surface-adhesive interface.
               | 
               | Even if you have it in a recessed niche, and use high
               | fill soft adhesive over primed metal surface, you already
               | made enough operations to warrant a proper joining
               | method.
        
       | wilsonfiifi wrote:
       | On a side note, for anyone planning to buy a monitor please spend
       | the extra bucks to get one with adjustable height, tilt and
       | rotation if possible. And if you've missed that boat then grab
       | yourself a monitor stand and a Vesa mount/adapter from
       | Humancentric [0].
       | 
       | [0] https://www.humancentric.com/collections/vesa-adapters
        
         | noir_lord wrote:
         | I use 2x27" 4K LG's (good panels for the money, ~PS350 each) on
         | a cheap (but honestly awesome for the money) dual vesa arm that
         | is incredibly comfortable, having them up off the desk gives me
         | more space on what isn't a huge desk (WFH) I couldn't go back
         | to use regular stands, having the monitors essentially float in
         | mid-air is ideal for me.
        
           | feteru wrote:
           | Any recommendations for the Vesa arm specifically? Looking to
           | get one
        
             | milesvp wrote:
             | I've used amazon basics single arm wall mounts for the last
             | 3 years, and dual arm deskmount for the last 2 years. They
             | are pretty good quality, I've had no reason to look to
             | replace them with another brand.
             | 
             | edit: apparently I have the premium version. Not sure they
             | used to be called premium. The spring mechanism
             | counterweight makes adjustments to my 27 and 24 inch
             | monitors seemless.
        
             | noir_lord wrote:
             | I have this one
             | https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FLEXIMOUNTS-F6D-Dual-monitor-
             | moun...
             | 
             | It's great and handles the two screens fine, can lock it
             | off by tightening up the Allen headed bolts once you have
             | it just so.
        
         | mikkelam wrote:
         | I'm amazed that people actually like these imac like displays.
         | No rotation, fixed height and the stand takes a ton of space.
         | 
         | A mounted VESA arm is such a nicer experience
        
           | JoshTriplett wrote:
           | > A mounted VESA arm is such a nicer experience
           | 
           | I previously had many negative associations with VESA-mounted
           | monitors, and I think other people have as well, due to poor-
           | quality mounting arms. I've used VESA-mounts where monitors
           | bounced every time someone walked by; that's a serious issue.
           | 
           | When I started working from home full-time, I set up a high-
           | quality VESA-mount system using a pole mount and a
           | professional monitor arm; the service I purchased it from
           | actually _looked up the monitor specs_ to figure out the
           | level of support the arm required. The resulting setup is
           | rock-solid and always stays exactly where I place /tilt it.
           | 
           | So I do think VESA-mounting can provide a great experience,
           | but the difference between cheap and high-quality can make or
           | break the resulting experience.
        
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       (page generated 2021-03-01 23:01 UTC)