5k Resolution with original iMac Panel and Nvidia Card

[TurbineSeaplane]

I am aiming to get the C1 as it costs the same as B1. I actually prefer to get the LM270QQ1-SDD1 (for iMac Pro) but it is more than £200 more expensive! I am not sure what the differences are but I think the older panels might not be as bright?

Do all of the LM270QQ1 panels work with the 5k Driver Boards for DIY iMac builds?

 

[macnexus]

Do all of the LM270QQ1 panels work with the 5k Driver Boards for DIY iMac builds?

Good question! I don’t have the answer but I think they probably do since the sellers have not specifically excluded any variants of LM270QQ1 in the listing.

In terms of brightness of the backlight, I wonder how it is “configured” on the 5K driver board since different LCD panels might require different voltage/current for the backlight. The brightness of the LCD is controlled on the OSD menu.

Probably also worth sharing that one of the sellers (you can probably guess which one) told me there is another 5K driver board that supports DP1.4 (meaning single cable for 5K 60Hz) but it costs USD300.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

Probably also worth sharing that one of the sellers (you can probably guess which one) told me there is another 5K driver board that supports DP1.4 (meaning single cable for 5K 60Hz) but it costs USD300.

Yeah, I also heard that. I was initially interested but honestly that pricing is just nuts...

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

The RMA is going to take at least through tomorrow so I'm continuing to use the Planar for now and probably through the long weekend.

Man this is painful. It's so so good (except for the stuck pixels on black).
Killing me that these guys can't seem to make a defect free version (by design, sadly, based upon panel sourcing).

I have it on an arm and it's just divine..

I wish I could get a hold of a used one with screen issues and just replace the panel.
(they refuse to sell me one and I've really never seen a used one for sale anywhere)

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

I have decided to go with the iMac option. Got myself a decent A1419 housing at a good price. I have also ordered the 5K driver board from AliExpress and is currently waiting for it to be shipped. Once I have an estimated arrival date for the package from China, I will place the order for the LCD panel from a UK seller which has assured me that I can return the LCD panel if there is any dead pixel. I cannot buy the LCD panel too soon in case if there is delay with the shipping from China as I will not be able to test the LCD panel.

It's a shame none of those sellers has a presence for the driver boards in some other countries. I suspect they'd sell a lot more of them if people could get them sooner or with more certainty and also not pay $40-80 USD (or equivalent) for shipping a simple "driver board". The shipping is crazy $ for what it is.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

I am trying to find out if the R9A18 5K driver board supports DP1.4 (or 5K/60Hz over single DP1.4 connection). One of the sellers clearly said no, but the other said yes.

I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" and even if it's yes, I suspect it might be at a reduced bandwidth connection which could impact colorspace reproduction, etc

Love to be very wrong however, so do please do follow up!!

 

[macnexus]

The RMA is going to take at least through tomorrow so I'm continuing to use the Planar for now and probably through the long weekend.

Man this is painful. It's so so good (except for the stuck pixels on black).
Killing me that these guys can't seem to make a defect free version (by design, sadly, based upon panel sourcing).

I have it on an arm and it's just divine..

I wish I could get a hold of a used one with screen issues and just replace the panel.
(they refuse to sell me one and I've really never seen a used one for sale anywhere)

I used to own a Dell UltraSharp UP2715K and I can imagine how good a 5K display can look. You should enjoy using it until you need to return it for good.

It's a shame none of those sellers has a presence for the driver boards in some other countries. I suspect they'd sell a lot more of them if people could get them sooner or with more certainty and also not pay $40-80 USD (or equivalent) for shipping a simple "driver board". The shipping is crazy $ for what it is.

Indeed. I went for the DHL option which cost me a bomb. Apparently due to the current situation, the seller said EMS (which is a lot more affordable) is no longer an option now. I am more worried about import charges to be honest because it will just add even more cost to the £200 which I paid for the 5K driver board.

I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" and even if it's yes, I suspect it might be at a reduced bandwidth connection which could impact colorspace reproduction, etc

Love to be very wrong however, so do please do follow up!!

I do not have anything that supports DP1.4 to test so I might have to leave this with you to conclude if you end up pursuing the DIY route. I am happy with 2 x DP1.2 but is wondering if I will be able to get 10 bit (billions of colours) although I am not putting too much hope on this because even the Retina display on my MBP only supports 8 bit (millions of colours) according to SwitchResX and System Information.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

You know the only thing I'm mixed on with regard to the glossy iMac screen is that I'm not 100% sure it isn't causing me just a hair of eye-strain.

Part of me wonders if maybe that DIY LG Ultrafine 5k (which seems to be half way between Matte & iMac 5k glossy) might indeed be a good sweet spot for me.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

I'm sort of just piling on at this point, but this Planar panel seems to have some image retention issues also.

I have an Asus 4k VG289Q right alongside and I'm doing direct comparisons with them both connected on macOS and Windows 10.

The 5k definitely has a bit more text clarity, particularly on macOS (Windows handles that better and it's a much closer situation on the Windows side - if not indistinguishable honestly). The one thing that is really obvious when running the Eizo monitor test on both, simultaneously, is that the consistency and evenness of the display and backlight is noticeably better on the Asus.

IPS glow is pretty well controlled on both.

The 5k panel has less off-axis color shift and loss, but both are fine for anything in the range of a person in normal usage positions.

I have the Catalina dynamic wallpaper running (of the island) and other than really really looking for it on very small rock details, it's a dead heat on the quality of the image. I honestly think most of the difference here is likely the glossy vs matte coatings - the latter of which does ever so slightly reduce clarity. Glossy is of course the winner on clarity and "pop". I still in my mind feel that I'm just having a very very slightly harder time with maybe some super light eye strain on the glossy though. It's hard to describe and probably pretty subjective.

I have to say - whatever Windows does with that ClearType setup they walk you through is really great. That process managed to get both monitors to basically look equally good on text clarity, which is a huge help to the 4k. It's sort of bummer macOS doesn't have more exposed controls around text rendering.

 

[macnexus]

You know the only thing I'm mixed on with regard to the glossy iMac screen is that I'm not 100% sure it isn't causing me just a hair of eye-strain.

Part of me wonders if maybe that DIY LG Ultrafine 5k (which seems to be half way between Matte & iMac 5k glossy) might indeed be a good sweet spot for me.

In fact, I prefer the LG UltraFine 5K panel. If it was not because of the risk of getting an imperfect panel and not having the option to return, I would have gone with that option. The panel works out a lot cheaper (USD275), has thin bezel and is more suitable for DIY projects with screw mount holes. However, I cannot find any LM270QQ2 panel in the UK so I am stuck with the iMac option.