5k Resolution with original iMac Panel and Nvidia Card

[TurbineSeaplane]

I agree about the QQ2's

I really wish I could get a QQ2 panel locally in the USA though.

I'm just totally hung up and order shy on the China angle with something this large and fragile -- to say nothing of concerns about getting one and it having "issues" -- and then what?

Ship it back to China?
It just seems like a disaster waiting to happen on about 3 fronts to me. lol

Option #5 is good if you can find one that is within budget.

The thing I don't personally like about that plan is the enclosure with the "top chin"..
I find the LG UF 5k to be really pretty unattractive.

 

[wladdych]

I could also get a much much cheaper Planar model that uses the same case (I've seen a couple) and retrofit in the 5k driver board and controller and then put the new iMac 5k QQ1 in there.

do you know which lcd model planar ix2790 use ?
i have one ix2790 with black-dead-pixels and plan to replace lcd by myself, but i'm not sure
which panel model is compatible with it.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

do you know which lcd model planar ix2790 use ?
i have one ix2790 with black-dead-pixels and plan to replace lcd by myself, but i'm not sure
which panel model is compatible with it.

They are pre P3 era iMac panels (2014-2015 revisions), so SDB's would be good

(LM270QQ1 SDB1)
You want anything alphabetically ahead of C - so SD A1, SD A2, SD B1...

It's tempting to go for 2017+ panels (the SDC revisions) but those are brighter and it's my understanding that unless 3rd party 5k driver panels are set up for it, they don't achieve the correct brightness one would expect.

It's unclear how the Planar driver board solution for the IX2790 would handle the SDC panels though.
From my research, I've yet to see anyone screen swap an IX2790 and write about it online.

You could be our first!!
I will admit - what you are proposing is very attractive to me if it works.

If I can find a good deal on a Planar where I don't feel so bad about pulling and discarding the screen, I'll likely try this at some point (unless I hear from someone like you that it was a no-go of course)

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

Re: taking apart the Planar.

From just looking at it, I think their casing is very similar to the ilyama - just different colors.
Here are a couple pics from someone who took one all apart (German forum) to move the guts to an iMac enclosure.

The display is glued into a formwork - the silver bordered part with control button - (with white double tape adhesive) and this snaps into the back housing accordingly.

Link to the post about it

 

[macnexus]

I agree about the QQ2's

I really wish I could get a QQ2 panel locally in the USA though.

I'm just totally hung up and order shy on the China angle with something this large and fragile -- to say nothing of concerns about getting one and it having "issues" -- and then what?

Ship it back to China?
It just seems like a disaster waiting to happen on about 3 fronts to me. lol



The thing I don't personally like about that plan is the enclosure with the "top chin"..
I find the LG UF 5k to be really pretty unattractive.

You should be mentally prepared to accept the defective unit if you decide to get the panel from China. I am not sure what is the process like if you would like to return the unit (delivery cost, etc.). Is it worth the trouble? Probably not recommended.

They are pre P3 era iMac panels (2014-2015 revisions), so SDB's would be good

(LM270QQ1 SDB1)
You want anything alphabetically ahead of C - so SD A1, SD A2, SD B1...

It's tempting to go for 2017+ panels (the SDC revisions) but those are brighter and it's my understanding that unless 3rd party 5k driver panels are set up for it, they don't achieve the correct brightness one would expect.

It's unclear how the Planar driver board solution for the IX2790 would handle the SDC panels though.
From my research, I've yet to see anyone screen swap an IX2790 and write about it online.

You could be our first!!
I will admit - what you are proposing is very attractive to me if it works.

If I can find a good deal on a Planar where I don't feel so bad about pulling and discarding the screen, I'll likely try this at some point (unless I hear from someone like you that it was a no-go of course)

Someone has carried out this test in the German forum although it was with an Iiyama. Please refer to post #246 by jona46.

I was considering to get, at the minimum the SD C1 variant of LM270QQ1. In fact I have my eyes on the SD D1 (iMac Pro panel) currently available for purchase via eBay at the same price as other variants. However, I am now slightly concerned about compatibility after reading the German forum as it does not seem like everything is compatible and will work as expected (even though they are all from the LM270QQ1 family!).

Someone in the German forum also commented that the LM270QQ2 panel that he bought from China has very dimmed backlight. He was not sure if it was due to the 5K driver board or the LCD panel itself. Someone also commented that the audio quality from the 5K driver board (via DP) is modest/average and you are better off using an audio amplifier board connected directly to the sound output of your computer.

Re: taking apart the Planar.

From just looking at it, I think their casing is very similar to the ilyama - just different colors.
Here are a couple pics from someone who took one all apart (German forum) to move the guts to an iMac enclosure.

The display is glued into a formwork - the silver bordered part with control button - (with white double tape adhesive) and this snaps into the back housing accordingly.

Link to the post about it

Thanks for the link to the German forum. I just spent my whole evening reading through every single post and wow there are a lot of very useful information there. I am surprised that we are not the only few people that are interested in this project. I do not speak German so I have to rely on Google Translate to translate the site.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

I'd be wary of going with a SD C1 or SD D1 personally.

Whether the driver boards have the hardware capability to properly control the brightness or not, it does seem clear that the firmware isn't able to do it correctly at this time.

Obviously it's up to you, but why bother with a newer/nicer/brighter panel if you can't actually drive it to the correct brightness levels? (at least that's how I think about it).

That said, I certainly understand the desire to have one that's newer, wider gamut and hopefully has less of the early image retention issues.

On that last point though - they may have fixed image retention issues in later manufacturing runs of SD A & B's

 

[macnexus]

@TurbineSeaplane I wonder if you could use a C1 or D1 panels on older 5K iMacs? I think the newest one is E1 (for iMac 5K 2019). I prefer the newer panels because they support DCI-P3 although as you said in your previous post, the 5K driver board might not support it.

Found the 5K driver board that supports DP1.4 in AliExpress. The image shows that the board requires 24V but the package list shows it comes with a 12V 5A power adapter (probably a copy and paste error).

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

Found the 5K driver board that supports DP1.4 in AliExpress.

Cha-ching! You going to buy it?

I wonder if you could use a C1 or D1 panels on older 5K iMacs? I think the newest one is E1 (for iMac 5K 2019). I prefer the newer panels because they support DCI-P3 although as you said in your previous post, the 5K driver board might not support it.

Yeah, I don't really know. The best bet is to ask a lot of questions from various 5k driver board sellers and/or simply try it. Perhaps that newer, more expensive, DP1.4 board might have great capabilities in this regard also?

 

[macnexus]

Cha-ching! You going to buy it?

No, I bought the R9A18 and is still awaiting delivery. My MBP requires 2 x DPs (TB2) for 5K (pre USB-C/TB3) so having DP1.4 support is more of a nice to have rather than a must have. However, my position might change if I get a TB3 laptop in future.

Do you have any idea which LCD panel is used on the HP?

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

Do you have any idea which LCD panel is used on the HP?

Yeah, it's a Samsung LTM270RL01

PLS - not sure on P3 coverage, but apparently very accurate on other gamuts.

Of course, who knows what mine will be like (my exact model I mean).
On track for tomorrow delivery so I'm excited to check it out!

At this point I just want a 5k monitor that doesn't have "issues".
I'm positive that for my usages I'll be thrilled with any of the color gamut coverages the options offer.