HT202856: Using 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs with your Mac
Learn about Using 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs with your Mac
-
All replies
-
Helpful answers
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:04 AM in response to Gemylonby seminolefans,So I would imagine that if Apple ever supports 60hz over HDMI 2, my guess is that'll require a new Thunderbolt to HDMI 2 converter cable. But for apple to support HDMI 2 over thunderbolt (or via a future Mac with an HDMI 2 port), they'll need to have an HDMI 2 controller on the motherboard (which it's my understanding that no mac currently has anything better than HDMI 1.4 -- which gives 4k at 30hz max res).
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:04 AM in response to lllaassby lllaass,Also, just what do the specs for your TV say? about 4K? Does it say at 60 Hz?
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:08 AM in response to lllaassby seminolefans,Thunderbolt 1 does not support 4k at 60hz, only Thunderbolt 2 (bandwidth required for 4k at 60hz exceeds what TB1 can support). Thunderbolt 2 can support it, but you must have minidisplayport (same fit as a Thunderbolt cable) to displayport 1.2 converter cable. See previous post for Amazon example.
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:11 AM in response to lllaassby seminolefans,Just because a 4k TV has a 60hz or better refresh rate doe not mean that it has a connector (i.e. displayport 1.2 only current way to connect a Mac) to support a computer pushing a 40k at 60hz signal.
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:23 AM in response to seminolefansby seminolefans,Here are some good discussions. According to some commentators, no upgrade in cables is required for HDMI 2.0 and it MAY be possible for Apple to upgrade latest gen Macs (with Thunderbolt 2 + HDMI ports) to HDMI 2.0 via a firmware upgrade. But that is just speculation because Sony evidently upgraded their HDMI ports to ver 2.0 via firmware upgrade. It probably has to do with what HDMI chipset apple includes on the motherboards -- and Apple's willingness not to intentionally withhold HDMI 2.0 for future Macs (not that they have a history of dribbling out such upgrades so their customers have to upgrade constantly)...
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/140659/2560x1600-on-dell-u3011-with-new -macbook-pro
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/162369/Upgrading+1.4+HDMI+port+to+a+2.0+HDMI +port
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1695489
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1746437
http://blog.alex4d.com/2013/09/04/hmdi-2-a-piece-of-the-2013-mac-pro-puzzle/
-
Sep 19, 2014 11:25 AM in response to seminolefansby Gemylon,Been trying to find info on the Hz for the TV ...
What it says is that the fps is maxed at 30 for 3840 x 2160, so I guess that's it.
At HD it runs at 50 fps.
-
Sep 19, 2014 12:29 PM in response to seminolefansby PB_NB,It seems that Apple has made some improvements concerning the use of 4k monitors. Apple has officially stated that they support a certain list of 4k monitors but these are typically MST (multi stream transport) technology. So the question is: Does the nMP support 4k monitors at 60hz? The answer would be "YES" providing the monitor is on the list of supported MST monitors. Refer to Apple support bulletin ht6008.
As savvy users, we have decided to get much more affordable SST (single stream transport) monitors and then attempt to make them work. Joevt has graciously provided some file content to allow most of us to get close to 50hz @ 4k with our SST monitors. While this is a bit choppy, it is still far better than HDMI 4k @ 30hz. It's funny that when I bought my 4k monitor from Futureshop, the sales guy said that it wouldn't work with my nMP. I just looked at him sideways and thought that he was crazy.
I was very disappointed that my nMP 6core with D500's struggled to drive my Samsung 28" 4k monitor. I was ready to return the nMP. But now, I am enjoying this setup. It took the Yosemite Beta to break the 50hz barrier. Now I am running 4k @ 60hz.
It seems that Apple has decided to invest R&D in making OSX 10.10 work with SST technology while these fixes appear to be missing from OSX 10.9.
Since SST is evolving rapidly, Apple and AMD need some time to catch up and I am happy with my personal results.
Also, the retina scaling options work great and are super clear.
I have attached a picture of my screen taken a few moments ago. It has been this way since I installed the 10.10 Beta.

-
Sep 25, 2014 3:06 PM in response to PB_NBby Nancy Villalta,I Have the Samsung 28" 4k monitor using display port 1.2 on my Mac pro 2013 D300 and am getting random flickering of the screen under osx Mavericks and Yosemite beta.
-
Sep 27, 2014 1:40 PM in response to Nancy Villaltaby PB_NB,Hi Nancy, I can't say that I have had the same flickering on my screen. It has been pretty stable.
I just had a problem with waking it up once when I put the mac pro to sleep. Now I just use the energy settings and let it go to sleep that way. and it wakes up with a mouse click.
Have you plugged another Thunderbolt device into the same bus? Have a look at the bus configuration for the mac pro. If you are hanging another device on the same bus, it could be interfering with the 4k SST output.
If you haven't seen the TB bus layout, search the Apple support site for the tech bulletin.
Hope that helps.
-
Sep 28, 2014 2:37 AM in response to digitalcolemanby FreeWheelMedia,Hi I'm curious I've tried the Samsung monitor with the mid 2012 macbook Pro and connected via the mini display to display cable the resolutions that are available are very low.
Any tips as to how to set it up.
Thanks for your help.
-
-
Oct 1, 2014 10:44 PM in response to digitalcolemanby rpalacio,Good news! I have this same issue running 10.9.5. But I installed the golden master (build 14A379b) of Yosemite tonight and my Samsung displays perfectly @60hz at all resolutions! FINALLY! Yosemite should be out in just a few more days so rest easy Samsung U28D590D owners! Relief is on the way!
-
Oct 2, 2014 2:30 AM in response to dmolrubby lamaen,hi dmolrub
I don't seem to be able to get it working. I'm on a new Mac pro D500, 10.9.5, and I followed your sep by step guide, but it only seems to create a text edit file in System/Library/Displays/Overrides/DisplayVendorID-4c2d/ which is called the correct name, but with the extension ".saved" (DisplayProductID-b80.save) and no changes to my monitor (samsung). Any ideas?
Rasmus
-
Oct 3, 2014 8:58 AM in response to PB_NBby deanpalmer,Does anyone know if it is possible to drive two of these displays at 60hz under any circumstance?
-
Oct 3, 2014 9:05 AM in response to deanpalmerby seminolefans,Yes, as long as you have a 2013 Mac Pro with the lowest quality video cards (D300s) and a mini-diplayport to display port 1.2 adapter for each monitor, you can drive at least two (and if you believe Apple's claims 3).
If you have either of the two better video cards (D500s or D700s), you can display at 60hz as well, but Apple has totally failed to produce a functional driver that won't produce the "tearing effect" on the right side of 4k monitors.