LG 31MU97 4K Display not showing 4K on MacPro

Over in theMacRumors forum, there's some posts from the author of SwitchResX that document how to get 4096x2160 @ 50Hz with this monitor on an nMP. Doesn't seem possible to get 60Hz yet for some reason.

If you have been following the MacRumors form, then you know that Apple needs to update its AMD drivers to fully support this display on the nMP running OS-X. The display is fully supported for Windows using the new Window drivers provided by LG - even on the nMP running Windows. (I'm not a Windows fan!). Unfortunately, Apple does not have a good track record on providing up to date graphics drivers. I learned this the hard way with my Quad-G5 PowerPC. I was hoping that Apple would provide better support for the nMP when I brought mine. I should have known better :-(

HEY APPLE - WAKE UP!!!!

Have you tried RDM?

http://www.zdnet.com/heres-what-the-retina-macbook-pros-secret-3840-x-2160-resol ution-looks-like-7000022762/

Got mine today. Just worked out of the box :-))

40096 x 2160

Mac OS 10.10.1

MacPro Late 2013

AMD FirePro D300 2048 MB

50Hz or 60Hz?

After reading all this, I decided to go for the LG 31MU97 and am happy with the purchase. Here is my configuration:

MacPro (Late 2013)

Yosemite 10.10.1

AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB

DVIGear Display Port 24AWG DisplayPort to DisplayPort Copper Cable, 3.3 ft

Cable Matters MiniDisplay Port (Thunderbolt compatible) to DisplayPort male to female adapter - 4K resolution

SwitchResX 4.5.0

With this setup, I got the following available recommended (in Bold font) resolutions in the menubar SwitchRes dropdown list:

4096 x 2160 at 50 hz Pal/17:9

3840 x 2160 at 60 hz NTSC/16:9

2048 x 1080 at 50 hz Pal/HiDPI/17:9

(and many other resolutions in both bold and plan formats)

However, for routine work, the first two resolutions yield too small type, while the 2048 x 1080 is too large. Although it was not a "bold" resolution, I find the available 2560 x 1350 at 50 hz Pal/HiDPI/17:9 resolution to be sharp and easy to read.

When I am using Aperture for photographic editing, then the 4096 x 2160 resolution is outstanding for detail. If you see grain in the photo it is from the camera sensor, not the display!

Some have commented on edge bleed of light with a black desktop. When sitting centered and with the plane of the monitor perpendicular to the line of sight, there is minimal bleed at the lower corners. I found that there was less bled than on my Apple 27" Thunderbolt display. With any lights on in the room, I don't see the bleed on either screen.

I have not yet gotten the included TrueColorPro software to work. It complains about not having a USB connection - need to research this.

Perhaps Apple will supply updated drivers/firmware for the AMD card, but I don't feel I am missing much thanks to SwitchResX and possibly the latest Yosemite update.

I did not use the Apple Preferences Monitor pane to set this up. However, at the 2560 x 1350 setting ,it shows "Scaled" and highlights the middle resolution. If I change to "Best for Display" SwitchRes reports that it is set at 4096 x 2160 at 50 hz Pal/17:9. If I select Show Low Resolution modes and hold down the Option key while clicking on the "Scaled" button, I get a longer list of resolutions, with all the ones I prefer shown, as well as others. So, SwitchResX does not appear to be necessary, though there are additional resolutions available that are not shown in the Monitor Preferences Pane and I like having all resolutions available from the SwitchResX MenuBar dropdown menu.

Finally, I swapped out the DVIGear and Cable Matters cable/adapter combo and replaced it with the included LG DisplayPort to Thunderbolt cable tagged "Real 4K x 2K and found that I still had all the above resolutions and all the others reported by SwitchResX.

I didn't notice any changes on the screen when switching between "Wide" "Original" and "1:1" in the LG Monitor "Easy Control" settings. Maybe rebooting is required, but I haven't tried this yet.

Hope this is helpful to others researching monitors for the Mac.

did you just connect monitor after out of box?

is there are any other utility like switch res X?

hmm strange.. why mine shows only 3840 resolution.

right out of the box

no switchRes or other

However I am not shure whether I did set DisplayPort to 1.2 on the monitor manually or if it was already set.

Nice monitor!

Seams a bit slow (Needs more time than my previous monitors to switch from one open window to an other one or to open a dropdown menu or the dock) but maybe that's just a feeling?

thanks reply

Are you sure it's 4096 x 2160?

in my case it's only 3840 x 2160 is best resolution.

i can't find the way to set 4096 at any try.

As a follow-up to my post, I am finding that the LG 31MU97 appears to be slowing down initialization of Aperture. It takes about a minute after starting Aperture before the program is ready to view photos, while with the Apple 27" Thunderbolt display, it takes about 5 seconds. I tried repairing and rebuilding the Aperture database, but no improvement. I suspect that if there was some way to force replacement of the thumbnails with ones specifically for the new display that this problem might be solved, but for now, it might be that the AMD 700 driver from Apple is not optimal for the LG display. It sure would be nice if LG or Apple would provide definitive answers.

4096 x 2160

10.10.1

Thanks for confirm...

anyway, i can't set 4096 yet. can't sure what's wrong with my product.