Mac Mini Mid 2011 4k definitive answer!

I have been searching for a way to get 4k on my LG TV with my mac mini mid 2011. None of the threads I read came to a full conclusion / solution and are closed. I think things have improved too with the active mini dp to hdmi adapter.

There is no 4k on HDMI out, period. 4K on mini Display Port DOES work with an adapter. There are many adapters that claim they can do it but they don't. On Amazon there are updated ones that say they do when they don't. Not for 2011 model anyway. These are passive ones and they do not work. The new resolutions do not appear.

However active ones are now available. I have tested only one and that is by plugable and it worked showing a number of higher resolutions up to and including 4k. There are a few active ones and reports seem +ve. Went into display properties on mac mini and clicked on LG's native res and bingo. All good.

The negatives are - icons and top menu task bar is very small. Browsers and dock can be adjusted. On 4k full screen I get lip sync issues with sky go player and you can see with screen saver that it is needing to work hard. I will see if any settings or drivers can improve things but I think it simply lacking grunt. I have the AMD 6650 HD graphics card mac with better cpu.

I have not put it through my hdmi switch yet but I will need an upgrade to 4k there too. So yes it works and maybe good for 4k browsing, say, but video (720p) upscaled to 4k is very average and lipsync arises which could be adjusted out possibly on tv or amp. Audio is sent down dp to hdmi (tested), multichannel too (not tested).

Does anyone have any ideas to improve 4k experience possibly? I read someone allocated more memory to graphics as card shares main memory. I would like my old htpc to move to 4k but it seem just a little under-powered graphically. Just tested Kodi 4k movie off HDD and it looked good with no sync error. Sky Player not good.

Hope it helps. Having seen Kodi now I may tinker longer. Anyway there seem like there may still life in the old mini. All the best.