Dell P2715Q and P2415Q 4K IPS Displays

[pastrychef]

This "burn in" or "image persistence" affects many (all?) IPS panels. You should be able to find ways to fix it with a simple Google search. I have personally fixed this issue on an old 30" monitor in the past by playing a video that cycles through a bunch of colors in full screen overnight.

 

[RaduD]

Hi,

I just got my Dell P2715Q, but it doesn't work in 60hz, only 30hz. I'm using it with my Late 2013 iMac (the one with the GeForce 780M card) - the Apple website (and support by chat) says it should work. I have the latest OS X and I'm using the provided mDP > DP cable. MST is off. Any idea?

Thanks!

 

[Nueve]

This "burn in" or "image persistence" affects many (all?) IPS panels. You should be able to find ways to fix it with a simple Google search. I have personally fixed this issue on an old 30" monitor in the past by playing a video that cycles through a bunch of colors in full screen overnight.

The monitor was faulty, I tried a few fixes to no avail. They actually shipped me a replacement overnight. The thing is the one that they sent me has 3 dead pixels and awful light bleed. ... just my luck

 

[pastrychef]

The image you posted was a classic example of image retention. The monitor wasn't faulty. As I said, I've had it happen to me on an old 30" IPS panel and I fixed it. Now, I have my screen saver set extremely aggressively to prevent this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_persistence

http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/image-sticking.html

 

[Nueve]

The image you posted was a classic example of image retention. The monitor wasn't faulty. As I said, I've had it happen to me on an old 30" IPS panel and I fixed it. Now, I have my screen saver set extremely aggressively to prevent this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_persistence

http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/image-sticking.html

I went through all that bullsht with Dell, come to find out that it's the Macbook. I've been using it with an external monitor since i bought it and I didn't notice any issues then I checked for light bleed and dead pixels. I'm out of warranty too, it's GG for me. Thanks for the info though! I'll try it to see if it helps.

 

[zpro]

I'm running the 2415Q @ 52Hz on El Capitan (Late 2013 13" MBP). You need to turn off System Integrity Protection to save custom resolutions.

http://cl.ly/141B0809291V

Could you provide further details of your custom resolution configuration (by double clicking on it?)?

Also, I am sure this is an unusual problem, but I have been using my late 2013 13" rMBP since the release of the P2715Q EVERY SINGLE day with essentially zero problems. The whole time I have been using a config I found on this forum topic, I believe, and copied every entry, it was basically 4k at ~51.7Hz.

My problem now is that, close to 3 weeks after upgrading to El Capitan, I am having issues. For nearly 3 weeks I used El Capitan with the same configuration flawlessly. I noticed that every now and then I would get a few horizontal lines here and there, and a wiggle of the display port cable would fix it (I figured the cable was dying and so just told myself I should buy a new one soon...). Now I can no longer get an image to post as of this morning using that config. I was sure the cable was dead, but strangely the display works fine using a config I made of 4k at 40Hz, the second I go beyond 40Hz (41Hz for example) the display no longer posts.

Does anyone have any idea what might cause this? Could it still be the cable? Software of some kind? Damaged port on pc or display?

If it does post at 4k 40Hz perfectly, does that completely eliminate the possibility of it being the cable or any hardware?

I use this setup every day for work and 40Hz is just not good enough, 52Hz was fine.

I would really appreciate any ideas, thanks!

 

[BenTrovato]

I still don't understand how you guys use 52Hz on El Cap. On Yosemite it worked great but not on El Cap. I have tried a late 2013 and mid 2014 rMBP configured them both for 52Hz and they both perform exactly the same as 30Hz. I don't notice any difference.

 

[zpro]

I was using a switchresx configuration as mentioned in my previous post that I found on a forum post, see picture, maybe try it and let us know if it works out... I haven't tried this with hdmi though, only displayport through the thunderbolt port. There was an immediately noticeable difference between the 40Hz I am stuck with now and the 52Hz I was using for nearly three weeks without any issues. Feels like slow motion...

If anyone has any ideas feel free to chime in, I have a feeling this is a software issue since it was working for almost 3 weeks at 4k 51.7Hz.

Edit: Just remembered that someone, who seemed quite knowledgeable to me at the time, mentioned that there is a hardware limitation to the throughput of the 13" rMBP that have the same hardware as my late 2013, which is at a pixel clock of 450MHz, as can be seen by my custom config, an effort must be made to satisfy this limit otherwise the display will not post. This explains why our machines cannot go beyond ~52Hz... The 15" does not have this limitation, as most seem to be aware of here. I still have no clue why this is no longer working for me.

 

[tomislavf]

Could you provide further details of your custom resolution configuration (by double clicking on it?)?

Also, I am sure this is an unusual problem, but I have been using my late 2013 13" rMBP since the release of the P2715Q EVERY SINGLE day with essentially zero problems. The whole time I have been using a config I found on this forum topic, I believe, and copied every entry, it was basically 4k at ~51.7Hz.

My problem now is that, close to 3 weeks after upgrading to El Capitan, I am having issues. For nearly 3 weeks I used El Capitan with the same configuration flawlessly. I noticed that every now and then I would get a few horizontal lines here and there, and a wiggle of the display port cable would fix it (I figured the cable was dying and so just told myself I should buy a new one soon...). Now I can no longer get an image to post as of this morning using that config. I was sure the cable was dead, but strangely the display works fine using a config I made of 4k at 40Hz, the second I go beyond 40Hz (41Hz for example) the display no longer posts.

Does anyone have any idea what might cause this? Could it still be the cable? Software of some kind? Damaged port on pc or display?

If it does post at 4k 40Hz perfectly, does that completely eliminate the possibility of it being the cable or any hardware?

I use this setup every day for work and 40Hz is just not good enough, 52Hz was fine.

I would really appreciate any ideas, thanks!

Sure, here you go: http://cl.ly/3A3T102W3E3A

Not sure about the hardware problems you're having tough. The only "artifact" I have at 52Hz is in Safari, when playing videos it will sometimes be distorted for a few seconds.

 

[zpro]

EDIT: Nevermind, switchresx was staying at 40Hz even though I was switching it to 51,11Hz (the configuration you posted...)

Upon further trial I discovered mine does not post with your exact configuration. I have exactly the same laptop as you do. Same gpu, same ram, same year, 13".

The best I can get is 4k or 1080Hidpi @ 40Hz using the simplified settings (CVT-RB) function in switchresx. Any higher Hz and it is a no go.

I can also get 3008x1692 @ 60Hz.

Totally at a dead end here. If anyone has any advice please do comment! I have tried both ports as well.

 

[zpro]

Would changing the cable be a waste of time? Anyone ever have an issue like this one?

 

[tomislavf]

I don't know. I used the same setup for 10.10 and 10.11 and it always worked fine. I use the miniDP to DP cable that came with the monitor. Also, make sure that MST is OFF in the monitor settings

This is my configuration:
http://cl.ly/431d2n2j3O1w
http://cl.ly/2f2E1m1e0S3B
[doublepost=1463681297][/doublepost]One thing that you could try, and I don't know if this would have any effect on our hardware, is the "pixel clock patch".

https://github.com/Floris497/mac-pixel-clock-patch-V2

I don't think our Macbook can get 60Hz, but it might help you get 52Hz more easily. Never tried it tough.

 

[zpro]

Will look into it, thanks.

i think it is the cable, because like you, I used my ~52Hz config even yesterday in El Capitan! and before that I used it in yosemite for nearly one year without issues.

Only today the wiggling around the cable method has not been successful in producing an image on screen. Yesterday it worked, which hints at excessive wear over time and possible cable failure.

What I cannot believe though is that a cable that is damaged could display 4k @ 40Hz perfectly fine, but not at 52Hz. This is mindblowing, albeit I know very little about how displayport communicates...

Strange.

 

[tomislavf]

Will look into it, thanks.

i think it is the cable, because like you, I used my ~52Hz config even yesterday in El Capitan! and before that I used it in yosemite for nearly one year without issues.

Only today the wiggling around the cable method has not been successful in producing an image on screen. Yesterday it worked, which hints at excessive wear over time and possible cable failure.

What I cannot believe though is that a cable that is damaged could display 4k @ 40Hz perfectly fine, but not at 52Hz. This is mindblowing, albeit I know very little about how displayport communicates...

Strange.

DisplayPort uses "lanes", up to 4. The number determines the available bandwidth, i.e. the refresh rate. So check the cable connectors if anything is bent or blocked.

 

[dimmer]

With regards to my 2014 MBPr 15" i7 running both monitors I can also confirm that they can run the internal display at the maximum resolution including both external displays at full resolution 60Hz absolutely fine!

I have a late 2014 MBP 15" and just wanted to say thanks to @nry0 for this post. I got the same monitors and just wanted to confirm that they both work at 4k, 60hz in addition to my MBP display at full retina resolution. w00t.

 

[cmm]

Second display arrived today, spent a good few minutes checking both and they seem to be dead pixel free!

With regards to my 2014 MBPr 15" i7 running both monitors I can also confirm that they can run the internal display at the maximum resolution including both external displays at full resolution 60Hz absolutely fine!

Now debating if I should order a TB2 PCIe enclosure, I have a bad feeling with this introduced into the mix that both displays won't work at 60Hz!

Hi thanks for posting this information. Now that you've used it for while have you had any issues with either monitor at any HiDPi setting? Finally, did you end up getting a TB2 PCIe enclosure? I assume you put HDD's in there? How was the performance? Any issues? If anybody else has any info on this I'd be grateful...thanks!

 

[jimmyco2008]

Is anyone else having 'burn in' issues with the P2715Q?

I had seen my dock burned-in on my P2415Q, but it went away, like I can't see it anymore. Weird. I thought it was burn-in at first, but the Calendar app "burn-in" was showing that day's date, clearly too, not like there was part of another number or something. So I'm pretty sure it wasn't burn-in, but I don't know what it was.

 

[Nailgun]

Hello.
I'm thinking of buying the Dell 24 or 27 inch 4k UHD display for my mid-2014 retina Macbook Pro.
I searched around in this thread and didn't quite come up with the information I'm looking for, so I thought I would post. My apologies if the answer is somewhere out there in the 60-page thread.
My laptop has the IrisPro graphics, not the more expensive, stand-alone GPU. I'm looking to drive only one external monitor, not two, and it looks, according to Apple anyway, like my machine will drive either monitor just fine.
My question has to do with which size is more usable at the UHD resolution. It seems like I could either use HiDPI mode or native resolution for both panels. HighDPI, obviously, delivers greater sharpness at a 1080P resolution. But I would get so much more screen real estate running at native resolution.
Usually when you run at native, you end up with very tiny icons and text.
So, here's my question: Is the 27-inch panel large enough to render the UI at a usable size, or will most people need to use HiDPI to see what they're doing?
If I'm probably going to have to run HiDPI on either panel, then I'm not sure there's much advantage to the 27 inch.

 

[monstruo]

I run my 27" at HighDPI. It serves me well for all my graphic design and CAM works.

The screen real estate on HighDPI 27" should be sufficient for most pro users. Aside, you'll have your rMBP serving as a secondary screen – adding more screen space.

 

[arthurW]

Second display arrived today, spent a good few minutes checking both and they seem to be dead pixel free!

With regards to my 2014 MBPr 15" i7 running both monitors I can also confirm that they can run the internal display at the maximum resolution including both external displays at full resolution 60Hz absolutely fine!

Now debating if I should order a TB2 PCIe enclosure, I have a bad feeling with this introduced into the mix that both displays won't work at 60Hz!

 

[zpro]

DisplayPort uses "lanes", up to 4. The number determines the available bandwidth, i.e. the refresh rate. So check the cable connectors if anything is bent or blocked.

I know this was a while ago, but I got a brand new cable and the monitor now works perfectly, so it was indeed the cable.

Unfortunately I now have an extremely discouraging new problem: wifi no longer works when thunderbolt is connected.

It is literally like on/off: I plug in the display and try to load a webpage, it hangs. The exact moment i unplug the thunderbolt cable from the macbook, page is loaded at blazing speed.

Any ideas? Seems to be a recurring problem, but I cannot believe I have this now and have never had it before.

 

[hfg]

A PRAM reset is always worth a shot ... SMC too ...

 

[zpro]

Already tried that and it did not help unfortunately... Thanks though, I truly appreciate the feedback. I am all ears to any other ideas!

 

[Nailgun]

Quick question about the P2715Q: Has anyone found a safe way to attach a 15-inch macbook pro to the back of the monitor's stand? I'd like to hide all of the cabling, and I'll be operating in clamshell mode.

 

[kaans]

Hi everyone,

I made a most shocking discovery today while working on a 2d pixel mmorpg, one problem I've been hunting since inception was vertical tearing during movement (the map is tiled with 32x32 repeating images) - you can basically see 200px by 200px columns appear on the screen

At first I thought it was an issue with the game, I've been trying various things on and off to solve the issue (for ~2 weeks)

Today, I discovered that this doesn't happen on the native macbook monitor, which lead me to this discovery, that the monitor's dynamic contrast, is, in my opinion, very deeply flawed

The issue can also be described by "ghosting", but it's something else, the screen is probably dynamically contrasted in 200px chunks or sth, which is bizarre

Anyway, one dirty solution is to set Sharpness to 60, which prevents the issue, but makes the monitor unusable

For some weird reason I can't disable Dynamic Contrast, it's locked, any ideas/thought on the issue?

Edit: I have to say I hate this monitor beyond imagination right now, apart from the awesome coating, it's pure ****, I've tried various Modes, disables DC on Game mode, yet apart from setting the Sharpness to 60, the tearing problem is uncurable - I even endured the text ghosting for years, as I enjoyed the coating, yet this flickering issue is unbearable

Edit 2: Just talked to Dell, they are going to send a replacement, I'm really afraid the issue will be chronic ... I can't do the work I do with this issue