5120x1440 60Hz with 499p9h

[Nathan-ma]

Hello, first Post here!

So I recently got myself a 499p9 form philips, native resolution of 5120x1440 at 60hz.
I also bought SwitchResX and I own a macbook pro 16 inch 2019 (with AMD graphics).

My problem is, it's very hard to set the proper resolution, sometimes I set things up to 60hz, but most of the time I'm stuck with 30Hz.

Does anyone has a valid custom settings for SwitchResX to run on 60hz?

The reason I end up losing the settings for the 60hz is simple : I don't fully understand SwitchResX yet.

So out of pure luck, try and error and loads and loads of restarts I end up enabling it.

Thank you very much for your time and pardon my bad english!

 

[GiantKiwi]

Hello, first Post here!

So I recently got myself a 499p9 form philips, native resolution of 5120x1440 at 60hz.
I also bought SwitchResX and I own a macbook pro 16 inch 2019 (with AMD graphics).

My problem is, it's very hard to set the proper resolution, sometimes I set things up to 60hz, but most of the time I'm stuck with 30Hz.

Does anyone has a valid custom settings for SwitchResX to run on 60hz?

The reason I end up losing the settings for the 60hz is simple : I don't fully understand SwitchResX yet.

So out of pure luck, try and error and loads and loads of restarts I end up enabling it.

Thank you very much for your time and pardon my bad english!

What input are you connecting to on the monitor itself? You need to be using the DisplayPort to get 5K2K at 60Hz+. USB-C Gen 3.2 on the monitor is not thunderbolt 3, and will only natively support a maximum of 4K at 60Hz.

 

[Nathan-ma]

I got it working, the problem was the USB version settings on the monitor (the ones used by the KVM).

I can replicate the issue now :

When in USB 3.0, the native resolution (5120x1440) when connected over USB-C to a Macbook 16 inch is limited to 30Hz.

When in USB 2.0, the native resolution can go up too 60Hz.

I can now change the USB settings and see the difference.

@GiantKiwi Thank you for your quick answer ! I think I got it working again and the reason why.

 

[joevt]

I got it working, the problem was the USB version settings on the monitor (the ones used by the KVM).

I can replicate the issue now :

When in USB 3.0, the native resolution (5120x1440) when connected over USB-C to a Macbook 16 inch is limited to 30Hz.

When in USB 2.0, the native resolution can go up too 60Hz.

I can now change the USB settings and see the difference.

@GiantKiwi Thank you for your quick answer ! I think I got it working again and the reason why.

What KVM? The setting is in the monitor or in the KVM?

For 5120x1440 60Hz you need 4 lanes of DisplayPort 1.2. With a USB-C (non-Thunderbolt) connection, this means it must use a USB 2.0 only connection. If it uses a USB 3.x connection then there are only two lanes of DisplayPort remaining, which means you'll be limited to 30Hz.

 

[Nathan-ma]

@joevt Yes, I guess you are right!

The monitor has a KVM on it, and you can select a USB version to run with .

I just change it back to 2.0 and now it is woking up to 70Hz (I never tried 70Hz but SwitchResX shows me this option now)

So I guess problem fixed

 

[joevt]

@joevt Yes, I guess you are right!

The monitor has a KVM on it, and you can select a USB version to run with .

I just change it back to 2.0 and now it is woking up to 70Hz (I never tried 70Hz but SwitchResX shows me this option now)

So I guess problem fixed

Oh, I see the KVM mentioned at https://www.philips.ca/c-p/499P9H_27/brilliance-329-superwide-curved-lcd-display
The user manual at https://www.philips.ca/c-p/499P9H_27/brilliance-329-superwide-curved-lcd-display/support explains it in more detail - one computer is connected via the display's USB-C port and the second computer is connected via the display's USB Type B.
The USB 2.0 switch is discussed in section 2 "Setting up the monitor" point 2 "Operating the display" part 7 "Resolution notification" on page 13.

 

[jonibay]

Hi @Nathan-ma,

After trying a dozen of different settings and reading threads for three days, I'm still struggling to find the right parameters for SwitchResX

FYI: I've a MacBook Pro 2016, 4x USB-C trying to connect via USB-C to the Philips screen or USB-C to DisplayPort. Neither works :-(

Would you be so kind to send a screenshot of your ScreenResX Settings or anything else you've done to get 5120x1440 px out of the Mac?

All the best, Jonas

 

[joevt]

Hi @Nathan-ma,

After trying a dozen of different settings and reading threads for three days, I'm still struggling to find the right parameters for SwitchResX

FYI: I've a MacBook Pro 2016, 4x USB-C trying to connect via USB-C to the Philips screen or USB-C to DisplayPort. Neither works :-(

Would you be so kind to send a screenshot of your ScreenResX Settings or anything else you've done to get 5120x1440 px out of the Mac?

What GPU do you have?
Post results of AGDCDiagnose command.
Show screen shot of your SwitchResX settings.

 

[jonibay]

What GPU do you have?
Post results of AGDCDiagnose command.
Show screen shot of your SwitchResX settings.

I've an Intel Iris Graphics 550. AGDCDiagnose and SwitchResX is attached.

Thanks!

 

[joevt]

I've an Intel Iris Graphics 550. AGDCDiagnose and SwitchResX is attached.

Your AGDCDiagnose only shows info for the internal display - the external display appears to not be attached.

I don't think it matters anyway: Intel Iris Graphics 550 is from SkyLake. Apple enabled > 4096 width for Intel DisplayPort 1.2 graphics (pre-Ice Lake) only for Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/intel-graphics-and-5120x1440-testing-in-big-sur.2244174/

 

[jonibay]

I can't figure out where to find my internal or external display in the AGDCDiagnose ... but I've closed my MacBook and connected it to the 499P9H via USB-C to use only the external screen and added the file again.
Does DP 1.2 mean it's DisplayPort 1.2? According to Wikipedia it supports only 3840 x 2160 / 60 Hz which even confuses me more since Apple writes on their website (see here) this MacBook is able to serve 5120-by-2880 resolution

 

[joevt]

I can't figure out where to find my internal or external display in the AGDCDiagnose ... but I've closed my MacBook and connected it to the 499P9H via USB-C to use only the external screen and added the file again.

The first AGDCDiagnose appears to only have an internal display connected (port 1)
The 2nd AGDCDiagnose shows both displays (port 1 for internal and port 2 for external) but I guess when the MacBook is closed, it disconnects the internal display or disables it such that its DPCD DisplayPort registers (connection status, etc.) cannot be read but its EDID can be read.

Does DP 1.2 mean it's DisplayPort 1.2?

Yes, the display is DisplayPort 1.2. The max link rate is four lanes of HBR2.
Actually, Reg: 002200 says it is a DisplayPort 1.4 display but the link rate is still limited to HBR2 (Reg 002201). But that link rate may have been a modification made by the Thunderbolt controller (your MacBook Pro is old and therefore has Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt controller which is limited to HBR2).

According to Wikipedia it supports only 3840 x 2160 / 60 Hz which even confuses me more since Apple writes on their website (see here) this MacBook is able to serve 5120-by-2880 resolution

4K60 is actually fewer pixels than 5120x1440 60Hz so DisplayPort 1.2 is sufficient. The problem is that Apple does not allow displays with width > 4096 pixels on SkyLake GPU. This is an Apple driver problem that they only fixed in Big Sur for Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake GPUs. Your MacBook Pro can connect displays greater than 4096 in width if it is running Linux or Windows. For macOS, it can connect displays that are 5K only if the display is tiled (uses two separate DisplayPort connections). For example, the LG UltraFine 5K takes two DisplayPort 1.2 connections over Thunderbolt, each 2560x2880 pixels. With a single DisplayPort 1.2 connection, the LG UltraFine 5K is limited to 4K60 or 5K39. Apple calls the LG UltraFine 5K display "dual-link SST" https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210205

The LG 5K2K display can take two DisplayPort connections over Thunderbolt, each 2560x2160. It also has support for a single DisplayPort 1.4 connection for the same resolution for GPUs that are not limited to DisplayPort 1.2. The LG UltraFine 5K does not have that feature.

Your 5K1440p60 display doesn't have a tiled mode.

If you want to connect a 5K display, then you need to get a tiled display (dual link SST DisplayPort 1.2 max), or a MacBook Pro with Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, Ice Lake, AMD, or Apple Silicon graphics, or you need an eGPU
https://egpu.io
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208544 (hasn't been updated to mention the Sonnet Breakaway Puck 5500 XT/5700)

 

[jonibay]

Thanks for your explanation – appreciate it!

 

[wermesz]

@joevt Yes, I guess you are right!

The monitor has a KVM on it, and you can select a USB version to run with .

I just change it back to 2.0 and now it is woking up to 70Hz (I never tried 70Hz but SwitchResX shows me this option now)

So I guess problem fixed

Hi,
I have singed up for this forum only to tell you "thank you" for this answer

 

[achaheen]

Thank you so much for this information. I'm using MacBook Pro 16 2019 Model with AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB. After using SwitchResX I can switch to 5K@70Hz but it's too small for my eyes, I found 3840x1080@70Hz is the best scale for my eyes but I feel my monitor can give more sharpness. This is the SwitchResX setting I did, is that one fine ? I also tried to select/unselect the positive Sync check boxes but nothing changed.
Do you have any idea what I need to modify ? thanks

 

[joevt]

Thank you so much for this information. I'm using MacBook Pro 16 2019 Model with AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 4 GB. After using SwitchResX I can switch to 5K@70Hz but it's too small for my eyes, I found 3840x1080@70Hz is the best scale for my eyes but I feel my monitor can give more sharpness. This is the SwitchResX setting I did, is that one fine ? I also tried to select/unselect the positive Sync check boxes but nothing changed.
Do you have any idea what I need to modify ? thanks

You should create a 7680x2160 scaled mode in SwitchResX, so that macOS will create a 3840x1080 HiDPI mode which will scale 7680x2160 down to 5120x1440.

 

[achaheen]

You should create a 7680x2160 scaled mode in SwitchResX, so that macOS will create a 3840x1080 HiDPI mode which will scale 7680x2160 down to 5120x1440.

I already tried that but it doesn't make any difference.
I have changed to 3200x900@70Hz and it's better and I can accept it as better and more clear resolution.

 

[joevt]

I already tried that but it doesn't make any difference.

What does "not make any difference" mean? Does the 7680x2160 mode get accepted by macOS or not?

I have changed to 3200x900@70Hz and it's better and I can accept it as better and more clear resolution.

Is that 3200x900 HiDPI? If it were, then it would be using a 6400x1800 scaled mode. What is the largest scaled mode you can make?
5120x1440 is a 32x9 aspect ratio, therefore you should try scaled modes by adding 64 to the horizontal and 18 to the vertical.

Here's a list of scaled modes to try where x is incremented by 256:

inc=256; for ((x=5120+inc;x<=5120*2;x+=inc)); do; echo $x x $((x*18/64)); done
5376 x 1512
5632 x 1584
5888 x 1656
6144 x 1728
6400 x 1800
6656 x 1872
6912 x 1944
7168 x 2016
7424 x 2088
7680 x 2160
7936 x 2232
8192 x 2304
8448 x 2376
8704 x 2448
8960 x 2520
9216 x 2592
9472 x 2664
9728 x 2736
9984 x 2808
10240 x 2880

 

[achaheen]

What does "not make any difference" mean? Does the 7680x2160 mode get accepted by macOS or not?

I found that resolution already defined, I also tried to create another one as you advised but it was not accepted and caused the screen to show very small fonts.

 

[joevt]

I found that resolution already defined

If 7680x2160 was defined and usable, then there should have been a 3840x1080 HiDPI mode. Your screenshot shows it.
The 3840x1080 HiDPI mode should be clearer than the 3840x1080 non-HiDPI mode that you were trying to create in #15
Did you try the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode?
Verify that the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode is scaling to 5120x1440 by checking the active pixels when you double click the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode in the Current Resolutions tab of the display in SwitchResX.

I also tried to create another one as you advised but it was not accepted and caused the screen to show very small fonts.

This doesn't make sense. If it was not accepted then no change should happen. Maybe you should describe the change as what mode was selected before and what mode was selected after trying to create a scaled resolution - and be specific about what scaled resolution you were trying to create.

 

[achaheen]

Did you try the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode?

Yes, It's better, I have to select 70Hz frequency from the bottom of the drop down menu because it selects 30Hz by default and that was the problem before.

Frankly, for myself I prefer 3200x900@70Hz with HiDPI because the text is more bigger than 3840, this is more like personal preferences.

Verify that the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode is scaling to 5120x1440 by checking the active pixels when you double click the 3840x1080 HiDPI mode in the Current Resolutions tab of the display in SwitchResX.

That's correct.

I believe the most important configuration was switching USB3 mode to USB2 that one worked like a magic when I did it because after I switch back to USB3 all resolution changes get destroyed.

I also have a MacBook M1 Pro 14" and it automatically selected the right resolution after that USB mode switch even without SwitchResX and that was not happening before.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[joevt]

Frankly, for myself I prefer 3200x900@70Hz with HiDPI because the text is more bigger than 3840, this is more like personal preferences.

Well ok then. I got confused because you said 3840x1080 was the best scale for your eyes.
The 3200x900@70Hz mode should be HiDPI - verify by checking that the active pixels is 5120x1440 and the scaled pixels is 6400x1080.

I have to select 70Hz frequency from the bottom of the drop down menu because it selects 30Hz by default and that was the problem before.

If you don't like the 30Hz option, maybe you can use SwitchResX to disable the timing (use the menu in the Active column).

 

[achaheen]

Well ok then. I got confused because you said 3840x1080 was the best scale for your eyes.
The 3200x900@70Hz mode should be HiDPI - verify by checking that the active pixels is 5120x1440 and the scaled pixels is 6400x1080.

yes I'm only selecting HiDPI resolutions at @70Hz because @30Hz the mouse is lagging.

Now I have disabled non-HiDPI resolutions to make it easier when changing to a different resolution.

Actually I was planning to get rid of this monitor and I already added another monitor setup with Dual LG Ultrafine 4K screens, frankly the image in the LG is more clear and more sharp, it's 4K@60Hz. Now after this modification on the Philips I will use it as a backup monitor since I still see a big difference in the image quality.

 

[kronon]

@joevt Yes, I guess you are right!

The monitor has a KVM on it, and you can select a USB version to run with .

I just change it back to 2.0 and now it is woking up to 70Hz (I never tried 70Hz but SwitchResX shows me this option now)

So I guess problem fixed

There is only one minus. When you switch to USB 2.0, yes the monitor will work at 60 and even 70Hz, but the ethernet connection through the USB C cable slows down, in my case from 950/450 Mbps to 150Mbps simmetric. That is a big mess if I want to use just the only Type C cable hooked up to the monitor.

That is confirmed by Philips manual:

"If your Ethernet connection seems slow, please enter OSD menu and select USB3.0 which supports the LAN speed
to 1G."

BUT

"When you switch to USB3.0, the resolution supported will be 5120 x 1440 @ 30Hz"

Crappy....

 

[JohnnnnyP]

Oh, I see the KVM mentioned at https://www.philips.ca/c-p/499P9H_27/brilliance-329-superwide-curved-lcd-display
The user manual at https://www.philips.ca/c-p/499P9H_27/brilliance-329-superwide-curved-lcd-display/support explains it in more detail - one computer is connected via the display's USB-C port and the second computer is connected via the display's USB Type B.
The USB 2.0 switch is discussed in section 2 "Setting up the monitor" point 2 "Operating the display" part 7 "Resolution notification" on page 13.

Sir it works, and your detailed explanation on where to look for the solution is amazing!!!!! I ❤️ you