5k TBD with built in gpu

[wesk702]

If Apple released a 5k TBD monitor, would it be possible to have all the necessary hardware in the monitor? Kinda like the imac but without the imac? Would a TB 2 then suffice?

Like a monitor with built in gpu?

If so and it was like a stripped down imac, then I could realistically see a 5kTBD in the 1999 price range.

 

[isomorphic]

External GPU or not, you will be limited by TB2's bandwidth. I'm not really sure what the typical bandwidth is to a GPU for a typical GPU-heavy application (game). But you won't be able to push all 5K pixels at a decent refresh rate.

On the other hand, with a GPU on the monitor you can compress things over the Thunderbolt bus (if you use a non-standard protocol). E.g., you could send H264/265 out for the monitor itself to decode, thus pushing the full 5K at a decent refresh rate.

I'm not sure the combined 5K panel plus GPU makes any sense for Apple, however, given that likely buyers of such an expensive monitor would be Mac Pro users... who already have paid for two GPUs in their computer.

 

[MCAsan]

They would have more buyers for a 4K ATD Mark II that can use TB2 from newer MP, MBP, and Mac Mini machines.

 

[bennibeef]

They should just release a 4k display at 24 inch and I would be happy

 

[wwohl]

Thunderbolt can support PCIE right? Couldn't a TB to PCI converter house a external graphics card and support any resolution the graphics card could?

OWC makes a PCIe Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis thats ridicuously expensive. But couldn't something like that power and support a graphics card that then hooks to an external monitor? Im not sure what the PCIE x8 restrictions would be

Either way, if TB2 could provide the communication to the card and the monitor/card combo provided power....????

Either way, its kinda silly and likely way over priced to do. You're talking about a 1500 monitor

Everyone is so hyped about the 5k display when 4k is more than enough and becoming affordable already

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Very possible. Thunderbolt 2 has bandwidth equal to a PCIe 1.0 x8 slot. That is more than enough for the raw data that would be needed to feed the video chip, if it were a sufficiently powered one. (Say the Radeon R9 M290X in the stock 5K iMac.) The host system doesn't need to send full 5K *VIDEO* across the link, just the raw data needed to RENDER the video, which isn't the same.

That would allow even the lowly Mac Mini to all of a sudden have decent gaming at less-than-full resolutions. Obviously since a full computer fits in the iMac chassis, fitting just a Thunderbolt controller and a GPU would be simple by comparison - could likely do away with the "chin" and have it look like the current Thunderbolt Display - although even make it thinner!

But...

DisplayPort 1.3 is right around the corner, and sticking a GPU in the display is expensive. While I would love to see an embedded-GPU 5K display, I doubt we will see it. I am nearly certain Apple will wait for DP1.3 and come out with a "native" 5K display.

 

[MCAsan]

How do you sell that expensive display to someone who does not want a dedicated GPU or who already has one in their computer?

I just don't see the business caae for such a product.