Apple Studio Display Windows Compatibility

[seajack0h]

I have read through this entire thread. Thanks all for your pioneering of this effort. My goal is 2x ASD, and my proposed setup is the following. Can anyone speculate as to whether or not this will work before I spend the cash and give it a shot? Thanks!

1. ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 paired with ASUS motherboard with TB4 header.
2. Display 1: GTX 1660Ti (Pascal, DSC support) feeding mDP port 1 on ASUS TB4.
3. Display 2: Intel UHD 770 feeding mDP port 2 on ASUS TB4.
4. 2x Apple TB4 Pro 3m cables from the Asus TB4 to each ASD.

My goal is webcam, audio, and usb hub on one monitor, just video on the second, with both displays running at 5K60 @ 8bpp.

Thanks!

 

[edanuff]

I have read through this entire thread. Thanks all for your pioneering of this effort. My goal is 2x ASD, and my proposed setup is the following. Can anyone speculate as to whether or not this will work before I spend the cash and give it a shot? Thanks!

1. ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 paired with ASUS motherboard with TB4 header.
2. Display 1: GTX 1660Ti (Pascal, DSC support) feeding mDP port 1 on ASUS TB4.
3. Display 2: Intel UHD 770 feeding mDP port 2 on ASUS TB4.
4. 2x Apple TB4 Pro 3m cables from the Asus TB4 to each ASD.

My goal is webcam, audio, and usb hub on one monitor, just video on the second, with both displays running at 5K60 @ 8bpp.

Thanks!

That theoretically should work. The two GPUs must have DSC and it appears they both do. Assuming the drivers work the video should be ok but no guarantees. The question will be how well the video, audio, and hub will work. No idea until you try it. You may have to install the Bootcamp drivers. Also, with when using a Thunderbolt card, not every PC will show the BIOS boot screens and you might only see things once Windows boots. Depends on the motherboard BIOS. Good luck!

 

[joevt]

I had a similar blank screen/flickering issue trying to use the Belkin Charge and Sync Cable with a 1070 Ti. I was able to resolve it by connecting a second monitor to access NVIDIA Control Panel and change the resolution of the Studio Display to 4K to temporarily stabilize the image. Then I changed the Output Dynamic Range to Limited and restored the resolution to 5K. This drives the display at 5K 60hz 6-bit, which is the max possible without DSC. Hope this helps!

Right. Both the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Pro Display XDR support DSC but not HBR3 (the XDR has a dual HBR3 mode but I don't think Windows supports that).
With just HBR2 (with no DSC since Pascal GPUs doesn't support DSC), 5K60 6bpc is possible. You could also try 5K47 8bpc or 5K37 10bpc. The Apple displays don't support 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling.

My goal is 2x ASD, and my proposed setup is the following. Can anyone speculate as to whether or not this will work before I spend the cash and give it a shot? Thanks!

1. ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 paired with ASUS motherboard with TB4 header.
2. Display 1: GTX 1660Ti (Pascal, DSC support) feeding mDP port 1 on ASUS TB4.
3. Display 2: Intel UHD 770 feeding mDP port 2 on ASUS TB4.
4. 2x Apple TB4 Pro 3m cables from the Asus TB4 to each ASD.

My goal is webcam, audio, and usb hub on one monitor, just video on the second, with both displays running at 5K60 @ 8bpp.

When did Pascal get DSC support? I thought DSC began only with RTX.
Actually, GTX 1660 Ti uses NVIDIA TU116 which is Turing, not Pascal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_16_series

 

[IA64]

Right. Both the Apple Studio Display and the Apple Pro Display XDR support DSC but not HBR3 (the XDR has a dual HBR3 mode but I don't think Windows supports that).
With just HBR2, 5K60 6bpc is possible. You could also try 5K47 8bpc or 5K37 10bpc. The Apple displays don't support 4:2:2 or 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling.


When did Pascal get DSC support? I thought DSC began only with RTX.
Actually, GTX 1660 Ti uses NVIDIA TU116 which is Turing, not Pascal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_(microarchitecture)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_16_series

So you mean it's not possible to get 6k60hz HDR on Apple Pro display using thunderbolt connected to the MSI Z790 Ace provided that DP of RTX 4090 is connected to thunderbolt passthrough?

 

[joevt]

So you mean it's not possible to get 6k60hz HDR on Apple Pro display using thunderbolt connected to the MSI Z790 Ace provided that DP of RTX 4090 is connected to thunderbolt passthrough?

That was in response to @cranemaker who is using a 1070 Ti which doesn't support DSC.

An RTX 4090 supports DSC. The Apple Studio Display and Apple Pro Display XDR can use HBR2+DSC to achieve 5K60 or 6K60 10bpc or 12bpc. The XDR supports HDR. HDR requires at least 10bpc so it should work.

 

[offandon]

I'm 95% sure it's your video card. All the cables solution like the Belkin, or display port to USB-C will only work with video cards that support display stream compression (DSC). That's how it works, otherwise you would need 2 display ports from your card to be combined into one thunderbolt port. Played with that myself, too buggy.

Just had to come back here and say thanks(!) again, 'cuz it definitely was the GPU in the end. Switched to a Geforce RTX 3060 (w/ DSC) and boom, worked immediately w/ the Belkin charge and sync cable. Hopefully others can avoid the frustrating path I took to get here. Cheers!

 

[jdoll021]

And - now this doesn’t work. The other day I used the Apple TB4 cable and got repeated success time after time switching laptops. Now…nothing. I’m at my absolute wits end with this. I can’t wrap my head around it. Why would this work over and over and then randomly not work at all with the same equipment???

Part of me things I should just send back the ASD and buy a cheap ass 4K display that’ll work with both…but I do LOVE the ASD and I don’t really wanna do that. I could also just get my company to give me a junk monitor and use that with the PC…but my home office is a basement (secondary) kitchen table and it does have to be taken apart - not daily but regularly when we eat in this area. So not having to move 2 monitors when I have to take down my setup is desirable.

Is there anything else I can try here? What am I missing???? The PC sees the ASD and it shows up in displays…but it’s a blackout. Why is this not working with a TB port on the PC???

Appreciate the knowledge if there’s any to be given here.

EDIT: on the PC, when I look in advanced display settings, it says the internal display is “Connected to Intel(R) UHD Graphicals 630” but when I switch to the Studio Display (which is clearly identified), it says “Connected to NVIDIA Quadra T1000”. Does this provide any helpful info?

@guitarguy19, as it so happens, you have the exact same work laptop as I, HP ZBook 15 G6 with Nvidia Quadro T1000 discrete graphics card. Were you ever able to get the ASD to work? I’m looking to get a 34” 5k2k ultrawide and pair it with an ASD, but if it won’t work with this laptop, I may have to get a 27” 4k instead.

 

[guitarguy19]

@guitarguy19, as it so happens, you have the exact same work laptop as I, HP ZBook 15 G6 with Nvidia Quadro T1000 discrete graphics card. Were you ever able to get the ASD to work? I’m looking to get a 34” 5k2k ultrawide and pair it with an ASD, but if it won’t work with this laptop, I may have to get a 27” 4k instead.

I never got it to work. After trying all these different cables and other crap, it all ended up being a huge waste of time. I plug in other monitors with USBC/TB to the HP and they work flawlessly. But the ASD flickers and just doesn’t seem compatible for whatever reason.

I got some cheapo monitor from my company instead which I have next to the ASD. It looks like everything is under water and it hurts my eyes. Prob 1080? I’ve never bothered to check haha. I’m half tempted to buy a cheaper 4K one in hopes that the quality will be somewhat close to the 5K, but haven’t bothered. Most often I find myself just working off the HP laptop screen. It sucks.

Such a bummer that this solution did not work. I was so excited when I got the ASD to use with both laptops, but it’s just not designed for that and (unless it’s just this laptop) how anyone gets it to work with a PC I’ll never know.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Such a bummer that this solution did not work. I was so excited when I got the ASD to use with both laptops, but it’s just not designed for that and (unless it’s just this laptop) how anyone gets it to work with a PC I’ll never know.

I haven't followed along with all the details, but I use the Apple Studio Display with a variety of Windows computers, laptops and desktops. Some max out at 2560x1440, some at 4K, others can do the full 5K.

 

[guitarguy19]

I haven't followed along with all the details, but I use the Apple Studio Display with a variety of Windows computers, laptops and desktops. Some max out at 2560x1440, some at 4K, others can do the full 5K.

Whelp…it doesn’t work for crap with the laptop I have (details above). The port is clearly identified as TB3…and regardless of equipment used (cable, switch, etc) it flat out does not work. So, that’s my experience.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Whelp…it doesn’t work for crap with the laptop I have (details above). The port is clearly identified as TB3…and regardless of equipment used (cable, switch, etc) it flat out does not work. So, that’s my experience.

If I had to guess... I would say the Quadro T1000 isn't able to tunnel DisplayPort over USB-C, via the TB3 output. Not all GPUs or integrated graphics support this. Thunderbolt support by itself doesn't mean this function works, often times you have to 'manually inject' the DisplayPort stream back into the TB3 protocol. Can't really do that with a laptop, but I do it with desktops.

I do know Turing desktop GPUs can support this, see the RTX-2080 Super with a USB-C output. But laptop Turing cards are a different beast.

 

[guitarguy19]

If I had to guess... I would say the Quadro T1000 isn't able to tunnel DisplayPort over USB-C, via the TB3 output. Not all GPUs or integrated graphics support this. Thunderbolt support by itself doesn't mean this function works, often times you have to 'manually inject' the DisplayPort stream back into the TB3 protocol. Can't really do that with a laptop, but I do it with desktops.

I do know Turing desktop GPUs can support this, see the RTX-2080 Super with a USB-C output. But laptop Turing cards are a different beast.

So, then when I plug in another monitor to that same TB port and it works fine, it’s not having to use DisplayPort to drive the display? It must not, or the functionality to use the ASD must be different somehow, because other monitors seems to work fine.

 

[BeatCrazy]

So, then when I plug in another monitor to that same TB port and it works fine, it’s not having to use DisplayPort to drive the display? It must not, or the functionality to use the ASD must be different somehow, because other monitors seems to work fine.

Yeah that's weird.

 

[rai_k]

'

Whelp…it doesn’t work for crap with the laptop I have (details above). The port is clearly identified as TB3…and regardless of equipment used (cable, switch, etc) it flat out does not work. So, that’s my experience.

newbie chipping in here. first of all, thanks all the valuable information here.
I would like to add my own experience to the pool.

Running an ASD from my Lenovo Thinkpad P1 Gen3, which also uses the nVidia quadro T1000 max-q GPU. I updated nVidia drivers to 527.27 (latest as of Dec. 18th) and ASD firmware from friend's macbbook to 15.5 (neither update made an actual difference).

Here's what works: 4k@60Hz, Sound, USB (haven't checked usb data rate nor mic and cam), Brightness control via bootcamp control panel (installed with brigadier).

I noticed that in order to select 4k resolution, which reliably works, it is not sufficient to select it from the windows display settings, neither from the nvidia control panel - in both cases it occasionally failed to actually put the ASD into 4k resolution, even though it was selected.

The only thing that repeatably worked was to go to through Settings>System>Display>Advanced display>Display adaptor properties for display X > list all modes, and from there select 3840 by 2160 @ 60Hz.

So far so not great, because I still haven't managed to squeeze out 5k from this combo, which according to all the specs and requirements, should definitely work (displayport 1.4 through thunderbolt 3, turing graphics). Curious to hear if there is any update on that.

I hope that helps someone.
Rai

 

[jdoll021]

I never got it to work. After trying all these different cables and other crap, it all ended up being a huge waste of time. I plug in other monitors with USBC/TB to the HP and they work flawlessly. But the ASD flickers and just doesn’t seem compatible for whatever reason.

I got some cheapo monitor from my company instead which I have next to the ASD. It looks like everything is under water and it hurts my eyes. Prob 1080? I’ve never bothered to check haha. I’m half tempted to buy a cheaper 4K one in hopes that the quality will be somewhat close to the 5K, but haven’t bothered. Most often I find myself just working off the HP laptop screen. It sucks.

Such a bummer that this solution did not work. I was so excited when I got the ASD to use with both laptops, but it’s just not designed for that and (unless it’s just this laptop) how anyone gets it to work with a PC I’ll never know.

Bummer. Yeah, I ended up getting the 34” LG 5k2k and a 27” LG 4k (which I’m still waiting for, long story). The dock my employer gave me can’t run the 5k2k at native resolution because it’s DP 1.2 and I need a DP 1.4 dock. Looking at CalDigits TB4 dock, but giving my credit card a break for now. 😅

I’m running the display in split mode with 16x9 & 5x9. Gives me basically the equivalent of 4k resolution on a 27” monitor on the 16x9 side. It’s really nice! I have the 24” 1080p my employer gave me in vertical mode, but I find myself using the Ultrawide more because of how crisp the text is. Now I have to get a 24” 4k! 😂

I’m waiting for the M2 MBP’s before I see how my setup works on a Mac. I’ll update the thread (including pics of course) once I pick the device up in the spring.

 

[jdoll021]

I haven't followed along with all the details, but I use the Apple Studio Display with a variety of Windows computers, laptops and desktops. Some max out at 2560x1440, some at 4K, others can do the full 5K.

Seems like there’s no consistency using the ASD on a Windows machine. Because of @guitarguy19’s experience with the exact same laptop as mine, I opted for the setup I’m working on building right now: 34” 5k2k Ultrawide with a 27” 4k on the right and (eventually) a vertical 24” 4k on the left. Looks great so far but haven’t tested it on a Mac yet.

 

[CodeRush]

Confirming the setup involving Belkin VR cable and BootCamp drivers downloaded with Brigadier to work well enough.

The only thing that's missing for me is a 2-to-1 USB-C KVM that would actually work better than using an out-of-spec extension cable to switch between a Mac that uses TB3 and a PC that uses USB+DP. It works, but it's a mechanical switching that wears out the connectors and is otherwise tedious.

Anybody here found a solution to that yet, or is it still pure unobtanium from South Korea?

 

[Zest28]

If a PC supports ThunderBolt 4, it should work without any issues (speakers and microphones will work too) with the Apple Studio Display?

 

[kreasu_]

If a PC supports ThunderBolt 4, it should work without any issues (speakers and microphones will work too) with the Apple Studio Display?

It should work but you won't have brightness control without installing boot camp. There's another thread around here on how to do that

 

[Arctic Moose]

If a PC supports ThunderBolt 4, it should work without any issues (speakers and microphones will work too) with the Apple Studio Display?

Hopefully. It works fine with my Thinkpad. The camera, speakers, microphone and USB all work as expected, and I can consistently choose the correct 5K resolution.

The only issue is brightness, I need to connect the display to a Mac to set the desired level, and then switch it over. (I do not have Administrator privileges, so I cannot install the Bootcamp drivers.)

The HP I had previously also worked reasonably well, but there was a lot of glitching. I ended up running it at 4K instead which was more stable.

 

[Feek]

As per the subject really, I'm going to build a basic gaming PC to run American Truck Sim/European Truck Sim2 so it doesn't need to be overly powerful but I do want to use my Apple Studio Display.

What should I be looking for in the graphics card, what output?

I'd also like to use the speakers in the ASD, is that realistic?

Thanks.

 

[maflynn]

It appears the Studio Display uses thunderbolt, so that being the case, you'll need a PC that has thunderbolt 3 or 4. I wonder about the compatibility of using TB and not connecting the GPU directly to the monitor.

As for cards, consider any of the 30 series nvidia GPUs, and for AMD, the 6500 xt or a 6700xt

 

[laptech]

It is not as easy as one would think. Check out this website where a person tried to do just that and you can see it is not easy and the correct hardware needs to be used for it to work.

Connecting a gaming PC to Apple Studio Display

I'll never forget when I bought the first 5K Retina iMac. Almost as soon as I ripped it out of the box, I booted it while holding down Command-F2, assuming it…

justin.searls.co

 

[Feek]

It appears the Studio Display uses thunderbolt, so that being the case, you'll need a PC that has thunderbolt 3 or 4. I wonder about the compatibility of using TB and not connecting the GPU directly to the monitor.

Do graphics cards have TB output? I have so little knowledge of PC hardware these days that I really don't know what I'm looking at.

 

[Feek]

It is not as easy as one would think. Check out this website where a person tried to do just that and you can see it is not easy and the correct hardware needs to be used for it to work.

Aww crap. I was really hoping I could just buy a relatively cheap PC (considering the games I want to run) and plug it in.