DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

[razmanugget]

I only have experience with the AA1 and the FA1 boards. I built "dumb" monitors with no extras. If the price isn't much more, I would choose the FA1 because the drivers are newer and it wakes from sleep more consistently and faster.

I didn't see any difference in screen quality (8 vs 10 bit), so don't let that be a factor.

One interesting thing was that my wife's work machine cannot properly drive the FA1 monitor because the graphics are 10 bit. She is using a Thinkpad 14z, I think. The AA1, she can use, but it scales down to a 4k monitor. This is with an Intel Arc gpu. So if you are connecting a Win machine, that's something to consider. Her macbook air M3 with 8gb, drives the FA1 no problem.

 

[zalle]

Thanks. I'm using M4 Mac mini. I just can't figure out how to connect it using display port. I tried, but nothing happened. I'm using HDMI.

 

[pnwkayaker]

I have finally completed my iMac 5K conversion using the SA1 board (took me aprox 7 months due to huge scope increase and lack of time due to work commitments).

I'm attaching some pics, I hope to upload all the STL files, connection diagrams and programs to my page at Printables (Printables - iMac 5K conversion using SA1 board).

I mention scope increase, and there were 3 main factors driving it:

1 - I have a Mac Mini M4 as my home computer, but also have a need to connect a work laptop, an iPad Air, my wife's laptop, son's laptop, gazillion Raspberry Pis, etc (my house is nerd paradise), so needed to use all the ports.
2 - I wanted to be able to have as clean as possible solution, meaning, having have ports accessible from the outside in a plug&play manner (didn't want dangling cables).
3 - Wanted to be able to easily switch between all ports, and if possible, to minimize switching time (I have several docks at home that will be using to connect computers to the iMac 5k)..

So, first, ended up spending a lot of time learning Fusion to model my parts, and then even more time to model the outside ports so that they can be plug&play (I think I did 57 different iterations of that part only).

Also, I didn't like the regular Control Strip so I replaced it with a 5D rocker

Decided then that I needed an IR port to more easily switch between ports and adjust settings; the most common ones are Arduino based, so decided that I also needed to learn Arduino. Of course, then I decided to also plug the 5D rocker, and have Arduino handle all inputs, etc....

One more thing, I had also decided from the get-go that I wanted to convert 2 iMac 5K, since I was replacing 2 very old Apple Cinema monitors. I haven't glued the screens yet (using masking tape right now), will wait for a couple weeks (or a month) to ensure everything is working fine before

At the end, I'm happy I'm done, however, I'm now going to focus on rebuilding all my cabling using UnderWare 2.0, and probably add some twists to my computer desk (my wife rolls her eyes when she hears me, but she's awesome and let me play around with my ideas).

I'll try to upload a list of materials In the Printables page.

Lastly, thanks a lot to everybody (especially PaulD, you rock!) since your successes inspired me, and your knowledge empowered me.

 

[pnwkayaker]

I've uploaded all models and a PDF with the wiring diagram to Printables Printables - iMac 5K conversion using SA1 board, will upload the Arduino program soon.