iM 4,1-14,4 Installing late 2012 21.5 imac 2015-2019 4k screen

[SamedKaraca]

I have a late 2012 21.5 non retina imac and its screen is cracked, can I add a 4k display to this computer?
screens are very expensive in my country so i can't find a suitable screen for my computer

 

[TwoH]

No

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have a late 2012 21.5 non retina imac and its screen is cracked, can I add a 4k display to this computer?
screens are very expensive in my country so i can't find a suitable screen for my computer

Try to find a display with DisplayPort input. 4k display will apply a heavy load to the weak GPU of your iMac. Better use 1080p display. IMac 2012 21.5" has only 1080p display.

You can connect the iMac to the external display with a miniDisplayPort to Displayport cable.

If you can only find a display with HDMI port, then find a miniDisplayPort to HDMI cable.

Even though the ports on the back of iMac 2012 were named Thunderbolt, they still can transmit video signal through DisplayPort protocol. MiniDisplayPort and Thunderbolt 1/2 share the same jack and socket.

 

[rin67630]

4k display will apply a heavy load to the weak GPU of your iMac. Better use 1080p display.

I have an iMac 2012 27" with a defective screen, but with its graphic card being OK.
I have placed the iMac just behind my 42" 4K TV and it works pretty well with its 4K resolution.
Only caveat is the refresh rate of 25Hz, which does not harm with static tasks like browsing mainly non-video contents.
The iMac runs at 5% load...

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I have an iMac 2012 27" with a defective screen, but with its graphic card being OK.
I have placed the iMac just behind my 42" 4K TV and it works pretty well with its 4K resolution.
Only caveat is the refresh rate of 25Hz, which does not harm with static tasks like browsing mainly non-video contents.
The iMac runs at 5% load...

The refresh rate is limited by the port protocol, which is DP1,1 I guess.
Your iMac 27" has GT755M (or the better GTX660m), which is 50% more powerful than the GT640m in 21.5" iMac.
But still, handling webpages with video content (or other moving picture contents) on 4k resolution display is still a heavy workload for it.
I suggest one stick with 2k or 1080p resolutions for better web-surfing experience.

 

[Amethyst1]

The refresh rate is limited by the port protocol, which is DP1,1 I guess.

To elaborate, while the 2012 iMac's Kepler GPU supports DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2 and can do 4K at 60 Hz, the iMac's Thunderbolt 1 controller which the video signal always passes through constrains it to DisplayPort 1.1 HBR. (Sorry for resurrecting this old thread.)