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LG UltraFine 5K - Owners Thread
- Thread starter iBrooker
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FedEx just delivered my screen! Won't be able to test it out on my 13" until I get home from work. Will keep everyone posted on the performance. I also have a Belkin TB3 cable on hand for A/B testing vs. stock LG cable.
It won't work even if your machine has TB3. This monitor is only compatible with a mac running macOS sierra. Its even stated on the box and the website.
I called OWC tech support to ask if the Thunderbolt 3 dock will support the LG 5k since their website makes no mention of it.
They said, "It supports 4k @ 60hz".
I said, "Yes, I see that in the specs, but will it pass through a 5k stream to the LG Ultrafine 5k?"..
They replied, "It supports 4k @ 60hz".
I'd like to pre-order to take advantage of the discount but not going to risk it not working with the 5k when their own people won't clearly answer yes or no.
They said, "It supports 4k @ 60hz".
I said, "Yes, I see that in the specs, but will it pass through a 5k stream to the LG Ultrafine 5k?"..
They replied, "It supports 4k @ 60hz".
I'd like to pre-order to take advantage of the discount but not going to risk it not working with the 5k when their own people won't clearly answer yes or no.
Dukat,
Why would you expect the dock to support the 5K display?? The 5K display uses most of the Thunderbolt 3 port bandwidth all on its own. The dock has 13 ports! It needs its own Thunderbolt 3 port and it could saturate it on its own. It would be less than smart to run the 5K display off the dock even if it were supported.
How many times does this need to be explained?
Why would you expect the dock to support the 5K display?? The 5K display uses most of the Thunderbolt 3 port bandwidth all on its own. The dock has 13 ports! It needs its own Thunderbolt 3 port and it could saturate it on its own. It would be less than smart to run the 5K display off the dock even if it were supported.
How many times does this need to be explained?
I understand, I was just hoping for the 1 cable solution if you don't need high bandwidth application, like occasional memory card download, or Mouse RF dongle. Plugging into the other side isn't a big deal, more annoyed they are evasive with their answer, not saying 'yes' or 'no'.
Can you imagine the public relations and technical support nightmare they would have on their hands if they allowed what you suggest? Most people would expect everything to work at full speed and would only understand the problem if a tech spent time explaining it to them. No, it makes a lot of sense for them to not support the 5K display on the Thunderbolt 3 pass through port. Who knows, maybe it will work fine but they won't say it is supported. Technically, if the second Thunderbolt 3 port is a true pass through port, it should work.
I will use the available Thunderbolt 3 port on the dock for my Thunderbolt 2-based ThunderBay 4 storage unit.
I will use the available Thunderbolt 3 port on the dock for my Thunderbolt 2-based ThunderBay 4 storage unit.
True. I think most people are confused enough about what USB C cable is for what device. Non-techie people likely have no idea 13" doesn't have full speed ports on the right, etc. I'm new to Mac & Thunderbolt so I've learned a lot here in the last few weeks. Sometimes frustrating but most of the time fun and interesting. I appreciate everyone's input and knowledge.
Just ordered the OWC in Space Gray
Just thought I'd chime in here.
@sidewinder: 5K does not saturate Thunderbolt 3. A 10-bit 5K display uses about 26.5 Gbps of bandwidth, leaving more than 10 Gbps to play with.
Indeed, other manufacturers have made use of this. CalDigit's upcoming Thunderbolt 3 docks allow the use of a single 5K Thunderbolt 3 display in lieu of dual 4K displays, so @Dukat, you may want to look at one of those.
Remember also that the LG UltraFine 5K operates by taking two approximately 4K video streams and rendering them as a single display. So, the bandwidth concerns are a moot point: if the OWC dock can drive two 4K displays (and I believe it can) then there is more than enough bandwidth to run a single 5K screen instead.
Doing so would utilise less overall bandwidth, in fact (about 19 million pixels on two LG UltraFine 4K displays using about 34 Gbps versus about 15 million on a single LG UltraFine 5K using about 26.5 Gbps).
Upon closer inspection, OWC tacitly acknowledges the limitations of the speeds of some of its ports, for example by only describing the front-facing USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 port as delivering up-to 5 Gbps (there is no speed quantification for the rear-facing four ports). So, everything won't run at full speed all of the time.
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I'm 100% sure it won't support 5K. The TB3 dock probably won't even support 87w charging.
The LG 5K already has 3 USBC gen 1 ports. The LG 5K is the one cable solution.
I have the ethernet, USB3 hub connected to the monitor. and other stuff connected to the USB hub. Works perfectly.
The LG 5K already has 3 USBC gen 1 ports. The LG 5K is the one cable solution.
I have the ethernet, USB3 hub connected to the monitor. and other stuff connected to the USB hub. Works perfectly.
Brookzy,
I said the 5K display uses "most" of the Thunderbolt 3 port bandwidth, which is an accurate characterization no matter how you look at it. I did not say it would "saturate" the connection nor did I say it would use "all" of the bandwidth.
Personally, I would never put anything else other than a USB keyboard and mouse or an iPhone or iPad charging cable on a Thunderbolt 3 port used to drive two 4K displays or a single 5K display. But hey, you guys do whatever you want.....
I said the 5K display uses "most" of the Thunderbolt 3 port bandwidth, which is an accurate characterization no matter how you look at it. I did not say it would "saturate" the connection nor did I say it would use "all" of the bandwidth.
Personally, I would never put anything else other than a USB keyboard and mouse or an iPhone or iPad charging cable on a Thunderbolt 3 port used to drive two 4K displays or a single 5K display. But hey, you guys do whatever you want.....
Anyway, you misled @Dukat and had the temerity to add "How many times does this need to be explained?" in doing so.
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In conclusion:
- Many docks support dual 4K displays but not all support a single 5K display despite the bandwidth requirements for doing so being lower. Members looking for 5K display support on a Thunderbolt 3 dock should look at CalDigit's offerings, though with caution since they are not shipping/proven yet.
- Thunderbolt 3 docks with a lot of ports will not have all ports run at full speed all of the time, especially if high-resolution displays are in use, so performance-conscious members should also proceed with caution there.
Tacitly? Look here:
https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-3-dock-specs
The specs say this:
- (4) USB 3.1 Gen 1 Standard-A ports (rear) - 1 compliant with Battery Charging 1.2 spec
- (1) USB 3.1 Gen 1 Standard-A port (front) - compliant with Battery Charging 1.2 spec
In regards to the CalDigit dock... I chatted (via online chat) with the team there shortly after the new MBP were announced and they were quite knowledgable and upfront on TB3. They couldn't tell me much about the new TB3 dock back then but did say that they were working on solving the bandwidth which is why this likely wouldn't come until 2017. Might be worth checking out @Dukat .
I'm going to try using the 5K screen as a hub for now but if that doesn't work well, will probably pre-order the CalDigit one.
I'm going to try using the 5K screen as a hub for now but if that doesn't work well, will probably pre-order the CalDigit one.
Nope, I am looking at this image. Note the differences in explanations for the front and rear ports. Again, just because a port is "USB 3.1 Gen 1" does not mean it will run at the full 5 Gbps all of the time.
The whole subject of this thread - the LG UltraFine 5K - is itself a testament to that fact, offering three USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 ports at up-to 5 Gbps each in addition to the display, which would use 41.5 Gbps if everything ran at full speed at the same time - which, being greater than 40 Gbps, is obviously impossible.
Again, don't confuse an omission of some text on a brochure as OWC tacitly saying only the front USB 3.1 Gen 1 port supports 5 Gb/s. The tech specs page on their web site makes no such distinction. The only distinction the spec page makes has to do with charging specs.
Also, the LG 5K display won't drive 1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 device at full Gen 1 speeds, much less 2 or 3.
Also, the LG 5K display won't drive 1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 device at full Gen 1 speeds, much less 2 or 3.
Received the screen earlier today and had a chance to finally test it out this evening with my maxed out TB 13" MBP.
Reading some of the feedback from other users here (and thanks to everyone who have been sharing their experience), I was quite concerned with the performance I would get through my 13" but I'm happy to report to all seems to be working quite smoothly for me. No real lag during regular usage (incl. mission control animation) and I tested this both through the stock cable and my Belkin 0.5m TB3 cable.
I also played a few 4K videos via Safari (i.e. youtube.com/watch?v=RLOR6EX8Nfw) and again, super smooth, no lag whatsoever. Fans didn't even kick in. I did notice that when playing 4K videos via Chrome, my CPU usage skyrockets, but no issues with Safari.
Working around in Lightroom did engage the fans but it was on and off (i.e. when scrolling through my library, quickly jumping between images fans came on but once an image was selected and I started editing, fans slowed/went quiet).
I did notice a weird bug with my mouse. When moving my mouse quickly and the 'large mouse' animation appears, it stayed 'stuck' on the display. This has happened twice so far and unplugging and replugging the monitor solves this.
Resizing windows in Sierra is smooth though this is not always the case with MS Office. I think that the lag is because of software vs. hardware as in Outlook, resizing from the message view works well but it is much choppier in the calendar view.
I'm streaming a hockey game right now via Gamecentre Live and everything is running smoothly though the quality looks awful if I go full screen (no fault of the monitor). Chrome is eating up 80% of my CPU to stream the game (flash) and the fans have kicked in.
All in all, I'm super happy with the set up. I was fully preparing to have to go through an exchange process to get the 15" but based on my experience so far, I will be keeping my 13".
*EDIT* Just remembered I can enable Flash in Safari. Loaded the hockey game on Safari instead and CPU usage is now virtually nothing.
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I have another data point for 13" extended display - tried one at the Apple Store (took a lot of convincing to get them to allow me into the backroom and plug my MBP in). Under extended display, with about five apps open (standard ones - GitKraken, Sublime Text, five tabs in Chrome, Spark, and Calendar). We used the Belkin thunderbolt instead of the stock one for some reason.
The was no lag in Mission Control, Desktop switching, so forth. However, there was lag when you resize windows. Basically the window will freeze for half a second, then it will switch into a semi-smooth resizing animation. Keep in mind this was one data point. I didn't have time to test everything extensively, but that was the one jarring problem I noticed. [EDIT - just remembered: moving windows have the same issue]
All in all, the display was simply stunning and you will get lost into the pixels (or lack there of). I almost never resize windows but for using Snap Areas in BTT, so I really can live with it considering how perfect the screen itself is.
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The was no lag in Mission Control, Desktop switching, so forth. However, there was lag when you resize windows. Basically the window will freeze for half a second, then it will switch into a semi-smooth resizing animation. Keep in mind this was one data point. I didn't have time to test everything extensively, but that was the one jarring problem I noticed. [EDIT - just remembered: moving windows have the same issue]
All in all, the display was simply stunning and you will get lost into the pixels (or lack there of). I almost never resize windows but for using Snap Areas in BTT, so I really can live with it considering how perfect the screen itself is.
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Can you please comment on how the display works in extended mode? Thanks!
Just got my 5K and was wondering if you could use a USB-C to HDMI cable/adapter to connect a second external display to the back of the 5K one.
Tried extended mode briefly and overall, feels more or less the same as clamshell. Hope that helps!