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For me, the machine used most frequently and/or for the longest period of time during the day is the "daily driver".

@eyoungren: I've been meaning to ask this for quite some time: What resolution is the Quad running your TV at?
This is what my Quad says and above that what my TV says.

2019-01-31 08.12.31.jpg


But I have this option on in Display Preferences…

2019-01-31 08.12.54.jpg


So, not sure I am getting what the Mac says I am.

Additionally, I do believe my PC reports 1920x2160 when I am using it there. Have to check that later.
 
I'm starting to question the 'daily driver' concept.

As I type this in, right in front of me is a PowerBook, a Quad G5, a G5 DC and a MBP. There is also a Thinkpad. The Mac I am typing this on is a MBP.

Each one I use for a specific purpose. If pressed, I would say my 'daily driver' is my Quad, but the reality is that there is no ONE specific Mac that I use to do ALL things.

I browse the net in my chair in the living room using my PowerBook. I also use it for word processing. If I need to watch video online or access financial accounts I swap to the 15" MBP.

If I am going to have lunch or dinner and the nature of it requires me to use a plate, I use my Quad while eating. I also use the Quad for graphic design and word processing.

When I file my taxes, edit my resume or deal with financial documents I use my G5 DC.

The 17" MBP goes with me when I am out. The 17" PowerBook goes with me to the coffee shop.

The Thinkpad gets used as a bridge to Dropbox that all my unsupported Macs can access via filesharing. I use it when I want to watch video (stored on my Quad) on my 4K TV.

On all of my Macs and my PC I can access all of my email accounts.

So…which one is my 'daily driver'?

This is getting hard to answer now.
It appears you use multiple systems more for the enjoyment of using them and not because you need to use all of them. I suspect you could easily consolidate a lot of those tasks onto a much smaller number of systems.
 
This is what my Quad says and above that what my TV says.

View attachment 819236

But I have this option on in Display Preferences…

View attachment 819237

So, not sure I am getting what the Mac says I am.

Additionally, I do believe my PC reports 1920x2160 when I am using it there. Have to check that later.

The system font looks extremely grainy on your TV to be honest. How is it connected to the Quad's GPU? It could be that you're using a connection that is single-link DVI (a simple DVI to HDMI adapter also is!) and while OS X will allow selecting 3840×2160 at 30 Hz over single-link, the connection isn't physically capable of that. The result is that you're basically only getting 1920×2160 with half of the image corrupted which may explain why the TV is showing that mode (and the font is grainy). Does it improve when you drop down to 1920×1080?

I ran into the same problems while experimenting with my "4K" monitor.
 
The system font looks extremely grainy on your TV to be honest. How is it connected to the Quad's GPU? It could be that you're using a connection that is single-link DVI (a simple DVI to HDMI adapter also is!) and while OS X will allow selecting 3840×2160 at 30 Hz over single-link, the connection isn't physically capable of that. The result is that you're basically only getting 1920×2160 with half of the image corrupted which may explain why the TV is showing that mode (and the font is grainy). Does it improve when you drop down to 1920×1080?

I ran into the same problems while experimenting with my "4K" monitor.
Yeah, I don't really put windows up there. And it is a simple DVI to HDMI adapter. Plugged into the second display port of a Radeon XT1900. I'll have to check on your other resolution question a bit later. But I do know that if I take the overscan off I get a smaller display area.

However, the reason I haven't really looked into this is that any videos I play there are sharp.
 
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Yeah, I don't really put windows up there. And it is a simple DVI to HDMI adapter. Plugged into the second display port of a Radeon XT1900. I'll have to check on your other resolution question a bit later. But I do know that if I take the overscan off I get a smaller display area.

However, the reason I haven't really looked into this is that any videos I play there are sharp.

That means it's single-link, so no good for 3840×2160.
 
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Does your TV have DisplayPort or just HDMI?

By the way, sorry if I came across as smart-alec or anything by pointing that out. I didn't mean to.
It's just HDMI (4 ports).

No worries, I didn't read it that way.
 
In my experience the dual-link DVI ports on my G5's Quadro FX4500 card will step down to single-link output when using a typical HDMI adapter (or DVI-HDMI cable). It appears the only way the G5 can output those higher resolutions is via DVI.

Perhaps there is a special Dual-link DVI to HDMI adapter that can carry the dual-link signal?
 
In my experience the dual-link DVI ports on my G5's Quadro FX4500 card will step down to single-link output when using a typical HDMI adapter (or DVI-HDMI cable). It appears the only way the G5 can output those higher resolutions is via DVI.

Which is expected since as far as I know, DVI switches to dual link engaging a second TMDS transmitter once the pixel clock exceeds 165 MHz whereas HDMI still uses a single transmitter when going over 165 MHz. Those cheap DVI-HDMI adapters or cables can't deal with a dual-link signal.

Perhaps there is a special Dual-link DVI to HDMI adapter that can carry the dual-link signal?

My quick googling found nothing that is guaranteed to process dual-link signals correctly. I presume that one convoluted way to do it would be going from DL-DVI to DisplayPort using e.g. an Atlona DP-400 converter and hooking up an active DP to HDMI converter to the DP-400's output. Even if that worked, you'd still only get 30 Hz at 3840×2160.
 
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That means it's single-link, so no good for 3840×2160.
According to the attached PDF, the best I can get at 60hz for single link is 1920x1200. Right now I have it set at 1920x1080 at 60hz (I'm not given the 1920x1200 option) with overscan on.

Assuming there is a dual link adapter somewhere the best the card could give me would be 2560x1600 at 60hz. So, even IF that sort of adapter existed I still couldn't get 3840x2400 at 60hz (only at 30hz) with this card.

Now, it also appears that the Quadro 4500FX, often touted as the premium card for the G5 Quad, is also maxxed out at 2560x1600 and 60hz.

So, all the way around there is no video card and no adapter that is going to drive a 4K TV at full resolution.

There's the limitation here. That's okay though…if there were 4K TVs in 2006 then they were either in labs or owned by the .1 percent of the .1 percent.

PS. I see 30" Cinema Displays in my future at some point. :D
 

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According to the attached PDF, the best I can get at 60hz for single link is 1920x1200. Right now I have it set at 1920x1080 at 60hz (I'm not given the 1920x1200 option) with overscan on.
Correct, single-link tops out at 1920×1200@60Hz for 16:10; so 1920×1080 is what you want for a 16:9 display.

Assuming there is a dual link adapter somewhere the best the card could give me would be 2560x1600 at 60hz. So, even IF that sort of adapter existed I still couldn't get 3840x2400 at 60hz (only at 30hz) with this card.
Correct; but 3840×2160@30 Hz would work.

Now, it also appears that the Quadro 4500FX, often touted as the premium card for the G5 Quad, is also maxxed out at 2560x1600 and 60hz.

So, all the way around there is no video card and no adapter that is going to drive a 4K TV at full resolution.

There's the limitation here. That's okay though…if there were 4K TVs in 2006 then they were either in labs or owned by the .1 percent of the .1 percent.
There's a way (at least theoretically): the FX4500 has two dual-link DVI outputs, each of them capable of 1920×2160@60Hz. So if you connected both outputs to your TV and had it display them side-by-side, you'd have a combined desktop of 3840×2160@60Hz. :)

That doesn't solve the problem of finding a DL-DVI to HDMI converter though.

4K monitors existed as far back as 2001. Boy, do I (still!) want one of these (since they're 16:10).
 
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Correct; but 3840×2160@30 Hz would work.
That's what I had already, when you noted that the text was bad.

There's a way (at least theoretically): the FX4500 has two dual-link DVI outputs, each of them capable of 1920×2160@60Hz. So if you connected both outputs to your TV and had it display them side-by-side, you'd have a combined desktop of 3840×2160@60Hz. :)
The Radeon X1900 XT, which is installed in my Quad, has 2xDual link DVI ports as well. So, yeah, same deal there. :)
 
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