LG has announced the new, 31-inch, 31MU97 4K display, and the good news for Mac users is that it's Thunderbolt-ready. Priced at $2,499, the display is just as expensive as the starting price of the newly announced iMac with 5K Retina display.
LG's monitor has a variety of connection options. Aside from the aforementioned Thunderbolt, the 31MU97 has two HDMI ports and a standard DisplayPort. There are also three USB 3 ports.
To use a 4K display, you'll need a one of the following Macs: Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina display, a Late 2013 Mac Pro, a Late 2013 27-inch iMac, or a late 2014 Mac mini. All of these computers can connect to a 4K display through HDMI with a refresh rate of either 24 Hz or 30 Hz, depending on your exact resolution. However, if you want a higher refresh rate, like 60 Hz, that will require a Mac equipped with Thunderbolt 2, which as of now is only the late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina display, the current Mac Pro, and the new iMac with Retina display.
What do you think of LG's new 4K display? Sound off in the comments.
Source: LG
Reader comments
LG announces new Thunderbolt-compatible 4K display
at that price i highly doubt it'll be a TN Panel so it should be an IGZO IPS panel, but then is it a single tile or dual tile monitor?
The new Mac Mini has Thunderbolt 2 and should connect OK at 60 Hz. Wont be fast.. but as long as you get the version with Intel Iris Pro - it should be OK for most things...
This isn't the first Thunderbolt Display from LG.
LG also has two 34" HD UltraWides that are very nice. 34UM94 (Business) and 34UM95 (Consumer). I have the LG 34UM94 (3440 x 1440p) and LOVE it..
It has Thunderbolt 2, 3 USB3 ports, etc... It's the business version, 34UM94 with 3 year warranty. The 34UM95 only has 1 year warranty for same price.
$2500 for 4k seems extreme.. I paid $850 on Massdrop for my LG 34" Thunderbolt display.. Amazingly, it was cheeper than Apple's 27" that is so outdated.
I also just don't see a reason to upgrade to 4k really. My HD UltraWide is really just that nice..
I'm not a nerd about this stuff, so why in the world would someone buy this as opposed to just purchasing the new iMac for the same price?
Sent from the iMore App
They might like being able to do work on the MacBook, and then just plug into a monitor while they're at a desk without having to save, pull it up on a separate computer, open, and resume working.
At least that's what I do with my Blade....
Posted via the 5s I'm not ashamed of using in my home.
LG U.S. quotes a suggested price of $1399.99 USD. As does Amazon, B&H, and Fry's. $2499 AUD is the Australian price.
http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-31MU97-B-4k-led-monitor
http://www.lg.com/au/it-monitors/lg-31MU97
Video (in German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sTx3RATt8
According to Apple's tech specs, the iMac Retina 5K won't support the native resolution of this monitor: "Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display". Note that the support stated for an external display is UHD, not DCI 4K.
Both DCI 4K and UHD are referred to as 4K but are two different resolution standards. DCI 4K is a professional production and cinema standard, while UHD is a consumer display and broadcast standard. In short, UHD isn't 4K although it is often called UHD 4k. There are also differences besides resolution between the standards: video compression, bitrates, bit depth, chroma subsampling, color space, etc.
LG quotes a native resolution of 4096 x 2160 (DCI 4K): "The 31MU97 delivers 4K (4096 x 2160) resolution...displays over four times the resolution of standard 1920 x1080 FHD, and over half a million more pixels than UHD resolution (3840 x 2160)".
A resolution of 3840 x 2160 works out to an aspect ratio of 16:9. LG quotes an aspect ratio of 17:9. This likely means that the maximum iMac 5K eternal output will be letterboxed (black bars on the sides) on this monitor, unless Apple provides a software scaling solution.
Note the LG 31MU97 4K display uses a Display Port to Mini DisplayPort cable for connection to a computer.
https://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/specs/
http://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-31MU97-B-4k-led-monitor