2013 MacPro 4K @ 60hz? How?

[Michael McCaffrey]

I have a nMP 2013, so like everyone else who has the nMP I have a HDMI output that does not support 60hz, but I have a 4K TV that does.

At 1/2 res I get RT playback just fine at 1920x1080. When I switch my 4K TV to 3840x2160, my computer starts dropping frames (yellow alert indicator appears in playback monitor). I switch my TV back to 1080p and RT playback resumes without dropped frames. Im assuming it is because the TV cant keep up at 30hz. And this is Apple's Flagship 4k computer solution? Anyhow.. back to my question..

Is there any way whatsoever I can get a 3840x2160 @ 60hz signal out of my nMP to the HDMI input on my TV (that supports 60hz)?

I know DP 1.2 can do 60hz, but there are no DP1.2 to HDMI 2.0 adapters out there and the adapters that are just HDMI 1.4 bottleneck the bandwidth needed, same as the MacPro output. Without getting a new computer or a new TV, What's the solution for this?

 

[Jett He]

Unfortunately you are SOL with this one. HDMI 2.0 is the only way to get 4k/60hz. There's just isn't enough bandwidth with HDMI 1.4 to do 4k/60hz. What model TV do you have?

 

[Michael McCaffrey]

I know there's no hope with the HDMI 1.4 output on the nMP which is why I was hoping to bypass that using the Displayport to HDMI adapter. But it seems the adapter may be 1.4 which is pointless at that point. I have the Samsung 55" 6950 UHD 4K TV.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

First off, HDMI 1.4a is a fail for 2160 x 3840 above 30Hz - though I would expect your Samsung to be able to take a 30Hz feed, even if it buffered and displayed each frame twice.

IAC, in your post you note the computer source starts dropping frames at 2160 x 3840 - so not sure why you're blaming the Samsung display? It would seem like its the NeoMP that's unable to keep up when asked to feed out a UHD raster. If you created a ProRes 2160 x 3840/30fps RGB version from the original R3Ds that might play back smoothly. My guess is that simultaneous decode and display at UHD resolution is simply too much for the dual GPU's in the NeoMP. I doubt that scaling the 1/2 res decode to UHD format is helping either. BTW, are you rolling D700s? At least 64GB of RAM? If either of those answers is no you might be SOL anyway.

FWIW, Apple shouldn't get any more than their fair share of the blame for the slow rollout of HDMI 2.0. Had HDMI 2.0 hardware bits been available to order from the usual suspects at the time that Apple started assembling NeoMPs there's a good chance they would have done so - but even late in Q1 2014, let alone Q4 2013, there was scant supply.

Cheers - #19

 

[Michael McCaffrey]

yes I have Dual D700's and 64mb RAM. 8-Core. Whatever the issue is, it obviously cant keep up and send out a 4k display to the TV. I've got my 4k display set to 1920x1080 right now and my Red files playing back at 1/2 res. This is the only combo that allows for fluid playback. When I use this monitor as a display for 4k content I will have to render it to ProRes like you suggested and that (I think) will work.

 

[Stacey Spears]

The OPPO can do 2160p60 over hdmi 1.4. It's 8-bit 4:2:0. Hdmi 2 lets you do 10-bit, but still 4:2:0. Hdmi 2.1 will do full 4:4:4.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

First off, what UHD (2160 x 3840) material have you watched on the Samsung from any source? What was it?

Second, definitely try authoring a UHD clip in FCPX, AdobeCC, etc in a standard RGB or YUV format in 8bpc color and try that, both at 30fps and 60fps.

Be aware that anything that requires serious decoding muscle or streaming live from the web may give you false negatives.

Cheers - #19

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

The OPPO can do 2160p60 over hdmi 1.4. It's 8-bit 4:2:0. Hdmi 2 lets you do 10-bit, but still 4:2:0. Hdmi 2.1 will do full 4:4:4.

And it only works to a select few displays such as the Sony 4K monitors that support that mode -- it's non-standard. His Samsung display actually does support this mode though.

Unfortunately, that won't help us here because we can't do 2160p out at > 30Hz in any way on the nMP without going to DP 1.2 MST mode. Even if we tweak display timings by modding the necessary system files or using a utility like SwitchResX... Just can't be done due to GPU buffer limitations. There are a couple DP 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 *active* adapters in the works and I've actually got to play with one. Expect them to cost between $90 and $250 when they are actually released and we may not see full shipping versions until DP 1.3 starts filtering into the market next year.

The straight-forward answer at this time is there is no way to directly bring 2160p @ > 30Hz into his display from the 2013 Mac Pro. It may be possible in the future through external conversion.

If he's using the monitor for playback or edit monitoring, I would have to ask if he's actually working with 60Hz 4K footage? Of course that's becoming more common for broadcast work, but generally speaking most 4K is still being shot/ edited at 30Hz or less, the majority at 24fps. In that case, feed the display at 24fps and if it trips up or stutters, it's not your display.

 

[Jason Osterday]

BMD's 12G Decklink should support 4K 60hz next month for $1500. I think AJA has a card that supports 11.8 Gb/s as well. Just a matter of making FCP play nice with it. It would be great if BMD made a dual link 6G to HDMI 2.0 box that could allow us to use existing decklinks for existing bandwidth.

Edit: looks like the BMD 12G is 4K 60 4:2:0. Curious if this will shake hands with certain sets.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I've heard the BMD handshakes fine with the Sony 4K projectors, but don't know anything more than that and have not tried the unit for myself. Which also leads me to talk about the AJA IO 4K -- It supports 2160p up to 60Hz at 4:2:0 out of HDMI. And it connects just fine to my Samsung F9000 4K as well as the Sony 600ES Sony Projector. I don't use it very often as most of my 4K monitoring needs have to do with grading in Resolve and I have not actually run it through either of those displays I just mentioned at anything other than 23.98. But it most certainly does support HFR (to 60Hz) in UHD resolution.