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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Need long cable recommendations for 4k (LG 31MU97) monitor hookup

J

Jim Short

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Just got a LG 4K monitor and it works great with the included DisplayPort cable. The cable curiously has a label on it that says, "Real 4K x 2K" (bag it was in says, "made in China").

However, I need a 15 or 16 foot long (~5 Meter) solution to hook to my workstation when it is housed in a ventilated cabinet (I like quiet).

Fry's stocks a pretty expensive Monster Cable "UltraHD Black Platinum" 3 Meter (16 foot, $150) long HDMI cable rated for 27 Gbps ("ultra HD 4 at 60fsp).

I'm connecting to a EVGA GTX Titan X Superclocked video card, which claims to support HDMI 2.0 as well as DisplayPort 1.2. [Update: must be DisplayPort; as Eric points out below, the LG 31MU97 monitor does not support HDMI 2.0]

Bottom line, I'm wanting to know:
1) Which would be better, a DisplayPort or HDMI cable for this long run (and why)?
2) Are there any 4k x 60 Hz cable specs. out that would make a cable purchase easier?
3) Has anyone used a cable 15' or longer successfully with this monitor (at full 4K x 60 Hz resolution) connected to a PC video card yet?


Thanks,

Jim
 
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For the 4K 60hz you need a displayport cable...

On my MACPRO (Thrascan) I have a optical thundebolt cable to a Belkin Thunderbolt Express 2 dock. This works 15 Meters. For the full 4K 60hz.

But on my PC I still have to have a working combo. At this moment I can't find ANY displayport extender that supports the FULL 4K 60hz. There are some extenders that will do 24hz.

So +1 on this question..
 
+2 - I'm in same boat, mine just arrived this week to go with the new GPUs.
 
Here's what I've found so far, and it is frustratingly not great!

Monster Cable used to sell a DisplayPort cable rated for HBR2 (spec. for 4K x 60 Hz) that was 16' and it has been discontinued - hmmm... wonder why?

DVIGear sells DisplayPort cables that on paper support 4096x2160 / 60p up to 15 meters (45 feet), but just got off the phone with them and they are currently chasing issues for customers that have LG monitors and applications over 10 feet (3 Meter, 9.8 ft. cable). The guy I spoke with said they are in the process of sending cables to a LG training facility in the USA to try and learn more about where the compatibility issues lie.

I really wanted a DisplayPort solution so it could be backwards compatible with my GTX Titan cards that do not support HDMI 2.0.

Has anyone successfully connected to a 4K LG monitor using a cable greater than 10 feet?

Thanks,

Jim
 
Displayport bandwidth starts to reduce over 12 feet. By 18 to 25 feet it's already halved. The only way to do the longer runs at this resolution is HDMi 2.0. You can get a HDMI to displayport converter. You just need to make sure it's 1.2 compatible. Outside of that you really need to run this HDMi. The LG monitor just doesnt have the HDMi 2.0 chip.
 
To get the full 4k @ 60 Hz you need Display Port 1.2 or HDMI 2.0. HDMI is limited to lower hertz.

Why not buy the length you need from Fries. Buy a couple cables, Test them, a Titan should be HDMI 2.0 capable but the distance is another issue. If it doesn't work, return the cable to fries and try another. There are only a few people that talk about this on the forum. You could wait to catch their eye or get the test done and become the expert.
 
If you go with HDMI 2.0 you will not be able to get 60 Hz on a Mac. Keep that in mind. Use Display Port 1.3 if possible.

In Windows you'll be fine.

Jim Short said:
Just got a LG 4K monitor and it works great with the included DisplayPort cable. The cable curiously has a label on it that says, "Real 4K x 2K" (bag it was in says, "made in China").

However, I need a 15 or 16 foot long (~5 Meter) solution to hook to my workstation when it is housed in a ventilated cabinet (I like quiet).

Fry's stocks a pretty expensive Monster Cable "UltraHD Black Platinum" 3 Meter (16 foot, $150) long HDMI cable rated for 27 Gbps ("ultra HD 4 at 60fsp).

I'm connecting to a EVGA GTX Titan X Superclocked video card, which claims to support HDMI 2.0 as well as DisplayPort 1.2. [Update: must be DisplayPort; as Eric points out below, the LG 31MU97 monitor does not support HDMI 2.0]

Bottom line, I'm wanting to know:
1) Which would be better, a DisplayPort or HDMI cable for this long run (and why)?
2) Are there any 4k x 60 Hz cable specs. out that would make a cable purchase easier?
3) Has anyone used a cable 15' or longer successfully with this monitor (at full 4K x 60 Hz resolution) connected to a PC video card yet?


Thanks,

Jim
Click to expand...
 
Patrick,

Repeating from one of my previous posts...

DVIGear sells DisplayPort cables that on paper support 4096x2160 / 60p up to 15 meters (45 feet), but just got off the phone with them and they are currently chasing issues for customers that have LG monitors and applications over 10 feet (3 Meter, 9.8 ft. cable). The guy I spoke with said they are in the process of sending cables to a LG training facility in the USA to try and learn more about where the compatibility issues lie.

I really wanted a DisplayPort solution so it could be backwards compatible with my GTX Titan cards that do not support HDMI 2.0.

Has anyone successfully connected to a 4K LG monitor using a cable greater than 10 feet?

I see from another post that you personally have the same monitor. Have you successfully connected to yours at full 4k (that's higher than UK Link cable manufacturer supports) and 60 Hz refresh with a cable longer than 10 feet?

I do love this monitor, but for many months now my workstation is sitting on the floor next to my desk instead of residing in the sound reduced cabinet located at the side of the room.

Jim
 
Jim, unfortunately no. I only have been able to use it with the Lindy cable at a length of 7,5m with Displayport 1.1; meaning 4096*2160 at 25 fps and 10 Bit.
At 50/60fps I just get an unstable picture, black screens, jitter, judder, sync errors and all that. Now with Displayport 1.1 it‘s at least stable.

I also have my Macs in a server cabinet.
 
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So far I have not found *any* DisplayPort 1.2 (20Gbps) cable that can drive a 4K display at over 10 feet. :(

Best bet is to use an optical Thunderbolt cable, if your system is equipped with a Thunderbolt output.... And your display accepts it as input... Won't work between DisplayPort connectors, even thought he connector is the same.

There are some active baluns and boosters coming to market that will support DP1.2, but for some reason they have been slow to arrive. And like previous DP extender devices, they will be expensive.
 
There are Thunderbolt expanders on the market which have DP1.2 and/or HDMI on them. However, not all of them will pass the full 4K 60Hz signal. In fact, I don't know of any that will allow this. On Thunderbolt 2, it takes both data channels to put out the full bandwidth of DP1.2 or HDMI 2.0 and some of these expanders don't allow for that as they don't have the ability to switch off their USB ports or other devices, meaning they won't allow the TB controller to allocate both channels to video signaling.

This whole ordeal with the short range of DisplayPort has been a real hassle for us. DisplayPort video extenders are expensive and for 4K they're still mostly non-existent, yet they're cheap and plentiful for HDMI. Best work-around is the optical TB cables to TB displays. We're still running 2560x1600/1440 for all our long-run monitor installations because of this. I'm hoping TB3 will change this and we'll start getting proper 4K output or a full TB2 port pass-thru on expansion docks.

I have never understood why the signal spec for DisplayPort has always been so weak. They should have designed it from the start to carry 50+ feet. OTOH, that was the intent with HDMI and it rarely works out that way without specialized cables, amplifiers, etc.. Gefen, Extron, Atlona, etc.. make some really nice DisplayPort expanders or fiber optic baluns with great range, some with additional KVM/ USB functionality. Unfortunately they haven't expanded their product line to offer full 4K support and the current products are rather expensive. The few that do offer 4K support are limited to ~5Gbps bandwidth. And I think a big part of the problem is the demand for these devices is in reality very low. We are the niche that currently wants them.
 
Jim Short said:
DVIGear sells DisplayPort cables that on paper support 4096x2160 / 60p up to 15 meters (45 feet), but just got off the phone with them and they are currently chasing issues for customers that have LG monitors and applications over 10 feet (3 Meter, 9.8 ft. cable). The guy I spoke with said they are in the process of sending cables to a LG training facility in the USA to try and learn more about where the compatibility issues lie.
Click to expand...

Was that in regards to their copper or fiber optic versions, or both? I can see the copper not working right, but the optical should be okay.
 
See my second post in this thread... I have this working. Don't know why you guys still looking around... (that was a while ago when I posted that)
 
Why are you guys complaining? Finally there is a Displayport extender solution supporting 4/60Hz at lengths of up to ten meters! That‘s clearly a step up. And it‘s cheap and works very reliable.

I‘m happy with the Lindy DP extender.
 
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