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#373871 - 29/06/2022 21:15 Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)!
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
A couple interesting facts in no particular order.
  • I've tried a handful of Java benchmarks that I've got hanging around. In comparison to my 2014 MacPro (6-core, 3.5GHz), I'm seeing 9x performance on a carefully tuned parallel algorithm, and 5x performance on a carefully tuned scalar algorithm. I'm impressed.
  • My home office Sharp PN-K321 monitor (32", originally sold by Apple alongside the MacPro of the same era) and this Mac don't play nicely over DisplayPort. The monitor apparently wants the computer to provide it with "tiling" and the Mac Studio somehow can't do that, so you get half of the screen black. I'm currently using HDMI, which limits me to 4K/30Hz rather than the native 4K/60Hz. (The Mac Studio supports 60Hz, but the monitor doesn't.)
  • My work office has a Philips 40" 4K monster that I got when it was available for a cheap price. I used exactly the same USB-C-to-DisplayPort cable, and it worked perfectly the first time. Monitors are weird.
  • I've been investigating the world of newer 40-43" 4K monitors, because my eyes ain't getting any better. This has led me down a maze of twisty passages, perhaps best explained by DisplayNinja's page on subpixel arrangements. In short, Macs don't have any way for you to specify when you're using a monitor using one of these weird subpixel layouts. This is irrelevant for gaming, but it's problematic for using your monitor to read small text, like any programmer is going to want to do. tl;dr: The best 32" monitor for non-obscene prices seem to be the various BenQ models that are explicitly marketed as being compatible with Macs. The jury is out on whether there are any 40+" 4K monitors that work correctly with Macs. (I'm ignoring the weird world of curved monitors because I want vertical real-estate more than I want horizontal real-estate.)
  • The old Macs supported Toslink (optical digital audio) through the headphone jack. The new Macs don't. I bought a cheap no-name Toslink-USB adapter, and it works perfectly, so I didn't end up needing to make any changes in my home office audio setup.

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#373872 - 30/06/2022 20:03 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
Originally Posted By: DWallach
Monitors are weird.


Monitors and Macs are weird. My Surface Book 3 will happily drive two monitors over one USB C cable (with DP passthrough from one to the other), but my Macbook Air wouldn't. It needed one USB C cable to each monitor.

I blogged about it: https://blog.differentpla.net/blog/2021/09/11/laptops-and-monitors/
_________________________
-- roger

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#373873 - 01/07/2022 07:48 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
It might be more accurate to say USB/Thunderbolt/DisplayPort are weird wink


Edited by andy (01/07/2022 07:48)
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday

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#373874 - 06/07/2022 20:05 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
Surprisingly useful article:
https://www.caldigit.com/can-ts3-and-ts3...rt-mst-feature/


Quote:

MacOS does not currently support MST, and will be able to mirror monitors at best. If you are experiencing problems on Windows, please make sure that you are using DP 1.2 cables and monitors.

...
1. MST Tiled: Most early 4K @60Hz monitors on the market, such as Sharp PN-K321, ASUS PQ321Q, Dell UP2414Q and UP3214Q, Panasonic TC-L65WT600 … etc, used Multi-Stream Transport technology to put two halves of a display together onto one large 4K surface to reach 60Hz (Stream 1 + Stream 2). This technique is also referred to as a “tile.” (Monitor with more than one panel).

This is the MST fully supported by macOS.

So, tiling is what I *want* to do, but it's exactly what isn't working for me, even though it was historically supported by Apple (*). Whereas, what Roger was originally trying to do is called "daisy chained MST", and this was (perhaps) never supported by MacOS.

(*) And, yes, one part of the article says "MacOS does not currently support MST" while another says that MST tiling works. It's a good article, if in need of some copy editing.

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#373875 - 06/07/2022 20:16 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
Also of note:
https://sebvance.medium.com/everything-y...am-98ce33d64af4
Quote:

But if you adopted 4K early, and you were using a Mac, you very well would have been stuck at 4K@30Hz, if OS X recognized your MST monitor at all. And there was a twist! Folks running Windows 7 and 8 in Boot Camp on the same Macs were able to run the same MST monitors in 4K@60Hz without issue. In other words, Apple’s hardware supported MST, but their software did not.

This was written in 2017, but there are newer comments "from the future" complaining about how the problem has persisted.

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#373876 - 07/07/2022 18:35 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Make sure you've set your scan frequency, vertical sync polarity, front porch, back porch, and number of vertical scan lines correctly. And listen to the monitor to make sure it doesn't make that high pitched whine that indicates the flyback transformer is being overstressed.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#373877 - 07/07/2022 18:48 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Flyback transformer? smile

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#373878 - 11/07/2022 19:20 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
FYI: genius rant about display resolution and subpixel antialiasing. https://tonsky.me/blog/monitors/

tl;dr: MOAR PIXELS!!!

Also, turns out that rtings.com has a monitor search engine that lets you specify that you specifically want an RGB subpixel layout, yielding 195 monitors. Narrow that down to 4K and up resolutions and a size at least 32", and you get 37 results, of which the top 14 have a subjective "text clarity" ranking of "9.0" or higher.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/table/85318

My current thinking after all this research: wait a year and see what's announced at next year's CES. Nothing here just screams out to me as the undisputed obvious must have monitor.

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#373879 - 12/07/2022 02:31 Re: Got a new Mac Studio (20-core Ultra)! [Re: DWallach]
jmwking
old hand

Registered: 27/02/2003
Posts: 768
Loc: Washington, DC metro
Nice find. Stuff I'll keep in mind when I'm shopping or helping others shop.

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