Noob Datapath FX4 4K MacBook Question

Bro, does your rig even lift?
lightbx
Posts: 144
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 21:05

Re: Noob Datapath FX4 4K MacBook Question

Post by lightbx »

A friend and I were testing his FX4's compatibility with my MacBook using SwitchResX. Mid-2015 MBP with AMD Radeon R9 M370X (2GB VRAM), 2.8GHz i7 CPU, 16GB RAM. Apple states that Thunderbolt video output on this model has "support for up to 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz on a single external display." HDMI output only supports up to "3840-by-2160 resolution at 30Hz" (let's just call it 4K@30).

On both the HDMI output (4K@30) and the Thunderbolt output with an HDMI adapter (40K@30) we were unable to achieve full black levels on any of the FX4's outputs (using both monitors and projectors). Using his PC, we were able to achieve full black, with both 4K@30 (HDMI) and 4K@60 (DP).

Long story short, we were a little bummed about the SwitchResX + FX4 setup, because bringing a MacBook (instead of PC + monitor + keyboard + mouse) would be very useful for many one-off gigs, but alas, the limited color range made the configuration unusable. This "0-255 vs limited 16-235" business is very intriguing. My Thetan levels aren't high enough to attempt risking my Mac's GPU settings for a hacker solution, considering I also don't own an FX4 anyway.

Too bad we didn't have a miniDP -> DP adapter at the time! I have since acquired one but I am unsure of the next time I will see an FX4. Next time we have a project, I may try this again. Of course, they say the human being is the only animal that trips over the same rock twice...

OK. That was the most rambling description of an issue I have posted in a while. If you're still with me, thanks.

TL;DR - I should get a PC next time I am not so broke. I know I wouldn't regret it (because as long as the motherboard is brand-new-kick-ass with M.2 RAID-0 capability and maaaaddd PCIe x16 lanes, and the form factor is compact enough, I can always upgrade other parts!)

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drazkers
Posts: 968
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 10:54
Location: Brady V up in Canada

Re: Noob Datapath FX4 4K MacBook Question

Post by drazkers »

lightbx wrote:
Warspite wrote: Troubles you can get with MBP and FX4 are
2. Colors. After some update MacOs started to load wrong color profile for FX4 and you get gray instead of black and even with green hue in some cases.
I have experienced this issue before! Have you found a solution for this? Could I just cycle through the color profiles in the macOS Display Preferences?

You need to run a script that forces a rgb 444 edid.

Some processors also have this issue with macs.

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