DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

[Borzab]

Interesting, the default fan is indeed pretty noisy to the point of being annoying, especially next to a whisper quiet MP6,1.

I was thinking of getting rid of the fan altogether and sticking the heatsink to the case with a thermal pad. Would that be too risky?

Manufacturer from China says, that it's possible. But i tried to do this and radiator would very hot (i can't touch it by fingers).

 

[spadak]

Guys is there difference between LM270QQ1-SDC1 and LM270QQ1-SDE1 ?
Debating now, I have currently LM270QQ2 DIY with older 2 DP1.2 board and looking to change this ..
Thanks

 

[runtime_error0x]

Guys is there difference between LM270QQ1-SDC1 and LM270QQ1-SDE1 ?
Debating now, I have currently LM270QQ2 DIY with older 2 DP1.2 board and looking to change this ..
Thanks

Both the LM270QQ1 should work the same, I think there is a slight difference in the antenna cutout locations though when placing it into the iMac shell. However will the driver board work from LM270QQ2 to LM270QQ1? Usually the sellers sell two variants of the board and you have to specify if its for LM270QQ1 or LM270QQ2

 

[spadak]

Thanks ! I'm planning to buy new driver.
and regarding brightness or any other improvement between versions ?

 

[runtime_error0x]

Thanks ! I'm planning to buy new driver.
and regarding brightness or any other improvement between versions ?

Yeah I believe it is fixed with the latest version, it'll say v4 on the board, there's a photo in a previous post that shows it. And of course it uses DisplayPort 1.4, so you can connect a Windows directly with one DisplayPort Cable

You should note though if you have an older Mac, for example MacBook Pro 15in 2016, iMac 5k 2017 etc, you'll need to buy a Thunderbolt to two DisplayPort adapter for it to work at all at 5k, and it needs a new firmware flashed onto it that they can send over (basically so it has the input selection of 2 DisplayPort when toggling the monitor menu). Even in newer Macs, you can use one Thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort cable to connect, but will be at 5k 8bpc because Big Sur broke DSC.

 

[Borzab]

Today I completed the assembly of the monitor!
Matrix: LM270QQ1
Board: R1811
Case: A1312

Here is some photos of process:

First version before i found a shell.

Then i bought an A1312 case in perfect condition.

By the way, I removed the fan from the radiator at my own risk. I don't think this is the right solution, but the noise from the fan is very annoying. Well, time will tell.

NEVER BUY A1312 for LM270QQ1!!! Because very difficult to place the matrix to the case. And I had to make wooden stands on the sides to stick the tape on.

Stands for the matrix should be no more than 7 mm wide (the width of the matrix glass).

Since the matrix and the body have slightly different sizes, there is a strip like this on top. But it is not very noticeable.

I soldered out the power indicator and placed it on the top of the case. In my opinion, he belongs there.

I wasn't planning on using a monitor with a stand and so I cut out the mounts for the Vesa 100x100. Also, I cut a hole in the case so that you can easily replace the cable without disassembling the monitor.

I placed the monitor control board at the bottom.

And... the final result! In fact, my cat did everything, and I just helped him)

 

[dukee101]

Wow, @Borzab, I'm at a loss for words. The work you've done is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing with us this awesome DIY project! I can't believe that year after year, CES after CES, no company comes up with a great 5K monitor to rival the iMac 5K in terms of resolution and aesthetics.

 

[Borzab]

Wow, @Borzab, I'm at a loss for words. The work you've done is incredible. Thank you so much for sharing with us this awesome DIY project! I can't believe that year after year, CES after CES, no company comes up with a great 5K monitor to rival the iMac 5K in terms of resolution and aesthetics.

Thanks! I'm also stunned that there are no normal 5k 27" monitors on sale, except for the LG UltraFine. But these monitors are now discontinued. I am more than sure that this was done in collusion with Apple.

 

[kchong]

Rather than using the A1312 hinge mechanism for VESA, I went with the cheaper DIY solution by using a 100 x 100 VESA plate from K&M (model number 19615). This metal adapter plate has 2 “studs” welded to it and comes with 2 nuts. The opening/gap of the A1419 chassis for the iMac stand is big enough for the M6 threaded studs to pass through.

View attachment 967910

To secure the VESA plate to the monitor arm, I used screws, washers and nuts. The monitor arm that I purchased from AliExpress came with M4 screws so I only had to purchase the washers and nuts from eBay. I added a layer of 3mm MDF between the chassis and VESA plate (mainly as padding) to prevent the screws from scratching the back of the aluminium enclosure. I also cut a rectangular piece of MDF to “fill in” the gap around the opening of the enclosure to prevent the VESA plate from sliding left and right. Finally, I also added 2 x 25mm M6 washers to increase the surface area that holds the enclosure when the nuts are tighten.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with the end result especially for the price since the Apple VESA kit for A1419 (used) cost £100+. Initially, I was worried that the 2 x M6 nuts that hold the enclosure might come loose when I adjust the monitor but after few weeks of using it and adjusting the monitor from time to time, the nuts seem to stay tightly secured to the plate. I paid £7.10 (or £12.05 delivered) for the K&M 19615 VESA plate. The washers, nuts and 3mm MDF A4 sheet cost about £10 (or less) in total from eBay.

I have the R9A18 5K driver board connected to an eGPU (RX 580) via 2 x DP1.2. The eGPU is connected to a MBP 15” 2015 via the M.2 SSD slot.


Photo #1: K&M 19615 attached to the enclosure without padding. The cables in the photo are for the iMac speakers, connected to the 5K driver board via a 4-pin header.
View attachment 967907

Photo #2: Height of the stud without padding. I used a 3mm MDF board as padding.
View attachment 967906

Photo #3: Rear view of the enclosure with VESA plate without padding.
View attachment 967908

Photo #4 Interior view of the set up with padding, small rectangular piece of MDF to prevent the plate from sliding left/right and 2 x 25mm M6 washers. If you look through the vents, you will see the screws used to secure the VESA plate to the monitor arm.
View attachment 967909

Photo #5 and #6: Exterior views of the set up, attached to a monitor arm.
View attachment 967911 View attachment 967912

can I check how you got the speakers wired to the driver board? It appears that the iMac 27 in speakers each have a 4 pin cable that doesnt correspond to any ports in on the driver

 

[yaosiang]

can I check how you got the speakers wired to the driver board? It appears that the iMac 27 in speakers each have a 4 pin cable that doesnt correspond to any ports in on the driver

The 4 pins on the speakers (for each side) are Woofer+, Woofer-, Tweeter+ and Tweeter-. The 4 pins on the driver board are Left+, Left-, Right+ and Right-. For each side, I connected the Woofer+ and Tweeter+ to the positive pin and Woofer- and Tweeter- to the negative pin. You can listen to the sound output difference by connecting only the woofer or only the tweeter.

You can test the speakers (to make sure they work) by connecting them directly to your iPhone/computer using a 3.5mm cable/jack. You should be able to hear sound from the speakers without having to use an amplifier (although you probably need to increase the volume).

 

[yaosiang]

Today I completed the assembly of the monitor!
Matrix: LM270QQ1
Board: R1811
Case: A1312

Here is some photos of process:

First version before i found a shell.
View attachment 1716325

View attachment 1716326

Then i bought an A1312 case in perfect condition.

View attachment 1716327

By the way, I removed the fan from the radiator at my own risk. I don't think this is the right solution, but the noise from the fan is very annoying. Well, time will tell.
View attachment 1716328

NEVER BUY A1312 for LM270QQ1!!! Because very difficult to place the matrix to the case. And I had to make wooden stands on the sides to stick the tape on.
View attachment 1716337

Stands for the matrix should be no more than 7 mm wide (the width of the matrix glass).

View attachment 1716329
Since the matrix and the body have slightly different sizes, there is a strip like this on top. But it is not very noticeable.

View attachment 1716338

I soldered out the power indicator and placed it on the top of the case. In my opinion, he belongs there.
View attachment 1716332

I wasn't planning on using a monitor with a stand and so I cut out the mounts for the Vesa 100x100. Also, I cut a hole in the case so that you can easily replace the cable without disassembling the monitor.

View attachment 1716335

I placed the monitor control board at the bottom.
View attachment 1716336

And... the final result! In fact, my cat did everything, and I just helped him)
View attachment 1716341

Thanks for sharing your build and informing us that the LM270QQ1 does not fit into the A1312 enclosure without considerable amount of effort. The YouTube video did not highlight that although one can argue that the A1312 enclosure is a lot cheaper compared to the A1419.

 

[kchong]

Anyone using the R1811 driver board finding that the LCD panel where the fan behind feels hot to the touch? Wondering if there would be any long term effects of heat being concentrated on a particular part of the panel.

 

[jinxmitchell]

I collected the parts for this and plan to assemble this weekend. I already tested and the display looks beautiful (though it’s terrible for gaming). I have an idea I’m going to try so i can use the internal speakers (basically just cut open a 3.5 cable, wire to the speakers, then plug into the headphone Jack on the board), and will report back if people are interested.
i also emailed a company about making prototype cables and bezels to make this a plug and affair. It’ll of course depend on the price, but if it turns out decent, I’m wondering if there’s demand for such a kit.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I collected the parts for this and plan to assemble this weekend. I already tested and the display looks beautiful (though it’s terrible for gaming). I have an idea I’m going to try so i can use the internal speakers (basically just cut open a 3.5 cable, wire to the speakers, then plug into the headphone Jack on the board), and will report back if people are interested.
i also emailed a company about making prototype cables and bezels to make this a plug and affair. It’ll of course depend on the price, but if it turns out decent, I’m wondering if there’s demand for such a kit.

Would love to know more about a possible kit solution, absolutely!

I wish we could get our hands on the casings that Planar was using for the ix2790.
It was very attractive in person

 

[maltenuhn]

I've just finished the A1419 + R1811 (v4) + LM270QQ1 build this weekend (provisionally). I was a bit concerned about the size of the power brick but it fits.

Caution: if you were planning to use one of the brightness controls apps (like MonitorControl or Lunar - they won't work with this setup if you have an M1 Arm-based Macbook. Reasons here, TL;DR is that Apple would need to make changes because the brightness commands aren't being passed through.

Some things I'm pondering:

1. The fan noise is annoying, but in the A1419 case there seems to be too little clearance for a fan + heatsink? Do you think replacing the heatsink+fan with just a (quieter) fan would help?

2. I'm running this on my 2020 M1 Macbook Air. It can drive the 5K just fine with a TB3 cable, but I noticed it's not always charging. Do you think this is because the power brick included with the R1811 only provides 4A @ 24V?

3. Has anyone managed to the the "HDR" option to work correctly? It shows up in the Apple display config menu, but only seems to "wash out" all of the colours?

4. Is anyone aware of a good 40Gbps extension cable (male - female) that I could glue/screw/mount to the case in some way? I'm a bit wary of having my TB3 cable reach into the display, one accidental yank in the wrong direction and all that.

 

[pitouthestar]

I've just finished the A1419 + R1811 (v4) + LM270QQ1 build this weekend (provisionally). I was a bit concerned about the size of the power brick but it fits.

Caution: if you were planning to use one of the brightness controls apps (like MonitorControl or Lunar - they won't work with this setup if you have an M1 Arm-based Macbook. Reasons here, TL;DR is that Apple would need to make changes because the brightness commands aren't being passed through.

Some things I'm pondering:

1. The fan noise is annoying, but in the A1419 case there seems to be too little clearance for a fan + heatsink? Do you think replacing the heatsink+fan with just a (quieter) fan would help?

2. I'm running this on my 2020 M1 Macbook Air. It can drive the 5K just fine with a TB3 cable, but I noticed it's not always charging. Do you think this is because the power brick included with the R1811 only provides 4A @ 24V?

3. Has anyone managed to the the "HDR" option to work correctly? It shows up in the Apple display config menu, but only seems to "wash out" all of the colours?

4. Is anyone aware of a good 40Gbps extension cable (male - female) that I could glue/screw/mount to the case in some way? I'm a bit wary of having my TB3 cable reach into the display, one accidental yank in the wrong direction and all that.

Thunderbolt 3 extension cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F9G6RQX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[joevt]

Thunderbolt 3 extension cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F9G6RQX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Maybe that 6 inch extension can be combined with 90° adapters to give more options for the female USB-C Thunderbolt port location. The fewer the extensions, the better the signal though.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/5k-apple-thunderbolt-display-build.2283725/post-29585341

 

[maltenuhn]

Thanks! I've ordered internal extensions for the DP cables (with 90 degree bend, and affordances for M3 screws) and the TB3 extension cable. My plan is to either mount all of them on a spare piece of aluminium, or tap M3 0.5 threads directly into the case. But I'll need to fabricobble something for the TB3 extension so it can take a screw or two. Will keep you all posted.

 

[pitouthestar]

Thanks! I've ordered internal extensions for the DP cables (with 90 degree bend, and affordances for M3 screws) and the TB3 extension cable. My plan is to either mount all of them on a spare piece of aluminium, or tap M3 0.5 threads directly into the case. But I'll need to fabricobble something for the TB3 extension so it can take a screw or two. Will keep you all posted.

Where did you find DP 1.4 extensions with a 90 degree bend?The only ones are found are these:

AliExpress

I also ordered HDMI ones from the same seller, and USB ones as well. For USB I couldn’t find 90 degree ones with panel mount, so not sure they will fit into the case.

 

[maltenuhn]

Where did you find DP 1.4 extensions with a 90 degree bend?The only ones are found are these:

I found these for DP1.4 on Amazon (UK). I suspect it's a reseller of the AliExpress ones... For USB-C (Thunderbolt 3?) I ordered one from AliExpress - it's not 90 degrees, but (promises) 40Gbps. It has not yet arrived, I'll write something up here once it has (should be within the next 3-4 days).

ADT-Link DisplayPort 1.4 Cable Angled 8K 4K HDR 165Hz 60Hz Display Port Adapter For Video PC Laptop TV Extension Cable (20cm,P1-P4T)

ADT-Link DisplayPort 1.4 Cable Angled 8K 4K HDR 165Hz 60Hz Display Port Adapter For Video PC Laptop TV Extension Cable (20cm,P1-P4T)

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[pitouthestar]

I found these for DP1.4 on Amazon (UK). I suspect it's a reseller of the AliExpress ones... For USB-C (Thunderbolt 3?) I ordered one from AliExpress - it's not 90 degrees, but (promises) 40Gbps. It has not yet arrived, I'll write something up here once it has (should be within the next 3-4 days).

ADT-Link DisplayPort 1.4 Cable Angled 8K 4K HDR 165Hz 60Hz Display Port Adapter For Video PC Laptop TV Extension Cable (20cm,P1-P4T)

ADT-Link DisplayPort 1.4 Cable Angled 8K 4K HDR 165Hz 60Hz Display Port Adapter For Video PC Laptop TV Extension Cable (20cm,P1-P4T)

www.amazon.co.uk

Could you share the Thunderbolt one from AliExpress? Thanks!

 

[maltenuhn]

Could you share the Thunderbolt one from AliExpress? Thanks!

Sure, here goes. No idea if it works, but if there's 40Gbps written on the cable... wcgw?

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

 

[joevt]

But I'll need to fabricobble something for the TB3 extension so it can take a screw or two.

For USB I couldn’t find 90 degree ones with panel mount, so not sure they will fit into the case.

For USB-C (Thunderbolt 3?) I ordered one from AliExpress - it's not 90 degrees, but (promises) 40Gbps.

There are those 90° USB-C adapters I linked which could be added to the extension cable.
https://egpu.io/forums/psu-cables/90-degree-angle-usb-c-adapter/paged/2/#post-66724
For panel mount, maybe you can use some moldable and hardening plastic or putty or whatever and mold it around the adapter and some screws/bolts for panel mounting.
https://www.amazon.com/InstaMorph-Moldable-Plastic-6-oz/dp/B004MFLU4Y
I've never tried the stuff, so I don't know how durable it is. Maybe you can find something better.

The ADT Link website show some panel mountable USB-C cables with 90°.
http://www.adt.link/product/UTT-20G.html
They only specify 10 Gbps per lane so it may not be suitable for Thunderbolt 3 which uses 20 Gbps per lane. But the board you're connecting doesn't use Thunderbolt?
The current is limited to 3A over 50cm (1.5A for 100cm) which is not enough for 65W PD which requires 3.25A at 20V but it should work without melting since you'll use a shorter length (I guess 46cm for 3.25A and 30cm for 5A but I'm not an electrical engineer)

The UT6A-UT8T-NC or UT6A-UT8T-NC-BK seem to be most suitable. NC is a no-chip version, because this is an extension cable - the chip is in the external USB-C cable that you'll use to connect to a computer. BK includes a PCIe backplate, stand-offs, screws, and bolts which you'll need (except the backplate) to mount the female USB-C connector.

There's this: "Note 5: The extension cable C-type female socket can only be connected to the device. It cannot be connected to the host and cannot be recharged. It is forbidden to use two USB cables in series, otherwise the USB function may be invalid. This is a USB definition limitation, not a design problem."
which is unclear - can you connect a cable to the female socket or not?

I'm not sure why they have a separate page for USB 3.1. It mentions 480 Mb/s for USB 2.0 functionality but not DisplayPort. The USB 3.2 cables mentioned DisplayPort but not 480 Mb/s.
http://www.adt.link/product/UTT.html
You'll need four lane DisplayPort functionality for 4K and 5K. Also 480 Mb/s if there's USB ports and devices.

 

[tornado99]

Are you able to communicate with these monitors via DDC/CI from a terminal prompt on your desktop?

I would be interested in what commands the Realtek boards expose

For example using this: https://github.com/kfix/ddcctl

 

[hhhonzik]

I've also tried to build out a 5K display with R1811 Driver board (for a single cable connection with PD).

It worked well for a few weeks of testing, I even connected camera, microphone, speakers and additional USB hub for accessories.

Unfortunately after some time, Macbook usb ports stopped working and i've basically bricked my MBP16. After very expensive repair (out of warranty), I've tested again with the same outcome.

I've tested with my girlfriends Macbook Air and one USB-C port is not working anymore.

I'll try to open up the macbooks and investigate, but most likely r1811 monitor can damage your PC.