LG UltraFine 5K - Issues/bugs

[riaandj]

So my backlighting is hosed. I guess I'll have to have Apple send a replacement.

Apple wants me to setup a genius bar appointment (don't know why, not like they'll be able to fix it). LG's tech support said Apple is handling and no resources are available. Apple's tech support doesn't have any idea who to route this to for support and are trying to send me back to LG. I'm going to just have them ship another, bill me and return the defective one to the store. This is making me wish it was an Apple product and not 3rd party.

Hi

I suddenly get the same thing on my LG5K running off a 2020 MAckbrook Pro 16. I have the same setup at my office but the screen at home does this - image attached.

Apologies for a dumb question, but what should I say to Apple support> You say this is best described as a backlighting problem. I just know from past experience that if you don't have a clear enough description of your problem they will bounce you around.

I run the monitor through a Caldigit docking station.

Thanks

 

[rtkane]

Sorry.. just seeing your question. When I talked to Apple I said it appeared to be a backlighting issue where part of the LED's would dim when I'd dim the screen but the other part would stay lit. But it's been about 4 years so I don't really remember what they said other than Apple pointing the finger to LG and LG pointing the finger to Apple. I just bought another monitor and returned the defective one. Haven't had a problem since. The picture you attached, however, does not appear to be a backlighting issue--I'd try seeing if not running it through the docking station makes a difference and if you have another monitor you can swap out, see if that one works. I'd think (and I'm by no means an expert here so this is just a guess) that if the other monitor works, the problem is with a defective LG; if the docking station removal and connecting the monitor without using the dock works, it's the dock; and if the other monitor works, maybe it's a bad graphics driver? Good luck--hopefully you already got this fixed.

 

[jsoeung]

I've had my LG 5k for about a year now. I accidentally yanked the thunderbolt cord out from the side when I was adjusting my desk and the entire TB3 pin came out. Am I screwed? I imagine that it would be pretty difficult to solder back on. Will I need a new motherboard? Thanks.

 

[Lucky736]

I've had my LG 5k for about a year now. I accidentally yanked the thunderbolt cord out from the side when I was adjusting my desk and the entire TB3 pin came out. Am I screwed? I imagine that it would be pretty difficult to solder back on. Will I need a new motherboard? Thanks.

Curious about this as I believe the TB3 port on mine that displays video has failed. Wondering if anyone does a board level repair. The other ports power fine.

 

[JJDRM]

Is anyone getting more than 60W of power? I've tried different cables and can't get more than this

 

[mcvaughan]

Tired of dealing with the ghosting issues with my 1st gen (fixed) 5K; just placed an order for a nano XDR.

 

[shansoft]

Tired of dealing with the ghosting issues with my 1st gen (fixed) 5K; just placed an order for a nano XDR.

As long as its LG Panel, you will end up image retention either way.

 

[jimthing]

As long as its LG Panel, you will end up image retention either way.

Is that actually true? The panels may be made by the same company (LG?), but the quality of the XDR ones is likely to be far higher, and come from LG's higher quality panel ranges.

AFAIUI, regardless of brand, just as you can buy TV's for $500, $5000, $20000 – the price you pay is part of the choice of panel the manufacturer gives you (other things being paid for are extra hardware/software functionalities). Clearly paying $5K or $20K for a TV gets you much better quality internal panels, than cheaper models at $500.

Having said that, the panels in the LG 5K are supposed to be the same as in the 5K iMac, so why are the iMac's not having as many complaints from owners? And the LG 5K's are also reasonable pricey at ~$1300 each, so again, why are no many retention issues being seen in them at this cost?

My only guess on the second point, is that 5K panels are expensive generally to make, hence the $1300 price of these external displays. And maybe LG are giving Apple preferential picking from their production line, or similar, for their iMacs...?

 

[Hessel89]

As long as its LG Panel, you will end up image retention either way.

I've had 3 LG Ultrafines. Only one of them had image retention. Apple replaced it without any fuss.

 

[kikotte]

hey,

Just bought a used LG Ultrafine 5K (for Mac) on eBay for my Macbook Pro M1 (Big Sur with last updates).

It's not working

I downloaded LG Screen Manager en Apple Store. No firmware update is available.

What can I do to fix that ?

 

[saulinpa]

hey,

Just bought a used LG Ultrafine 5K (for Mac) on eBay for my Macbook Pro M1 (Big Sur with last updates).

It's not working

I downloaded LG Screen Manager en Apple Store. No firmware update is available.

What can I do to fix that ?

Verify you are using a good TB3 cable. Use the TB3 port, not any of the three USB3 ports. Otherwise send it back as dead on arrival.

 

[kikotte]

I use this cable bought on Amazon (the cable with the screen was a noname chinese passive Thunderbolt 3) : https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B078BBX2TH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[WP31]

Is that actually true? The panels may be made by the same company (LG?), but the quality of the XDR ones is likely to be far higher, and come from LG's higher quality panel ranges.

AFAIUI, regardless of brand, just as you can buy TV's for $500, $5000, $20000 – the price you pay is part of the choice of panel the manufacturer gives you (other things being paid for are extra hardware/software functionalities). Clearly paying $5K or $20K for a TV gets you much better quality internal panels, than cheaper models at $500.

Having said that, the panels in the LG 5K are supposed to be the same as in the 5K iMac, so why are the iMac's not having as many complaints from owners? And the LG 5K's are also reasonable pricey at ~$1300 each, so again, why are no many retention issues being seen in them at this cost?

My only guess on the second point, is that 5K panels are expensive generally to make, hence the $1300 price of these external displays. And maybe LG are giving Apple preferential picking from their production line, or similar, for their iMacs...?

Are you me (very similar setups and similar rationale ref panels)? Yeah, I'm with you here. When Apple stopped making external displays several years ago they essentially consolidated their >15" panel production to LG - very Tim Apple-esque from a supply chain point of view. Anyway, for years, until the XDR, Apple basically only endorsed two external/AIO monitor panels, the 21/24" and 27" LG panels. It's what was in their iMacs and the LG UFs (the implicitly endorsed Apple external monitor). I'd bet my lunch Apple held LG to a contractual quality standard and I'd bet my dinner they subsidized the resolution standard (4K@24" and 5K@27"). We know that most if not all other manufacturers either dipped their toes in those size/resolution waters and backed away quickly or watched Dell do it and learned "most customers won't pay the premium for 'retina' resolution monitors". The consumer market was plenty happy with 4K@27+", especially for cheaper and cheaper prices. Anyway, those 5K panels are expensive and very few (relatively speaking) people actually buy them.

I have an original LG5KUF (A series) and had some image retention issues after a couple years. I sent it back to LG and they replaced the panel for ~$150. Haven't had issues since.

 

[WolfSnap]

I've had 3 LG Ultrafines. Only one of them had image retention. Apple replaced it without any fuss.

I have a 5K LG that was purchased when they first came out. The image retention issue is driving me nuts lately...

How did you get Apple to deal with the LG screen? Any tips/tricks?

 

[Franckymrs]

I have a 5K LG that was purchased when they first came out. The image retention issue is driving me nuts lately...

How did you get Apple to deal with the LG screen? Any tips/tricks?

LG Ultrafine 5K (27MD5K) firmware update

Hello, I'm having trouble with my new LG Ultrafine 5K display (27MD5K) connected to my Mac mini M1 (16Gb DDR/512Gb SSD).

lgcommunity.us.com

Good luck

 

[johnscully]

Got the LG 5K today to accompany my iMac 21.5 – but the viewing angle stability and the color shift on the edges are much worse on the LG. For the pictures I turned off the light in the room and used plain black wallpaper on both displays. The photos exaggerate the problem a bit, but I'm definitely disappointed about the image quality of the LG.

 

[Sam5281]

^ YIKES! Thats unacceptable

These issues/and re-realese were solely to the 5K monitors?

Were the 4k 24" ultra fines plagued with their own issues?

 

[saulinpa]

LG Ultrafine 5K (27MD5K) firmware update

Hello, I'm having trouble with my new LG Ultrafine 5K display (27MD5K) connected to my Mac mini M1 (16Gb DDR/512Gb SSD).

lgcommunity.us.com

Good luck

The link doesn't work as LG got rid of their forums.

 

[Franckymrs]

yes the forum LG closed

 

[BobHinden]

LG 5K Pixel shifting problem fixed in MacOS 11.5.1?

I haven't seen the pixel shift problem with my LG 5K monitor (on a M1 MacMini) since I installed 11.5.1. It may have been fixed. Can't find any detailed release notes.

What are other people experiences?

 

[Franckymrs]

LG 5K Pixel shifting problem fixed in MacOS 11.5.1?

I haven't seen the pixel shift problem with my LG 5K monitor (on a M1 MacMini) since I installed 11.5.1. It may have been fixed. Can't find any detailed release notes.

What are other people experiences?

for me the problem is solved since the release of 11.5 with a DFU mode restore

I am using the LG Thunderbolt cable

 

[jterp7]

im shopping a few examples on ebay and if im honest this thread is freaking me out.

 

[flanker]

So I have two LG Ultrafine died on me this past couple of month. One has no display, while the other has a very dim display. My macbook detect its being charged but cannot detect the display. As they are out of warranty, is it worth it to get it repair? Any idea what the repair cost will be like?
Thanks

 

[Lucky736]

So I have two LG Ultrafine died on me this past couple of month. One has no display, while the other has a very dim display. My macbook detect its being charged but cannot detect the display. As they are out of warranty, is it worth it to get it repair? Any idea what the repair cost will be like?
Thanks

I have yet to be able to get LG to help with the repair on mine, gladly would pay the flat rate, and every place that is LG certified I have called don't actually repair their monitors oddly enough. Rock and a hard place on these. Please let me know if you stumble upon a repair solution.

 

[strangeengine]

So I have two LG Ultrafine died on me this past couple of month. One has no display, while the other has a very dim display. My macbook detect its being charged but cannot detect the display. As they are out of warranty, is it worth it to get it repair? Any idea what the repair cost will be like?
Thanks

Likely main board failures. Mine were about $480 to replace 18 months ago.

If you are in the SF Bay Area, I had mine replaced here:

Parts4Pros - Campbell, CA

Specialties: We do Offer TV repair. TV Repair, Parts & Sale Same Day Service / We offer In-Home TV Repair Our Technicians have more than 15 years of experience serving San Jose and cities around. We do offer TV sells and installation. Established in 2009. Parts4Pros TV Repair has been...

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- Mark