MP 7,1 New Mac Pro Supports Reference Monitoring Out of the Box

[aaronhead14]

Big news for colorists and other film professionals. I just spoke with an insider and he told me that the new Mac Pro will be able to output to the Apple Pro Display XDR as a reference display without a Decklink or Ultrastudio box. This wasn't clear during Apple's keynote but it's now confirmed that Thunderbolt is all that's needed. This is HUGE because it will save us another $1,000-$3,000 (depending on the card or box) on top of the money we'll save by not having to buy a Sony or Dolby reference display!

People keep complaining about the price of the Mac Pro, but for us professionals, it's stuff like this that actually saves us money and cleans up our workflows! It also frees up a PCIe slot for other cards. So great!
[doublepost=1560324002][/doublepost]To clarify, for those who don't understand such workflows: On the trashcan Mac Pro, this is what was needed in addition to the $30k-$50k monitor, in order to actually use the monitor as a reference display in 4K: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...bdlkulsr4kextr3_ultrastudio_4k_extreme_3.html But the new Mac Pro doesn't need this anymore because it has the feature built in!

 

[martyjmclean]

This is grate!! It is sorta-mentioned on Apple's american website but its not very clear. There has been lots of talk at work about the Pro Display XDR being a glorified interface display because it doesn't have SDI or Decklink support.

 

[aaronhead14]

This is grate!! It is sorta-mentioned on Apple's american website but its not very clear. There has been lots of talk at work about the Pro Display XDR being a glorified interface display because it doesn't have SDI or Decklink support.

Yeah, Blackmagic is working with Apple so that Thunderbolt replaces any need for SDI!

 

[ManuelGomes]

Great news indeed.
By the way, do you know how they can get 6016x3384@10bit@60Hz through to the display? Some quick math tells me that it won't fit in HBR3, not without DSC which I would say it's not used, wouldn't make sense I guess.
Maybe Alt Mode in TB3 to take advantage of the 40Gbps of available bandwidth. Still, there are 3 additional USB ports, lower bandwidth consumers at USB2 still - WTF Apple?! I get it that those are only for charging your iPhone or so but in 2019? USB2 really? Must be to maximize the display stream bandwidth I guess.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Yeah, Blackmagic is working with Apple so that Thunderbolt replaces any need for SDI!

Not really a solution. Most colorists need several different outputs to connect to multiple displays and scopes. Sure, using the XDR as your main reference display is great, but you still need to send that signal to a projector, waveform/vectorscope. I also like to see the final image on a crappy consumer display. A proper SDI/HDMI output card will still be necessary.

 

[aaronhead14]

Not really a solution. Most colorists need several different outputs to connect to multiple displays and scopes. Sure, using the XDR as your main reference display is great, but you still need to send that signal to a projector, waveform/vectorscope. I also like to see the final image on a crappy consumer display. A proper SDI/HDMI output card will still be necessary.

That’s a good point about the hardware scopes. For people who only need a reference monitor in addition to their GUI monitor though, it’s a great solution without any need for additional hardware.

 

[deconstruct60]

Great news indeed.
By the way, do you know how they can get 6016x3384@10bit@60Hz through to the display? Some quick math tells me that it won't fit in HBR3, not without DSC which I would say it's not used, wouldn't make sense I guess.
Maybe Alt Mode in TB3 to take advantage of the 40Gbps of available bandwidth.

This really shouldn't be a mystery. The XDR has one, and only one, input port ; thunderbolt v3 ( https://www.apple.com/pro-display-xdr/specs/ ). So the input is TBv3.

As for the bandwidth 6K x 30 x 60 = ~36Gb/s which is less than 40 Gb/s . Thunderbolt's overhead is lower than Display so it uses its own for transport, but there is a bit of DP overhead that has to go across also. So that probably barely fits; at 10% overhead at about 39.6. ( also illustrative as to why nothing else but some mundane USB ports on the back of the XDR as outputs. )

This can be sent as two DPv1.4 streams to basically saturate the the Thunderbolt link.

Still, there are 3 additional USB ports, lower bandwidth consumers at USB2 still - WTF Apple?!

The bandwidth heading toward the Mac is highly uncongested. It is just the output that the DPv1.4 is hogging. If basically attach user input devices it shouldn't be that bad. But Apple isn't taking any chances so basically the whole TBv3 stream to thrown at display.

I get it that those are only for charging your iPhone or so but in 2019? USB2 really? Must be to maximize the display stream bandwidth I guess.

All Type-C Alt mode connections carry at separate wire pair with USB (some basic config uses aspects of this). The lowest common denominator for USB connections is USB 2.

 

[JesterJJZ]

That’s a good point about the hardware scopes. For people who only need a reference monitor in addition to their GUI monitor though, it’s a great solution without any need for additional hardware.

If you’re the type of person that can afford this monitor for reference, you’re also the person that is using all the extra stuff...soo...

 

[aaronhead14]

If you’re the type of person that can afford this monitor for reference, you’re also the person that is using all the extra stuff...soo...

No, not really. This is 1/5 the price of any other 4K HDR reference display. The people buying those displays are the ones who can afford all the other bells and whistles. But software scopes paired with a great monitor such as the Pro Display XDR is a great setup for indie filmmakers and freelance colorists. No need for hardware scopes for the vast majority of people. Yes, they're great, but for a low budget HDR grading system, they're not absolutely necessary.

 

[ManuelGomes]

dec, you mean one video input port, right? Those 3 USB additional ports are or can be also input ports.
Only after writing I realized the USB2 reason, but then it was too late, already posted. :-(
My math exactly, pretty close to the 40Gbps. And probably why the weird resolution, close to the pixel limit you can push through.
I guess in theory you can drive this sucker from any TB3 enabled Mac, too bad my 15" rMBP 2015 (luckily not affected by the battery issue ) has no TB3.

 

[zoomp]

Also. don’t forget that those BM/AJA boxes (boards) also sent 8-16 audio tracks in SYNC with image. As an editor, this is of massive importance.