Following the release of Apple’s 5K Retina iMac, other monitor manufacturers are considering releasing 5K monitors in 2015. However, they will face an uphill battle as no current connector standard can feed the high-resolution monitors.

More 5K monitors expected in 2015
Apple released the first “5K” monitor with its 5K Retina iMac earlier this year. 5K - 5210x2880 pixels - might not sound like a huge jump from 4K but it is actually 77 percent more pixels.  Dell has already announced its own 5K monitor but others are expected to follow suit in 2015, according to Digitimes.

The report specifically mentions Philips as one of the most likely candidates for releasing a 5K monitor. Philips monitors are produced under license by MMD (owned by TPV that also produces Philips TVs) and can often be found at attractive prices. Other manufacturers are also expected to join the party.


LG.Display is manufacturing most of the 5K LCD panels and as the Retina iMac continues to be in short supply it could suggest that Apple is snapping up every panel from LG.Display that it can get. Other panel manufactures such as AUO are expected to ramp up productions of high-resolution LCD monitor panels in 24 to 40 inch sizes, too.

However, monitor manufacturers will face an uphill battle bringing 5K to the market in the short term. There is simply no cable connector standard that can support 5K at 60 Hz yet. HDMI 2.0 is not capable and DisplayPort 1.2 cannot do it either. The new DisplayPort 1.3 supports 5K and is expected to roll-out in 2015 but it will take some time before graphics card manufacturers start to implement it.

Dell’s 5K monitor is using two DisplayPort 1.2 connections and MST (multi-stream transport) mode, which is not optimal. Apple on the other hand has circumvented these issues with its integrated machine and by using a custom TCON called DP665, which appears to be a modification to DisplayPort 1.3. Apple is a supporter of DisplayPort, which is also used in the Thunderbolt standard that Apple has been involved in.

Dell’s 5K monitor is available to buy on Dell’s website but it is as expensive as the 5K Retina iMac that also includes a powerful computer.

- Source: Digitimes & iFixit