Mac Studio doesn't recognize monitors' HDR or properly output to it

Question

Mac Studio doesn't recognize monitors' HDR or properly output to it

I have a new Mac Studio and am having troubles with it and my monitors' HDR. How do I force it to recognize and properly output an HDR signal?

Before I got the Mac Studio I had both of these monitors connected to a PC with an Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti which was using them at their full resolution, frame rate, and HDR - so they definitely do actually support it. It connected to the left monitor via DisplayPort and the right via HDMI.

My right monitor is the ViewSonic VP2785 (4K60, HDR, AdobeRGB). It has DisplayPort and HDMI inputs.

When I connect it via HDMI, I do not get an HDR option in Settings. I can set resolution (which is "More Space" i.e. native), color profile (AdobeRGB), refresh rate (60 Hz), and rotation (standard).

When I connect it with a USB-C/DP to DisplayPort 1.4 cable, I get and use the same options. However, when connected this way, it frequently doesn't wake up when the system wakes up, so I prefer the HDMI option.

HDR never shows up.

My left monitor is the ViewSonic VP2786 (4K60, HDR, AdobeRGB). It has USB-C/DP, DisplayPort, and HDMI inputs.

When I connect it with a USB-C/DP to DisplayPort 1.4 cable, I get and set all the same options as above, but I do get an HDR option. However, when I turn it on, I get a very washed out display - not HDR. When playing HDR content, I still get the usual dirty contrast areas where the brightness saturates non-HDR colorspaces and gets clipped.

When I connect it with the native USB-C connector (with a thunderbolt-compatible cable) I get the same as above, but as with the previous one it often fails to wake when the system wakes.

How do I get it to recognize and properly output HDR? How do I figure out why it's not working in the first place?

Some other notes:

This behavior was the same on 15.0 and 15.0.1.
When it "fails to wake", OS X agrees and has moved all of my windows/spaces to the other monitor. When I power-cycle the monitor OS X will then move all my windows/spaces back to where they were across the extended displays.

System Profiler display info:

  Chipset Model:    Apple M2 Max
  Type: GPU
  Bus:  Built-In
  Total Number of Cores:    30
  Vendor:   Apple (0x106b)
  Metal Support:    Metal 3
  Displays:
VP2786-4K:
  Resolution:   3840 x 2160 (2160p/4K UHD 1 - Ultra High Definition)
  UI Looks like:    3840 x 2160 @ 60.00Hz
  Main Display: Yes
  Mirror:   Off
  Online:   Yes
  Rotation: Supported
VP2785 SERIES:
  Resolution:   3840 x 2160 (2160p/4K UHD 1 - Ultra High Definition)
  UI Looks like:    3840 x 2160 @ 60.00Hz
  Mirror:   Off
  Online:   Yes
  Rotation: Supported

Mac Studio, macOS 15.0

Posted on Oct 11, 2024 2:18 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 12, 2024 9:19 AM in response to Christopher J K

I don't know what karma farming is.

I know that I have spent a lot of my time and energy researching restrictions or display Protocols, and posted for you the results of my extensive work as it may apply to your specific displays. Many Users have thanked my for providing this information, and told me that using the exact correct Cables FIXED their issues.

If Apple provided a similar terse summary of this information, I would have provide a link to an article instead.

I carefully broke out by each case you had presented. The information is complex, and I have it recorded separately, and there is some cutting and pasting involved to make CERTAIN I am telling you the information accurately

If your displays and their cables already meet the requirements I posted, it would be enough to say that, and not insult me or anyone trying to help you.

Readers here are other Users like you, who want to help and volunteer their time and expertise to try to help you. Apple employees (except community specialists) are prohibited from participating here. if you want to be able to insult someone trained you be nice to you, please contact Apple support:

Support

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2024 9:51 AM in response to Christopher J K

When connected to a Mac, your displays tracks the incidence of transmit errors, and report these errors back to the Mac. Recent version of macOS may refuse to connect using cables that produces errors. In some cases, they may instead reduce resolution or color depth to make an error-free connection.

it is not far-fetched to attribute display resolution or color depth issue to sub-standard cables. HDMI in particlar has not been good about requiring certification of more advanced cables, or helping users understand there are any differences in capabilities of different cables.

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2024 8:53 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Several methods:

1: System Settings shows an HDR option for one monitor and not the other.

2: When HDR is turned on for the left display, the display is washed out or muted or something and all colors are dull.

3: These behaviors are different from what I saw on other systems with these same displays with the same inputs.

4: When viewing HDR images, it is clear the bright parts are not getting brighter.

5: When I connect another computer to the monitors, the HDR image is displayed correctly and the display isn't washed out / muted.

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Answer 4

Oct 12, 2024 8:02 AM in response to Christopher J K

<<My right monitor is the ViewSonic VP2785 (4K60, HDR, AdobeRGB). It has DisplayPort and HDMI inputs.

When I connect it via HDMI, I do not get an HDR option in Settings. I can set resolution (which is "More Space" i.e. native), color profile (AdobeRGB), refresh rate (60 Hz), and rotation (standard).>>

HDMI cables you want for HDMI-only Displays (higher resolutions than 720p TV sets) are marked as Certified with an anti-counterfeiting tag and are labeled:

"Premium High Speed HDMI cable" or that + "with Ethernet" --OR--

"Ultra High Speed HDMI cable" or that + "48G"

Cables with No Certification tags are good for your standard 720p TV set, and not much more.

<<When I connect it with a USB-C/DP to DisplayPort 1.4 cable, I get and use the same options. However, when connected this way, it frequently doesn't wake up when the system wakes up, so I prefer the HDMI option.>>

USB-C to DisplayPort cables are limited to ONE meter, unless the electronic bulge is in the middle, so that you have one meter or less of USB-C coming in, and one meter or less of DisplayPort continuing to the display. Longer cables will drop features and/or be unreliable.

to connect directly with a single USB-C cable, that cable must be one meter or less, and certified to meet at last USB 3.1 speeds (SuperSpeed+)

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Answer 5

Oct 12, 2024 8:11 AM in response to Christopher J K

<< My left monitor is the ViewSonic VP2786 (4K60, HDR, AdobeRGB). It has USB-C/DP, DisplayPort, and HDMI inputs.

When I connect it with a USB-C/DP to DisplayPort 1.4 cable, I get and set all the same options as above, but I do get an HDR option. However, when I turn it on, I get a very washed out display - not HDR. When playing HDR content, I still get the usual dirty contrast areas where the brightness saturates non-HDR colorspaces and gets clipped.>>

adapter/cables required to support DisplayPort conversion must generally be 1 meter or shorter.

<< When I connect it with the native USB-C connector (with a thunderbolt-compatible cable) I get the same as above, but as with the previous one it often fails to wake when the system wakes. >>

A USB-C cable used for this purpose must be shorter than 1 meter, it must be capable of USB 3.1 data rates (which most genuine ThunderBolt cables are), but just using a ThunderBolt cable does NOT allow you to extend the supported cable-lengths in the slightest.

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