Last week, Apple announced a new 27-inch iMac that packs an impressive 5K Retina display. As we’ve already detailed, these new 5K displays are thinner, cheaper, draw less power thanks to a more-efficient LED backlight, and, perhaps most importantly, Apple is selling the whole 27-inch iMac system at a mind-blowing price of $2500. That’s the same price tag on Dell’s 5K monitor.
One of the major questions regarding Apple’s 5K display is whether or not it would be a 30Hz or 60Hz panel. We’ve had an opportunity to see some demonstrations of gaming on the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display and can confirm that it’s a 30Hz panel when operating in 5K mode. Below 5K, the panel shifts to 60Hz, though we couldn’t confirm exactly when the 60/30 shift occurs. It’s a 60Hz panel up to at least 2560×1440.
If this panel indeed uses an overclocked DisplayPort 1.2 signal, as we discuss below, it could be 60Hz up to 4K (3840×2160). DisplayPort 1.2 is capable of providing an SST link of 60Hz at that resolution. It’s still a beautiful display regardless, and many may argue (with justification) that the 30Hz limit is inconsequential because the GPU inside the system — a fairly weak mobile AMD GPU — can’t drive gaming above 30 fps at 5K anyway.
Nonetheless, if you edit video above 30 fps, and wanted to create 5K content, this may impact your buying decision. The original story remains below.
The GPU powering the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display is the R9 M290X, with the R9 M295X offered as an optional upgrade. The R9 M295X hasn’t technically been announced, but rumors from months back suggested this would be a Tonga-class GPU. Regardless, the R9 M290X is the minimum spec — and that chip is a rebranded HD 8970M, which was a rebranded HD 7970M, which is functionally equivalent to a desktop Radeon HD 7870.
In other words, the GPUs inside the new iMac are going to be limited to DisplayPort 1.2. That matters, because it takes roughly 17.2Gbps of bandwidth to drive a 4K @ 60 fps signal in a single stream (Single Stream Transport). To summarize the difference between SST and MST, an MST display creates two half-width tiles on the monitor and interleaves two different DisplayPort streams together to create a contiguous image, while an SST display functions like a standard monitor. MST and SST displays typically look identical in common applications, but some games support MST poorly, resulting in menus or functions crammed into half the monitor, or movies playing back in a squashed, half-width format.
Critically, however, MST is the only way to drive a larger-than-4K panel. DisplayPort 1.2 has just enough bandwidth to support a single 4K @ 60 fps SST stream, but 5K is far too large for the standard. When Apple talks about a 40-gigabit TCON, it may have designed a single TCON to output to two DP 1.2 streams — that’s not technically impossible — but it’s not being done with a single stream within the DP 1.2 spec.
Since Tonga doesn’t support HDMI 2.0 or DP 1.3 (which does support 5K SST), DP 1.2 is the only available standard to piggy-back. If Apple had somehow redesigned the TCON to compress a 5K stream into existing DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth, it wouldn’t need a 40Gbps TCON in the first place. Anandtech notes that there’s another possibility — Apple may indeed have designed its own TCON, overclocked it, customized it for low overhead timing, and be pulling just enough bandwidth out of DP 1.2 to get it done.
Add Martinique to the list of destinations that you can reach via a Disney ship.
Disney today announced that it'll offer its first regular sailings to the Caribbean island in early 2016 out of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The new seven-night Southern Caribbean voyages also will include stops in Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and St. Kitts. The sailings will take place on the 1,750-passenger Disney Magic with four departures in 2016 scheduled for Jan. 10, 17, 24 and 31.
A Disney ship has called at Martinique only once before during a special holiday sailing in 2010.
Bookings for the new Southern Caribbean itinerary open on Oct. 30 with fares starting at $980 per person, based on double occupancy and not including taxes, fees and port expenses.
Disney today also announced a new seven-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary out of Port Canaveral for 2016 that will include a call at Tortola as well as St. Thomas and Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay.
The sailings will take place on both the Disney Fantasy and the Disney Magic with 11 departure dates from January through April 2016. Fares start at $1,120 per person, based on double occupancy.
Just how much pampering is there on a luxury cruise ship? Now you can see for yourself right here at USA TODAY's Cruise Hub.
Part 5 of our six-part video series on the recently revamped Seven Seas Mariner, in the carousel above, offers an insider's look at the wide range of indulgences available to passengers on the vessel, from hot stone massages to elegant wine tastings.
USA TODAY Travel received special access last month to all-suite, all-balcony ship, which is operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises and emerged from a major makeover in April.
PHOTO TOUR: The luxury of the revamped Seven Seas Mariner
We'll be posting the final installment of the series here at USA TODAY's Cruise Hub on Wednesday. Part 1 of the series, which offers an overview of the Seven Seas Mariner's recent makeover, is located HERE. Part 2, 3 and 4 of the series, which focus on the ship's dining, entertainment and all-suite accommodations, respectively, are HERE,HERE and HERE.
For a deck-by-deck look at the revamped spaces on Seven Seas Mariner, don't miss our new, comprehensive Cruise Ship Tour of the vessel in the carousel below.
Travel is like an excellent book. It gives you a fresh perspective on reality, refreshes your soul, gives you a sense of being in touch with yourself again and leaves you with a feeling of catharsis.
Your passions and aspirations start regenerating and you are left wondering why you do not do this more often. More than anything else, travel tends to offer a powerful spiritual experience, like the day you first believed. And like in the case of a good book, you never forget a single detail of a good trip.
Memorable experiences
You never forget the morning you travelled to Matemwe beach on the northern shores of Zanzibar, where you watched in awe, village women seated in those shallow salty waters of the Indian Ocean, farming seaweed or the dhow race that took place later that day.
You never forget your first experience on a German autobahn, a speedway with no speed limit, when you rode a motorcycle from Hamburg to Frankfurt and back. Sheer adrenaline. It is this newness you encounter so far away from home that truly brings you so close to home. It captures your imagination and quenches your natural thirst for adventure.
The allure of the forest
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is one such place. It is one of the most prized tourist destinations in Uganda. The high-altitude rain forest is home to the largest population of mountain gorillas in the world, at over 400 of these endangered giant primates.
The forest has an aura like no other. It is cold and dark, (the word Bwindi means darkness), yet these very gloomy qualities make it exceptionally inviting. The intensity of the smells from the forest, a mixture of moth, mushroom, aging tree bark and all sorts of herbs are all soothing to the soul.
The air is so thin, your lungs skip a beat. Because of the high-altitude, you get the sense that you are approaching the cusp of the unknown. Your city-dwelling body is not used to this alien environment. It is glorious.
The slow, two-hour climb into the National Park from Kabale Town is a separate thrill on its own. The drive up the forested ranges is punctuated by the constant popping of your ears as you go higher and higher into the ranges.
The ferns and the bamboo reeds and the general shrubbery on the forest floor are as menacing and mysterious as the giant trees that have never seen an axe since the creation story.
Credit: Daily Monitor