7

My first foray beyond 1080p begins today.

Should I use HDMI or DisplayPort to connect my new laptop to my monitor?

If I have both cables, which will allow me to maximize my graphics experience?

Hardware:

  • 27" Monitor resolution is 2560 x 1440 (ASUS PB278Q)

  • Alienware laptop, video card supports up to 3840 x 2160. (Dual GeForce GTX 880M graphics card, 2x8GB GDDR5 NVIDIA SLI)

Both have both ports.

If DisplayPort is better, then in what aspects is it superior?

If HDMI is better, then how can I know what HDMI version my cable is? I have the Rocketfish RF-G1167. It only says "High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet CL2 UL" but no version # anywhere, nor can I find it online.

DoctorWhom
  • 309
  • 2
  • 5
  • 14

5 Answers5

5

Go with the DisplayPort. Although the high speed HDMI cable offers true 4k (4096 x 2160) and the DisplayPort only offers 4k formatted for 16:9 i believe (3840 x 2160), the DisplayPort offers a refresh rate of up to 60hz, while the HDMI is limited to 24hz, and both surpass your resolution needs.

You can find more info here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030669/hdmi-vs-displayport-which-display-interface-reigns-supreme-.html

Serdnad
  • 166
3

Since your display supports HDMI 1.4 and, according to Wikipedia, 2560×1600p75 is supported since HDMI 1.3, you’ll face no problems when using HDMI. For your intent, it is absolutely equal to DisplayPort.

HDMI cables are no longer “versioned”. Instead, they are separated into “Standard” and “High Speed”, with the latter being capable of 4K etc. So your cable is fine.

user219095
  • 65,551
2

The one thing that people seem to be missing here is that display port and HDMI port on a laptop are limited to their output setting from the video card. All laptops that I know of will only output 108o out of the HDMI port. Higher resolutions would come from the display port or DVI. HDMI is mainly used for HOME video and sound products and the standard has been 1080 over HDMI. Computers have used HDMI and display port but use the higher resolution over display port and DVI. Even though u may have a HDMI cable that can support 4K res, Your video card doesn't ouput that high res out HDMI port. All high res monitors that I have seen only accept display port and DVI for resolutions higher than 1080

swish
  • 21
1

In your case, DisplayPort is probably going to be the better option. The newest DisplayPort standard (1.2) supports 21.6 Gbit/s bandwidth, while the newest HDMI (2.0) standard only supports a bandwidth of 18 Gbits/s.

Your RF-G1167 can't be any higher than 1.2, and, as such, won't support Ultra-HD resolutions (according to the page on the BestBuy website). I can only guess that they don't want to tell you what version it is since it's probably pretty old. (I haven't had the best experience with Rocketfish. I don't recommend buying that brand unless you absolutely have to.)

If you're going to spend money on a new cable, buying a new DisplayPort won't be much more expensive than buying a new HDMI cable, especially if you buy online (i.e from Amazon).

Andrew Tapia
  • 344
-1

Displayport is the way to go, because it was meant exactly for this. HDMI has a lower bandwidth and some videocards will natively have DisplayPort as extra channel, but limit the use of HDMI+DVI.

For example, if you have an ATI card, you can have 2 DVI ports, or a DVI and HDMI port, but not 2 DVI and HDMI port. However, next to 2 of these, you can have a display port as third option, and this is crucial if you want to go for a 3 monitor setup now or in the future.

For your information, my 3rd monitor is my TV connected through HDMI. Main display, 27" @2560x1440 over display port, and second display is a 24" 1200x1920 (in portrait mode)

LPChip
  • 66,193