win8.1 Laptop w/ 4k display + external 30" monitor = total disaster? Can I fix this?

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Windows and OS X handles this the same way, the only difference is at what layer it's exposed to app developers. That's the biggest reason why OS X is "better", because application developers are often idiots who only ever test their environment. So when Cocoa handles stuff transparently, devs don't notice, but when you have to do it manually then its the same for Windows or OS X.

At the OS level it's the same though, the screens have differing DPIs, the system handles scaling older applications to the right size, and compliant applications handle scaling themselves. Windows applications are just traditionally a lot worse at handling this (Origin for example doesn't respect the DPI at all, in a multi-monitor or single monitor case)

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

Versions of HDMI and their respective resolutions:

 

HDMI v1.0/1.1/1.2 - 1920

[n_K]

Hello,

 

Versions of HDMI and their respective resolutions:

 

HDMI v1.0/1.1/1.2 - 1920

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

If you can scientifically prove that there's a difference between the various cables (let's throw in one of the $10,000 gold 'amazing' HDMI cables too for a laugh) other than restrictions on length, then go right ahead. (You won't be able to because there is absolutely no difference, buying a 'certified revision cable' is a con)

 

are you sure?   because i just bought hdmi 1.4 cable from dollarama for under $5

so price is not an issue here (i know expensive cables are a scam) 

but spec changed over time, so i am pretty sure the cables are not the same they as they were sold 10 years ago.     

i think you are mixing up expensive cable vs cheap with ancient spec'ed ones vs currently sold.

 

 

sure, every cable manifuctured now is 1.4...   but actually getting a 1.1 revision cable would not work the same as 1.4.

 

i have 10 year old hdmi cables and i am pretty sure they will not push 4k, even if you say "pretty please"  

are you trying to say that they are actually the same?  and that nothing really changed in 10 years, and they can drive all the extra HD video and audio no problem?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

snipped

 

/rant

Boz, i'm not arguing with your argument; it's completely valid. i'm going to share my experience on the systems i own.

 

i have a 4k display on my desktop running 8.1 and (2) GTX680s. I have noticed zero native DPI scaling issues with the exception of a few applications like Origin.

 

I have an MSI gaming laptop with a 970M and a 2880x1620 display. It looks amazing. I havent had any issues with the dGPU/iGPU switching either. my laptop detects a dGPU-supported application and instantly switches. I have monitoring software that shows the dGPU's utilization, temp, fan speed, all that.

 

perhaps the issues you speak of were those prior to the 900-series GPUs. I dont know; ive never owned one previously.

 

As far as external displays, the only thing i've hooked my laptop up to was my aging Samsung tv @ 720p. It worked just fine. That being said, what i should do is hook my laptop up to my 4k display. i'd love to see how it reacts!

[Aergan]

Cable revisions mean very little until you start mix-n-matching them with intermediate devices e.g. HDMI extenders, AV receivers, HDMI multi source switches. Not that the stamped specification means anything, more to do with how it's been constructed.

E.g. I have a 1.5m "HDMI" cable from ASDA (

[n_K]

are you sure?   because i just bought hdmi 1.4 cable from dollarama for under $5

so price is not an issue here (i know expensive cables are a scam) 

but spec changed over time, so i am pretty sure the cables are not the same they as they were sold 10 years ago.     

i think you are mixing up expensive cable vs cheap with ancient spec'ed ones vs currently sold.

 

 

sure, every cable manifuctured now is 1.4...   but actually getting a 1.1 revision cable would not work the same as 1.4.

 

i have 10 year old hdmi cables and i am pretty sure they will not push 4k, even if you say "pretty please"  

are you trying to say that they are actually the same?  and that nothing really changed in 10 years, and they can drive all the extra HD video and audio no problem?

Getting a 1.0 or 1.1 or 1.2 cable is exactly the same as getting 1.4 cable - there is absolutely no difference what so ever.

For higher refresh rates or bigger resolutions, you're sending a lot more data, therefore longer cables that might work with smaller resolutions might fail with larger resolutions because of interferance, the speed of the data and signal loss through the cable (especially so with dangerously cheap cables that use the thinnest wires they can source in the world).

Nothing changed with the cable, no. If something changed, you would have pre 1.4 cables and 1.4 cables which wouldn't work the wrong way round, i.e. pre 1.4 devices would only work with pre 1.4 cables and 1.4 cables would only work with 1.4 devices because this would mean something in the specification changed to do with how the data is signalled or whatnot (they really wouldn't do anything like that unless they really had to).

[Clirion]

Getting a 1.0 or 1.1 or 1.2 cable is exactly the same as getting 1.4 cable - there is absolutely no difference what so ever.

For higher refresh rates or bigger resolutions, you're sending a lot more data, therefore longer cables that might work with smaller resolutions might fail with larger resolutions because of interferance, the speed of the data and signal loss through the cable (especially so with dangerously cheap cables that use the thinnest wires they can source in the world).

Nothing changed with the cable, no. If something changed, you would have pre 1.4 cables and 1.4 cables which wouldn't work the wrong way round, i.e. pre 1.4 devices would only work with pre 1.4 cables and 1.4 cables would only work with 1.4 devices because this would mean something in the specification changed to do with how the data is signalled or whatnot (they really wouldn't do anything like that unless they really had to).

So I went to the site hdmi.org and notice there are 4 different types of cables.  HDMI, HDMI with Ethernet, High Speed HDMI, High Speed with Ethernet.

 

That leads me to believe there are differences be since HDMI is not rated for any more than 1080i,  High Speed HDMI is rated to handle 4K. 

 

*edited part.

 

It looks like HDMI.org reconizes there are some differences in cables.  This is from their FAQ.

 

Q. How can you tell the difference between a v1.2 and a v1.3 cable

You really can't. There are no technical differences in most Type A, Cat 1 cables. While there are real differences from a technical standpoint between a Type A, Cat 1 cable vs a Type A, Cat 2 cable, cosmetically, and most importantly, most standard 1080p applications do not need the Cat 2 cable.

 

If I pieced everything together right, this is between HDMI and HDMI High Speed.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

I am not a member of the HDMI Trade Association, nor do I have any HDMI cable manufacturing or testing gear.  However, I'm not going to worry about using an old out-of-spec HDMI cable when I can buy new ones for $5-12 on MonoPrice.  If you are paying $10,000 for a cable, it had better come with booze, hookers and a blackjack table.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

 

If you can scientifically prove that there's a difference between the various cables (let's throw in one of the $10,000 gold 'amazing' HDMI cables too for a laugh) other than restrictions on length, then go right ahead. (You won't be able to because there is absolutely no difference, buying a 'certified revision cable' is a con)

[+Fahim S. MVC]

HDMI cables do vary. This pretty much applies to the Ethernet capability, which isn't really used anyway, where optional pins must be wired.

This doesn't mean that v1.3 certified cable can't be used where the attributes of a v1.4 certified cable are needed. A well made cable (which they pretty much all are, except for the really cheap nasty ones) would be completely sufficient, just it hasn't been tested to prove that it has the attributes.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Pretty sure all it means is that the cable was tested (ideally) to meet the minimum requirement of the specification.

Similar to how you can get Cat 5 cables that perform the same as Cat 6, doesn't mean they'll all perform as well as a Cat 6 cable, or that you don't need a Cat 6 cable to meet the specification, etc.

[n_K]

So I went to the site hdmi.org and notice there are 4 different types of cables.  HDMI, HDMI with Ethernet, High Speed HDMI, High Speed with Ethernet.

 

That leads me to believe there are differences be since HDMI is not rated for any more than 1080i,  High Speed HDMI is rated to handle 4K. 

 

*edited part.

 

It looks like HDMI.org reconizes there are some differences in cables.  This is from their FAQ.

 

Q. How can you tell the difference between a v1.2 and a v1.3 cable

You really can't. There are no technical differences in most Type A, Cat 1 cables. While there are real differences from a technical standpoint between a Type A, Cat 1 cable vs a Type A, Cat 2 cable, cosmetically, and most importantly, most standard 1080p applications do not need the Cat 2 cable.

 

If I pieced everything together right, this is between HDMI and HDMI High Speed.

They added ethernet over HDMI, so yes that'd be a different cable because it's meshing 2 ports and protocols together, but a standard short decent quality 1.1 HDMI cable will be fine for 4K with HDMI 1.4.