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    Confusion about Screen Resolution (Laptop to External)

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by ashrivas18, May 23, 2013.

  1. ashrivas18

    ashrivas18 Notebook Consultant

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    Evening,

    I would really appreciate some input on the following question:

    I currently own a Dell Studio XPS 1640, WLED 1366x768 Max. resolution. I wanted to purchase an external monitor since I would like to have a better quality/higher resolution display for everyday work.

    Would I be able to use the monitor's highest resolution 1920x1080p given that my laptop can only support up to 1366x768? I have an HDMI cable and I would be using the external monitor as the primary monitor (no extended/duplicated displays).

    System
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
    Model Studio: XPS 1640
    Total amount of system memory: 3.00 GB RAM
    System type: 64-bit operating system
    Number of processor cores: 2

    Graphics
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Display adapter type: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670
    Total available graphics memory: 1789 MB
    Dedicated graphics memory: 512 MB
    Dedicated system memory: 0 MB
    Shared system memory: 1277 MB
    Display adapter driver version: 8.970.100.7000
    Primary monitor resolution: 1366x768
    DirectX version: DirectX 10

    .....?
     
    ashrivas18, May 23, 2013
    #1
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    The interface, the external display native res and the maximum supported resolution of your GPU is what defines the maximum resolution, not the native res on your laptop's display. You should have no problems operating at 1920x1080 on the external. Monitor will work as extended or only display at 1920x1080.
     
    tijo, May 23, 2013
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  3. ashrivas18

    ashrivas18 Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for a quick reply! I believe my GPU does support higher resolutions..should be good to go then
    cheers
     
    ashrivas18, May 23, 2013
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  4. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

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    I think the biggest issue is if your wanting to clone or extend.

    If you want to clone to an external display of lesser resolution I find that it forces your current monitor down to that resolution. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a way around that though via software/drives so that it can just scale/crop.
    Likewise if you try to clone with your lower resolution it would only use the low resolution on the high resolution screen, but the displays own internal scaling will take over and fill the screen (just in less detail than native)
     
    ViciousXUSMC, May 25, 2013
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