HDMI Video In/Out Issues - Look for answers and ask new questions here

Try the gaming preset on the monitor for the best gaming results. It keeps the brightness levels fairly even during bright and dark scenes.

As for a better HDMI cable, I think you will be hard pushed to find one with an "extra long" plug. Sometimes a cheap HDMI cable does exactly the same as a £150 one - I know, I tried some very expensive HDMI cables on my home theatre and my 18x and to be honest, not a great deal of difference in picture/sound quality. I currently use a QED Silver Reference HDMI cable from my 18x to the U2410....ran me about £80 a few years back but is pretty damned good. You could jusst look at doing the same with the 1m cable you bought with a cheap 2m version.

 

I have just tried Standard to Game, i think it just bump brightness. Now ive already set brightness to 70 and contrast to 60, looks better then before. Additionally i have tried to play with more presets, Do Adobe RGB is best preset for better color management? like ive tried it, now white got dark white and other colors looks darker too compare to Standard or Game. Ive like Game preset it has more brightness and contrast ratio.

Regardin to cable, did you chopped ur cable as well? to make it work with m18x? Additionally i have received my new Alienware Tactx keyboard too

 

Congrats on the Keyboard! -I have one but have never used it LOL - Same goes for my TactX Headset but I do use my TactX mouse !

Regards the cable, no - did not chop mine as its a metal plug like your original. It may be that your HDMI port is slightly deeper than mine and I am fortunate that I didnt have to modify the HDMI plug. You could try a cable like I have but I wouldnt want you to waste money to end up in the same boat.

Regards colour - yes, either adobe RGB or sRGB will give you the best colour reproduction. As I said before, everyones eyes are different so what pleases me may not please you. There is no "standard" for finding out what you like best...its advisable just to mes about with settings until you find something you really love the feel of...I spent many hours just messing around as I didnt feel the need for pro-calibration and found a "sweet spot" that I like. I imagine with just some tweakig here an there you will too.....you cant break anything, jusst have a good old mess about with things! - worst case scenario, just restore to factory deafults on the monitor.

 

hahaha same with me like after purchasin logitech keyboard still ivent open box i like m18x keyboard its so soft n have bigger keys.
Yeahhh lucky you, Well im completely unlucky with Alienware after sellin my M17x R2 My replacement of M18x R2 in production. Back to HMDI cable, im still searchin cable with long connector but not lucky yet, i think have to buy another cable with 2m long and chop it plastic so i can place my M18x a bit far from screen

Ahh i have switch to Adobe RGB color were so great but display look dark, well i will mess with it more for better image quality. Now im back to Game which looks bright and colourful, better then Adobe RBG.

 

Just out of curiosity, I actually bought one of those Mini DisplayPort to Full Size DisplayPort cables the other day - arrived yestrday and is up and running doing the job marvelously. The cable itself is quite alot thinner than a HDMI lead, has a much smaller plug to go into the 18x obviously, and it also frees up the HDMI out to possibly run another dispay off it in the future....all in all, £5 well spent IMHO.

StarTech.com Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter Cable - Video/Audio Cable - Mini-DisplayPort (M) - 20 pin DisplayPort (M) - 1.8 m - Latched: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

There are also 10ft versions available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-fe...1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1341401830&sr=1-1

 

Thanks for update mate, yeah i had my errand over mini display port, and found that its actually better and have more bandwidth compare to HDMI isnt it? So do you see any difference with scree quality.

lol just bought it hope i will not need to chop plastic again XD

 

I've had to do exactly that with a couple of different HDMI cables. Cutting off the rubber at the very tip allows it to be inserted deep enough to work properly. Without doing that, not deep enough to make the connection.

This seems to come up fairly often in the forum. Glad it worked for you also. That U2410 is a great monitor.

 

Well, Peter.

I actually do think the colours seem even better with the DP cable. Things also seem a tad more crisp. Maybe I am imagining things but I dont think so!

 

Mr.

yeahh its all about Colors colors n colors. why dont Alienware offer this display as M18x stock one. Even i would happy to pay more it they do

Stevie

lollala well then i will find it out by tomorrow if delivery do it job on time.

 

I hope you find it works well mate. I wish Dell would put an IPS panel like the U2410 in an M18x....they can do it for Precision laptops such as the M6600 - I know its not 18.4" but I think I would sacrifice some screen "real estate" to have one of those inside an Alienware laptop.

Display

17.3" HD+(1600x900) UltraSharp™ display: anti-glare, LED-backlit, Premium Panel Guarantee
17.3" FHD(1920x1080) UltraSharp™ multi-touch display: LED-backlit, supports stylus / four finger simultaneous touch, Premium Panel Guarantee
17.3" FHD(1920x1080) UltraSharp™ display: wide view, anti-glare, LED-backlit, Premium Panel Guarantee7

 

Yeahh UltraSharp its Awesome!!! Actually i dont understand why dont they throw an option with M18x for higher standard screen, even they will able to gain more out of it. Even gamin cards love vivid screens. As i know they were supply RGB screen with m17x R2 isnt it... But why they take off option with their refresh revisions, even they didnt provide with latest revisions. I think somethin holdin them back, even i have seen so many thread, blogs, discussion regardin to RGB screens of M17x R2.
Well back to point, while usin U2410 ive got rid of lookin at my face all time But ive really miss my M18x Stock keyboard with colorful lights.

 

Yeah I have 3 monster cables that dont work because of the connector length. The only one I have successfully gotten to work with out modification is a really cheap one I got at RiteAide.

I have now just purchased a wireless WiHD reciever to use with the transmitter I had put in when it the machine was built. Hopefully I can get a good picture from that.

I wonder if they fixed this problem on the R2? If not that is reallllllyyyyy lame.

 

Well its not a big deal, HDMI cable requires long connector cosz M18x have side metal chassis which blocks cable to place in properly.
I have bought mini-display port which work fine so far, without any modification. Image quality of HDMI and Display port are completely same, as ivent found any improvement just advantage that Display port cable is thin compare to HDMI.
I think Alienware has removed WiHD transmitter from their new revision, so previous revision guys were lucky. Really dont understand logic as there is slot available for WiHD card but Dell wont supply it with stock system.

 

To me its kind of a big deal, seems like a major design flaw that they should fix with the R2. But your right, the miniDP is awsome for monitors, but for tv your stuck with HDMI unless you buy the miniDP to HDMI adapter thats been discussed on here a bit.

 

They did not.

I still carry my miniDP adapter just in case.

Yep.

 

Agree with you MrBiscuits, but every bright side have some dark dots. Now im usin miniDP cable which is so thin compare to HDMI, no need to chop plastic as connector is long enough.

 

i press f8, and i see alittle pop up saying hdmi in, on but it doesnt connect.

im trying to use my ps3.

 

Have you tried with another HDMI cable? I've heard that some cables have the "pin" a little smaller than the socket which it's plugged to.

 

I know this is silly but have you try on the right side HDMI of the Alienware right? Left side DHMI for Output.

 

As above, use the RIGHT side HDMI port "in" and if it's still not working, if the plug of your HDMI cable is plastic, you could try trimming a few millimetres off the plug casing (with a craft knife or similar) so that it plugs in "deeper" into the port. As Luis said, and as a few of us know, the HDMI "out" on the M18x sometimes doesn't interface properly because the HDMI plug is not sufficiently long enough to physically plug in correctly to make proper contact - might be the same case with your HDMI in port.

 

I tried 4 hdmi cables all with the same problem, will try trimming a few millimetres off the plug and see what happens

 

Hey guys, so I decided to hook up my m18x to my sharp HDTV to watch a movie, yet no matter what I do I get no picture. Here is the weird part, generally when people have this issue the display isn't even detected but for me I can see the sharp display under display properties, nvidia control panel, etc.

So I thought hey, since I just installed new GPUs it might be related to the nvidia gpus only, so I gave the igp a try and same issue, the display is detected but no video. I tried another laptop with the same HDMI cable and it works fine,

So folks any ideas? Could I have messed something up during the gpu installation? If so what could it be?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Moderator Note:

This thread is for HDMI in/out VIDEO issues. The thread for HDMI in/out AUDIO issues is:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...sues-look-answers-ask-new-questions-here.html

 

I doubt you messed anything up. It is probably just a symptom of having Clevo GPUs installed in an Alienware. This is not the first time HDMI in/out issues have cropped up with aftermarket GPU upgrades. I've seen posts about this type of thing with Clevo's AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.

Alienware's graphic cards are engineered to support extra features on platform-specific design. It's probably a deficiency at the vBIOS level. Not sure if it is something that can be corrected, but I hope it can be. Have a look at some of the M17x R2 and M17x R3 threads where folks have upgraded their video cards. Aftermarket upgrades with the M18x haven't been common until now because they already had the best AMD and NVIDIA had to offer before the advent of GTX 680M and 7970M.

 

It could be the resolution, check the TV's manual for the resolutions supported. You can also try updating the video drivers.

Alienware: Video driver clean installation..

 

oh, I didn't notice the Clevo card :S Mr. Fox is right...

 

Thanks Mr.fox I assumed that was the culprit. HDMI out is not essential for me so I guess I can learn to live with it considering the 680m's are such amazing cards.

Thanks for the input nataliya, I already tried that before creating this thread. Its most likely an issue with the Clevo cards.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

mobius did you also take into consideration the HDMI out port is very deep seated in the m18x and does not work with most hdmi cables even OEM dell cards. Try mini-dp to hdmi cable to confirm.

 

Good suggestion, littleone562. That is definitely worth investigating. If it worked before with the old GPUs using the same cable, maybe not a fix. However, I have encountered the circumstance where the metal connector collapsing a minuscule amount into the plastic housing was just enough to prevent it from working. This happened to me with a cable that previously worked and later did not work. I have needed to trim back the plastic on the ends of my HDMI cables to allow them to seat deep enough into the socket on the M18x for it to work. I purchased 2 new HDMI cables and had to trim back the plastic on both of them before they would work. It was only like 1/32nd of a inch, but it was enough that the connector would not fully engage the HDMI port.

 

I tried a different cable and it didn't work but that was also thick...I'll try a thinner one when I he the chance thanks for the suggestion. if it still doesn't work ill just get a display port to HDMI adapter. Does it output audio if you do that?

Edit: I managed to find a thinner cable and it worked! Wow sometimes the most complex issues have the simplest fixes lol. Thanks littleone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Well, I am excited to find out the problem is not related to the Clevo card. That's reason to be very glad, because it has been an issue at times on other models before. WOOT!

So, problem solved?

 

Yeah same, I mean I don't use HDMI out much but knowing something is crippled because of an upgrade can be bothersome. I got the cable that didn't work, removed the plastic around the tip, and now it works perfectly.

 

Hi guys!

Have à small problem here.
Tried to connect my laptop to my tv and all i get is no signal
The computer finds the tv but still get no signal

I got the 12.8 driver
Must i use à speciall hdmi cabel? 1.3 or 1.4?
Tried connecting My GF vaio and works perfect

Anyone Else had this problem?
Have tried fresh install of drivers and tried Dells own but still a no go.

Regards: Marcus

 

I just merged two threads with similar titles. We are starting to see this happening more often.
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Hi Marcus... I believe you will find the answer by reading the posts in this thread.

 

1. Make sure your out put is correct (HDMI out to TV or external monitor) assuming you did correct.
2. Check in your TV in put (HDMI 1,2,3 or 4) that you connect from your laptop to back of your tv HDMI in port
3. On the TV remote press menu button function then select the HDMI port according your connection from the computer or laptop. If you connect to HDMI 1, on the menu TV screen should be HDMI 1.

 

I have a 6ft HDMI cable I can communicate with my 55" monitor, but when I bought a 25ft. long cable, there was no hand-shake on communication or recognition.

Both cables lengths are different brands, but is there a limit for length before poor communication, or is there a type of HMDI cable to look for?

This may not be the right area in the forums to post, but it is an AW product, sorry, but need to help on this.

Thanks

 

The length of the cable should not matter. I've used HDMI cables longer than that in the past - 20 metres. With the cables being different branding, its possible that the male end that you are inserting into the M18x has a shorter plug and more "jacket" thatn the other cable that worked fine. What you could try is still using the same cable that works (connected to the M18x) but insert a female-female adapter in between the two cables, leaving the longer cable plugged to the TV...kinda like a daisy chain. That would rule out problems with the longer cable and would identify the problem as being the connection between the longer cable and the M18x.

 

Probably just the cable not seating deep enough in the HDMI out port. Seems to be very common. There is another thread on this... let me see where it is. Probably just need to trim back a bit of the plastic on the end of the connector so it can fully engage the port. Only takes like 1/16th inch trim to fix that.

Edit: found it and merged them. It was back a few pages, but very easy to identify by the title.

 

Just like the title says, my HDMI out I'd not connecting... Any thoughts?

 

Typical problem - need a cable with a deeper connector or cut off some of the plastic on your cable to allow the connector to seat deeper in the m18x.

 

bumped to merge

 

Previously posted...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...swers-ask-new-questions-here.html#post8817334

 

New m18x, only a day old (Merry Christmas, just got here on Xmas eve!) I went to plug it into my Alienware 21" monitor then my 47" tv with HDMI and got the same thing with both... it flickers for a second or two then the video drops. The computer still says its connected and working, but there is no audio or video on the tv or monitor. On the TV, it seemed like it was when i moved the cable (even so much as breathing on it heavily) the signal dropped. Weird because the laptop still sees the TV and says its connected.

I've tried 2 cables, 2 different TVs, different resolutions and refresh rates, and lastly both the 680m gtx and intel igp... Still happens.

Thoughts... I love this laptop, but this is not good... I got the m18 because I went through 4 parts on my m17 in 6 months... (video card fan, video card, screen, then a motherboard cuz of problems with the screen/video/video card connections internally followed by a bad IGP on the replacement motherboard... so I traded in for this...)

what the hell alienware. thought?

 

try lowering your resolution down to 800x600 and try reconnecting the display.

 

Update the bio!

 

Try a different driver perhaps? Does it happen on the other ports?

 

Check to make sure your HDMI cable is inserting all the way. I have had to cut off the plastic jacket around the end of the cable to get the metal hdmi connection into the laptop far enough on more than one cable on two of my M18x lappys before.

 

I'd try this too. The HDMI in on the m18x is sometimes unusually deep and not all cables fully insert...kind of a design flaw, if you like. If you have a spare cheap cable, I'd try removing a bit of the plastic plug with a craft knife or something to let the male part insert further into the port. I'd imagine that this would rectify your problem...

 

^This. The HDMI port is deep, and not all cables fully insert. Sometimes with my amazon HDMI cable I do not have signal, but pushing a bit the problem solves.

 

I had to do the same with the 7738G, the HDMI port was recessed and the cable just hit into it, it's just rubber so while it wont look great it should work fine if you file some off.