Alienware OptX 2310 Monitor questions.

so apparently the aw monitor only has DVI and HDMI. if i wanted to hook up this monitor to my m18x (since the m18x doesnt have DVI, and only VGA) how would i go on by utilizing the 120hz refresh rate? because apparently HDMI wont give you/doesnt support 120hz refresh rate.

please correct me if im wrong with any of my info.

but if wanted to get the 120hz refresh rate, how would i get it?

 

HDMI pretty much has to support 120 hz or all the various TVs would be useless as would the various blu-ray players too.

if you're not getting 120 hz something else is going on unless it says somewhere in black and white that the monitor doesn't support 120 over HDMI.

 

As far as I am aware, HDMI will carry or support this monitors refresh rate of 120hz. If someone says that it doesnt, thats crap. There are several options to hook up the M18x to an external and the obvious would be HDMI to HDMI for this monitor.

Have a read of this article.

Think of a 3d Blu Ray player hooked up to a 3d TV - it doesnt need any more than a HDMI cable to work, does it?

afaik, you should be fine with just hdmi to hdmi.

 

If HDMI isn't working for you make sure that you're using a 1.3b or 1.4 revision cable

 

HDMI 1.3b and above supports 120hz refresh rate.

 

thanks, +1 rep to both, i just wanted to double check.

actually one more question:

when hooking up a monitor to the m18x, would you hook up the HDMI out one to the computer, right?

basically on the m18x, the input that will be the connected will be the HDMI out, correct?

 

HDMI out of the laptop will go to HDMI in of the monitor. - think of your M18x as the "source" and you want to "send" that signal "out" to the monitor....the monitor wont have anything to send "in" to the laptop, will it?

The HDMI "in" on the M18x is only for sending source signals "in" to the laptop's internal screen from external equipment (such as a stand alone blu ray or xbox or PS3). Its not a port that "exports" an image "out" to another display.

 

awesome, thanks for the explanation.

cheers!

dbble post

can anyone reccomend me a v1.4 HDMI cable? it only needs to be 3 feet.

i have no experience with these cables.

thanks!

 

Depends on how much you wanna spend. Ive got some nice QED HDMI cables in my home cinema but they are around the £100gbp mark....you could also look at Chord. Not sure of the availability of these outside of the UK as they are UK manufacturers.

If you dont wanna spend a fortune, just do a search for 1.4 HDMI and take your pick.

 

cool, it seems like im either gonna go with monoprice, or mycablemart.com

although for some reason mycablemart looks fishy, since they have one that supports 15.32Gps, where no other company does.

 

I've found that all HDMI cables support HDMI 1.4, even those I bought before the spec was released. So pretty much any cable will work.
About the 2310 and its 120Hz refresh rate... Even though HDMI 1.4 supports 120Hz, that doesn't mean the monitor supports it through the HDMI input; I've had this problem with a Samsung 2233RZ which wouldn't work on 120Hz via a HDMI-DVI converter, but only through dual-link DVI...

 

yeah, but the problem is that the laptop does not have DVI whereas the monitor does. the lappy only has VGA and HDMI

 

What I did is buy the Apple Mini-DisplayPort to Dual-Link-DVI Adaptor (the one which needs USB to power it, aka the expensive one). 3D works perfectly with my M18x and the Samsung 2233RZ.

 

can you give me a link? (to make sure its the right one)

 

It's this one: Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)
If the link doesn't work, Apple's PN is MB571Z/A, it costs 99$.

 

thanks for the link, +rep.

 

Keep in mind you'll need a dual-link DVI cable from the adapter to the monitor though, otherwise 120Hz won't work. Thanks for the rep.

 

Hopefully mine will arrive tomorrow

 

do you think the 120hz will work if i get a DVI-D/VGA converter for the DVI-D cable?

lol, ima probably end up buying an HDMI cable plus the DVI-D cable just to see what i can work with.

sweet! take pics! and let me know if the 120hz works on HDMI lmao. i got all excited that yours is coming. hahaha.

 

Are they $449.99? or is there any cheaper?

 

AAFES is cheaper. i dont know about getting it any cheaper than that.

 

It's not yet here :/
Here it's 450 euro and there's a 10% off coupon +free shipping.

I will take pictures and let you know about getting 120Hz thru HDMI.

Cheers

 

don't waste your money dude, buy a dual-link dvi cable (24+1 pins) along with the adapter and that's it. there is no VGA signal in DVI-D (the pins are missing, only DVI-I has them) and VGA doesn't even have enough bandwidth for 120hz @ fhd resolution. plus, hdmi most probably won't work with 120hz, however i'd be interested in finding out..

 

hey, i just read on the apple site, that this thing is only compatible with Mac's. but yet you say wit works with your m18x?

 

I have the same one works fine on both computers in my sig . Hope this helps

 

It does indeed work flawlessly. The USB connector is only used to get power for the conversion (since this is an active adaptor) and is recognized by Windows as a USB hub. Don't worry, it'll work.

 

katalin!!!!! telllll meeee when you geeet it!!! immm dyyyying to know!!!

 

That's only half of what I feel :/ today is Thursday and nothing I was hoping to get it last Monday but it didn't show up.. maybe tomorrow

Anyway I didn't forget about you, don't worry

EDIT: update: they moved my EDD to 22nd September

 

NOOOOOOOO!... ooookay... well it gives me something to look forward to. gosh i can wait to see how vivid the colors look on wallpapers!!

 

Amazon.com has them for dirt cheap. Something in the price range of 2 to 5 bucks

 

lol monitors? or HDMI cables? lol. im guessing HDMI, and yeah, but id prolly get mine from Monoprice or ibuycables.comm

 

Well, finally it arrived yesterday, EDD was changed twice.
I'll post pictures later on and will let you know 3demons about the included HDMI cable.

it comes with a audio, DVI to DVI, HDMI to HDMI and a USB cable.

Cheers

 

dude thanks alot for the info, +rep. please post up some pics when you have the chance/ let us know about the HDMI. Do you notice any backlight bleed? What do you think of it?

 

Ok so i set it up and...NO DEAD PIXELS phew

I couldn't get 120Hz thru HDMI even with the cable it came with.
But i got the 120Hz option in nVIDIA CP with the Dual Link DVI (it comes with it) bear in mind that i use it with my desktop.

I don't have any adapter to test with any of my M17x so i can't tell you if you could do it on your M18x.

BTW i didn't know it doesn't have in-built speakers . It does have a audio-IN and audio-OUT port but it's ok.

The stand is classy and allows you to move the monitor with almost no effort, up and down and turns left and right.

People talk about monitor bleed. Yeah, it's got that but does it make the monitor unplayable/unusable? No, not at all. It's only minor and doesn't bother you while watching a movie or playing a dark game.

Was it worth the wait? Absolutely Nice matte screen.

If i'll have some time i'll do some side by side pics with the RGBLed panel on one of my M17x.

 

boo about the HDMI cable. that really sucks since i do not have DVI on my m18x. but i digress. How is the coloring and such? nice pics/vivid colors?

thanks for the update.

 

IDK if it's possible with another HDMI cable or a Display Port or HDMI to Dual link DVI adapter but i'll look into this.
Colors are great and a small calibration does wonders.
I also found this, i don't know if it works or if it applies, i'm currently reading it:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7947-force-dvi-hdmi-resolutions-refresh-rates.html

Later EDIT:

Ok scratch that, i dug more and found this older thread o Mandrake, read the last post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/477985-need-help-aw2310.html

It seems that Cavulife tried a DisplayPort to DVI-D dual link cable and it works:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6610550-post73.html

Cheers

 

You can only do 120hz on dual link dvi or displayport.

HDMI standard only allows up to 24fps 1080p or 60fps 720p I think.

My 27" acer 3d monitor is the same. 120hz dual link dvi.

HDTV's do not accept a 120hz signal at 1080p. They cant display it.

3D Mandatory Formats

For movie content:
Frame Packing
1080p @ 23.98/24Hz
For game content:
Frame Packing
720p @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
For broadcast content:
Side-by-Side Horizontal
1080i @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
Top-and-Bottom
720p @ 50 or 59.94/60Hz
1080p @ 23.97/24Hz
Implementing the mandatory formats of the HDMI Specification facilitates interoperability among devices, allowing devices to speak a common 3D language when transmitting and receiving 3D content. The mandatory requirements for devices implementing 3D formats are:

 

well, once i get mine, ima try this HDMI cable and see if it makes a difference:
MyCableMart.com


BTW, how do you tell if the monitor is maxing out at 120hz? through fraps? or is there a way to check it through the monitor?

 

A monitor does not max out at 120hz, thats the refresh rate.
For example the total maximum of unique frames it can physically display.

In theory, in nvidia 3d with dual link or display port. 60fps PER eye is max.

Via HDMI 30/24fps max 720p/1080p

3dtv play or whatever its called is used for hdmi connections.............same as for a hdtv. As again its the standard for HDMI thats the limiting factor.

The only way to get true 120hz @ 1080p is with 3dvision and a 120hz monitor. Via displayport / dual link dvi. Or an adapter that uses one of the former.

HDMI it just aint happening........................

 

So you can use DP on your M18x.

 

I agree with Croatoan, 120Hz over HDMI is not gonna happen. Don't waste your money on HDMI cables which supposedly work with 120Hz; that's all just marketing. Instead, buy a solution which is guaranteed to work, like the DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adaptor from Apple which I gave you the link to a few weeks ago.

 

alright, but also, how do you check if your screen is at a 120 refresh rate.

edit: katalin what do you mean by DP, if you may explain.

 

CCC or nVIDIA Control Panel.

I tried 3D on it today with a pair of nVIDIA glasses on Darksiders and Metro 2033, wow
I did had to reinstall video drivers as the transmitter wouldn't change depth or toogle 3D on/off even though 3D options were already installed before having the kit plugged in. I grabbed the latest version, clean installed, rebooted and everything works great.

Now, after a while of really getting used to it I'm starting to reconsider stereostopic 3D.

 

In nvidia control panel, under change resolution.........the monitor refresh rate is on the side.

I'm not too sure about the the ATI side as the 3d uses middleware, designed to work with any 3dtv and corresponding glasses.

As far as I know, only Nvidia allows 1080p 120hz. ATI use HDMI standards.

Really need someone with an ATI set up to answer that one

Glad you like 3d katalin, was pretty amazed first time.

 

I've had past experiences with 3D and I come to realize that the reason I wasn't comfortable with it was because of the 'depth' settings (didn't know you could do that ) tweak it at a level you're comfortable at and It's all good.

 

Funny you should say that, not really had any problems myself after my eyes adjusted. PC 3D gaming is certainly better than console at the moment.

Shame its just so reliant on expensive gear

 

Ok, i just tested the AW2310 and both the M17x and M17x R2 with a DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI Adapter and i can get 120Hz

It's not mine, i got it from a friend and just wanted to confirm. There you go.

3D on the M17x and the AW2310 is not possible thru HDMI since the M17x won't output more than 1920x1200 @ 60Hz and the AW2310 HDMI-in port is also limited.