M17x HDMI

Well I did some reading and felt I should update you all on what I found.

Sadly (at least to me), the HDMI port on the M17x is only version 1.2(a?). This means that the HDMI port can only support up to 1920x1200 @ 60 Hz and 24 bit/px. This means no 30" monitor support for 2560x1600 period.

It has the same audio bandwidth as all of the other HDMI revisions and supports 8 channels of LPCM/192 KHz/24 bit sound, but cannot pass the following formats:

Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD

Sorry to all the audiophiles out there who wanted some amazing sound via their high end receivers from the blu-ray.

Why pretty much all laptops still feature this weak HDMI version escapes me (must be cheaper?) but it is a let down. Many motherboards are also the lower version - for some reason NO ONE incorporates 1.3 even though it has been out for a while now.

Sources:
Alienware M17x Comprehensive Specifications Manual
Wikipedia Article on HDMI

 

Hey, what's the HDMI port on the M17? I'll be laughing at you M17x lot if I can get my picture off to a 2560x1600 monitor.

 

you tell me, you have better access to that documentation than I do

And I do not know for sure, but with modded drivers to allow resolution over 2045x1536 you may be able to do 2560x1600 through the display port.

 

I do? Well I don't know WHERE that documentation is located

 

I aint got myhive or any of that lol, I got the manual I used from dell under manual downloads

Just go through all the manual stuff you can find for the M17

 

According to Alienware website here is the spec for the M17 HDMI:

- Video/TV out: One HDMI 1.3b Connector

 

if that is true (we have seen the website be wrong before) then M17 owners should be able to use 30" screens and get the HD sound formats

 

there is also this post I just found, to mix it up even more

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5198867&postcount=514

 

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE(etc)S!

Sorry, I feel like boasting a lot now to M17x owners.

It's funny how the M17x is all new however the M17 still performs as well with 4850s and same processor set, same RAM, same hard drives, same screen options (granted it's not E2E, but still nice)...Sure the M17x looks nicer (to some) and has AlienFX but it's also a lot thicker and heavier. And more expensive. (Way more in Europe) And the M17 has a better HDMI output, built in TV tuner, optical port, hardware volume control (not touch control), easier to change disk drive that actually has an eject button, easier to take apart...Sure they're all small things but it makes a difference

 

12:12:41 System
Connected with RR_XPS_Rimple
12:12:46 RR_XPS_Rimple
Welcome to Dell Sales Chat! I hope you are doing well, and thank you for waiting. My name is Rimple and I will be your personal consultant. I can be reached at [email protected] if we happen to be disconnected. How may I assist you today?
12:13:26 Charles
Hello
12:13:34 Charles
I had a question about the new M17X
12:13:44 RR_XPS_Rimple
Hey Charles, how can I assist you today?
12:13:45 Charles
I could not find online the type of HDMI port you use
12:14:42 RR_XPS_Rimple
Well its a 1.3 capable port as far as other specs that's about it.
12:16:32 Charles
ok, that;s all I needed to know
12:16:35 Charles
Thank you for your help
12:16:36 RR_XPS_Rimple
Was there anything else?
12:16:40 Charles
Nope.
12:16:41 Charles
Thanks




Nvidia says it's GTX280M video cards are limited to 1920x1200 therefore the problem is not the M17X HDMI 1.3 port but it's the video card that is limiting the max resolution.

 

well...if you want to nitpick:

Bigger and heavier -> because the cooling is FAR superior
Volume Controls -> actually WORK on the M17x...the wheel was useless on M17
Same processor set -> Quads NEVER stutter in the M17x and can OC just as well
More Expensive -> due to much better options, like GTX 280m (yes they DO outperform 4850)
TV Tuner -> does anyone actually use this?! Can be accomplished via express card and or USB, but yes, this goes to the M17
Eject Button -> Is just as easy to use with M17x....maybe easier since drive is on side and not front, also cant break tray off by accident since slot load

And a bonus, the power supply is less than half the size of the one for the M17.

So don't get too carried away boasting

(and I have had both machines, so these are all pretty accurate assessments)

 

Ya the reps told the other user in the linked post I gave that it is 1.3 as well, however, the manual said 1.2 and until I hear about someone successfully getting that resolution out of the HDMI port I will remain skeptical, we all know the customer reps are not the MOST knowledgeable people

And the video cards aren't limited, the G92 in desktop use supports the res, it is the drivers that limit it.

 

I added my opinions in red.

 

Where do you see that in the manual?

 

I'll put my answers in blue

1. The design is so much better you can't even compare. The additional weight is worth it. No questions asked. The case is perfect as on the M17 it was bulky, not pretty and the plastic was cheap.

2. Volume control is much better on the M17X. Me too I had both it is not a biased answer.

3. Everything is much better designed in the M17X, it's easier than ever to change the CPU and GPU. And yes there is no stutter.

4. The price is irrelevant as the PC is a tank and the cooling design and options makes it worth it. Not counting you will be able to update to the next generation graphic cards.

5. TV Tuner... Who cares about having it in the express media card...

6. Not even an argument...

7. The power supply is 100 million times better on the M17X.

 

1. Bulky? How the hell is the M17 case BULKY compared to the M17x which is somewhere about 0.4 inches thicker? I personally love the finish and the style of the machine, and while I like the M17x just as much I wouldn't choose one over the other for the looks. Granted the cooling is better but I wouldn't say that makes it worth it when the M17 has ample cooling for the parts inside.

2. Okay, fine, you might win in volume control but the M17 volume control STILL works fine.

3. Yes, after spending the best part of 20 minutes unscrewing everything to get to the damn things whereas in my M17 I just have to take off the back cover and then the heatsink. I'm aware there's no stutter but it's not a problem for me so I'll ignore that.

4. It's not something I'd pay several hundred pounds/dollars more for considering the two machines will perform the same (with 260Ms vs 4850s, and all other parts the same) and there is no guarantee for you as of yet that you will be able to upgrade to the next generation.

5. Someone who would like a sound card in the express slot perhaps? Or something else in there? You never know, there are some people who care.

6. It is an argument...just admittedly not a very good one

7. And it seems to break an awful lot from what I've been hearing. I'll take my reliable brick with my quite a bit lighter M17 thanks.

 

I like how YOU can say that its not a problem for you, so YOU can just IGNORE those facts....Shouldn't we just ignore you, Since we don't have those problems?
good for you.

Your running a Chevy Caviler with some money into it, sure you can keep up but in the end, we got Lamborghinis'

 

Yes, Geby you are the man of the hour...

 

I was only joking really in those posts. I realise that the M17x is far superior, although the M17 is still the best bang for your buck and performs nearly as well. Honestly though, I'd still go for the M17...the only reason being that the M17x is FAR overpriced in Europe. If I was in the USA, I'd go for the M17x now.

Eww, I hate chevy's...american cars are pure rubbish, I'm afraid to say. Couldn't you compare it in a way like...say...Maserati vs Lamborghini? (Or are they too close)

 

wow.. i came here to read about hdmi and found a thread about which is better.. m17 or m17x...



lol

 

Thanks for the update. That's definitely something to consider for multimedia mavens like me.

In fact, it's the "small" things that separate the de facto standard from he also rans. The uniqueness is in the small details.

 

Yeah close. Since Maserati is owned by Ferrari. Again, you say Chevy's are rubbish yet more than half the cars over in Europe are some how connected to Chrysler, GM or Ford.

Back on topic tho. Does putting a HDMI to DVI converter on the end of a HDMI cable affect the quality?

 

no, they use the exact same video protocol, thus the interchangeability

Display port however uses a whole new video protocol and needs an expensive adapter (since logic takes place not just moving wires) to work with dvi/hdmi


sorry about the tangent earlier...I was a little too bored at work haha, they are both of course great notebooks (and I agree for EU people the M17 makes so much more sense - but I'm in the US )

 

Hmm. If Maserati is owned by Ferrari...

Okay, let me think again...How about comparing Porsche to your lambos? Yours look better and perform a bit better, however ours are quite a lot cheaper.

On topic: In theory, no, the converter shouldn't affect the quality in any way.

 

Too bad half of the posrches released lately like the boxter s, cayman, and panamera are for girls.

 

It's been brought up here that HDMI1.2 will limit you from utilising some of the HD audio formats; however most of the multimedia lovers really shouldn't be worried when you have PCM 7.1 output. PCM is in essence the uncompressed audio stream; thus as long as you have a software solution that can decompress your HD audio into a PCM stream, then you will retain absolutely every bit of quality; unless the decoding is flawed!
Thus if your decoder is up to scratch you will still be able to experience high quality audio, as though your amp was recieving a bitstream signal; the only difference is with PCM the audio is decoded at the source rather than the AVR.

In general, due to protection issues anyway, there have been a lot of complications with getting Bitstream HD audio out of a HDMI equipped PC anyway, due to issues with PAP/security features necessary for HD audio bitstream, or this was the situation last I checked, and was one of the reasons solutions like the HDAV Xonar Asus card have a market!

Some Blurays actually carry a PCM track of higher quality than DTS/DD HD codecs, although it tends to be used more for music discs.

 

I'm talking more of the 911s. Lambo's are slightly better performing and better looking but 911's are a lot cheaper...just like the M17x and M17.

 

I want to share my problem with you:

When I connect my machine with a HD TV screen with HDMI cable . I launch a Blue ray and then I have a problem: I can see just video in my TV.
but I have no sound. My M17x always keeps the audio output.

I tried to reinstall the driver of the sound card and it is the similar.
I changed parameters of the sound card to put HDMI output by default but I can not.
I tested the cable HDMI somewhere else and it worked Knowing that I have the version 8 of power DVD.
And it is only when I use the blue ray. Once I launch some music or sound effects on my machine by connecting the cable HDMI I hear them on the TV
Plz have you any idea about that problem ?

 

it is probably powerdvd8, i know this has been discussed in the past.

Try this:
restart
plug in hdmi
test sound with something else
turn on powerdvd
insert blu ray

I think it has to do with powerdvd using whatever sound output it detects when it is started, so if you plug in the hdmi after you launch it, no hdmi sound - it is stupid, I know

 

Anyway the M17x has DPC latency and can't read audia data in real time so i don't think HDMI 1.3 is very important.

 

the latency will vary from machine to machine, so HDMI is still important to the users who desire its features

 

I haven't tried this on my M17x, but I know on my 1530 when I use HDMI I have to switch my default audio device in the sound control panel, there is actually an HDMI sound device there. Again, not sure if this is the same with the M17x, but it's something to look into.

 

We'll see soon if what resolution this can push. I ordered a hdmi to dual link dvi adapter and hopefully it will be here this week. We'll see if it can push my 30 inch monitor.

 

Looking forward to the results. May need to mod the driver to allow the res though. I do not think mobile drivers can drive it

 

Unfortunately I don't know enough about modding drivers to do that... Just have to hope the custom resolution feature will serve it up for me. Unless ofcourse you know of someone that can mod the driver for this purpose

 

Nvidia high definition audio drivers should be included in chipset package. You can download 730i drivers from Nvidia and just select Audio drivers for install i think.

 

I meant that using the notebook drivers you wont be able to do 2560x1600

using desktop drivers modded for the notebook you should be ok I think though

 

SlikRik, I am new to this forum. I just bought an M17x and I am thinking of buying the dell DELL ULTRASHARP 3008WFP. I just spoke to Dell customer support and they said the M17x will drive the 3008WFP.

Were you able to get your rig working with a 30" monitor?

Below is my chat with Dell:

12:45:44 PM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
12:45:44 PM System Connected with BE_HY_Ardel
12:45:54 PM BE_HY_Ardel Hi Emily
12:45:59 PM BE_HY_Ardel Welcome to Dell's Sales Chat! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is Ardel.

In case we get disconnected you can reach me at 1-800-571-3355 ext.5770871 or [email protected]
12:46:01 PM emily Hi there
12:46:09 PM BE_HY_Ardel May I have your phone number where I could contact you in case we get disconnected.
12:46:25 PM emily Thanks for working labor day ; )
12:46:25 PM BE_HY_Ardel Thanks for the info, how may I help you with your purchase today?
12:46:44 PM BE_HY_Ardel your welcome
12:46:51 PM BE_HY_Ardel how may I help you with your purchase today?
12:47:10 PM emily LOL ok - I purchased an M17x about 3 weeks ago - it arrived about one week ago
12:47:21 PM emily I have since decided to buy a bigger monitor
12:47:39 PM BE_HY_Ardel oh ok
12:47:49 PM emily I have e-mailed alienware 3 times and they have not written me back so i thought i would ask you, will
12:48:03 PM emily the M17x drive the dell 3008wfp
12:48:32 PM emily it has 2560 x 1600 resolution and I can't find anything telling me if it will or will not
12:48:55 PM BE_HY_Ardel what is the graphics card on the M17x ?
12:49:11 PM emily one sec here - I tricked it out...
12:49:40 PM emily NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
12:49:49 PM emily but it alst lists...
12:50:05 PM emily NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G
12:50:11 PM emily not sure why there are 2
12:50:40 PM BE_HY_Ardel do you see any thing like SLI enabled?
12:51:17 PM emily yeah i e-mailed alienware about that - I have SLI - I can turn it on and and I can turn it off - when I turn on SLI technology through the control panel I can't get my external monitor to work
12:52:05 PM BE_HY_Ardel oh
12:52:35 PM emily i bought the best video card the build offered but i don't think i exactly understansd what i bought ; )
12:53:07 PM emily i see that the dell 30" monitor takes dispay port, i have dispay port on my m17x
12:53:12 PM emily but...
12:54:13 PM emily did we get disconnected?
12:54:21 PM BE_HY_Ardel no
12:54:46 PM BE_HY_Ardel i'm just checking for the compatibility
12:54:50 PM emily ok cool
12:55:16 PM BE_HY_Ardel is the price of the monitor $1399 ?
12:55:19 PM emily yes
1:04:33 PM BE_HY_Ardel well it will support the 30 inch monitor your looking to buy
1:04:39 PM emily ok
1:04:53 PM BE_HY_Ardel I've just confirmed it with all my resources
1:05:16 PM emily wow ok cool - it's hard to find that info on the web ; P
1:05:50 PM emily if i do buy it and the monitor doesn't work does dell have a refund policy?
1:06:18 PM BE_HY_Ardel yes we do
1:06:29 PM emily great!
1:07:00 PM emily ok thanks very much, Ardel. Thanks again for working labor day ; )
1:07:23 PM BE_HY_Ardel Is there anything else that I may assist you with today ?
1:07:32 PM emily nope i'm good thank you!
1:07:53 PM BE_HY_Ardel because I get credit for the order you place online
1:07:58 PM BE_HY_Ardel
1:08:10 PM emily lol i'll be sure to mention your name!
1:08:41 PM emily by the way does dell have any retail location where i can go see one of these monitors live?
1:09:14 PM BE_HY_Ardel if you have any further clarifications please contact me directly at 1-800-571-3355 ext.5770871 or [email protected]

 

Wel i still got audio problems and im just talking about playing a simple video on my tv screen through hdmi. i tryed everything mentioned here as i already know all this it was the same on my hp, should i contact dell about this

 

through display port it very well may work, but not through hdmi

 

ok thx simple answer. why it doesnt work is beyond me because my stupid hp could do the job. What is the point of hqving hdmi then

i also found this thread. it doesnt fully apply to us but it might bring up a new perspective:

Err I might be wrong but if you are connecting your HDMI TV through your computer you might need a $14 cable from Dell that connects your video card to your integrated sound card...I had a similar issue where I could not get sound through my sound Blaster I had to set the on board sound device to read HDMI sound only and then run a cable from my master graphics card(I have SLI so the master card is the one that the HDMI is going in to) to a slot on my mother board

What type of cable would connect from the video card to the sound card? I have talked to Dell support for hours and they said the best I can do is 2 channel stereo out of the HDMI. They recommended using a digital coaxial cable for 7.1 audio

I am not sure what the cable is called but it goes from the side of my 9800 GT to the mother board. Actually now that I think about it I found the solution to that problme on here but I cant rember where the info is...I think I looked up HDMI sound and XPS730x or something along thoes lines. Ahh I found what I got it was the following.

Assembly,Cable,Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format Extreme Performance System

There is a tutorial somewhere on the dell suport site that shows you how to connect the cabel to your sound card and then to your mother board but I can not for the life of me find it anywhere. If I do find it I will post back again.

I am not sure what the cable is called but it goes from the side of my 9800 GT to the mother board. Actually now that I think about it I found the solution to that problme on here but I cant rember where the info is...I think I looked up HDMI sound and XPS730x or something along thoes lines. Ahh I found what I got it was the following.

Assembly,Cable,Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format Extreme Performance System

There is a tutorial somewhere on the dell suport site that shows you how to connect the cabel to your sound card and then to your mother board but I can not for the life of me find it anywhere. If I do find it I will post back again.

Well I called support and made them give me the cable I am not going to pay for something that should have come with my computer in the first place.

Thanks for the reply. I fixed the problem with the SPDIF but not the HDMI. After talking to Dell's tech support for more hours than I'd like to admit ... we finally came to the conclusion that the drivers simply do not support surround sound output through HDMI. I know that seems ridiculous and, trust me, I did my fair share of yelling, but that's the truth. Dell did attempt to offer a solution; a third-party driver which they offered to me without any prior testing. The result of the new driver was surround sound ... accompanied with poor quality audio and a truck load of blue screens.

 

the spdif sound over hdmi with geforce cards has always required a cable between the spdif header on the motherboard and the graphics card

ATI cards do no require this and get their sound signal through the PCI-e bus (wish nvidia would do this)

With laptops this is all a non issue

The point of this thread was merely to point out that you cannot get HD sound feeds using Dolby or DTS and that you cannot get 2560x1600 resolution from HDMI on these notebooks

 

but i get no audio whatsoever so why i have hdmi is beyond me. im going to contact dell about this tommorow, either they give me a fix or they send me a free displayport to hdmi kit

 

are you trying to get the sound over hdmi with the desktop or laptop?

 

with my m17x. i know the post ive shown is for desktops

 

try this,

start => control panel => Sound => then right click on the HDMI option and select Set as Default Device

See if that works

I know that the HDMI can pass sound as I had this setup working just fine going to a Denon receiver for both stereo and 5.1 sound

 

no i already tryed that

 

are you trying to use a software like powerdvd?

for powerdvd you need to have that set before you launch the program, because it will use whatever default sound windows has set when it is launched and will not change regardless of changes you make

 

i tryed firefox power dvd and vlc. there is no sound at all

 

hmmmm

are you hooking up to a receiver or a tv directly? make sure they are set to receive their sound signal via hdmi input and not spdif or coaxial

Also is the nvidia hdmi driver installed?