Zenbook UX32VD driving a 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitor

Just read Coding Horror: The IPS LCD Revolution where the author details on the availability of amazing, cheap 2560x1440 IPS displays on Ebay exported straight from Korea.

I have two questions:
1) Is there ANY way that the Zenbook can output this resolution on any port at any frequency?
2) How can I drive such DVI-D monitors

Regarding question 1, there seems to be a problem whereby HDMI 1.4 ports on Intel HD 4000 are hobbled and can't do full HDMI 1.4 performance. But I'm having trouble getting the precise info. Moreover, even if the bandwidth is limited, it should still be able to drive 2560x1440 at a low refresh rate (I hear 35Hz), which should be fine for my work. But can anyone confirm it will work?

Regarding question 2: let's figure out question 1 first.

 

Maybe connect to a dock with DVI-D out over USB 3? Something like the ThinkPad / Lenovo USB 3 dock that has a DisplayLink 3900 chip? I think Toshiba make one, too.

 

I believe some of those Korea based IPS monitors have HDMI connections. That might be the solution.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

The DisplayLink 3900 is an interesting chip. It's a bit expensive (half the price of the monitor), and I see that the reviews aren't super (sometimes even bad). However, I suppose that depends on the USB ports. The third-gen Cores should have much better USB support than older solutions. Then again, there's a lot of compression going on. I wonder how it works in practice.

I read that there's something wrong with HDMI output on HD 4000. It doesn't support the full 1.4 spec and can't provide enough bandwidth. But theoretically even with half the bandwidth it could just use a low refresh rate (and I think give better performance than the DisplayLink). I wonder if the driver supports that. An HDMI->DVI-S adapter is very cheap and simple.

 

I haven't tested it yet since I returned a faulty UX32VD (dead white pixel, touchpad loose) - But will test on my Dell U2711 27" when I get a new one back:

 

That's great, can't wait. Also please try setting a resolution of 2560x1440@40p or some lower frequency (which should work with an HDMI->single-link DVI).

 

I would love to know if the UX32VD can output at the full 2560x1440 via hdmi as well, those cheap korean IPS monitors sound promising. I also read that this cannot be done via Intel 4000, but since the UX32VD also has discreet graphics perhaps this machine can do it. Thank you to anyone advance to anyone who can confirm it will work!

 

Was you able to run this monitor with the ux31a? or a similar model?

 

Where did you come across that? If you have a source to cite, I would love to read up; my searches have yielded conflicting information. But as far as I've learned, it seems the inhibiting factor is the port/chip itself, not the HDMI cable specification (or in this case, not per fault of the CPU; although that may vary depending on the generation. Haswell I think is going to have substantially better iGPUs than the HD4000 Ivy Bridge processors).