Does my laptop have a real or dummy 40-pin EDP connector?

The laptop is an Inspiron 5770 17-inch 30-pin EDP (2-lanes) LCD (Non-Touch). The EDP cable is
DC02002VC00.

However, I noticed for some reason the motherboard's EDP connector has 40 pins.
Is this a dummy connector that's actually 30-pin; or is it a functioning 40-pin EDP?

 

Look in the service manual.

My laptop has a 30P in the MOBO but, also provides a 4K cable that connects to a 40P panel.

Some of the pins in the cables aren't used so, you could potentially connect a 40P MOBO side and use panels with 30-50P connectors. I figured out my potential connections by looking at the CPU/GPU/MOBO schematics to see what the max configuration option was since the model wasn't listed to support 4K as an option.

 

Interesting.

Also, if I understand correctly, EDP connectors on motherboards have a motherboard-specific custom arrangement of EPD pins, and therefore require EDP cables that specifically re-arrange these pins to (usually) a standardized arrangement, correct?

And do you know if EDP 1.3 panels work in EDP 1.2 motherboards?

 

The mapping of the wires is standardized. If your HW doesn't support a 4-lane connection / bandwidth the panel might work in a reduced capacity or not at all.

If it's anything like say USB where every new generation is backwards compatible it should. The main constraint would be the bandwidth between the MOBO / Panel.

Which leads me back to the CPU/GPU/MOBO.... do a bit of research on each component to see what they're capable of.

I'm running:
I7-9750H (UHD630 iGPU)
GTX1650
MOBO is generic but the schematic indicated 4K support

It mainly comes down to the CPU/GPU and what they'll push for signals to the panel.

 

What I would say here is for you to contact Dell they will know more about connector ports if that is the case.