I just bought a Samsung 34-inch ultrawide curved monitor (model LC34G55TWW) mainly for office tasks and some light gaming. However, when I connect it to my Dell Inspiron 15 3530 laptop using an HDMI 1.4 cable, I'm stuck at 1920x1080 resolution at 60Hz. I'd really like to figure out how to achieve that 3440x1440 resolution since the current 1080p setting looks a bit stretched and pixelated.
5 Answers
You might try changing the display settings in Windows. Though, if the option isn't showing up in the settings, that's likely due to the limitations of your current setup.
Your laptop's integrated GPU might not be able to handle the higher resolution, especially with a second monitor. It could be a hardware limitation you can't easily bypass.
Is there any chance an extra adapter or docking station could help with this?
If you have access to the Intel GPU control panel, you might be able to set a custom resolution or refresh rate there. I had a similar issue with my work laptop; my HDMI couldn't manage 3440x1440 at 60Hz, but surprisingly, 45Hz worked just fine for everyday tasks.
What type of cable are you using? It makes a difference, so maybe a different HDMI version could help.
Have you checked the manual? Sometimes they spell out what resolutions the HDMI port can actually support. For your laptop model, it seems like the HDMI port might only handle 1080p at 60Hz. You can find the manual on Dell's site for more details.
True, if that's the case, you're kinda stuck.
Yeah, it sounds like a limitation of the laptop's HDMI. Bummer!
Unfortunately, it looks like that option just isn’t available for me.