4K DisplayPort Adapter not working on MonoPrice IPS monitor

I’m using a Dell XPS 15 9530 running Windows 8.1. I have the Plugable USB 3.0 Hub 10C2 plugged into the USB 3.0 port of the laptop. I have a Plugable USB 3.0 3K DisplayPort adapter for multiple monitors plugged into the hub. The 4K adapter has a DP to DVI-D Dual Link plugged into it. This is hooked up to a Dual Link DVI-D cable going into my monitor. The monitor is an IPS with a resolution of 2560x1440.

DP-to-DVI-D Dual Adapter: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005…
Monitor: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id…

I can’t get this working at all. Looking at the resolution settings the monitor has a grayed out select list with “2048x1152 (Recommended)” shown. There is a warning Icon just below that says “Your resolution is lower than 1920x1440. Some items might not fit on your screen.”

My laptop will connect to the monitor just fine using a Mini-DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI-D converter. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004…

Any ideas? This is really frustrating. I haven’t been able to get any docks to work with this, and the Plugable ones seem to be my best and last hope here.

Thanks.

Hi Narshe,

Thanks for posting. Sorry about the frustrations here. The Monoprice and other inexpensive Korean import displays offer awesome features for the money, but the dual-link DVI limitation makes things really tricky. Most of the manufacturers don’t do much to convey just what an ordeal it is to use these displays at full resolution with anything other than a video card which natively supports dual-link DVI connection.

I think the culprit here is the “Dell” DP -> DVI adapter. The Amazon listing you linked to says it’s dual-link, but even though it has a dual-link pin-out, it’s not a true dual-link adapter. The specs lower in the listing say: “The adapter supports uncompressed High-Definition digital video up to 1080p and up to 1920x1200”, which assures that it’s not actually capable of outputting a full-bandwidth dual-link signal.

The only DisplayPort to DVI adapters capable of true dual-link DVI output are expensive “active” adapters such as the $80 one you use on your laptop. We haven’t had any feedback from anyone who has used one of these active DVI adapters with our UGA-4KDP display adapter. Your adapter might work if you use a full size DP to Mini DP adapter such as this:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-DP…

And then connect the output of that to your active Mini DP to DVI adapter. It would be a messy amount of cables and conversions, but realistically it’s the only way I can imagine this setup working as desired.

Of course if it doesn’t work, or you don’t wish to try it, please utilize our no hassle 30 day return policy by using the automated system at www.amazon.com/returns

If you do decide to give the above a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!

Thanks!
Gary

Sounds like I should really get a different monitor for use with my laptop. I also have a MonoPrice monitor that accepts more options, including DisplayPort 1.2. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id…

Does it sound like this should work? If so, is there a specific DisplayPort cable I should buy?

How about this cable? http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-G…

From what I can tell that monitor would probably work.

But just to be on the safe side, I’d email or chat with Monoprice to make certain that model supports 2560x1440 on the DisplayPort input. (Some models will have several input types, but only support the higher resolution on one specific port such as DVI.)

As far as DisplayPort cables go, we don’t really have one specific brand/model to recommend. Most of our customers have reported success when choosing a Amazon/Monoprice model that has a high average customer rating.

Thanks!
Gary

The mentioned MonoPrice monitor with the DisplayPort and the CableMatters DisplayPort cable works. Yay! $10 cable instead of a $100 converter.

Things do seem a little choppy or laggy though for some reason. I can’t decide which; maybe both. The monitor is running 2560x1440 at 60Hz. This is compared to running from the mini DP from my laptop into the monitor.