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Inspiron 5558, GeForce 920M, HDMI out maximum resolutions?
I have a Dell Inspiron 5558, that comes with a GeForce 920M graphic card. The graphic card's specifications say that it can go with resolutions up to 3840 x 2160. Until a couple of days ago, I was using a 23" monitor connected through HDMI, using a 1920x1080 resolution. Today I bought a 27" monitor, and I was hoping I could set a higher resolution, but I can't. Maybe I'm a bit confused of how the resolution thing works. The problem is that, after moving from a 23" screen to a 27" screen I was hoping to have more desktop space, but instead I have just everything larger, I mean, there isn't additional desktop space, just the same as before, but larger (as if it were zoomed in). Both monitors are 1920 full HD. I'm a bit confused, I don't know if I should be able to set a higher resolution or not, giving that the monitor is 1920. But if that's the case, what would be the point of a 32" monitor if it only goes up to 1920? Everything would be just bigger, larger, as zoomed in. I was hoping to have more desktop space with this new monitor, considering that I have the GeForce 920M that goes up to a larger resolution. Is that possible?
jphughan
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November 15th, 2017 15:00
In addition to the above, if you want to consider 30-32" displays, the typical resolutions there are 2560x1600 and 4K (3840x2160). And speaking of 4K, that actually brings up the OPPOSITE concept. Some people won't want more real estate but just want everything to be SHARPER. There are 24" displays that support 4K resolution. If you were using 100% scaling that would be microscopic, but instead people will enable 200% scaling so that they have the same amount of real estate as a 24" 1080p display, but everything is 4x sharper than a 24" 1080p display. 4K resolution doesn't really become usable at 100% scaling until you reach 40-42" -- and there are actual displays (not just TVs) at that size, because some people do in fact want 4K resolution purely for real estate rather than sharpness. Those also make for fantastic gaming displays, apparently, because they fill your entire field of vision.
But bottom line is that when picking your display, you need to decide whether you want bigger things (increase size but not resolution), sharper things (increase resolution but not size), or more things (increase resolution AND size to maintain pixel density).
jphughan
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November 15th, 2017 15:00
Did you check the specs of the new display you bought? In addition to ejn63's correct comment that some displays are limited to 1080p over their HDMI input (and will accept a higher resolution over DisplayPort), there are some 27" displays that are only 1080p. Most 27" displays are 2560x1440, but not all of them. In terms of your question about why they would even do that, some people just want things to be larger (even if it's not as sharp) rather than having more real estate at a given level of sharpness. I have a client who specifically got a 1080p 27" display because he planned to have it viewed from farther away in a kiosk setup that was just showing a PowerPoint presentation loop, so the extra cost of a 2560x1440 display would have been completely wasted for his use case. Viewing distance is a significant consideration. After all, there are 85" TVs that only do 1080p.
Also note that sometimes the HDMI output on the PC is limited to 1080p, but I would be surprised if that was the case on your system since it's fairly new. Still, in order to run a higher resolution, you need support from the GPU, the specific output you're using, the input on the display side, the cable you're using (and any adapters that may be involved), and of course the display itself.
ejn63
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November 15th, 2017 13:00
The system is new enough that it may well support HDMI above FHD -- but check your monitor manual. Many monitors are limited to 1920X1080 over HDMI (higher resolution requires a different input -- displayport -- which your system doesn't have).
DELL-Chris M
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November 20th, 2017 05:00
The 2015 Inspiron 5558 uses HDMI 1.4a via the Intel HD Graphics and the Nvidia Optimus. Post the specific 27" monitor model that you purchased and we can provide more data to you. Perhaps you need a different monitor model?