when connecting via HDMI unsupported audio format message appears

tarekmalas,

The U2711 via HDMI cannot use the current audio from your apple through its HDMI port. That is why you are getting the message, " set the audio output to pulse code modulation PCM". We do not validate/test our Dell monitors on apple products. You should check the apple Discussions Forum for help from other apple users with our products.
https://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

Hi,

I have also Dell U2711 monitor and I have PC-device with NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT. I got same kind of message popping up my screen all the time. I would be more than happy to turn unsupported audio off, if there would be any hint where than can be done :)

Hanttila, there is a solution to this problem. The solution is to spend seven dollars on one of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10246&cs_id=1024606&p_id=6007&seq=1&format=2

This is a mini-display-port-to-display-port connector. The mini-display-port end goes into your Mac; the display-port end goes into the Dell monitor. Using that, you will be able to get full resolution on the monitor and you won't have the annoying audio message. You don't have to buy that one from Monoprice, any such cable should do. If you have Amazon Prime you can get one of these mad cheap with no shipping. I bought the one linked.

Let me warn you not to try one of the other adapters such as the ones that go from HDMI through a converter box to DVI or to other HDMI; I tried that and either lost resolution or still got the audio-error message.

I will sign off by saying that this is a bug on both the Mac and the Dell monitor. Macs should have an option to disable the audio signal over the HDMI connection. The Dell monitor should have the option to ignore the audio error message -- in fact any error message.

Good luck Hanttila. Next time you and I will probably buy our monitors from a company which tests them to make sure they work. It totally blows my mind that Dell doesn't test their monitors and admits it on their own forums. It's deeply unethical. Shame on Dell.

Of course I now re-read your message and realize you are using a PC. If you have DisplayPort output, then use that. It will probably work. Otherwise you could try HDMI-to-DVI but you might lose resolution. Best of luck. Shame on Dell.

Wow - Dell. I appreciate the honesty that you didn't bother testing a monitor that runs over a grand that's specifically marketed to graphics designers that are frequently running Macs, but ... wow. And now you won't do anything to fix it or even dig into it to provide a method for getting rid of this obnoxious message?

I've actually purchased quite a lot from you (and even run corporate contracts with you), and while I find the lack of testing problematic - the biggest concern is the attitude that you don't really care that it's a problem. There's no "we're looking into it" even, though that's pretty much a brush-off too. Pretty big problem and the response instead is basically 'yeah - we don't care.'

Rethinking future business dealings...

Woodrow123,

I hear you. But the policy concerning apple proprietary hardware has been this way since I have been doing this Forum (2000). The Displays Team has always pushed back when it came to this topic. I really do not know why. I can speculate...maybe it all boils down to money. Maybe the R&D cost of having the manufacturer test on apple is just too high.

By the way, the Dell File Library for the U2711 only list the following operating systems: Windows Vista, 7, 8

You can infer from that what is not supported.