@BWxp9500 The DA310 and DA300 only support 4K 60 Hz when connected to a system that supports DisplayPort 1.3/HBR3 or better over USB-C. The XPS 15 9500 only supports DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 over USB-C because of limitations in the Intel GPU that Intel used in their Core 10th Gen H Series CPUs and Dell's choice to wire the display outputs to the Intel GPU rather than the NVIDIA GPU in order to improve battery life, since this design means the NVIDIA GPU can be shut down when its performance isn't needed. If the outputs were wired to the NVIDIA GPU, then it would have to be active whenever an external display was connected, even if nothing graphics-intensive was going on -- which is why Intel GPU wiring is more common on laptops overall.
The DA200 is limited to 1080p on its HDMI output due to limitations of that adapter. That's mentioned in its documentation available on the Dell Support site. Same goes for the requirement for DP 1.3/HBR3 support for 4K 60 Hz on the DA300 and DA310's documentation.
@BWxp9500 By the way, the adapter that came with the XPS 15 9500 is called the DA20. That is not the same product as the DA200 that you mentioned in your post. My reply above pertained to the DA200. But from posts I've read about the DA20 elsewhere here, it seems to have the same limitation as the DA300 and DA310 in terms of only allowing 4K 60 Hz from a system that supports DP 1.3/HBR3 because the DA20 also supports running USB 3.x data, and when a device configures a USB-C link to support video and USB 3.x data, then video bandwidth gets cut in half. A half-bandwidth DP 1.3/HBR3 link is enough for 4K 60 Hz, but a half-bandwidth DP 1.2/HBR2 link isn't. If you want 4K 60 Hz, I'd recommend getting a basic USB-C to DisplayPort cable and connecting it directly to your system. Or else getting a Thunderbolt 3 dock like the WD19TB, which will allow you to run dual 4K 60 Hz displays, but of course it's quite a bit more expensive.
I did mean DA 20 not DA200. Do you know why when I connect the DA 310 Displayport with a Displayport cable or HDMI port with a HDMI 4K Ultra HD cable to my 27 inch 4k LG screen there are black vertical lines (letterbox) on each side of the screen?
When I connect the DA 20 to either the XP15 9500 USB C port or to the DA 310 USB C port with the same HDMI cable the black lines disappear and I have full screen display back. The DA 310's Displayport and HDMI port must be doing something that its USB C port or the XP USB C port is not doing to the video single.
I would not mind keeping the DA 310 and but it is useless except for the two USB A ports if the HDMI and Displayport ports cause the display to letterbox.
@BWxp9500 What resolution does Windows indicate that it is sending to the display when you see this letterboxing? Have you tried customizing any settings in Intel Graphics Control Panel (or Command Center, depending on driver version)? Are there any settings in the display’s built-in menu that can be adjusted in order to address this? I suspect the difference in behavior is down to the fact that using the DA310 or DA20 is cutting your video bandwidth in half compared to connecting a simple USB-C to DP/HDMI cable or adapter (one that does not include additional functionality such as USB ports), and you’re trying to run a display whose native resolution and refresh rate would require a full bandwidth signal from your system. Whatever choice the system is making to adapt to the insufficient bandwidth is probably not going over well with the display. But the Intel Graphics app might allow you to force a particular setup that will work better. 4K 30 Hz and 1440p 60 Hz would both be achievable through the DA310 and DA20 from your system, and I would expect the display would handle both properly, though I don’t have your display to test with.
Fun fact: Letterboxing is technically the practice of adding black bars to the top and bottom of a widescreen image to make it fit a non-widescreen display. If you have black bars along the left and right edges, that is called pillarboxing.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
1
March 11th, 2021 15:00
@BWxp9500 The DA310 and DA300 only support 4K 60 Hz when connected to a system that supports DisplayPort 1.3/HBR3 or better over USB-C. The XPS 15 9500 only supports DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 over USB-C because of limitations in the Intel GPU that Intel used in their Core 10th Gen H Series CPUs and Dell's choice to wire the display outputs to the Intel GPU rather than the NVIDIA GPU in order to improve battery life, since this design means the NVIDIA GPU can be shut down when its performance isn't needed. If the outputs were wired to the NVIDIA GPU, then it would have to be active whenever an external display was connected, even if nothing graphics-intensive was going on -- which is why Intel GPU wiring is more common on laptops overall.
The DA200 is limited to 1080p on its HDMI output due to limitations of that adapter. That's mentioned in its documentation available on the Dell Support site. Same goes for the requirement for DP 1.3/HBR3 support for 4K 60 Hz on the DA300 and DA310's documentation.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
1
March 11th, 2021 15:00
@BWxp9500 By the way, the adapter that came with the XPS 15 9500 is called the DA20. That is not the same product as the DA200 that you mentioned in your post. My reply above pertained to the DA200. But from posts I've read about the DA20 elsewhere here, it seems to have the same limitation as the DA300 and DA310 in terms of only allowing 4K 60 Hz from a system that supports DP 1.3/HBR3 because the DA20 also supports running USB 3.x data, and when a device configures a USB-C link to support video and USB 3.x data, then video bandwidth gets cut in half. A half-bandwidth DP 1.3/HBR3 link is enough for 4K 60 Hz, but a half-bandwidth DP 1.2/HBR2 link isn't. If you want 4K 60 Hz, I'd recommend getting a basic USB-C to DisplayPort cable and connecting it directly to your system. Or else getting a Thunderbolt 3 dock like the WD19TB, which will allow you to run dual 4K 60 Hz displays, but of course it's quite a bit more expensive.
BWxp9500
2 Posts
0
March 14th, 2021 11:00
jphughan,
I did mean DA 20 not DA200. Do you know why when I connect the DA 310 Displayport with a Displayport cable or HDMI port with a HDMI 4K Ultra HD cable to my 27 inch 4k LG screen there are black vertical lines (letterbox) on each side of the screen?
When I connect the DA 20 to either the XP15 9500 USB C port or to the DA 310 USB C port with the same HDMI cable the black lines disappear and I have full screen display back. The DA 310's Displayport and HDMI port must be doing something that its USB C port or the XP USB C port is not doing to the video single.
I would not mind keeping the DA 310 and but it is useless except for the two USB A ports if the HDMI and Displayport ports cause the display to letterbox.
Regards
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
1
March 14th, 2021 16:00
@BWxp9500 What resolution does Windows indicate that it is sending to the display when you see this letterboxing? Have you tried customizing any settings in Intel Graphics Control Panel (or Command Center, depending on driver version)? Are there any settings in the display’s built-in menu that can be adjusted in order to address this? I suspect the difference in behavior is down to the fact that using the DA310 or DA20 is cutting your video bandwidth in half compared to connecting a simple USB-C to DP/HDMI cable or adapter (one that does not include additional functionality such as USB ports), and you’re trying to run a display whose native resolution and refresh rate would require a full bandwidth signal from your system. Whatever choice the system is making to adapt to the insufficient bandwidth is probably not going over well with the display. But the Intel Graphics app might allow you to force a particular setup that will work better. 4K 30 Hz and 1440p 60 Hz would both be achievable through the DA310 and DA20 from your system, and I would expect the display would handle both properly, though I don’t have your display to test with.
Fun fact: Letterboxing is technically the practice of adding black bars to the top and bottom of a widescreen image to make it fit a non-widescreen display. If you have black bars along the left and right edges, that is called pillarboxing.