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July 20th, 2020 14:00
XPS 9560 + WD19TB + Multiple Monitors
Hello All,
I have tried to find something out there regarding my issue, but can't find anything that matches exactly what I have going on.
I have a dual home setup (one for work and one for play), but I use the same monitors for both and just toggle between the monitor inputs using their OSD.
I have an XPS 15 9560 work laptop with Intel 630 iGPU and a GTX 1050. From there, I connect to a WD19TB dock with the thunderbolt cable. After that, I have two higher resolution monitors, one is a 4k and the other is a 2k. the WD19TB connects to the 4k monitor using DisplayPort to Mini-DisplayPort. The 2k monitor is currently using HDMI, as the DisplayPort on this monitor is being used by my gaming PC for resolution+higher refresh rate. The HDMI on the 2k monitor is HDMI 2.0. I keep the laptop screen off and closed so only these 2 screens are ever active on my work setup.
Here is my problem, with the above setup I can get the 4k monitor to be 4k 60p, but my 2k monitor caps out at 1080p and will not go to its rated 2k. I don't know if it's a driver thing or a limitation of the laptop/dock/monitor. I believe I have all the latest drivers. obviously I can work fine with the resolution I am getting, but I would really like to get the rated 2k.
Am I doing something wrong here or not understanding the resolution specs? Thanks for any insight!
Wes


jphughan
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July 20th, 2020 14:00
@WesC88 The XPS 15 9560 is a Thunderbolt system that supports DisplayPort HBR2, not HBR3. When a 4K 60 Hz display is in play, the WD19TB has some cabling restrictions on how displays can be connected if you want all of them to operate at their native resolution and refresh rate. These restrictions are related to how the dock allocates display bandwidth coming in from the system, and the restrictions are different based on whether you're using an HBR2 or HB3 system. This is spelled out in the WD19TB User Guide on support.dell.com, specifically in the Display Resolution Table. The short version is that with an HBR2 system, if you have a 4K 60 Hz display and anything else, then one of the displays has to be connected to the "downstream" TB3 port at the edge of the dock, using something like a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter/cable. The other can be connected to any other output. You currently have both displays connected to the "core" display outputs, and with an HBR2 system, half of the available display bandwidth is allocated to that downstream TB3 port, with the "core" outputs sharing the remaining half. And that half isn't enough for 4K 60 Hz plus what I assume is actually QHD/1440p. (On that note, "2K" is a dangerous term to use because so many people use it incorrectly. It's actually a film resolution of 2048x1080, so in the consumer space it actually refers to the nearest and slightly LOWER equivalent, which is 1920x1080. This is just like 4K, which is a film resolution of 4096x2160, but in the consumer space it refers to 3840x2160. If the resolution you're calling 2K is actually 2560x1440, that is rightfully called QHD/1440p. The former is only one extra character to type over 2K, but it adds a lot of disambiguation value, and disambiguation can be important when dealing with technical issues. )
WesC88
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July 21st, 2020 08:00
@jphughan Awesome, thanks for the help! The way you explained it made more sense to me than the manual did. and yes I meant QHD/1440p in the consumer spec, not film spec. Thanks for the clarification on that part too :).
Biff
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November 3rd, 2021 19:00
Hi guys,
Just wanted to thank WesC88 for posting this topic, and jphughan for answering it. I was about to post a new topic as I also wasn't 100% sure about supported resolutions with a WD19TB to dual monitors from my work XPS 9570. All good now
jphughan
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November 3rd, 2021 21:00
@Biff Thanks for the kind words, and glad I could help. The XPS 15 9570 is also an HBR2 system just like the 9560. The XPS 15 didn’t gain HBR3 support until the 9510 generation, which is three generations newer than the 9570.
Biff
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November 3rd, 2021 22:00
Thanks mate, good to know. Just trying to organise a personal plus work setup at home, sharing monitors, and didn't think it would take this much effort and research. But I think I have it sorted now, thanks again.