Mac Mini driving Dell U2711 @ 2560x1440 Problems

I have an older Dell U2711 monitor I'm trying to get to work with my Mac mini. The monitor supports up to 2560x1440 resolution, but it appears only to be available thru the DVI port. It has HDMI input and that works with the Mac mini at 1920x1080, but I'd like to run it at full resolution.

I think the HDMI input is simply limited to 1920x1080 as even using my old PC that was the highest available resolution. So it appears only the DVI input does the full 2560x1440.

I've found HDMI to DVI adapter cables on Amazon but most don't state anything about resolutions above 1920x1080. Is this simply a limitation of all these adapters or are they simply stating the common TV resolutions they might be used for? If one of these cables could do the full 2560x1440 it would seem to be the best solution but I'm not sure if they can.

The other alternative seems to be USB-C to DVI adapter cables. Most of these state they can do 4K resolution but only at 30 Hz. Haven't been able to find any info about the 2560x1440 resolution and update rates.

I'm leaning towards trying a USB-C adapter Cable, but am worried about the update rates. Anyone ideas about how to get the full 2560x1440 resolution with my Mac mini would be greatly appreciated.

--
Jonathan

A direct cable without adapters is the way to go. Ask in the store whether the cable can support 60 Hz. I just had to do the same for a displayport to USB-C on an older LG 4K monitor. For about $20 you should be good to go.

jwilliams said:

I've found HDMI to DVI adapter cables on Amazon but most don't state anything about resolutions above 1920x1080. Is this simply a limitation of all these adapters or are they simply stating the common TV resolutions they might be used for? If one of these cables could do the full 2560x1440 it would seem to be the best solution but I'm not sure if they can.

Click to expand...

There are two variations of DVI-D (Digital).

Single-link DVI is the easiest to implement, but only supports resolutions up to about 1920 x 1200 pixels. Dual-link DVI can support resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pixels, and is what you need to take advantage of the full 2560 x 1440 resolution of your monitor.

Most DisplayPort-to-DVI or USB-C( DisplayPort)-to-DVI adapters are for single-link DVI. Dual-link adapters need "active" circuitry to do the conversion – so they cost more, as well as being harder to find. In the old days, some such adapters had a reputation for being a bit flaky.

jwilliams said:

The other alternative seems to be USB-C to DVI adapter cables. Most of these state they can do 4K resolution but only at 30 Hz. Haven't been able to find any info about the 2560x1440 resolution and update rates.

Click to expand...

As far as I know, the DVI standards do not support 4K resolution at any refresh rate – even 30 Hz. However, 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz would appear to require only a tad more bandwidth than 2560@1600 @ 60 Hz. (Maybe some of the vendors are pushing the margins in the way that standard 74-minute audio CDs evolved into 80-minute audio CDs.)

I think it safe to assume that any DVI adapter that can actually do 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz must be a dual-link adapter with the ability to do 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz. That said, If I was shopping for an adapter or cable to connect a 2560 x 1440 monitor, I'd look for the words "dual-link" in the description.

Good answer by Tom_N as usual, but the Dell U2711 supports HDMI 1.3 and Display Port.

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Tom_N said:

jwilliams said:

I've found HDMI to DVI adapter cables on Amazon but most don't state anything about resolutions above 1920x1080. Is this simply a limitation of all these adapters or are they simply stating the common TV resolutions they might be used for? If one of these cables could do the full 2560x1440 it would seem to be the best solution but I'm not sure if they can.

Click to expand...

There are two variations of DVI-D (Digital).

Single-link DVI is the easiest to implement, but only supports resolutions up to about 1920 x 1200 pixels. Dual-link DVI can support resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pixels, and is what you need to take advantage of the full 2560 x 1440 resolution of your monitor.

Most DisplayPort-to-DVI or USB-C( DisplayPort)-to-DVI adapters are for single-link DVI. Dual-link adapters need "active" circuitry to do the conversion – so they cost more, as well as being harder to find. In the old days, some such adapters had a reputation for being a bit flaky.

Tom_N said:

The other alternative seems to be USB-C to DVI adapter cables. Most of these state they can do 4K resolution but only at 30 Hz. Haven't been able to find any info about the 2560x1440 resolution and update rates.

Click to expand...

As far as I know, the DVI standards do not support 4K resolution at any refresh rate – even 30 Hz. However, 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz would appear to require only a tad more bandwidth than 2560@1600 @ 60 Hz. (Maybe some of the vendors are pushing the margins in the way that standard 74-minute audio CDs evolved into 80-minute audio CDs.)

I think it safe to assume that any DVI adapter that can actually do 3840x2160 @ 30 Hz must be a dual-link adapter with the ability to do 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz. That said, If I was shopping for an adapter or cable to connect a 2560 x 1440 monitor, I'd look for the words "dual-link" in the description.

Click to expand...

CAcreeks said:

Good answer by Tom_N as usual, but the Dell U2711 supports HDMI 1.3 and Display Port.

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Click to expand...

My Mac mini is a recent model with the M1 chip. It has HDMI and USB-C ports.

I ordered a USB-C to DVI cable from Amazon.


It should arrive tomorrow so I'll know soon.

jwilliams said:

CAcreeks said:

Good answer by Tom_N as usual, but the Dell U2711 supports HDMI 1.3 and Display Port.

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Click to expand...

My Mac mini is a recent model with the M1 chip. It has HDMI and USB-C ports.

I ordered a USB-C to DVI cable from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088GGSWDT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

It should arrive tomorrow so I'll know soon.

Click to expand...

I think what you need is a HDMI to HDMI cable, or a UDB-C to DisplayPort cable, which would waste a port (M1 Mini has HDMI port).

$12 HDMI cable

$17 USB-C to DisplayPort cable

CAcreeks said:

the Dell U2711 supports HDMI 1.3 and Display Port.

Click to expand...

Which raises a question – unless the OP need to connect multiple computers to the monitor, why even bother with DVI?

CAcreeks said:

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Click to expand...

Some old ("HDMI Standard") cables are only rated to carry 1080i and 720p. Are you suggesting that the HDMI cables that the OP tried are too old to carry a 2560 x 1440 signal, and that this caused the negotiation of a lower resolution?

The HDMI on this monitor can only go to 1920x1080.

You need a USB-C to Displayport cable. These are around 20€/$. The USB-C Ports (well actually thunderbolt) on your Mac Mini natively support DisplayPort.

Forget about doing anything with DVI...these are obsolete...I would not try to play around with active adapters.

Tom_N said:

Tom_N said:

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Click to expand...

Some old ("HDMI Standard") cables are only rated to carry 1080i and 720p. Are you suggesting that the HDMI cables that the OP tried are too old to carry a 2560 x 1440 signal, and that this caused the negotiation of a lower resolution?

Click to expand...

Apparently it is the Dell monitor, which implemented an old version of HDMI.

Need DisplayPort.

paulhoppe_photography said:

The HDMI on this monitor can only go to 1920x1080.

You need a USB-C to Displayport cable. These are around 20€/$. The USB-C Ports (well actually thunderbolt) on your Mac Mini natively support DisplayPort.

Forget about doing anything with DVI...these are obsolete...I would not try to play around with active adapters.

Click to expand...

Apparently it can do 2560x1440, if some conditions are met:

CAcreeks said:

Tom_N said:

CAcreeks said:

Assuming your Mac Mini (unspecified) does too, you need to buy a new cable.

Click to expand...

Some old ("HDMI Standard") cables are only rated to carry 1080i and 720p. Are you suggesting that the HDMI cables that the OP tried are too old to carry a 2560 x 1440 signal, and that this caused the negotiation of a lower resolution?

Click to expand...

Apparently it is the Dell monitor, which implemented an old version of HDMI.

Need DisplayPort.

Click to expand...

Apparently it can do 2560x1440, if some conditions* are met:

https://www.dell.com/community/Monitors/U2711-HDMI-2560x1440/td-p/3438251

*) one of which is the cable used being able to deliver 2560 - it's likely that the original cable provided by Dell didn't meet that (given the saw, back the, hdmi for 1920x1080 video use only)

I cancelled the USB-C to DVI Cable I had ordered both because Amazon screwed up the delivery and because I realized the monitor has a Display Port input (missed that somehow) which I think should be a better solution if I can get it to run at 2560x1440 thru an adapter cable.

Now I need to figure out if the DP input does the full 2560x1440 and if it would be better to use the HDMI output or USB-C output on my Mac mini.

I found one HDMI to DP cable but it has 2 problems. 1- It is limited to 1920x1200. 2 - it only works if the DP side is used at the computer (so obviously totally unusable). Not sure if these restrictions apply for all these type of cables so not sure if using the HDMI on the mini is feasible.

I've found USB-C to DP cables also but haven't figured out if they will support the 2560x1440 resolution.

Also, I haven't been able to confirm if the monitor supports the full 2560x1440 thru its DP input but one on-line discussion I found seems to imply this.

Seems going USB-C to DP would be best from what I've seen, but haven't been able to confirm 100% this would work at 2560x1440. Would rather use the HDMI output just to keep the USB-C free but it's not a big deal.

Thanks for any input into this.

What hdmi to hdmi cable have you used/tested so far, giving you only 1920x1080 - the one that came with the monitor?

jwilliams said:

and if it would be better to use the HDMI output or USB-C output on my Mac mini.

Click to expand...

It would be better to use one of the USB-C ports on your Mac Mini.

jwilliams said:

I found one HDMI to DP cable but it has 2 problems. 1- It is limited to 1920x1200. 2 - it only works if the DP side is used at the computer (so obviously totally unusable). Not sure if these restrictions apply for all these type of cables.

Click to expand...

These types of adapters work in one direction. DP (source) to HDMI (monitor) is more common than the reverse.

You can find HDMI-to-DP adapters if you look hard enough. I found one that had two plugs on the source end (HDMI for video, USB-A for auxiliary power) and a DP plug on the monitor end. The vendor was selling it as an accessory for select PlayStation and Xbox models which presumably lack DisplayPort output.

USB-C to DisplayPort would seem to be a better way to go.

strawbale said:

what hdmi to hdmi cable have you used/tested so far, giving you only 1920x1080 - the one that came with the monitor?

Click to expand...

I'm certain the cable is not the problem. It's a HDMI 2.0 cable I bought fairly recently. I've confirmed the monitor only does 1920x1080 thru the HDMI. Really the problem appears to be the monitor when it communicates with the computer lists 1920x1080 as its top resolution. I've read that it really is capable of higher resolutions but with the Mac Mini I cannot force it to go and try higher resolutions.

I'm almost certain USB-C to DP is the way to go but want to get some confirmation before I order another cable.

Tom_N said:

jwilliams said:

and if it would be better to use the HDMI output or USB-C output on my Mac mini.

Click to expand...

It would be better to use one of the USB-C ports on your Mac Mini.

Tom_N said:

I found one HDMI to DP cable but it has 2 problems. 1- It is limited to 1920x1200. 2 - it only works if the DP side is used at the computer (so obviously totally unusable). Not sure if these restrictions apply for all these type of cables.

Click to expand...

These types of adapters work in one direction. DP (source) to HDMI (monitor) is more common than the reverse.

You can find HDMI-to-DP adapters if you look hard enough. I found one that had two plugs on the source end (HDMI for video, USB-A for auxiliary power) and a DP plug on the monitor end. The vendor was selling it as an accessory for select PlayStation and Xbox models which presumably lack DisplayPort output.

Click to expand...

Yeah I think I've ruled out using the HDMI port.

Tom_N said:

USB-C to DisplayPort would seem to be a better way to go.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking also. I've got one in my Amazon cart but would like to get some more input before hitting the buy button.

--
Jonathan

jwilliams said:

Tom_N said:

jwilliams said:

and if it would be better to use the HDMI output or USB-C output on my Mac mini.

Click to expand...

It would be better to use one of the USB-C ports on your Mac Mini.

jwilliams said:

I found one HDMI to DP cable but it has 2 problems. 1- It is limited to 1920x1200. 2 - it only works if the DP side is used at the computer (so obviously totally unusable). Not sure if these restrictions apply for all these type of cables.

Click to expand...

These types of adapters work in one direction. DP (source) to HDMI (monitor) is more common than the reverse.

You can find HDMI-to-DP adapters if you look hard enough. I found one that had two plugs on the source end (HDMI for video, USB-A for auxiliary power) and a DP plug on the monitor end. The vendor was selling it as an accessory for select PlayStation and Xbox models which presumably lack DisplayPort output.

Click to expand...

Yeah I think I've ruled out using the HDMI port.

jwilliams said:

USB-C to DisplayPort would seem to be a better way to go.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking also. I've got one in my Amazon cart but would like to get some more input before hitting the buy button.

Click to expand...

This is what I ordered for my LG monitor as I said earlier. With that I get 60Hz refresh rate and full resolution, with multiple older MB Pros.

dspoel said:

jwilliams said:

Tom_N said:

jwilliams said:

and if it would be better to use the HDMI output or USB-C output on my Mac mini.

Click to expand...

It would be better to use one of the USB-C ports on your Mac Mini.

dspoel said:

I found one HDMI to DP cable but it has 2 problems. 1- It is limited to 1920x1200. 2 - it only works if the DP side is used at the computer (so obviously totally unusable). Not sure if these restrictions apply for all these type of cables.

Click to expand...

These types of adapters work in one direction. DP (source) to HDMI (monitor) is more common than the reverse.

You can find HDMI-to-DP adapters if you look hard enough. I found one that had two plugs on the source end (HDMI for video, USB-A for auxiliary power) and a DP plug on the monitor end. The vendor was selling it as an accessory for select PlayStation and Xbox models which presumably lack DisplayPort output.

Click to expand...

Yeah I think I've ruled out using the HDMI port.

dspoel said:

USB-C to DisplayPort would seem to be a better way to go.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking also. I've got one in my Amazon cart but would like to get some more input before hitting the buy button.

Click to expand...

This is what I ordered for my LG monitor as I said earlier. With that I get 60Hz refresh rate and full resolution, with multiple older MB Pros.

Click to expand...

I've got the cable on it's way. This is the one.


Hopefully it works.

I got my USB-C to Display Port cable and it worked with no problem. I can run at full 2560 x 1440 resolution.

Now however, I have another problem to solve, and I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like it is unsolvable.

The higher resolution is great for viewing photos. The size of text however is a bit too small for my aging eyes. After a bit of researching, it seems there is no way to simply scale up the text for all applications. I hope I'm wrong but that's what I understand right now.

How can the Mac OS not have this capability? This is so basic and easy to do in Windows. This alone might keep me from switching over to Macs if I'm understanding everything correctly.

Someone please tell me I'm wrong and how to get EVERYTHING with text scaled larger.

--
Jonathan

jwilliams said:

I got my USB-C to Display Port cable and it worked with no problem. I can run at full 2560 x 1440 resolution.

Now however, I have another problem to solve, and I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like it is unsolvable.

The higher resolution is great for viewing photos. The size of text however is a bit too small for my aging eyes. After a bit of researching, it seems there is no way to simply scale up the text for all applications. I hope I'm wrong but that's what I understand right now.

How can the Mac OS not have this capability? This is so basic and easy to do in Windows. This alone might keep me from switching over to Macs if I'm understanding everything correctly.

Someone please tell me I'm wrong and how to get EVERYTHING with text scaled larger.

Click to expand...

First, congratulations with your solution!

Secondly, the problem with scaling in MacOS, as I understand it, is that it only allows for that in what is considers/sees as HiDPI monitors. A 27" (or even 24") 2560x1440 does not fall in that category, so you won't get the option to scale the text like you would get, for instance, with a 4k 27".

I've read that third part software, like SwitchResX, may offer that option (to scale the text), and others too.