Resolution differences Displayport vs HDMI

Hardware
1

I just got a new Mac Mini M2 and connected it to my monitor via HDMI. First thing I noticed was that everything looked slightly bigger on my monitor, compared to my previous Intel MBP. That latter was connected via a dock with a Displayport cable.

When I compared the settings on both machines I saw there was a difference in available options. On the MM the setting I’m using is 2560x1440, while on the MBP it’s 3008 x 1692. I prefer the last one.

Is this difference in available resolutions because of the HDMI connection? Or is it because of the Mac Mini M2 graphics?

2

  • Might be a limitation of the HDMI connector/cable?

    • (HDMI 1.3 single-layer allows up to 2560x1440?)

  • Or a limitation of your monitor?

    • (My Dell monitor can do 2560x1440 over DisplayPort, but only 1920x1080 over HDMI)
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3

Thanks. It might be the cable. I found out that even though it’s labeled “high speed” that doesn’t mean it’s 4k ready. I ordered a new HDMI 2.1 cable and we’ll see if that fixes the problem. Fingers crossed.

4

Unfortunately it wasn’t because of the cable. It seems that the available resolutions via HDMI are more limited. At least more limited compared to the resolutions that I have available via DisplayPort on my MBP.

Guess that I have to spend some more money on a USB-C to displayport cable/adapter and sacrifice one of the 2 USB-C ports on the Mini. Or buy a new monitor with USB-C support.

The 2560 x 1440 resoution is just not acceptable to me.

I knew it never stops with just buying a new computer. :frowning:

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5

Using a usb-c to displayport cable did the trick. Glad to have the 3008 x 1692 resolution back.

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