Unable to get 4k 60 Hz on my monitor

[downloaderfan]

Hey all, recently I got the BenQ EW3270U monitor. I have 2 laptops, 1 for work & another for home usage.

 

Work : ThinkPad E490 i7 variant

Home : ASUS Vivobook 15 R542UQ

 

I've come across a few problems.

 

Home laptop:

I connected my home laptop (i.e. ASUS Vivobook 15 R542UQ) via HDMI cable(HDMI 2.0b) to the monitor and I'm unable to get it working at 4k 60Hz. It's only at 30 Hz. While I couldn't find the HDMI version of the laptop port in the manual or the internet, I believe this is occurring since it's HDMI 1.4. The laptop has no display port & the 1 type-c port doesn't support displayport alt mode. Is there any adapter via which I can make it work at 4k 60 Hz or is it impossible?

 

Work laptop:

 I connected my work laptop (i.e. ThinkPad E490) via the same HDMI cable to the monitor and again, same problem, 4k at 30Hz due to it being HDMI 1.4. The good thing here is, it has 1 type-c that supports display port alt mode, so I am able to get the monitor working at 4k 60Hz, but now the problem is that I can't charge my laptop since the typc-c port is also used for charging. Is there any adapter that I can buy for a few bucks to be able to charge + stay connected to my monitor?

 

Would appreciate any help, thanks.

[tikker]

What CPU (and GPU if applicable) do they have? The HDMI port may simply be limited to 30 Hz at 4k resolutions. Adapters are not going to do anything if the port itself can't deliver it in the first place.

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

30 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

Hey all, recently I got the BenQ EW3270U monitor. I have 2 laptops, 1 for work & another for home usage.

 

Work : ThinkPad E490 i7 variant

Home : ASUS Vivobook 15 R542UQ

 

I've come across a few problems.

 

Home laptop:

I connected my home laptop (i.e. ASUS Vivobook 15 R542UQ) via HDMI cable(HDMI 2.0b) to the monitor and I'm unable to get it working at 4k 60Hz. It's only at 30 Hz. While I couldn't find the HDMI version of the laptop port in the manual or the internet, I believe this is occurring since it's HDMI 1.4. The laptop has no display port & the 1 type-c port doesn't support displayport alt mode. Is there any adapter via which I can make it work at 4k 60 Hz or is it impossible?

 

Work laptop:

 I connected my work laptop (i.e. ThinkPad E490) via the same HDMI cable to the monitor and again, same problem, 4k at 30Hz due to it being HDMI 1.4. The good thing here is, it has 1 type-c that supports display port alt mode, so I am able to get the monitor working at 4k 60Hz, but now the problem is that I can't charge my laptop since the typc-c port is also used for charging. Is there any adapter that I can buy for a few bucks to be able to charge + stay connected to my monitor?

 

Would appreciate any help, thanks.

As Tikker says, does the laptop support 60hz?

[--SID--]

40 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

Is there any adapter via which I can make it work at 4k 60 Hz or is it impossible?

Your laptop is 7th or 8th gen Intel and don't support 4K60 over HDMI.

 

43 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

Is there any adapter that I can buy for a few bucks to be able to charge + stay connected to my monitor?

USB-C hub with power delivery but that's more than a few bucks.

[downloaderfan]

25 minutes ago, tikker said:

What CPU (and GPU if applicable) do they have? The HDMI port may simply be limited to 30 Hz at 4k resolutions. Adapters are not going to do anything if the port itself can't deliver it in the first place.

 

22 minutes ago, Maury Sells Wigs said:

As Tikker says, does the laptop support 60hz?

 

Work Laptop : 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8565U & Discrete AMD Radeon RX 550X, 2GB

Home Laptop : 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U & NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, 2GB

[downloaderfan]

17 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

USB-C hub with power delivery but that's more than a few bucks.

 

Would this work?

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

12 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

 

 

Work Laptop : 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8565U & Discrete AMD Radeon RX 550X, 2GB

Home Laptop : 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U & NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, 2GB

So, they output at 60hz?

[--SID--]

13 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

 

Would this work?

No. There's no video out on that thing. https://www.amazon.in/Anker-PowerExpand-Adapter-Delivery-Ethernet/dp/B087QZVQJX/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1Z4KWH7TMOTEM&keywords=usb-c%2Bhub%2Bwith%2Bpower%2Bdelivery+4k+60&qid=1647786912&sprefix=usb-c%2Bhub%2Bwith%2Bpower%2Bdelivery+4k60%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-4 is what you need for 4K60 over HDMI.

[downloaderfan]

10 minutes ago, Maury Sells Wigs said:

So, they output at 60hz?

Yes, both CPUs do at 4k.

[downloaderfan]

2 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

No. There's no video out on that thing. https://www.amazon.in/Anker-PowerExpand-Adapter-Delivery-Ethernet/dp/B087QZVQJX/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1Z4KWH7TMOTEM&keywords=usb-c%2Bhub%2Bwith%2Bpower%2Bdelivery+4k+60&qid=1647786912&sprefix=usb-c%2Bhub%2Bwith%2Bpower%2Bdelivery+4k60%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-4 is what you need for 4K60 over HDMI.

 

Wow, that's like 40% the cost of the monitor itself.  I was not expecting so much for an adapter.

[--SID--]

6 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

Yes, both CPUs do at 4k.

by Displayport, yes. By HDMI 4K30 is the max resolution.

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

5 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

by Displayport, yes. By HDMI 4K30 is the max resolution.

I think you've nailed it.

[downloaderfan]

7 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

by Displayport, yes. By HDMI 4K30 is the max resolution.

I guess I'm screwed then as far as my home laptop goes as it has no display port. 

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

13 minutes ago, downloaderfan said:

Yes, both CPUs do at 4k.

As SID has intimated, the HDMI signal may not be able to provide 4k60 - but DisplayPort will.

 

P.S Is that why pc rigs connect to gaming monitors via DisplayPort and not HDMI?

[tikker]

2 hours ago, downloaderfan said:

 

 

Work Laptop : 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8565U & Discrete AMD Radeon RX 550X, 2GB

Home Laptop : 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U & NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, 2GB

Both CPUs are limited to 4096x2304@24Hz over HDMI according to Intel's Ark page. I'm guessing the output comes from the iGPU, so you can only get 4k 60 Hz when using DisplayPort or DisplayPort alt-mode from the other connection.

[downloaderfan]

On 3/20/2022 at 7:34 PM, --SID-- said:

USB-C hub with power delivery but that's more than a few bucks.

1 more question. Shouldn't USB C power the monitor + charge my laptop at the same time? My friend who has a macbook pro says it does charge his device. Does the thinkpad lack something that prevents this? Note that the thinkpad has no separate port and primarily uses it's 1 type c port for charging.