[ltp] W500 with resolution 2560x1080

[Henrique de Moraes Holschuh]

On Tue, 20 May 2014, Maciej Musial wrote:
> I've got Thinkpad W500, currently working on Mint 16. I was wondering if it
> is possible to connect to monitor with high, not standard resolution like
> 2560x1080.

The W500 can drive HDMI only up to 1920x1200, which is the maximum
resolution up to HDMI 1.2.  For anything higher, you'll need HDMI 1.3 or
later (as well as appropriate cables, etc), which the W500 doesn't support.

It can drive up to 2048x1536 over DP and VGA, and 2560x1600 over dual-link
DVI-D.

For VGA, the maximum useful resolution is going to be 800x600 or
thereabouts... 1024x768 will already have too much analog damage (ghosting,
loss of definition, etc).

> I've never used DisplayPort and I'm not even sure if it working correctly
> on linux? Eventually if it would be possible to use DisplayPort eventually

It should work, yes.

But it looks like you actually need an advanced dock (for the dual-link
DVI-D port), and a dual-link DVI-D connection to properly support your
monitor.

> some DSub -> DVI convertor?

DP will require active conversion to any other format (HDMI, DVI, VGA). This
means the "convertion cable" is actually a complex electronic device, and it
will be expensive.

BTW, this also means any DP->HDMI converter is likely to have the 1920x1200
limit on resolution.  Even if you manage to find a DP->HDMI1.3 converter
that does higher resolutions, you'll be limited by the W500 to 2048x1536.

-- 
  "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
  them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
  where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
  Henrique Holschuh