FHD laptop connected to 2K external display. Resolution limited to FHD, even when only using external display.

[TechiGamer]

Hi,

I'm trying to connect my xps 13 9350 (via a usb type c adapter purchased from Dell) to my external 2560x1440 Asus monitor. The xps 13's resolution is 1920x1080, and is running Windows 10. I've updated all my drivers, and the issue is that when I try to only use the Asus screen (second screen only option in windows 10 project), I am limited to 1920x1080 resolution. From what I understand from scrolling through previous forum posts is that this should not be happening. The options for resolution just simply max out at 1920x1080.

I tried doing: Display Adapter Properties (display settings) --> list all modes --> Max is 1920x1080
"Make this my main display" is checked.
Scaling is at 100%
Tried rebooting: no change, still FHD.

As a side note, is there any way to output at max resolution on BOTH displays simultaneously when duplicating/cloning the two screens? I know that in this situation I would just be copying my xps' screen and thus is limited to FHD, but is there some technique or trick that could maybe somehow allow me to do full res on both? Maybe upscale to 2k on the xps somehow?
Doing full res on both at the same time would be a dream come true.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

The max resolution possible is dictated by the amount of VRAM of the GPU model inside your laptop, so obviously that maximum isn't going to change simply by plugging in a monitor which requires a higher resolution.
The component which determines available resolutions (the GPU) is still the same one.

No way around that, not on a laptop. If it was a desktop PC you could either upgrade the GPU or add another one so you had one for each monitor - each GPU could then be set to a different resolution to match the two displays.

 

[TechiGamer]

The max resolution possible is dictated by the amount of VRAM of the GPU model inside your laptop, so obviously that maximum isn't going to change simply by plugging in a monitor which requires a higher resolution.
The component which determines available resolutions (the GPU) is still the same one.

No way around that, not on a laptop. If it was a desktop PC you could either upgrade the GPU or add another one so you had one for each monitor - each GPU could then be set to a different resolution to match the two displays.

Ah okay, I see. But I took a look at the specs for my integrated gpu -- the Intel hd 520 -- and notebookcheck.net states that the max resolution is : 3840 x 2160.
So I'm still wondering why I can't run my external monitor alone at full 2560x1440 resolution.