HDMI or DisplayPort?

A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc

Larc wrote:

A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

From their specs, DisplayPort has higher bandwidth but not a lot more
(and the difference isn't important for your monitor); however, you
never mention which latest *version* of DisplayPort your video card and
monitor will support. Maybe just looking at the price of cables might
sway you. At Newegg, a DisplayPort cable will cost twice as much as an
HDMI cable; however, the price difference is a few dollars. Since the
cables are cheap, why not get one of each and test which one works best
in your setup? It's only when you buy from a retail store (e.g., Best
Buy) that you pay a ridiculously high premium on cables. In fact, since
you have multiple outputs from the video card and multiple matching
inputs on the monitor, why not hook them both up? You could use the
input select on the monitor to decide which input to use to see how each
one looks to compare with the other; however, depending on your video
card, you may either have to setup dual monitors (so both outputs are
active) or have to switch between the outputs on the video card (and
pick the matching input on the monitor).

Personally I would go with HDMI just because I could use that cable with
other electronic gear. For a good price, I'd probably buy a bundle of
them and then stick them in a drawer. Never know when a cable might go
bad. The DisplayPort cable has only one your: your computer and
monitor. HDMI and more ubiquitous so those cables have lots more uses.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20306...s-supreme.html
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/d...rence-3535257/

So DisplayPort is the better choice but only if you can actually utilize
its higher potential bandwidth (doesn't seem to be the case for you).
It is like buying system RAM that higher specs than what you mobo can
support: you put in a component that never gets fully utilized but you
are less likely to hit marginal artificats plus you have future
expandibility (by replacing the mobo or, in your case, getting a better
monitor although your video card could be another bottleneck).

On 2016-12-27, VanguardLH wrote:
Larc wrote:

A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

From their specs, DisplayPort has higher bandwidth but not a lot more
(and the difference isn't important for your monitor); however, you
never mention which latest *version* of DisplayPort your video card and
monitor will support. Maybe just looking at the price of cables might
sway you. At Newegg, a DisplayPort cable will cost twice as much as an
HDMI cable; however, the price difference is a few dollars. Since the
cables are cheap, why not get one of each and test which one works best
in your setup? It's only when you buy from a retail store (e.g., Best
Buy) that you pay a ridiculously high premium on cables. In fact, since
you have multiple outputs from the video card and multiple matching
inputs on the monitor, why not hook them both up? You could use the
input select on the monitor to decide which input to use to see how each
one looks to compare with the other; however, depending on your video
card, you may either have to setup dual monitors (so both outputs are
active) or have to switch between the outputs on the video card (and
pick the matching input on the monitor).

Personally I would go with HDMI just because I could use that cable with
other electronic gear. For a good price, I'd probably buy a bundle of
them and then stick them in a drawer. Never know when a cable might go
bad. The DisplayPort cable has only one your: your computer and
monitor. HDMI and more ubiquitous so those cables have lots more uses.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20306...s-supreme.html
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/d...rence-3535257/

So DisplayPort is the better choice but only if you can actually utilize
its higher potential bandwidth (doesn't seem to be the case for you).
It is like buying system RAM that higher specs than what you mobo can
support: you put in a component that never gets fully utilized but you
are less likely to hit marginal artificats plus you have future
expandibility (by replacing the mobo or, in your case, getting a better
monitor although your video card could be another bottleneck).

Probably will need to buy new HDMI cables that can do
3820x2160 @60; but not if doing 3820x2160@24. Found this out with
4k uhd hdr video player that I had to get HDMI with 18 gbps
certification. However, this looks to be new territory for 4k as
monitors for computers....

However, if viewing YouTube, also know that there are meny 4k uhd hdr
video clips available even mostly "demos" of sorts.

Larc wrote:
A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc

http://www.pcworld.com/article/29063...-displays.html

Another oddity with many 4K PC monitors is that they’re recognized
as dual displays, each with resolutions of 1920x2160. Many of the
most recently released 4K displays feature newer internal scalers
than can handle true 4K resolutions. Older tiled displays required
dual scalers and need to be connected to a system via two HDMI or
DisplayPort cables, or by using a single DisplayPort cable paired
with graphics card that could support a feature called MST, or
multi-stream transport - all this to achieve a 4K resolution
with a 60Hz refresh rate.

The best choice... is the one that works.

Paul

lew wrote:

On 2016-12-27, VanguardLH wrote:
Larc wrote:

A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

From their specs, DisplayPort has higher bandwidth but not a lot more
(and the difference isn't important for your monitor); however, you
never mention which latest *version* of DisplayPort your video card and
monitor will support. Maybe just looking at the price of cables might
sway you. At Newegg, a DisplayPort cable will cost twice as much as an
HDMI cable; however, the price difference is a few dollars. Since the
cables are cheap, why not get one of each and test which one works best
in your setup? It's only when you buy from a retail store (e.g., Best
Buy) that you pay a ridiculously high premium on cables. In fact, since
you have multiple outputs from the video card and multiple matching
inputs on the monitor, why not hook them both up? You could use the
input select on the monitor to decide which input to use to see how each
one looks to compare with the other; however, depending on your video
card, you may either have to setup dual monitors (so both outputs are
active) or have to switch between the outputs on the video card (and
pick the matching input on the monitor).

Personally I would go with HDMI just because I could use that cable with
other electronic gear. For a good price, I'd probably buy a bundle of
them and then stick them in a drawer. Never know when a cable might go
bad. The DisplayPort cable has only one your: your computer and
monitor. HDMI and more ubiquitous so those cables have lots more uses.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20306...s-supreme.html
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/d...rence-3535257/

So DisplayPort is the better choice but only if you can actually utilize
its higher potential bandwidth (doesn't seem to be the case for you).
It is like buying system RAM that higher specs than what you mobo can
support: you put in a component that never gets fully utilized but you
are less likely to hit marginal artificats plus you have future
expandibility (by replacing the mobo or, in your case, getting a better
monitor although your video card could be another bottleneck).

Probably will need to buy new HDMI cables that can do 3820x2160 @60;
but not if doing 3820x2160@24. Found this out with 4k uhd hdr video
player that I had to get HDMI with 18 gbps certification. However,
this looks to be new territory for 4k as monitors for computers....

Same for DisplayPort. Both have various spec levels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#1.0_to_1.1

For HDMI, you'll want to make sure to get HDMI cables marked for "high
speed" (category 2) rather than "standard" (category 1). Look for
either "High Speed" or "4K" in the cable's description. Also, if the
cable run is long (supposedly more 50 feet but most stores don't carry
passive HDMI cables over 25 feet and over 50 feet are hard to find, yet
I'd probably put the sustainable and reliable limit at 10 feet with a
stretch at 15 feet due to variations in manufacturer quality) then make
sure it is an "active" HDMI cable (which means it has logic to amplify
and clean the signal). Unlike many cable specs, HDMI did not specify a
max length regarding acceptable signal attenuation or degradation.

If the bending radius is a problem for the cable (i.e., you need a
thinner and more flexible HDMI cable, like to get around an obstruction
close to the HDMI port) and/or to account for a long cable run, make
sure "redmere active" is in your search criteria (although "redmere"
alone should only find "redmere active" HDMI cables); see:

http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/cabl...technology/510

On Tue, 27 Dec 2016 17:11:31 -0600, VanguardLH wrote:

| lew wrote:
|
| On 2016-12-27, VanguardLH wrote:
| Larc wrote:
|
| A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
| My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
| have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
| DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
| states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
| of both without making any clear recommendation.
|
| From their specs, DisplayPort has higher bandwidth but not a lot more
| (and the difference isn't important for your monitor); however, you
| never mention which latest *version* of DisplayPort your video card and
| monitor will support. Maybe just looking at the price of cables might
| sway you. At Newegg, a DisplayPort cable will cost twice as much as an
| HDMI cable; however, the price difference is a few dollars. Since the
| cables are cheap, why not get one of each and test which one works best
| in your setup? It's only when you buy from a retail store (e.g., Best
| Buy) that you pay a ridiculously high premium on cables. In fact, since
| you have multiple outputs from the video card and multiple matching
| inputs on the monitor, why not hook them both up? You could use the
| input select on the monitor to decide which input to use to see how each
| one looks to compare with the other; however, depending on your video
| card, you may either have to setup dual monitors (so both outputs are
| active) or have to switch between the outputs on the video card (and
| pick the matching input on the monitor).
|
| Personally I would go with HDMI just because I could use that cable with
| other electronic gear. For a good price, I'd probably buy a bundle of
| them and then stick them in a drawer. Never know when a cable might go
| bad. The DisplayPort cable has only one your: your computer and
| monitor. HDMI and more ubiquitous so those cables have lots more uses.
|
| http://www.pcworld.com/article/20306...s-supreme.html
| http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/d...rence-3535257/
|
| So DisplayPort is the better choice but only if you can actually utilize
| its higher potential bandwidth (doesn't seem to be the case for you).
| It is like buying system RAM that higher specs than what you mobo can
| support: you put in a component that never gets fully utilized but you
| are less likely to hit marginal artificats plus you have future
| expandibility (by replacing the mobo or, in your case, getting a better
| monitor although your video card could be another bottleneck).
|
| Probably will need to buy new HDMI cables that can do 3820x2160 @60;
| but not if doing 3820x2160@24. Found this out with 4k uhd hdr video
| player that I had to get HDMI with 18 gbps certification. However,
| this looks to be new territory for 4k as monitors for computers....
|
| Same for DisplayPort. Both have various spec levels.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#1.0_to_1.1
|
| For HDMI, you'll want to make sure to get HDMI cables marked for "high
| speed" (category 2) rather than "standard" (category 1). Look for
| either "High Speed" or "4K" in the cable's description. Also, if the
| cable run is long (supposedly more 50 feet but most stores don't carry
| passive HDMI cables over 25 feet and over 50 feet are hard to find, yet
| I'd probably put the sustainable and reliable limit at 10 feet with a
| stretch at 15 feet due to variations in manufacturer quality) then make
| sure it is an "active" HDMI cable (which means it has logic to amplify
| and clean the signal). Unlike many cable specs, HDMI did not specify a
| max length regarding acceptable signal attenuation or degradation.
|
| If the bending radius is a problem for the cable (i.e., you need a
| thinner and more flexible HDMI cable, like to get around an obstruction
| close to the HDMI port) and/or to account for a long cable run, make
| sure "redmere active" is in your search criteria (although "redmere"
| alone should only find "redmere active" HDMI cables); see:
|
| http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/cabl...technology/510

Thanks for all the responses. I should have mentioned that both HDMI and DisplayPort
cables come with the monitor (LG 27UD58-B), so I'm thinking they are both capable of
the native resolution at 60Hz. I'm using a high speed HDMI cable with my current
monitor. Maybe I should have asked which is better — if either — when both
connections are optimum. Maybe Paul's recommendation about using whichever works
best is the answer since I will be able to do both and compare them, that is if one
type isn't clearly better than the other.

Larc

"Larc" wrote in message ...
A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc


DisplayPort - no question about it! This is the future standard and is going for 8K easily.
HDMI has a lot of problems with the cable length and quality and also they fail so much more often
than DisplayPort which is very high bandwidth and allows to connect multiple monitors.
Dp cables for 4K and up will be much much cheaper than hdmi and can be longer to transfer larger data.

c

chwilozof wrote:
"Larc" wrote in message ...
A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc


DisplayPort - no question about it! This is the future standard and is going for 8K easily.
HDMI has a lot of problems with the cable length and quality and also they fail so much more often
than DisplayPort which is very high bandwidth and allows to connect multiple monitors.
Dp cables for 4K and up will be much much cheaper than hdmi and can be longer to transfer larger data.

c

Here is an opinion from a monitor company.

http://www.planar.com/blog/2014/12/1...13-vs-hdmi-20/

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message news
chwilozof wrote:
"Larc" wrote in message ...
A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc


DisplayPort - no question about it! This is the future standard and is going for 8K easily.
HDMI has a lot of problems with the cable length and quality and also they fail so much more often
than DisplayPort which is very high bandwidth and allows to connect multiple monitors.
Dp cables for 4K and up will be much much cheaper than hdmi and can be longer to transfer larger data.

c

Here is an opinion from a monitor company.

http://www.planar.com/blog/2014/12/1...13-vs-hdmi-20/

Paul


Yes the length I am talking about ranges from 2-10 meters because you don't need longer
unless it is some business or commercial purpose. They didn't mention future standard that can easily
have very long cable lengths. DP was created for higher resolution bandwidth. HDMI is for regular TVs.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20357...r-madness.html
http://www.techradar.com/news/comput...-best-922876/2

On 2016-12-29, chwilozof wrote:
"Paul" wrote in message news
chwilozof wrote:
"Larc" wrote in message ...
A 4K UHD monitor I bought as a Christmas present to myself is on the way from Newegg.
My video card supports the native 3840x2160 resolution. Both video card and monitor
have HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Which should I choose? I'm thinking
DisplayPort, but haven't been able to find any so-called expert source that plainly
states which of the 2 is best. They mainly talk about the history and strong points
of both without making any clear recommendation.

Larc


DisplayPort - no question about it! This is the future standard and is going for 8K easily.
HDMI has a lot of problems with the cable length and quality and also they fail so much more often
than DisplayPort which is very high bandwidth and allows to connect multiple monitors.
Dp cables for 4K and up will be much much cheaper than hdmi and can be longer to transfer larger data.

c

Here is an opinion from a monitor company.

http://www.planar.com/blog/2014/12/1...13-vs-hdmi-20/

Paul


Yes the length I am talking about ranges from 2-10 meters because you don't need longer
unless it is some business or commercial purpose. They didn't mention future standard that can easily
have very long cable lengths. DP was created for higher resolution bandwidth. HDMI is for regular TVs.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20357...r-madness.html
http://www.techradar.com/news/comput...-best-922876/2

10 meters is too short for those with projection screens (TV). Have
read some needed 40-50-75 feet & 33 feet is too short.