Surface Pro 4 Incompatibility with Ultra-wide Monitor

Anonymous
2016-04-12T04:59:50+00:00

Last year I had purchased a brand new Samsung 29" ultra-wide curved LED monitor S29E790C to use with my older Surface Pro 2, and it worked like a charm. I would have it set to only display on the external display, and the graphics ran smoothly. However, much to my dismay, when I bought a brand new Surface Pro 4 (256 GB, i5, 8GB RAM model), the external monitor will, under no circumstance, adjust the native resolution properly.

The maximum option available is the 1920 x 1080 (recommended), and it's getting pretty frustrating trying to multitask using a 21:9 monitor with fat 3" black bars on either side of the active display area. I am using a regular Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter cable, which I have eliminated as the cause of the issue -- tried swapping it out with the other 4 identical ones I have as backups. I have heard tales of others experiencing the same exact issue with the newest design of the Surface moving to a 4:3 resolution in later models. Any input is appreciated.

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2016-10-13T12:16:05+00:00

Here is my current status for connecting my ultra wide Samsung monitor to my Surface Book /Surface Dock:  

I ordered 2 cables for testing - one cable is a mini display port to display port; and the second is an active mini display port to HDMI.  My monitor has a display port and 2 HDMI interfaces.  

The first cable I received was the mini display port to display port and when I connected this it was a complete and immediate success!!  The monitor switched over right away and had the correct resolution of 2560x1080.  To say I was happy was an understatement.  I installed the monitor drivers for the display port and all is as it should be.

The second cable I received was the active mini display port to HDMI.  I disconnected the display port cable and plugged in this new cable and I had the same issue as with the passive mini display port to HDMI meaning it would not recognize the higher resolution so the monitor and my surface both stayed black.  All of this was the same exact issue as before.  I am not sure if the current monitor drive installed was interfering, but honestly, was not about to make more changes at this point.  I went through the typical reboot, reset the surface dock, etc, but no luck.

If you only have an HDMI port, it may be worth trying the active mini display port to see if that will work.  For my configuration, the display port seems to work the best.

Was this answer helpful?

20+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2016-04-23T22:50:42+00:00

IT WORKED! 

I used the display port on my LG Ultra Wide (29UM55-P), instead of HDMI, and connected it to the mini display port on the Surface Pro 4 and now I have the native resolution (2560 x 1080) again on my LG.  Looks fantastic!

Here is the cable I used:

http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-DisplayPort-Thunderbolt-Compatible/dp/B00C7RJQPY?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref\_=oh\_aui\_detailpage\_o00\_s00

If you have a monitor that is not working with HDMI-to-MiniDisplayPort adaptors on the Surface Pro 4 I recommend going display port with cable.

Good luck all!

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

47 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-09-14T11:48:03+00:00

    Hi all, 

    I am facing the same issues. LG29um58-P and no way to have the SP4 send 2560x1080 to the monitor. The monitor works at this reslution with the image sent from a dell laptop, so the issue is related to SP4 card or drivers

    Very sad that we bought "the ultimate piece of technology" and it is not able to do anything above FullHD in 2017

    Thanks everyone for your help with this issue. Now I do not know what to do: send the screen back or stop using the SP4

    Best

    Luis

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-12-23T21:11:30+00:00

    Hello all,

    I've a SP4 with all update and a dock with firmware update too but I can't display on my LG 29UM59-P UltraWide at 2560*1080 (only 2 HDMI ports). Max effective resolution is 1920*1080 (2560*1080 is in the menu for resolution but when I choose it, it stay effectively at 1920*1080).

    I've tried two kind of active mini display port to HDMI (one is the MSFT official adapter)... no more result. I've tried directly from the SP4, idem.

    I can't understand Microsoft can't solve this... it's a software/driver issue from the SP4 !

    When I see the beginning of this post and the date today, I told myself it's incredible...

    I wait for a solution too.

    Thanks for all that can help.

    JF

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-12-23T21:31:14+00:00

    To fix it, they would have to work on it. That is not going to happen. The problem is in both the dock and the SP4. MSFT now uses the 80% rule:”If it’s 80% done, its fine”

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments