Limiting a 4K screen to 1080p?

GoogalyMoogaly · 20 Nov 2023 at 17:37

So, I've got two 4K screens (PHILIPS Gaming 279M1RV) that I use with my PCs. They're not great but good enough I can't justify replacing them yet.
My issue is I also want to use them with my work laptop when I'm WFH. This is an issue because my work laptop doesn't support running 2 4K monitors. I'm not 100% if it will even do 2 @ 1440p. It does support one 4K monitor though, which is what I currently use, but I think I'd rather use both monitors at 1080p (even though it's effectively half the space). I cannot get it to do that though. I believe the problem is that it can't do 1 4K and 1 1080p, so even if I set 1 to 1080p the other one won't display anything, I believe because it's trying to run the other monitor at 4K and I can't stop it until it's recognised and is using the monitor.

Are there any other ways of limiting it to 1080p? Can you get a HDMI 1.3 cable or will that likely work as HDMI 1.4 and do 4K @ 30Hz? Everything that looks like it does 1080p MAX also seems to do 4K @ 30Hz.

Anyone got any ideas?

Captain_Bosh · 20 Nov 2023 at 17:57

You change the resolution in Windows, not with the cable. You need to understand what your laptop outputs are and the inputs on the monitor to assess what will work.

If you have a usc port on the laptop it might support display output with an adapter. I run a 4k 60hz screen that way with my work laptop.

GoogalyMoogaly · 20 Nov 2023 at 20:30

Captain_Bosh said:
You change the resolution in Windows, not with the cable. You need to understand what your laptop outputs are and the inputs on the monitor to assess what will work.

If you have a usc port on the laptop it might support display output with an adapter. I run a 4k 60hz screen that way with my work laptop.

I can't change the resolution in Windows, that's the issue!
I'm also not allowed to connect via USB-C.
So the laptop will do 4@60Hz but not 2 screens at the same time and the monitors will do 4k @ 144Hz.

Marrond · 25 Nov 2023 at 09:01

You could try running Sunshine on your laptop and connecting via LAN with Moonlight - then whatever is happening on your laptop you have it in a window that you can resize and move around as you see fit, without disrupting the current setup. You can even do all your work on your main PC, you interact with laptop through a window - it's basically a remote desktop for all intents and purposes. Then it doesn't matter what your laptop supports, because you're essentially streaming screen content.

SpellowHouse · 25 Nov 2023 at 09:29

GoogalyMoogaly said:
I can't change the resolution in Windows, that's the issue!

I assume the problem is that whenever you plug your laptop in, Windows is defaulting to the wrong settings? I am not sure how to fix this, but there must be some way, I can't believe you are the only person getting this problem.

GoogalyMoogaly · 25 Nov 2023 at 11:47

Marrond said:
You could try running Sunshine on your laptop and connecting via LAN with Moonlight - then whatever is happening on your laptop you have it in a window that you can resize and move around as you see fit, without disrupting the current setup. You can even do all your work on your main PC, you interact with laptop through a window - it's basically a remote desktop for all intents and purposes. Then it doesn't matter what your laptop supports, because you're essentially streaming screen content.

This is a work laptop, I don't have admin permissions and can't install anything.

SpellowHouse said:
I assume the problem is that whenever you plug your laptop in, Windows is defaulting to the wrong settings? I am not sure how to fix this, but there must be some way, I can't believe you are the only person getting this problem.

Yeah, I think the screens default to 4K even if it's 30Hz but I think that's too much "bandwidth" or something so it won't display another screen or if it's already displaying another screen it can't display the 4K screen and seemingly doesn't just display it at a lower resolution. It's odd.