Has anybody here used a Displayport to HDMI adapter before? I'm having trouble with mine.

[Calavera]

First I want to say I have both a DP to VGA and a DP to DVI adapter that I bought off Ebay for a couple of bucks and they work with no problem at all. Whether I'm using a modern monitor or an old CRT they work fine. Lately I've needed another HDMI connector so I bought a cheap DP to HDMI connector off Ebay and unfortunately it isn't working as smoothly as the DVI and VGA ones do.

At first it didn't seem like it was working at all. When I'd plug it into the card nothing happened. Nothing showed up on the display and the PC didn't detect another display. One thing I tried was powering off the PC and only plugging in the HDMI to DP adapter. When I do that it shows the BIOS screen on the display and then goes to the Windows loading screen. After that it goes to no signal. So it seems the adapter is working but for whatever reason once Windows loads it stops outputting a signal.

I don't understand what the problem could be. It doesn't make sense why it would display the BIOS and windows loading screen and then just go blank.

Has anyone else had this issue?

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I haven't tried DP to HDMI.

Could it be a resolution issue?

[melancholy]

That’s a weird one. If it gets signal at the login, it should get signal after. If you have a second monitor, try plugging it in and see what the display settings are for the first monitor once logged in. Try playing with resolutions and stuff to see if it appears.

[ian]

"cheap DP to HDMI connector off Ebay"

That's the problem, you should get a job in the I.T. field and Pocket a whole stack of genuine HP DP to anything you can name adaptors.

Display port cables are weird, unlike HDMI, they have ratings for resolution and bit rates, AS WELL as generation numbers. It's not like HDMI where a cheap $4 HDMI cable can be used on the most powerful computer and best display in the world and work fine.

It's possible your adaptor is only rated for something stupidly low like 720P (hence it being fine in the bios and windows loading because they load low resolution specifically for compatibility reasons.

Try lowering your desktop resolution as low as it can go and see if your DP to HDMI adaptor works then.

Because display port is digital, and HDMI is digital, the only reason you're likely to have issues is with a DP problem somewhere.

(It could also be some adaptors are active and some passive, with HDMI it doesn't need to be active but if it is it might be causing it)

I learnt about cheap DP cables in about 2012 when I thought my new ASUS PB278Q was fucked... It wasn't, I was just using a cable only rated for 1080P and I was trying to run 1440P. I then learned the lesson again when I got my Lg27mu67 and the cable that drove my Asus fine simply wouldn't work with my new 4K screen.

Then I thought the cable was fucked (it wasn't, it worked fine at 1080P)

The biggest problem I have is my current DP cables that ARE compatible with my 4K monitors look identical to the ones that only work on older stuff.

I'd be trying another adaptor, you don't need to go apeshit, but maybe an alogic or HP or comsol or vivolink.. and not $3 from AliExpress with free shipping.

[Calavera]

That’s a weird one. If it gets signal at the login, it should get signal after. If you have a second monitor, try plugging it in and see what the display settings are for the first monitor once logged in. Try playing with resolutions and stuff to see if it appears.

I tried logging into safe mode in Windows and the DP adapter worked fine even at 4K resolution. I set the PC to restart in safe mode and then unplugged the HDMI leaving just the DP to HDMI and then clicked restart. It loaded up the boot selection screen and then loaded into Windows just fine. However when I plugged into HDMI nothing came up in safe mode. Idk it is a very weird issue.

"cheap DP to HDMI connector off Ebay"

I'd be trying another adaptor, you don't need to go apeshit, but maybe an alogic or HP or comsol or vivolink.. and not $3 from AliExpress with free shipping.

It probably is the adapter but idk it is weird that it works at boot and also in safe mode. Maybe I should try booting Linux from a USB stick and see if it works there. Even though the adapter was cheap it had good reviews and I the super cheap DP to VGA and DVI adapters I have worked fine so I figured this one would too.


The really annoying thing is that I shouldn't even have to buy an adapter! Why do modern video cards act like HDMI is some defunct rarely used connection? My GPU has 4 outputs, 3 DP and 1 HDMI! If it had 2 DP and 2 HDMI that would make a lot more sense. Then you could do a dual monitor setup with 2 HDMI or 2 DP or 1DP and 1 HDMI. As it is now you can only do a single monitor setup with HDMI, and a triple monitor with DP. Because triple monitor setups are so common, way more common that dual monitors obviously.

It would also be nice if I could use the motherboard's HDMI connector and have it use the GPU. The 3600X doesn't have built in graphics so I'm not able to use that port at all.



*edit So I thought I had a good idea. I remembered I have an DVI to HDMI cable. I've used it many times in the past to hook up an older computer that only has DVI up to my HDMI TV. I also have a DP to DVI adapter which I used to use all the time when I ran a second monitor. So I thought hey why not plug in the DP to DVI then plug the DVI to HDMI into that. It seemed like it should work since both adapters work on their own. But of course it didn't work. It was worth a try.

[Calavera]

*edit So I thought I had a good idea. I remembered I have an DVI to HDMI cable. I've used it many times in the past to hook up an older computer that only has DVI up to my HDMI TV. I also have a DP to DVI adapter which I used to use all the time when I ran a second monitor. So I thought hey why not plug in the DP to DVI then plug the DVI to HDMI into that. It seemed like it should work since both adapters work on their own. But of course it didn't work. It was worth a try.

So I was messing around some more trying all the different cables I have. I switched to a better TV for the second display and went through all my cables again. The DP to HDMI was a dud yet again, but I gave the DP to DVI to HDMI another try and it worked! So now I've got a 58 inch for my main display and a 43 inch for my secondary display. I'm not sure I really need the 43 inch one but it was just sitting around so I figured why not use it?

One thing that really surprised me about using the DP to DVI adapter with a DVI to HDMI cable is that the audio comes through. I wasn't aware that DVI was able to carry sound. Very interesting.

[pixel]

Honestly it's been confusing since the DVI days for me HDMI wasn't always as plug-and-play.

If a DVI adapter helped, my guess is that the TVs are having the issue here. Converting through DVI must provide some filtering that makes the signal recognizable to the TVs.

My guess is that the DP to HDMI adapter only changed the physical connection, but didn't affect the video signal.