Intel Displayport On CentOS 7

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Since my current monitor appears to be slowly dying, I’m looking for a replacement. I generally use hardware replacement as an excuse to get something bigger/better/faster than what I had before, so I’m currently considering something like a BenQ GW2765HT.

The manual for my Intel motherboard has this to say about DisplayPort on the built-in graphics controller:

QUOTE:
DisplayPort’s maximum supported display resolution is 2560 x 1600 at a
60 Hz refresh rate with a 16:10 aspect ratio (WQXGA). END OF QUOTE

It also states that the maximum supported resolution on the built-in DVI-I port is 1920×1200, which is the resolution of the monitor that I
have right now; the one that appears to be dying. Therefore, this new monitor wouldn’t work at full resolution with that output.

Having never used DisplayPort before, I’m wondering if this means that if I purchase the BenQ monitor above, or something similar, I can then reasonably expect to plug it in and have it just-work with my CentOS 7
setup.


MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Real D 3D Digital Cinema ~ www.melvilletheatre.com

9 thoughts on - Intel Displayport On CentOS 7

  • As long as you have the DisplayPort connection on your computer and you have the proper cable to connect it to the monitor then it’s no trouble. I
    had been using dual DP monitors on my last work machine. Also, note that sometimes the PC end is normal DisplayPort but sometimes it has a mini DisplayPort connection. Just get the right cable and it should be as simple as HDMI. CentOS mailing list CentOS@CentOS.org http://lists.CentOS.org/mailman/listinfo/CentOS

  • Well, that’s about the best news I could have hoped to read in this regard.

    Thanks for providing me with the benefit of your experience!

  • I like the full-size DisplayPort connector the best of any video connector I’ve dealt with, with my second favorite being the BNC (a single BNC running SMPTE 292M HD-SDI is nice nice nice, and expensive expensive expensive). DP is also one of the first with a simple latch arrangement that actually works well and is beefy enough to not worry too much about bending or breaking the connector by accident. Far better than HDMI, which can partially pull out with no warning, and no screws like DVI or VGA to deal with. Having said that, I feel just about the opposite about the mini-displayport connector; I’d much rather have an HDMI . But the miniDP does save space….

    My CentOS 7 Dell Precision M6500 laptop (ATI Firepro 7820 graphics with the stock CentOS ATI driver, not the Catalyst/fglrx one) is driving three 1920×1200 displays (two dell 24 inch 16:10 and the laptop’s built-in 17.1 inch) very well indeed. When I take the laptop to the conference room, I can plug in the projector after I’ve already logged in through the laptop’s built-in (not on the dock) DisplayPort, and the desktop is automatically extended. I also like the new behavior that gives a choice as to whether the workspaces apply to the second and third monitors; this way, I can switch workspaces in the conference room while displaying a presentation and what is displayed on the projector doesn’t change, without me having to manually set ‘Always on visible workspace’ manually. I carry an inexpensive active DisplayPort to HDMI/DVI/VGA triple adapter with me, and it really does ‘just work’ when it’s plugged in.

    Now, part of that smooth and convenient operation is of course due to the ATI driver; I had previously had an nVidia Quadro FX3800M in this laptop, but those cards are problematic in the M6500 (google for ‘M6500
    black screen’ and see). The noveau driver didn’t allow use of the DisplayPort at all, and I had to use the proprietary nVidia driver from ELrepo and an underclocking tweak to get DisplayPort to work. The FirePro 7820M isn’t very expensive on eBay these days, and I purchased a NoS unit and resolved my issues. So your mileage may vary, depending upon which graphics card you have and which driver you use.

  • Thanks!

    I’m waiting to see if my current monitor actually dies. It’s an Asus 1920×1200 monitor that I like rather a lot, but it occasionally acts a bit flaky when coming back out of sleep mode. (The screen fills with a white brick-like pattern, but when I turn the monitor off and back on again it works perfectly once again. It has gone weeks between episodes of this, and it’s done it two or three times a day — very inconsistent.)

    If this monitor actually does die, I’m thinking that I’ll replace it with a 2560×1440 monitor, but the built-in Intel video controller on my motherboard apparently supports that resolution only on the Displayport connector; the DVI port maxes out at 1920×1200.

    I guess I can purchase the higher resolution monitor without fear if I need it, and I sincerely appreciate your recommendation for a video card too!

  • You’re quite welcome.

    That seems to be common; in the case of the FirePro 7820M in my M6500, triple monitor support is only available when using the two displayports on the dock; it doesn’t work correctly if using the two DVI-D ports or the VGA port, at least not with this particular card on CentOS 7 with the stock ATI drivers. I haven’t tried with the fglrx driver; it seems to be a bit of a problem child on C7 at the moment. For that matter, the nVidia proprietary driver is a bit of a problem child if you have any encrypted partitions like I do.

    As I don’t have anything with higher resolution than 1920×1200 with which to test, I can’t comment on that, sorry.

  • The manual for my motherboard states:

    “The DVI-I port supports both digital and analog DVI displays. The maximum supported resolution is 1900 x 1200 (WUXGA). The DVI port is compliant with the DVI 1.0 specification. The DVI analog output can be converted to VGA using a DVI-
    VGA converter.”

    and

    “DisplayPort’s maximum supported display resolution is 2560 x 1600 at a 60 Hz refresh rate with a 16:10 aspect ratio (WQXGA).”

    Therefor, it appears that if I want to drive a 2560×1440 (or 1600) monitor without having to purchase a separate video card I’ll need to go through the Displayport.


    MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Real D 3D Digital Cinema ~ http://www.melvilletheatre.com

  • those numbers seem wrong to me. nothing I’ve ever seen uses 17hz or
    33hz refresh, its all pretty much 60Hz in LCD flat panel land.

    single link DVI goes up to 1920×1200 in practice, and dual link up to
    2560×1600. so-called ‘4K’, really 3840×2160, requires DisplayPort, or HDMI 2.0 (1.4 supports 4K at 30Hz only).

    there’s actually something like 5 possible DVI combinations. DVI-D is digital only (no analog/VGA output). DVI-A is analog only (really just VGA with a different connector, I’ve never seen this in the real world). DVI-I is both analog and digital in parallel on the same connector. either of the digital formats can be single or dual link.

    DisplayPort really only exists because HDMI is license encumbered, and the PC people didn’t want to have to pay those royalties.

  • Not in a course of argument, but just to mention. The modes that I cited are from the DVI standard restrictions (basically driven by data troughput restriction) taken verbatrim from wikipedia:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

    I only took the mode with highest X*Y resolution hence having smallest refresh frequency. In the reference above all modes are listed including practical ones (with refresh rates 60 and 30 Hz).

    I screwed up about one thing though: I called DVI-D “dual link” whereas DVI-D stands for “digital only” both single or dual link, there doesn’t seem to be special designation for dual link…

    As far as what particular card can/will support, it all depends on the chip it uses (and may also for the same chip depend on board design).

    I hope, this clears it all. And my apologies if my original message caused any confusion.

    Valeri

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    Valeri Galtsev Sr System Administrator Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics University of Chicago Phone: 773-702-4247
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