My laptop can handle a 4k monitor can it handle an ultrawide monitor?

Question

for work I have an HP EliteBook 850 G4 Notebook. It works with a 27in 4k resolution screen, however I am looking to get something bigger. I have been looking into 49in curved ultra-wide monitors from various vendors. However, how can I be sure that my laptop will be compatible with a 49in curved ultra-wide monitor? Is there any good way to tell before I bite the bullet and spend all the money? Thanks to all of those who reply in advance!

Solution 1

I'm sure that your new 49 inch monitor will work with your laptop. As stated in question your laptop can handle 4k resolution. This means that your laptop can handle a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. Even a 27 inch 4k monitor has the same pixel count and also a 49 inch ultrawide curved monitor has the same pixel count. The difference is just the size of the pixels. For a change if you buy a 49 inch monitor with a resolution higher than 4k,(e.g. 5k monitor) it still won't make a difference. The monitor will be able to work on 4k as 4k is less than 5k. If your Laptop supports even higher resolutions than 4k, it will still work until the 5k limit is reached. I would suggest you not to go for anything more than what your laptop supports. For example if your laptop supports only up to 4k go for a 4k monitor and nothing more than that as anything above that will be costlier and also the screen content may look washed out. In other words I'd recommend buying a monitor whose native resolution and the max supported resolution by your laptop are same. It's obvious that 27 inch monitor will use less power than the 49 inch monitor but that doesn't matter nowadays. Also most of the monitors are plug and play which means they do not need drivers. Just put the power on, plug the device you want to play from and enjoy. However if you find a driver available make sure to install it to get better compatibility.

So the conclusion is that the 49 inch monitor will work without any problems with your laptop.

Tip: Don't forget to connect your monitor to the power socket. 😉

Hope this helps.

Solution 2

According to HP, your laptop has a DP 1.2 output with a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@60Hz (source). While resolutions vary for 49" ultrawide monitors, unless you're going over the 5120x1440@60Hz resolution, you should be fine.

If you want to make sure however, i would contact the seller or manufacturer to make sure.

Comments

[Tony Stewart EE75]

I use VGA on a 56” TV from my PC , if it supports HDMI, size doesn’t matter. Just speed from resolution. But for HDMI cable quality matters at max bit rate.

[Albin]

this is not correct, you are assuming that the ultrawide monitor in question does not have a higher native resolution then the laptop supports. Silbee has the better answer.

[Crispy Con]

Hi! @Albin! I have made a few changes. Hope it's better.

[Albin]

kind of but not really, since the laptop won't be able to support the monitor's native resolution, if I would be the OP that is not what I would have in mind. Beside that - if I may suggest - I would shorten the answer since it's hard to read/understand (get rid of the unnecessary info and structure the text.)