Solved Identical monitors giving different resolutions

Hi all, until recently, I had a dell 6000 universal dock with 2 x external 27" screens and all was fine. Sadly, the dock power cord got damaged and so I had to replace it with a new dock. My work kindly provided me with a HP dock ("USB-C Dock G5") which works fine for my work laptop, but for some really odd reason, not my personal ones (I have 2 - the specs/info for one of them is below, they're pretty much identical except one is a Latitude 7400).

Latitude 7490
Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎06/‎10/‎2022
OS build 22621.1848
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22642.1000.0
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz 2.11 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Physical Monitor 1 - Dell U2719D - Windows says max res is 2048x1080 - Found as "Screen 2" - screen 1 being my laptop's display.
Physical Monitor 2 - Dell U2719D - Windows says max res is 2560x1440 - Found as "Screen 3"

Display Properties > Advanced > Display adaptor properties for both M1 and M2 report as "Intel UHD 620"

I've done the usual ... checked physical connections are good, shut down and restarted the computers, updated drivers (Dell Command Update and Intel website), update Windows (re-re-re-re-reboot) and swapped cables in the dock. When I did this, I noticed that Physical monitor 1, no matter if it's found as Screen 2 or 3, always has the lower resolution detected (does that make sense?).

My work laptop is Dell Latitude 7430 running Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2, i7 and just reads "Intel XE Graphics" on the adapter properties and this "just works", both the external screens are recognised with the correct max res etc.

My laptops have HDMI out and I will try to find a HDMI cable to plug in directly but it will mean digging through the loft and even then, there's no guarantee I'll actually have one.

I don't know if there is anything else relevent I can add to this so I will leave it there; if there any any questions or "can you try this" then I will be happy to give them a go. Many thanks to those who read this far and here's hoping to find a resolution!

Cheers :)

badgerfruit said:

I've done the usual ... checked physical connections are good, shut down and restarted the computers, updated drivers (Dell Command Update and Intel website), update Windows (re-re-re-re-reboot) and swapped cables in the dock. When I did this, I noticed that Physical monitor 1, no matter if it's found as Screen 2 or 3, always has the lower resolution detected (does that make sense?).

My work laptop is Dell Latitude 7430 running Windows 10 Enterprise 21H2, i7 and just reads "Intel XE Graphics" on the adapter properties and this "just works", both the external screens are recognised with the correct max res etc.

My laptops have HDMI out and I will try to find a HDMI cable to plug in directly but it will mean digging through the loft and even then, there's no guarantee I'll actually have one.

Click to expand...

Hi @badgerfruit , welcome to the Forum.

Yes, HDMI plugged directly into each monitors and laptop sound the best idea to try.
Also, what happens if only one monitor is plugged in? Does that make a difference?
Failing those, you could just swap cables over so that monitor 2 has cable 3 and monitor 3 has cable 2.

iko22 said:

Hi @badgerfruit , welcome to the Forum.

Yes, HDMI plugged directly into each monitors and laptop sound the best idea to try.
Also, what happens if only one monitor is plugged in? Does that make a difference?
Failing those, you could just swap cables over so that monitor 2 has cable 3 and monitor 3 has cable 2.

Click to expand...

I'm on my phone away from home so i can't multi quote to answer you points independently, sorry.

Anyway, I couldn't find a HDMI cable, I'll look to buy on from amazon or whatever but given my work laptop, when connected ro the Dock, doesn't have this problem, I don't really know if it's even worth bothering with since I know the monitor is capable of being picked up at the higher resolution normally.

I already tried swapping the cables and, oddly, the same screen had the same problem.

badgerfruit said:

I'm on my phone away from home so i can't multi quote to answer you points independently...

Click to expand...

Long press and select... Just sayin...

Thanks for the top tip!
When it comes to IT literacy, I've been there and gotten the t-shirt but now I like nothing more than not caring about computers and just being "one of those users"

Fun fact, found a HDMI cable and jammed it into Monitor 2 via the dock and it is the same, however, if I run the HDMI directly to the laptop and disconnect the dock, then it pops into the max resolution no problem (if I run the HDMI directly to the laptop but leave the dock plugged in, the screen is low res!!! WTF!!!!).

I think this might turn out to be a problem fixed with literal duck-tape on the damaged power cable of the old dock!
*well, maybe electrical tape - I don't think the damage is so bad it'll be dangerous, I just took advantage of a free, new dock from work. Serves me right eh?

It's such a bizarre problem though, would be interested to know or see if anyone has any ideas how to actually fix and not workaround
:)

Just spent the past X minutes crawling around de-cable managing the stuff, replaced the dock and ..... THE SAME!!!
OMG so as I was about to burn the whole house down, I found another DP cable along with the dock, swapped that and BINGO the screens all have their desired res. Can't say (and not willing to plug the other dock back in now) what it was but it is fixed and I have lovely high res now on all the external monitors on my Win 11 laptops again, hooray!

Mods, can close this now if they want, many thanks for the suggestions and the top-tip of long press - will remember that if I ever need it again!