HDMI resolution limited to 1920 x 1080?

Monitor is a Dell 3008wfp. Very nice. Max resolution 2560 x 1600.

Video card is an ATI Radeon HD 4350. I like it because it was cheap and is fanless. (Noise bugs me.)

I would like to switch from DVI to HDMI, but when I use HDMI, the resolution drops to 1920 x 1080.

Do I need to change out my video card to get the full resolution? How can I pick one that will do the max resolution?

EDIT Reasons to switch to HDMI:

• Smaller connector
• no screws on the connector
• audio (1 less cable back there)
• can use the DVI port to run a second monitor

Solution 1:

In order to use HDMI at the full resolution, you would have to make sure that both the video card and the monitor are HDMI 1.4 compliant. The Radeon HD 4350 is "HDMI compliant via dongle"; as such, it only supports up to HDMI spec 1.2. The best solution to take advantage of the entire resolution would be to use a dual-link DVI-D cable, which can handle WQXGA (2560x1600), instead of HDMI.

Why would you want to switch from DVI to HDMI anyways?

Solution 2:

The image quality via DVI and HDMI is exactly the same. The only advantage you get from HDMI is a smaller connector and the cable can also carry audio along with the video signal. If you already have the DVI cable and it works, just keep using that.

FYI: You can buy a HDMI --> DVI adapter for very cheap (should be less than $5). Then you can use the HDMI port to run a second smaller monitor.

Solution 3:

I would like to switch from DVI to HDMI

Why?

Do I need to change out my video card to get the full resolution?

Yes, the Specifications page says maximum resolution is 1920 x 1080

How can I pick one that will do the max resolution?

Check the specifications page first? :) It looks like all the AMD cards only support 1920x1080 via HDMI.