[9024844] Custom resolution not working

[RCarl6]

I emailed Intel Customer Support Service and they refer me to this forum because the agent say it will have the correct exposure to intel engineering department. (request # 8001214860)

The problem is Intel Graphics driver for HD 4600 (and presumably others too) have a broken custom resolution for Built in LCD. No matter what setting you put into it, it will always custom resolution exceeds the maximum bandwidth capacity.

I tested it on many different laptop with eDP (embedded displayport) like Alienware 17, Asus G751JM, Asus Q551LN, Lenovo Y50-70, Razer Blade 14, MSI GT60 Dominator Pro, and Gigabyte P34 and they all say custom resolution exceeds the maximum bandwidth capacity.

To establish the fact that bandwidth is not the problem, I tried creating a custom resolution at native res (1920x1080) at 59Hz (default is 60Hz) and it says custom resolution exceeds the maximum bandwidth capacity. To test it further I downscale the resolution to 1600x900 @ 59Hz and it still gives the error so I conclude the problem is with the driver itself.

I tried the oldest and newest driver from the OEM and the one on Intel website and they are all broken.

The problem is NOT ISOLATED on a laptop model or a manufacturer but the Intel Graphics driver itself.

In fact if you verify the problem by testing it on ANY laptop that has an Intel graphics and try to create a custom resolution that is 1Hz less than native (like 59Hz) and it will give you the same error.

So why does it matter? Almost every single gaming laptop that is being released are NVIDIA Optimus Enabled (Hybrid Graphics where Intel Graphics is handling the display) and it prevents people from changing the refresh rate of the display. As an example the LCD panel found on Asus G751JM-BHI7T25 uses LG LP156WF4 SPL1 which is the exact same panel found on Asus G751JY that comes at 75Hz by default, but we cannot change the refresh rate due to broken Intel Custom Resolution even though the LCD panel itself is more than capable to handle it.

Refresh rate is a huge feature as evident on monitors getting released (like BenQ XL2430T, Asus ROG Swift, Acer Predator, etc...) and if you ask any gamer that has tried a high refresh rate monitor they will tell you how much big of a difference it is and because of this issue, any gaming laptop that has Hybrid graphics (Intel Graphics enabled) is a HUGE deal breaker.

[Edit by Bryce@Intel]: Changed title to reflect investigation bug# and title.

Old title: Intel driver is completely broken (custom resolution)

[AScis1]

Personally speaking, I have a super powerful gaming laptop: custom resolution will allow me to make games engines render more details on my 1080p screen. That's more than enough as reason to have custom resolution IMHO. My panel's electronics can also go up to 75hz without having problems, but I guess I wouldn't do it anyway. Just make a disclaimer before activating the override like Nvidia does, but please give us back freedom of choice. Thanks for answering us

[FLast27]

exactly agreed 100%. Come on Intel, let us do what we want it's our business if we damage something.

[HBela]

It's all about freedom of choice. For those who experienced higher refresh rates, being stuck to 40/60Hz in a powerful gaming notebook, as 'oile' said above, is just terrifying.

And there's the fact that my internal panel, forced to 1080p/60Hz, is the same one used in lower resolutions (1366x768) for 120Hz and also 3D in other specific notebooks, and this is something I'd really like to be able to achieve. Plus, my Matte IPS internal has a really beautiful image and wonderful color precision, something I can't find even in modern external monitors, so I need to choose between my internal's portability+great image without refresh rates natively achieved in other notebooks OR an common external monitor connected to the notebook just to be able to achieve 75Hz in 1080p or even lower resolutions, such as 720p (resolutions my internal is still locked to 40/60Hz)

[idata]

I once bought an Oculus Rift Devkit 2 to go with my fancy gaming laptop.

But, after wasting hours failing to get 75hz output on HDMI to work (even though Oculus supports it, my videocard supports it, etc) I sold it.

I think you need to:

• Adopt a more trusting stance of users that are manually entering CVT mode parameters and warn them. Not all users need protecting like this.
• Give your UI some thought. You said it was intended that users can't change resolution on built in screens. TELL US that instead of making us waste thousands of collective hours wondering why it isn't working when we see the 1 error. Utterly trivial. Crap error messages waste human time that could be spent improving our lives and society. I expect more of Intel
• For internal displays, if you support custom resolutions, provide a hotkey to reset custom modes in case someone does do something stupid and can't see anything.
• EFP EFP EFP EFP EFP

Also, never heard of a panel being damaged from being pushed too far.

[MMT]

Personally for me it involves an external flat panel through DP 1.1a port.

According to the specifications I should be able to run 3440x1440 * 60hz with 8 bit per color channel just fine bandwidth wise.

[jsmit671]

Bryce@Intel wrote:

Secondly, the developers responded, it is expected behavior that custom resolutions should not work for internal panels such as laptop or All-in-One screens since doing so could push the panel beyond it's capabilities and in some cases even damage the screen. Does anyone have a scenario that requires justification for internal panels?

Did you read the original post? It's all about internal panels. The Intel driver prevents users from utilizing their display at its full capablility.

I have a notebook with switchable graphics. The Nvidia GPU will happily run 1920x1080@75, but it will also run 1920x1080@60 or 1920x1080@24 if requested. You can even go completely wild and run 1337x666@88, no problem.

Yet, on the same internal panel the Intel GPU maxes out at 1920x1080@60. And it's not just that; it seems that adding ANY resolution with a refresh rate other than 60Hz (be it higher or lower) fails. It really feels as if someone wrote code like

if( refreshrate != 60 ) error( BANDWIDTH );

[ZSaun]

We want custom resolutions on all types of panels, INCLUDING internal. Both Nvidia and AMD support this so why would Intel not do the same? The chances of harming any modern panels from doing this is near 0 and your "engineers" should know this. There are many reasons for including support for internal panels, most of them support much higher refresh rates than the default 60 which we are stuck with being the main reason. Most panels are actually rated for 75hz not 60. There is no reason to not add this functionality, display a warning if you must, just give your users access to their hardware.

Please, for the love of god stop giving excuses that have no merit, this issue has existed for far to long and it's a bit ridiculous that Intel has done nothing for everyone effected. Is this really how Intel treats customers?

[ABald4]

any progress on this issue? I get major headaches just looking at any panel running below 70Hz.

[HBela]

If there is a way to do this, I think it would be nice to bring around this thread ( ) over here. Issue seems to be basically the same but focused on internal displays.

[idata]

Hey guys, I'm sure the Intel guys are working super h4rd on this problem, but in the meantime I've discovered a fix for the User Experience issues of the driver.

To enable this, just open up notepad, paste the following text, save as "IntelFix.reg" to your desktop, and then double click it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intel\Display\igfxcui\igfxcfg\resources]

"CustomModeConfirmationMessage"="Intel hasn't bothered to fix this functionality for over 5 years. Want to try anyway? "

"CustomModeWarningBW"="Okay, we're coming clean, this feature never worked. We we're just hoping nobody would notice."

Boom! No more annoying 'not enough bandwidth' error messages, and instead a more accurate one. Wonderful.

In the meantime, on a more serious note, I'm trying to figure out how the software decides that there isn't enough bandwidth in the hopes I can provide a workaround, given it might be another year before Intel fix this.

Phil

[MMT]

TOOK ME F'n 1 hour to finally sign up properly without errors and other bugs to siGn up for this crappy forum just to complain about this issue.

Why the hell does this take so long to fix? Im running a Intel HD4000 just to discover I cannot set a specific resolution on 60hz but instead im stuck on 50hz.

Yes Intel, I did the math. The resolution im aiming for should easily be within Displayport 1.1a bandwidth specification yet Im being plaguer with the annoying 'Exceed bandwidth limitation error'

What a load of BULLsh*t.

When is there going to be an UNOFFICIAL or workaround to this?

Perhaps my next Intel CPU purchase starts with the letter A and ends with D.

This is just pathetic.

[idata]

Hi mate,

I feel your pain on all points.

I've spent hours recently (software dev) investigating this issue myself, and I cannot find a workaround (I've tried custom registry overrides, custom-made drivers, etc).

This works perfectly on linux, but for Windows, my best advice right now is to try some really really old drivers. It's been an issue for years and they've only acknowledge this week.

Basically, the Intel windows driver doesn't even try to set the mode. If you want to confirm your settings in linux, download a 12.04 Ubuntu ISO and find my other thread here with details on what commands.

Basically they are: cvt, xrandr --new-mode, xrandr --add-mode, and xrandr --output.

[AMoha27]

Has anyone tried any older versions of the drivers to see which work? Then again, it is hard to find older drivers as they disappear from Intel's servers..

The only solution to this problem is to have Intel fix their drivers. The hardware is not an issue.

We DEMAND a solution to this, as it is merely a software issue and has been ignored for years. Keep pressing the issue guys.

[MMT]

Tried the version from 2013 that came with my mainboard, nope...

INTEL FIX THIS BUG THAT HAS BEEN THERE FOR 5 YEARS!

We demand custom resolution/refresh rate to WORK.

[KKova3]

Just regged here for this: I've been looking for a solution for half a year now on the internet. And I just found this topic.

This is outrageous! Paired with this:

@Replete: thanks for the tip about Ubuntu, I'll try it out during the weekend if I'll have spare time. 

[KKova3]

I have tried out yesterday your Ubuntu steps to create custom resolutions and custom refresh rates (I have Ubuntu 14.04 installed alongside Windows 8.1). Both are working fine according to your instruction.

So, this indeed means that the Windows drivers are buggy. More than that: I could use decimal values (e.g. 24.05) at creating custom refresh rates, while in Windows the application although let us specify a decimal value but it ignores it at the end. So that clearly a bug, again.

[idata]

Excellent! I'm glad the instructions made sense.

I've even considered booting into Linux and virtualising my Windows installation just to get this monitor working. But it means I pay a 15% CPU tax.

Setting refresh rates like 24hz and 23.976hz are very useful for watching films without 3:2 pulldown.

I guess we'll see where this thread is in another 5 years?

[ccLic1]

Did it really work? Meaning you managed to change the resolution and refresh rate of the internal/integrated display of your laptop? If yes, would you please specify more details such as drivers installed? On my part, as I mentioned somewhere else, the resolution+refresh would apparently apply but there was no actual difference, the panel was still at its default.

[idata]

Have this issue, have had since HD 4600 that I can remember. Still have it with Cherry Trail. I can get a really low resolution like 800x450 @ 60Hz to work but anything higher it says bandwidth exceeded. It seems like this should be an easily squashable bug, and probably just a calculation error in the driver. Intel, please fix this!

[MMT]

In other words, we demand an update on the situation!!!!!!!!

[mmell1]

got the same problem HD4600 as well laptop is acer aspire v nitro

there are literally no high refresh rate monitor laptops, seriously try find one, only laptops with high resolutions which i couldn't care less about i know i should of gotten a desktop but i needed a laptop regardless so figured i would just get a good one