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Am going to buy a projector, and I'll just be using my laptop as the image source for it. My laptop is new but only has a 14 inch screen and its maximum resolution is 1366 X 768.

I want to use hdmi to plug the laptop into the projector so that I use the projector instead of laptop display for watching movies etc. But will my laptop be able to output an image that is 1080p? Or would the image be truncated somehow.

It's an acer windows 7 laptop with a HD6550M graphics card... the projector:

HDTV Compatibility: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p Video Compatibility: NTSC, PAL, SECAM Computer in (D-sub 15pin) x1 Composite Video in (RCA) x1 S-Video in (Mini DIN 4pin) x1 Component Video in (RCA) x1 Audio In (Mini Jack) x1 Audio L/R In (RCA) x2 Audio Out (Mini Jack) x1 Speaker 10W x1 HDMI V1.3 x2 USB (Type Mini B) x1 (USB Download & Page up/down) RS232 (DB-9pin) x1

I know windows 7 has alot of projector options, like extend desktop, duplicate, computer only and projector only. Instead of a 1366 X 768 pixel desktop on the wall, I should see a 1920 x 1080 pixel desktop, i.e full HD. I just want the full 2 million or so pixels, not some blurry or truncated result. Is this possible?

Hope i made sense. Thanks for any input.

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  • the limitations of the LCD screen on the laptop (and its components) is not usually restricting the external outputs. Depending on the projector they can cope with many signals, and interpolate well. the biggest limitation would usually be the screenbuffer size aka video memory of the laptop display device. Especially when screen buffering both items. HDMI can be a pain sometimes with overscan options and some projection can do unnessisary underscan on TV (like) inputs. The Graphics chip 6650 can do, but some lappys with that same chip do 720, . Need important Specs on the acer?
    – Psycogeek
    Dec 22, 2011 at 0:39
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    What projector is it? Few projectors actually have a full resolution of 1920x1080. Your computer will be able to output at that resolution, but you'll need to use extended mode, not duplicate mode.
    – nhinkle
    Dec 22, 2011 at 0:49
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    This projector: benq.us/product/projector/w1060
    – starcraftcats
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:03
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    The graphics card in the laptop is a bit annoying as it requires special driver from acer to run, so I cannot just get the driver from AMD website. Therefore I can't trust that the video card isn't handicapped from outputting higher resolutions than the lcd screen. Here's some specs on it notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6550M.41143.0.html not sure if it is adequate. It's a year old now.
    – starcraftcats
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:05

2 Answers 2

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The limitation to 1366 x 768 pixels is most likely due to the laptop's screen, since the HD 6650M GPU is capable of resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pixels (source).

The Acer Aspire 4720TG in particular is capable of resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels (source).

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  • mistake on my part, its a 6550M not a 6650M.
    – starcraftcats
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:02
  • Same resolution. I've updated the link.
    – Dennis
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:14
  • But given that it's an acer branded 6550M, running only on acer's driver... might acer not have crippled it somehow to the lcd of laptop resolution.
    – starcraftcats
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:16
  • Anything's possible. What is the exact denomination of your Notebook?
    – Dennis
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:18
  • Acer Aspire 4820TG bought in China.
    – starcraftcats
    Dec 22, 2011 at 1:29
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If you're planning on having the project display the same thing that is on your local laptop screen (mirroring) then you'll be limited to the resolution of the screen.

If you're going to connect the projector as an additional monitor (extended desktop) then the only limitations will be the capabilities of the graphics card in the laptop, which others have noted is capable of driving full resolution for the projector.

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