There are many different kinds of video cables that people use for their monitors and TVs nowadays, and the most popular, by quite a significant margin, is the HDMI cable.
The possibility to use ultra-high resolutions for monitors and TVs has also increased in recent times. However, it’s not completely obvious what cables you can use with specific resolutions. For example, do HDMI cables support 2560x1440p?
That depends on what type of HDMI cable you have. Old, standard HDMI cables support up to 720p or 1080i. However, high-speed HDMI cables should be able to support 2560x1440p if your graphics card and monitor can handle that resolution. If your graphics card can not, it doesn’t matter what type of cable you have. If you have a laptop, the HDMI specs should be on the laptop manufacturer’s website.
This matter isn’t completely cut-and-dry, as you can see, so let’s go through it all in detail. Read more to find out what HDMI cables support 2560x1440p, and how to tell what type of cable you have.
Do HDMI Cables Support 2560x1440p?
2560x1440p is a sort of 1440p resolution, where the vertical resolution size is 1440 pixels, and the horizontal has 2560 pixels. Usually, this is used with a 16:9 aspect ratio but there are other types of 1440p resolutions as well.
As I said earlier, really old HDMI cables (“standard” HDMI) won’t support 2560x1440p. They support up to 1080i or 720p. However, if you have bought any HDMI-powered technology within the last couple of years, you probably have newer cables.
No semi-modern HDMI-powered technology comes with a standard HDMI cable anymore, so you’re most likely fine. You probably have a high-speed HDMI cable or something even newer.
There is another thing to keep in mind, which is the HDMI standards. There are different standards when it comes to HDMI ports. Depending on what type of port you have, your hardware can support different resolutions and refresh rates.
Of course, your monitor also needs to support 2560×1440. All 4K monitors will be able to use 2560×1440, but if you’re using a standard 1080p monitor, you’re out of luck if you don’t downscale it, but I wouldn’t recommend that.
Furthermore, you need to make sure that your GPU can handle the resolution. With some GPUs, you can set the resolution to for example 1440p, but if you’re looking to play games on your PC with that resolution, it won’t run well at all.
Movies are quite different as they aren’t rendered in real-time, but for games, you will need a GPU that can keep pace with the graphics rendering at higher resolutions. The results will vary from game to game. Some games will let you use 4K and use it well, other games will run terribly at 4K or won’t allow the resolution at all.
2560×1440 @ 240 Hz requires approximately 32gbits/s in transmission speed. If your monitor and/or GPU don’t have capabilities for such a high transmission speed, you have to settle for a lower refresh rate.
What HDMI Cables Support 2560×1440?
As I mentioned earlier, most HDMI cables support 2560×1440 nowadays. I’ll list the different types of HDMI cables below and what resolutions and refresh rates they support.
| Cable | Resolution | Bandwidth |
| Standard | 720p and 1080i | 4.95Gb/s |
| Standard w/ Ethernet | 1080i and 720p | 4.95Gb/s |
| High-Speed HDMI | 1080p and 4K @ 30Hz (and lower resolutions) | 10.2Gb/s |
| High-Speed HDMI w/Ethernet | 1080p and 4K @ 30Hz (and lower resolutions) | 10.2Gb/s |
| Category 3 (4K) | 4K @ 60Hz (and lower resolutions/refresh rates) | 18 Gb/s |
| Category 3 (8K) | 8K @ 60 Hz and 4K @ 120 Hz (and lower resolutions/refresh rates) | 48Gb/s |
As you can see, everything from high-speed HDMI and beyond support 2560x1440p. Most people have high-speed HDMI cables or newer cables, as I said earlier, and you should have one lying around if you aren’t using one with your computer or TV.
HDMI standards are important as well because you can use a category 3 HDMI cable, but if your hardware doesn’t have a modern HDMI standard, it won’t make a difference.
The same thing goes if you want to watch a 4K TV: every component connected to the HDMI cable needs to support an HDMI standard that supports 4K.
Of course, high-resolution screens have modern HDMI standards. I’ll list the different standards below so you can see what I’m talking about.
| Standard | Resolution and Refresh Rate | Maximum Transmission Rate |
| HDMI 1.0 | 1080p @ 60 Hz | 4.95Gb/s |
| HDMI 1.1 and 1.2 | 1440p @ 30 Hz | 4.95Gb/s |
| HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 | 4K @ 60 Hz | 10.2Gb/s |
| HDMI 2.0 | 5K @ 30 Hz | 18.0Gb/s |
| HDMI 2.1 | 8K @ 30 Hz | 48.0Gb/s |
For example, you will need hardware that supports HDMI 1.1/1.2 to use 1440p at 30Hz. 30Hz is a pretty low refresh rate these days, though, so you’ll probably want to have HDMI 1.4 or something along those lines.
How To Tell What Kind of HDMI Cable You Have
So, we can conclude that you want to check what sort of HDMI cable you have since HDMI cables have different specifications. Luckily, this should be quite easy to do. If you have the packaging from the cable left somewhere, check there for the information about the cable type.
If you tossed the packaging out, which I’ve done, check the HDMI cable. Some HDMI cables have the type labeled on the cable, and other cables use color schemes to differentiate between types.
The final way of checking that I’m aware of, is connecting the cable to a monitor and checking what resolutions and refresh rates are available. For example, if 4K @ 60Hz is the highest specification available, then you’re using a category 3 cable with the HDMI 1.3 or 1.4 standard.
What Other Cables Support 2560×1440?
HDMI isn’t the only option when it comes to 1440p resolutions, although the exact versions of the other cables depend on what refresh rate you want your monitor or TV to run at.
The two other cables that I recommend using with 2560×1440 are either DisplayPort or Dual Link DVI. Both of them are good, but DisplayPort (DP) is the more popular option nowadays, simply because it’s better for the most part.
In fact, new graphics cards have more display ports than HDMI ports these days. Check the different ports on your graphics card and see what works best for you.
One thing to note is that VGA doesn’t support any resolution above 1920 x 1080 @ 75Hz. VGA is simply outdated these days, so use either HDMI, DisplayPort, or Dual Link DVI.
Single Link DVI has worse bandwidth than Dual Link DVI, and it doesn’t run resolutions higher than 1920 x 1080 either.
What Should You Look For When Buying HDMI Cables?
Any HDMI cable has the capability of using every HDMI standard. So, why does it matter what type of cable you have? Well, HDMI cables aren’t defined by the standard, but by the bandwidth. Higher resolutions demand higher bandwidth to work properly.
That’s primarily what you should be looking for when buying a new HDMI cable: bandwidth. For example, if you want your monitor to use a high resolution, such as 4K, you will need a bandwidth of at least 25Mbps/s.
Do some research on the required bandwidth for the resolution (and refresh rate) you want to use, then refer to the table above for the different cable specifications.