UGREEN 1.5m Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Cable / Mini DisplayPort Thunderbolt 2 Compatible Converter / 4K UHD 3840x2160 60Hz Support / Gold-Plated Connectors Signal Reliability / Triple-Shielded Cable EMI Reduction / Mirror Extended Desktop Mode Flexible / Bi-Directional Signal Support Reversible / MD105-10477

This UGREEN cable runs a Mini DisplayPort male connector at one end to a full-size DisplayPort male at the other, over a 1.5m black jacket. It is the direct link between a Mini DP or Thunderbolt 2 output on a laptop and a monitor with a standard DisplayPort input, with no adapter stacked in the middle. The cable is built to DisplayPort version 1.2.

The maximum supported mode is 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz, which is what a 4K monitor needs to feel like a desktop rather than a slideshow. Many cheaper Mini DP leads cap 4K at 30Hz, where cursor movement smears visibly. At 60Hz, text stays crisp and window dragging tracks your hand, so the cable suits editing and everyday productivity as much as video.

Beyond 4K, the cable also carries 2560 x 1440 at 144Hz and 2560 x 1600 at 120Hz, along with 2560 x 1600 at 60Hz. Those are the resolutions gamers actually run when they want frame rate rather than pixel count. DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth is what makes a 144Hz 1440p link possible over a single cable.

The Mini DisplayPort end is compatible with both Mini DP and Thunderbolt 2 ports, which is the interface fitted to a long generation of MacBooks, iMacs, Mac minis and many Windows ultrabooks and workstations. If your machine has that small rectangular port with the DisplayPort logo, this cable connects it to a DisplayPort monitor.

Signal transmission is bi-directional, so the cable is not fussy about which way round you think of the link when connecting hardware. In practice that removes one of the more common causes of a blank screen during setup, where a directional adapter has been fitted the wrong way. Plug both ends in and the display negotiates.

The cable supports mirror mode, which duplicates your laptop screen onto the external display for presenting, and extend mode, which treats the monitor as additional desktop space. Extend is what you want at a desk, with reference material on one screen and work on the other. Mirror is what you want in a boardroom. Both are handled at the operating system level.

Both connector shells are gold plated, which improves contact conductivity and resists the corrosion that builds up on bare metal contacts over time. On a cable that gets plugged and unplugged between a docking setup and a meeting room, that surface finish is what keeps the connection consistent rather than intermittent after a year of use.

Inside the jacket, the conductors are 32AWG tin-plated copper, wrapped in multi-layer shielding that combines a braided mesh with aluminium foil. That construction is aimed at electromagnetic interference, which is what produces sparkle, flicker and dropout on a video link routed past power bricks and other cabling behind a desk.

The package contains one UGREEN Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable in black, 1.5m long, together with a user manual. That length is chosen to reach from a laptop on a desk to a monitor stand or a wall-mounted panel without a loop of slack pooling behind the desk.