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XPS 15 9560 Triple Monitor using HDMI output + thunderbolt 3
Since TB16 is so way out of my budget, I decided to do the following setup to get a triple monitor setup on my XPS 15 9560.
a) HDMI output to one 1080p monitor
b) Thunderbolt3 to 2xDisplayport Adapter, then connect one 1080p monitor and 1024p monitor
Thunderbolt3 to displayport adapter only worked with Active HDMI to Displayport converter. But, if I connect all monitors at the same time, only two monitors will show up. So, either outputs through HDMI and one of the thunderbolt3 port, or two of the thunderbolt3 ports.
Is there a way to get around settings to enable 3 external displays at the same time without purchasing TB16?
jphughan
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December 24th, 2017 16:00
Did you make sure to disable the built-in display when you tried this? The system only supports 3 active displays total. To do that, go to Display Settings, select the internal panel, and change its configuration to “Disconnect this display”. If you already did that, then you may be stuck. I would have thought your intended configuration would have worked.
rapgaroo
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December 24th, 2017 18:00
The internal panel is disabled/disconnected in the beginning.
based on the specs and everything, i assumed this should work... i'm using www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_1_sspa and the system recognizes well as a thunderbolt device
jphughan
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December 25th, 2017 08:00
Are all 3 external displays detected in Display Settings? If you set the 2 extra displays to Extend Mode and then click Apply, does Windows just randomly change one of them to disconnected? Or do they all show as active in Display Settings even though one stays blank?
rapgaroo
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December 25th, 2017 10:00
only 2 external displays are detected in the display setting. windows always chooses one output from HDMI, and randomly chooses one from the thunderbolt3. windows never detected 3 external displays in the setting..it's always 2 external displays and 1 internal display which is the panel even though I don't display anything to the panel.
jphughan
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December 25th, 2017 13:00
That surprises me, but maybe that’s expected since I’ve never tested this setup. I seem to remember some people being able to use 2 displays on a USB-C/TB3 dock and also a third on the built-in HDMI output, but I may be wrong. One alternative you can consider would be attaching a DisplayPort MST hub to one of the DP outputs of your adapter, so you could have all 3 displays driven via Thunderbolt. There are also native USB to 3-port DisplayPort MST hubs, but they seem to only tap into USB-C, not TB3, so you’d only have half the total bandwidth available in that setup.