2 Posts
0
2053
P2720D, two, connect Latitude 3400
Hi,
I have a Dell Latitude 3400 laptop which appears to have two output ports I can use to connect to external monitors: 1 hdmi and 1 VGA. I have connected one of the monitors fine using hdmi to hdmi cable and it works. The challenge is how to connect the second monitor.
The spare output port on the laptop is VGA, but there isn't a VGA input on the monitor, so I bought a VGA to DisplayPort cable, but this doesn't work - the monitor says nothing is connected, and from the reading I've done subsequently, it seems the VGA is analog and Displayport is digital so this shouldn't work. What's the simplest (cheapest) way that i can achieve this?
thanks
DELL-Cares
Moderator
Moderator
•
25.1K Posts
0
September 21st, 2020 09:00
Thank you! We have received the required details.
The Latitude 3400 has three video out ports =
Left side USB Type-C (PD/DP/3.1 Gen 1) out port
Left side HDMI 1.4 out port
Right side VGA out port
Latitude 3400 USB Type-C (PD/DP/3.1 Gen 1) out port --> USB Type-C to DisplayPort cable --> #1 P2720D DisplayPort in port
Latitude 3400 HDMI out port --> HDMI to HDMI cable --> #2 P2720D HDMI in port
jphughan
4 Operator
4 Operator
•
14K Posts
0
September 21st, 2020 14:00
@CarolGilroy DisplayPort to VGA cables and adapters allow a DisplayPort source to connect to a VGA input, not the other way around. And on top of that, VGA doesn't support resolutions above 1920x1200, whereas you have a 2560x1440 display, AND the fact that it's analog means that even the signals it does support would result in a noticeably worse image on the display compared to that same signal being sent over any other signal type.
But fortunately, you've got a much easier solution available to you here, because your system has a USB-C port that supports video output. So get a USB-C to DisplayPort cable for one display and use HDMI for the other. You'll be able to run both displays at full resolution and using a digital signal.
It's too bad you didn't at least one U2719DC display though, instead of two P2720D displays. A U2719DC would have allowed you to run a daisy chain, meaning you would have been able to run BOTH of your displays, in Extend mode, from that single USB-C output, because the U2719DC has a DisplayPort output to allow connecting a second display directly to it, so that only one cable goes back to your PC. And the U2719DC also has an actual USB-C input, which means that connecting it to your PC using a USB-C cable would have allowed you to send video to the display, draw power FROM the display to charge your system, and run USB data to work with the USB ports built into the display -- all over that single USB-C cable.
CarolGilroy
2 Posts
1
September 22nd, 2020 02:00
Hi jphughan ,
Thanks very much - this has solved it (I already had a usbc to displayport cable) I've connected the laptop usbc to 2nd monitor's Displayport and it has started working immediately.
Cheers,
Carol