3 Monitors plus laptop display?

Thanks for the quick response jphughan!

My 7590 and WD19TB dock were given to me for work. I was able to connect a 3rd monitor plus use my laptop display in the following configurations:
- For the 3rd monitor, I used usb 3 to hdmi adapter and got 1080 res on the 3rd monitor. However about every 30 seconds, the screen flickered

- For the 3rd monitor, I used USB C to vga adapter and got 1280 x 768 res on 3rd monitor without any flickering. 

Maybe i'll try a better adapter to get it to work but thanks for the response either way!

@dellhan04  The USB-C to HDMI adapter sounds like a DisplayLink adapter or some equivalent technology.  As for the USB-C to VGA adapter, that could have been DisplayPort Alt Mode or some "indirect display" technology like DisplayLink.  There are versions of each.  But good luck with your setup!  Note however that if you plan to run dual 4K 60 Hz displays through the WD19TB, you likely won't be able to run anything else through native display outputs on the dock because you'll be near the maximum video bandwidth coming from the system just with those 4K 60 Hz displays.  Connecting a DisplayLink dongle to a dock USB port would be fine since that adapter would receive video as USB data, but another display is unlikely to work unless maybe it was pretty low resolution.  Also, the WD19TB allocates the video bandwidth it receives from the system differently based on the type of system connected to it.  The XPS 15 9500 is a Thunderbolt-capable DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 system, which means that half of the video bandwidth coming from the system is assigned to the WD19TB's "downstream TB3" port at the edge of the dock -- not to be confused with the USB-C port near the HDMI output.  The other half of the system's video bandwidth is shared across the other display outputs.  This can matter when running high-end display setups.  Basically, if you want to use a 4K display and anything else through the dock, the one of the displays will need to be connected to the downstream TB3 port.  The other display can be connected to any other output.  Good luck!

I appreciate the additional details! I'll see what I can find but either way I plan on buying a new monitor (if at the very least it's just to replace the old dell). I also may go with an ultra wide instead of 4k so if I can only use 2 plus the laptop, I'll at least have a larger workspace.

May i ask what monitors you have and waht resolution?

Good morning!

I have Dell U2720Q with resolution set to 3840 x 2160

I had an old LG E2360V-PN set to 1920 x 1080.  I ended up being able to get 3 monitors (these 2 plus one 24 inch dell set to 1920 x 1080 in addition to laptop display XPS 15 7590) working with a USB to HDMI adapter I had.

However... after trying it, I really didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I could see neck pain coming in my future having to turn my head across my desk so much. So here is what I decided to do:

I ordered an LG 29inch Ultra wide and paired that with my 27inch 4k dell monitor in addition to my laptop display. I like this better than having an additional monitor.

I do have a question for the board though which may have to post in a separate topic... My Dell XPS 15 7590 resolution only shows max of 1920 x 1080?? I should be able to set the resolution to 3840 x 2160 right?

@dellhan04  Yes you should be able to set 3840x2160, assuming you're not using that display to duplicate another 1920x1080 display and you've got the display connected in a way that offers enough bandwidth for 3840x2160.

Thanks for the response!

My laptop is connected to the WD19TB docking station via USB c and from the docking station, I have USB c to USB c for my 27inch 4k monitor.

I have HDMI coming from laptop to 29inch LG Ultra wide monitor and that resolution set to 2560 x 1080. The highest resolution showing for the laptop is 1920 x 1080.

@dellhan04  The WD19TB has two USB-C ports.  There's a regular USB-C port near the HDMI output, and then a downstream TB3 port at the very edge of the dock near where the system cable attaches.  The WD19TB can only allocate video bandwidth from the system in certain ways across its outputs, and those ways vary based on the capabilities of the attached system.  The XPS 15 7590 is a Thunderbolt-capable DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 system.  In that case, half of the video bandwidth from the system is allocated to the downstream TB3 port, and the other ports share the remaining half.  So make sure your 4K display is connected to that downstream TB3 port at the edge of the dock.  And then you should be able to run the 29" display from another output on the WD19TB, like its HDMI output.  I'm not sure why you're connecting that directly to the system's own HDMI output since that would seem to be less convenient because it's two cables to deal with rather than just the docking station's cable.

But the other part I'm confused about is that you say the 29" display is "set to 2560x1080", then you say the highest resolutions showing "for the laptop" is 1920x1080.  So is that 29" display running at 2560x1080 or 1920x1080?  Have you confirmed that the 29" display actually supports receiving 2560x1080 on its HDMI input?  Some displays only support receiving their native resolution over DisplayPort if they were created before an HDMI version that could carry their native resolution existed.  This is especially true of early 4K 60 Hz displays, for example, since DisplayPort supported 4K 60 Hz years before HDMI did.

In the second situation, I still want to be able to use two 4k monitors. I am thinking about buying another 32' 4k monitor or possibly a 27/28' 4k monitor. But maybe... less likely buy a 43' 4k TV to be used as a monitor.   Would you say that would be ridiculous to use a 32' 4k monitor along with a 43' 4k TV together though? Thing is my folding table is only 4 foot and I can barely put my 32' 4k monitor alongside with the 24' samsung syncmaster. But not only that... because i put my dell xps 15 9550 laptop on the table, i don't really have that much space. I did read I could buy those laptop adjustable height things but that doesn't apply such I still would be putting it on my folding table right?


So in my folding table, its like


Dell xps 15 9550 laptop put on the bottom left of my table but like sideways. Then the 32' 4k monitor on the left part of my table and i have to put the 24' on the right side of my table. Issue is looking from one monitor to another is very hard. Previously when i had used just two 24' monitors... i put them close to each other like a reverse letter V. Thus it was very easy to look from one monitor to another without that much neck movement. But now its really hard to look at the other 24' and use it much because of my 32' 4k monitor.


Now let say I get a bigger table, like a 6 foot table, I know I would have lot of space to put my monitors.


Now If I want to have two 4k monitors and make sure they run at 6k hertz, thus my 32' 4k samsung monitor with another 4k monitor or TV whether its 27/28/32 or 43' TV... I should get the Dell Docking Station right?  Thing is i check amazon and they sell a dell one for around $130 dollars plus tax. Then I see other brands that are cheaper or much more expensive. Would those work as well? If so, can others link me the exact docking station I should get?


Again, I can use 2 monitors at the moment with my dell xps 15 9550 ... whether its my 32' 4k samsung with another 24' monitor with 1920x1200 resolution.... or use two 24' monitors with 1920x1200 resolution with the cables I currently have.


But if I want to use two monitors of 4k... best recommendation for docking station that would be best for me? Also would it work if say I use it with my current 3 monitors? Such as my 32' 4k samsung and the other two 24' 1920x1200 monitor?

And is it true I could connect three external displays to my laptop and including my laptop screen, I could have four monitors?  Or I could only do two external displays and with my laptop screen, just three total monitors?  I am aware that my laptop with docking station could only do two monitors of 4k at 60hz.

But what about the dell xps laptop that are being sold now?


I also remember reading somewhere if you use a 4k monitor, you should almost always use a docking station as oppose to the method im using... which is a usb-c to display port to a 4k monitor because it uses less resources. Is there any truth to this? And what exactly is meant by less resources? Because there doesn't seem to be any lag on the 32' 4k monitor. I did read people say if your 4k monitor does 30hz, then its basically unusable if using it for a computer monitor.

Like to update this. Few things I want to ask in 2 situations.


I am currently using 2 monitors right now.


Samsung UJ59 32' 4K Monitor

Samsung syncmaster T240HD 24' Monitor


I have these cables


usb-c to display port cable - Currently Using It With Samsung 32' 4k Monitor to my dell xps 15 9550 laptop

hdmi to hdmi cable - Currently Using It With Samsung 24' Monitor to my dell xps 15 9550 laptop

usb-c to hdmi cable - Not Used at the Moment




Asus C624BQ 24' Monitor - I have this monitor as well and not using it.



The thing is that samsung syncmaster 24' screen is messed up at the top part of the top part of the screen I will post a picture of how it looks. Because of this, I would like to use my Asus C624BQ 24' Monitor along with my samsung 4k monitor. This asus 24' does have some spots on the screen but it isn't that bad. But in order to do this... I need to buy another cable right? Would I need an hdmi to display port cable for this? I check amazon but i need to make sure it goes two ways right? I read reviews that some hdmi to displayport cables only go 1 way which is not the way i want it to?


The thing is I only have one usb-c port in my dell xps 15 9550 laptop which is currently in use with my samsung 32' 4k monitor.

@jphughan 

Using Display Link does fit my needs.  Similarly I too am trying to run three external screens plus the labtop monitor simultaneously.  However the D6000 docking station only charges my computer at I believe 90w vs. 180w which I believe is tripping up my computer.  Are you aware of any Dell docking stations with DisplayLink technology that charge at 180w?  I kicked off a discussion in the below link however no one has yet to respond.  

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Best-Docking-Station-for-Dell-XPS-9500/td-p/8354897

@eloring The D6000 only provides 65W to the attached system. But the XPS 15 9500 only requires either 90W (when equipped only with an Intel GPU) or 130 (when equipped with an NVIDIA GPU). The potential 180W confusion could stem from the fact that docking stations that have 180W power supplies can pass up to 130W to the attached system. But it's important to clarify because there are systems that themselves require 180W. The XPS 15 series just isn't part of that category.

But the only docks I know of that can supply the full 130W required by the NVIDIA-equipped XPS 15 models are Dell's Thunderbolt docks (which come standard with 180W power supplies) and their WD Series USB-C docks when equipped with 180W power supplies rather than the default 130W (which can only supply 90W to the system). And as you may already know, the Intel GPU built into the CPUs used by the XPS 15 9500 only supports three total displays, and the NVIDIA GPU isn't physically wired to any display outputs, so its capabilities in this regard don't matter -- which means that those docks won't allow you to run three external displays along with the built-in display.

The first XPS 15 to improve on this was the XPS 15 9510, since its CPUs include the Intel Xe GPU that can support 4 total displays.

One workaround would be to get a Thunderbolt or regular USB-C dock, connect two displays to its outputs, and then get a DisplayLink USB dongle to connect to one of the dock's USB ports to drive the third display.  That will allow you to receive the full 130W you need from a dock and still keep all displays connected through the dock. If two of your displays were 1920x1200 or lower, you could get by with a USB-C dock. Otherwise, you'd need a Thunderbolt dock to achieve this.