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Go to SolutionUsing two displays with a Latitude 5400 without a dock
I have an enterprise issued Latitude 5400, and I'm planning to hook it up to two external monitors. I plan on connecting one using the HDMI port and the other using the USB-C port (using some sort of an inexpensive USB-C to HDMI converter).
Since this is a company owned machine, I don't want to buy a dock. Will my plan set out above work? Essentially can this laptop drive two displays (one through the USB-C port) at the same time?
Hey guys. A little help here. I was trying to connect my Dell Latitude 5400 to my monitor using a usb c to displayport cable. I don't get any output. I recently moved to Ubuntu and it worked fine when I had Windows although I wouldn't get any output when my laptop was plugged in with a charger. Any help here would be appreciated.
@Freaker95 Happy to help, but you seem to have gotten the wrong takeaway from my reply. Daisy chaining is an option, as long as you're ok having only USB 2.0 data speeds available. You just have to set the option I mentioned above. But if you want USB 3.x data speeds available with your P2421DC, then use connecting that display via USB-C and your other display via HDMI would be an option too.
@jphughan thanks for the quick response!
So daisy chaining will not be an option for a Latitude 5400 with no TB3 connection?
And can I connect 2x P2421D monitors by connect 1 to the HDMI and 1 to the USB-c port, both getting the 2540x1440 resolution?
@jphughan
Ah sorry, my bad, I see it now!
So I have 2 options:1. Daisy chaining the P2421DC and P2421D to get the 2540x1440 resolution by setting the DC monitor to High Resolution mode. But then my USB ports have max 2.0 speed (instead of USB 3.0) which is not a problem for me!
2. One monitor connecting to the USB-C and one monitor to the HDMI --> resulting in both 2540x1440 resolution and the USB 3.0 speed
Right?@Freaker95 The Latitude 5400 only supports DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 over USB-C. Therefore in order to run enough video bandwidth for dual 2560x1440 60 Hz, the USB-C link will have to be limited to USB 2.0 data speeds, which means if you connected USB 3.x devices to the USB ports built into the P2421DC, they would only run at USB 2.0 speeds. But the P2421DC offers a USB-C Prioritization option to allow you to set up this mode. You'd have to set it to High Resolution, which maximizes video bandwidth while limiting USB data to 2.0. The High Data Speed mode allows USB 3.x but then cuts video bandwidth in half. On a DisplayPort HBR2 system, a half-bandwidth link is only enough to run a single 2560x1440 60 Hz display -- so that mode would be useful only if you were NOT daisy chaining. (A newer DisplayPort HBR3 system would be able to run dual 2560x1440 60 Hz and USB 3.x simultaneously.)
Hi @jphughan !
I have a Latitude 5400 as well (usb-c with no TB3). So I can connect this laptop then to a P2421DC and P2421D by daisy chaining and the usb-c, both getting the 2540x1440 60Hz resolution?
So:
Latitude 5400 <-- usb-c --> P2421DC <-- displayport cable --> P2421DHopefully you can advice me!
@Freaker95 Correct. The only asterisk to the daisy chain setup is that I remember someone else once trying to set up a daisy chain like this and somehow they could never get dual 2560x1440 even after setting USB-C Prioritization to High Resolution. I don't think that was ever resolved since they resorted to just connecting each display directly. Unfortunately not everything that should work in the tech world always actually does. I don't have direct personal experience with your specific system or those display models, but it should work. But if it doesn't, the fallback of connecting one via HDMI would be fine. Good luck!
@jphughan just one more question...
Besides a dual monitor setup... I'm considering to connect my Latitude 5400 (usb-c, but with no TB3) to a single Dell U3419W, with a 3440x1440 resolution and a 21:9 ratio, 60Hz.Is it possible to connect my Latitude 5400 to this U3419W by the USB-C connections? Not only for the resolution of 3440x1440 but also the 21:9 ratio?
Thanks again in advance!
jphughan
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Posted January 20th, 2021 09:00
@snitin Yes it can. The HDMI port's revision isn't specified on the system's product page, so it's probably only 1.4, which would mean you could run a display up to 2560x1440 60 Hz or 4K 30 Hz. The USB-C port would run a display up to 4K 60 Hz.
And just in case you ever need this, you can actually run multiple independent displays just from the USB-C port if that need ever arises, still without a full docking station. You could achieve that either using displays that support daisy chaining or a device called an MST hub (or a Thunderbolt 3 to Dual Display adapter if your system has TB3, which is optional on the 5400). The benefit would be to add a third display or to run two displays using only a single cable connection to your system, but if you just want to keep it simple, then one display on USB-C and one on HDMI will certainly work;