The U3419W monitor only supports a max of USB 2 across the USB-C link. This information is buried deep in the user manual and is generally not marketed. However USB2 speeds are generally pretty fast and I haven't run into any bandwidth issues for most uses.
This doesn't make sense to me, "The camera plugged into the USB Type-C port and gets full resolution.". The U3419W only has the single USB Type-C port. How can you plug the USB Type-A camera into the U3419W USB Type-C port (via USB Type-C to A dongle?) if there is a 3rd laptop plugged into the U3419W USB Type-C port?
* What specific USB webcam model? * Keyboard/mouse wireless dongle connected where?
Write out how every port on the U3419W is being used, which cable, which device. Use the picture and descriptions below. I started it below, fil in the unknowns.
#3-1 = HDMI 1 #3-2 = HDMI 2 #4 = DP (DisplayPort) #5 = USB Type-C #7-1 = USB upstream port #1 #7-2 = USB upstream port #2 #8-1 = USB downstream port #8-2 = USB downstream port with power charging Side 1 = USB downstream port Side 2 = USB downstream port with power charging
USB webcam --> U3419W port?
Keyboard/mouse wireless dongle --> U3419W port?
Laptop#? --> U3419W USB 3.0 upstream cable --> U3419W (which?) USB upstream port
"The camera plugged into the USB Type-C port and gets full resolution." Probably vague on my part. My camera is USB-C and is connected to the monitor with a C-to-A cable. I tried plugging the webcam into the laptop using the USB-C cable I was using for Monitor-to-Laptop to verify I could get full speed/resolution with that camera/cable/laptop-port. I returned things back to their original configuration after that:
USB Devices
Webcam (Logitech Brio, with included USB-C-to-A cable) --> #8-1
Mic (Blue Yeti, USB Mini-A-to-A cable) --> #8-2
Keyboard/Mouse (MS Surface Sculpt USB-A) -> Side 1
Laptop #1 (MS Surface Pro 6)
USB Upstream 1: #7-1
Video (DP): #4
Laptop #2 (Dell Latitude E7470)
USB Upstream 2: #7-2
Video (HDMI): #3-1
Laptop #3 (Asus ROG Zephyrus G14)
Video & USB (USB-C): #5
I can switch between all 3 laptops. Keyboard/Mouse/Mic/Webcam all function (with the camera resolution being lowered for Laptop #3 only). I don't think any of the other devices run at USB-3 speeds, so I don't assume a lack of alerts for other devices means they are running faster than the camera.
I have tried unplugging everything except the Webcam and Laptop #3 with the same results, and again moving the camera to each USB Port.
It seems that all of the USB Type-C bandwidth is being used to drive the U3419W at 3440x1440 60Hz. Which is taking from the associated USB downstream ports.
Are you also trying to charge that Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 from the U3419W? If yes, plug the external power adapter into the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and then retest the webcam.
External Power has been plugged into the G14 though all tests. I also tried dropping the resolution to 800x600, and turning off video out to the monitor to see if just using it as a USB hub had any effect (restarting the camera between tests just in case). It did not.
@DylanB123 If the camera works as expected with the systems connected via the two USB-B upstream ports, then it sounds like the issue is that the USB-C link between the display and that third laptop is being configured to allocate all four high speed lanes to video, in which case you can only run USB 2.0 data speeds (since USB 2.0 has dedicated pins in a USB-C connector), rather than running two high speed lanes for video and the remaining two for USB 3.x data. I'm not entirely sure why that would be the case though, since 3440x1440 60 Hz should be achievable over just two DisplayPort 1.2 lanes, but it would explain the symptoms.
Another possibility is that the display may have some sort of limitation around how many USB 3.x upstream links can be connected at time, even though I realize that only one is ever actually active at any given time. Have you tried disconnecting one of your other upstream ports to see if that allows the laptop connected via USB-C to run USB 3.x data speeds to the display?
If that doesn't change anything, then there may be some firmware interoperability issue that's preventing the USB-C link from being set up in the optimal way for this use case. I've seen this type of issue crop up even between some combinations of Dell laptops and Dell's own docking stations. I realize that's not a very satisfying answer, but this display doesn't give you any ability to customize how the USB-C link is configured, so unless your system BIOS does or there are firmware updates for the display and/or system you can try installing, you may not be able to do anything about this, especially as neither of your other laptops can be connected via USB-C instead, which at least would have provided another functionality data point.
Have you tried disconnecting one of your other upstream ports to see if that allows the laptop connected via USB-C to run USB 3.x data speeds to the display?
I have tried unplugging everything except the webcam and the new laptop with no luck. I've tried turning down resolution and disabling external video output to see if that changes how lanes were allocated. I also checked the laptop bios and didn't find settings that could relate to this.
It isn't. It's disappointing finally upgrading my laptop only to find there are compatibility exceptions when using USBC with the monitor. But it's also not the end of the world. When I want to use the webcam in 4k, I can fall back to my tablet or my work laptop. If I want 4k on the new laptop, I can disconnect my work laptop and use its HDMI/USB-A connections. It's an annoyance/inconvenience and not much more. It's something I'll be aware of when it comes time to replace the monitor. Still would be nice if there was just a monitor bios update that would resolve this.
@DylanB123 Just for clarity, reducing resolution won’t affect the lane allocation of the USB-C link. You can either allocate 4 lanes, 2 lanes, or 0 lanes to video. That won’t vary based on the resolution you choose. The maximum resolution and refresh rate combination you can achieve can vary based on how many lanes are actually allocated, but going down from there won’t free anything up. Not sure what you mean about disabling external video output. Was that something you configured on the system, or does that just mean keeping the display in standby mode while its USB ports continued working?
One workaround I suppose you could try would be a USB host switch device, like one of these. You connect USB peripherals to that, and then you connect that switch back to either two or four host devices, and then you can toggle which host device can see those peripherals. You would essentially use this to either connect two of your laptops to one of the upstream USB ports on the display for a total of three, or you could get the four-host model to bypass the display’s USB ports entirely. Although of course that would mean additional cost and connecting two cables to your USB-C laptop for video and data whereas you would normally only need the single USB-C cable for that purpose. If your webcam is the only device connected to your display’s USB ports that suffers by having to run at USB 2.0 speeds, then maybe connecting the webcam directly to your USB-C laptop as needed is a better solution overall. Wish I had a better answer, but as far as I can tell, you’re not missing anything or doing anything incorrectly in your setup. It would be interesting to see if another USB-C laptop behaved differently with that display (or if that laptop behaved differently with a different USB-C display) just to isolate variables, but if that isn’t something you can test, then I can’t immediately think of another way to figure out where the problem most likely lies.
Not sure what you mean about disabling external video output. Was that something you configured on the system, or does that just mean keeping the display in standby mode while its USB ports continued working?
I changed display settings in Windows to only output to the laptop screen, disabling the USBC video to see if the hub behaved any different when just using it for data only.
Thanks for the feedback folks. Seems the only way to get the webcam to work at full resolution with what I have is to use the USB-A connection.
onefortheroad
1 Rookie
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6 Posts
0
May 17th, 2022 02:00
The U3419W monitor only supports a max of USB 2 across the USB-C link. This information is buried deep in the user manual and is generally not marketed. However USB2 speeds are generally pretty fast and I haven't run into any bandwidth issues for most uses.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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56.9K Posts
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January 31st, 2022 13:00
This doesn't make sense to me, "The camera plugged into the USB Type-C port and gets full resolution.". The U3419W only has the single USB Type-C port. How can you plug the USB Type-A camera into the U3419W USB Type-C port (via USB Type-C to A dongle?) if there is a 3rd laptop plugged into the U3419W USB Type-C port?
* What specific USB webcam model?
* Keyboard/mouse wireless dongle connected where?
Write out how every port on the U3419W is being used, which cable, which device. Use the picture and descriptions below. I started it below, fil in the unknowns.
#3-1 = HDMI 1
#3-2 = HDMI 2
#4 = DP (DisplayPort)
#5 = USB Type-C
#7-1 = USB upstream port #1
#7-2 = USB upstream port #2
#8-1 = USB downstream port
#8-2 = USB downstream port with power charging
Side 1 = USB downstream port
Side 2 = USB downstream port with power charging
USB webcam --> U3419W port?
Keyboard/mouse wireless dongle --> U3419W port?
Laptop#? --> U3419W USB 3.0 upstream cable --> U3419W (which?) USB upstream port
Laptop #1 (model?) (port?) --> cable? --> U3419W (which HDMI port?)
Laptop #2 (model?) (port?) --> cable? --> U3419W #4 DP
Laptop #3 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 USB Type-C/DP 1.4 --> U3419W USB Type-C cable --> U3419W #5 USB Type-C port
DylanB123
5 Posts
0
January 31st, 2022 15:00
"The camera plugged into the USB Type-C port and gets full resolution." Probably vague on my part. My camera is USB-C and is connected to the monitor with a C-to-A cable. I tried plugging the webcam into the laptop using the USB-C cable I was using for Monitor-to-Laptop to verify I could get full speed/resolution with that camera/cable/laptop-port. I returned things back to their original configuration after that:
I can switch between all 3 laptops. Keyboard/Mouse/Mic/Webcam all function (with the camera resolution being lowered for Laptop #3 only). I don't think any of the other devices run at USB-3 speeds, so I don't assume a lack of alerts for other devices means they are running faster than the camera.
I have tried unplugging everything except the Webcam and Laptop #3 with the same results, and again moving the camera to each USB Port.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
0
February 1st, 2022 16:00
It seems that all of the USB Type-C bandwidth is being used to drive the U3419W at 3440x1440 60Hz. Which is taking from the associated USB downstream ports.
Are you also trying to charge that Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 from the U3419W? If yes, plug the external power adapter into the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and then retest the webcam.
DylanB123
5 Posts
0
February 1st, 2022 17:00
External Power has been plugged into the G14 though all tests. I also tried dropping the resolution to 800x600, and turning off video out to the monitor to see if just using it as a USB hub had any effect (restarting the camera between tests just in case). It did not.
jphughan
9 Legend
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14K Posts
0
February 2nd, 2022 07:00
@DylanB123 If the camera works as expected with the systems connected via the two USB-B upstream ports, then it sounds like the issue is that the USB-C link between the display and that third laptop is being configured to allocate all four high speed lanes to video, in which case you can only run USB 2.0 data speeds (since USB 2.0 has dedicated pins in a USB-C connector), rather than running two high speed lanes for video and the remaining two for USB 3.x data. I'm not entirely sure why that would be the case though, since 3440x1440 60 Hz should be achievable over just two DisplayPort 1.2 lanes, but it would explain the symptoms.
Another possibility is that the display may have some sort of limitation around how many USB 3.x upstream links can be connected at time, even though I realize that only one is ever actually active at any given time. Have you tried disconnecting one of your other upstream ports to see if that allows the laptop connected via USB-C to run USB 3.x data speeds to the display?
If that doesn't change anything, then there may be some firmware interoperability issue that's preventing the USB-C link from being set up in the optimal way for this use case. I've seen this type of issue crop up even between some combinations of Dell laptops and Dell's own docking stations. I realize that's not a very satisfying answer, but this display doesn't give you any ability to customize how the USB-C link is configured, so unless your system BIOS does or there are firmware updates for the display and/or system you can try installing, you may not be able to do anything about this, especially as neither of your other laptops can be connected via USB-C instead, which at least would have provided another functionality data point.
DylanB123
5 Posts
0
February 2nd, 2022 10:00
I have tried unplugging everything except the webcam and the new laptop with no luck. I've tried turning down resolution and disabling external video output to see if that changes how lanes were allocated. I also checked the laptop bios and didn't find settings that could relate to this.
It isn't. It's disappointing finally upgrading my laptop only to find there are compatibility exceptions when using USBC with the monitor. But it's also not the end of the world. When I want to use the webcam in 4k, I can fall back to my tablet or my work laptop. If I want 4k on the new laptop, I can disconnect my work laptop and use its HDMI/USB-A connections. It's an annoyance/inconvenience and not much more. It's something I'll be aware of when it comes time to replace the monitor. Still would be nice if there was just a monitor bios update that would resolve this.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
February 2nd, 2022 20:00
@DylanB123 Just for clarity, reducing resolution won’t affect the lane allocation of the USB-C link. You can either allocate 4 lanes, 2 lanes, or 0 lanes to video. That won’t vary based on the resolution you choose. The maximum resolution and refresh rate combination you can achieve can vary based on how many lanes are actually allocated, but going down from there won’t free anything up. Not sure what you mean about disabling external video output. Was that something you configured on the system, or does that just mean keeping the display in standby mode while its USB ports continued working?
One workaround I suppose you could try would be a USB host switch device, like one of these. You connect USB peripherals to that, and then you connect that switch back to either two or four host devices, and then you can toggle which host device can see those peripherals. You would essentially use this to either connect two of your laptops to one of the upstream USB ports on the display for a total of three, or you could get the four-host model to bypass the display’s USB ports entirely. Although of course that would mean additional cost and connecting two cables to your USB-C laptop for video and data whereas you would normally only need the single USB-C cable for that purpose. If your webcam is the only device connected to your display’s USB ports that suffers by having to run at USB 2.0 speeds, then maybe connecting the webcam directly to your USB-C laptop as needed is a better solution overall. Wish I had a better answer, but as far as I can tell, you’re not missing anything or doing anything incorrectly in your setup. It would be interesting to see if another USB-C laptop behaved differently with that display (or if that laptop behaved differently with a different USB-C display) just to isolate variables, but if that isn’t something you can test, then I can’t immediately think of another way to figure out where the problem most likely lies.
DylanB123
5 Posts
0
February 5th, 2022 20:00
I changed display settings in Windows to only output to the laptop screen, disabling the USBC video to see if the hub behaved any different when just using it for data only.
Thanks for the feedback folks. Seems the only way to get the webcam to work at full resolution with what I have is to use the USB-A connection.