I have a new UD-6950PDZ being used with three Dell UHD monitors. I’m running a HP ZBook 14u G6 (SKU: 3M016US#ABA).
While all three monitors are active and can be used, there’s a clear difference in their color. Looking deeper at the Advanced display settings and in the DisplayLink Manager, I can see that the monitor in Port 1 of my Pluggable dock is not being registered as handled by the dock, but rather being passed through and connected to the Intel UHD Graphics 620 card in my machine.
I read here that this dock relies on USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode. How do I know if my device supports that? If it does, Why isn’t my monitor being grouped with the others?
I did install the latest DisplayLink driver and restarted both my laptop and un/replugged the dock.
I appreciate any tips or guidance. Let me know if there is any more info you need.
Thank you for contacting us, I am sorry this is not working as expected and I am happy to help!
This docking station relies on two graphics technologies to support up to three external displays.
The “Display 2” and “Display 3” outputs are controlled by DisplayLink USB Graphics Technology, this is a combination of software on the computer and hardware on the docking station which extends the capability of the computer to support more displays than the computer was designed to support. This requires installing the DisplayLink drivers for Windows ( https://plugable.com/drivers/displaylink ) or the DisplayLink Manager App for macOS and configuring macOS to support the external displays ( for macOS 13: https://kb.plugable.com/1595423, for macOS 11, and 12: https://kb.plugable.com/1185378 ).
The “Display 1” output relies on the computer’s internal graphics controller, it utilizes USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode (“Alt-Mode” for short). This is an optional USB Type-C port feature which is not enabled on all computers. This relies on the computer’s built-in graphics drivers and requires the docking station to be connected directly to a USB Type-C port with Alt-Mode capability using the original USB Type-C data cable provided with the docking station. USB Type-C cables from other products, or purchased separately online may be charging cables that do not support Alt-Mode video data.
The screenshot of the DisplayLink software correctly indicates two displays are controlled by the DisplayLink software, grouped under the “Plugable UD-6950PDZ” label, which references the DisplayLink chipset. The third directly controlled by the computer’s internal graphics controller.
DisplayLink controlled external displays have limited support for color management profiles or software like Night Light which automatically changes the display’s color settings at night. Due to this limitation and reduced hardware graphics acceleration we normally recommend our USB Type-C and USB 3.0 docking stations and graphics adapters with DisplayLink USB graphics technology for use with office and light web browsing applications where both hardware graphics acceleration and high precision color fidelity are not required.
We can try disabling two Windows settings that may cause significant differences in display colors between the Alt-Mode and DisplayLink controlled external displays:
Windows Night Light changes the display color profile based on time of day and is not compatible with DisplayLink controlled external display:
Open the Start Menu and select “Settings” (cog icon) if you do not see settings, you can search for “Settings” and select the “Settings App”
On the Settings Window: in the left pane select “System”
In the right pane select “Display”
In the right pane, under “Brightness & color” toggle off “Night light”
We can also ensure the system has monitor-specific color profiles disabled:
Open the Start Menu and select “Settings” (cog icon) if you do not see settings, you can search for “Settings” and select the “Settings App”
On the Settings Window: in the left pane select “System”
In the right pane select “Display”
Under “Related settings” select “Advanced display”
Under “Display information” click on the blue “Display adapter properties for Display #” where # is most likely ‘1’
Select the “Color Management” tab, then “Color Management…” button
For each display in the “Device:” drop-down menu, uncheck the “Use my settings for this device” checkbox
I have a second question pertaining to the use of an Elgato HD60X with the plugable dock described above. When introducing the Elgato capture card into the HDMI chain on display 1, I get a black screen with the occasional flash of the input device (generally a Steam Deck or Switch). Is the plugable dock incompatible with devices such as these?
Are your docks also incompatible with Nintendo Switches altogether?
Thanks fore replying back, we normally recommend connecting the docking station directly to the external display. We have not tested with the Elgato HD60X, however we have had some users report similar behavior with video capture cards in the past most likely indicating an incompatibility.
Our USB Type-C Triple Display Docking Stations are only compatible with notebook computers with Windows or macOS, and a limited number of mini-PC (Intel NUC, Mac Mini) type systems with Windows or macOS. The Nintendo Switch’s USB Type-C port does allow video from the official Switch Dock, however it does not adhere to USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode standards and is not compatible with our docking stations. We have performed some testing with the Switch here ( https://plugable.com/blogs/news/plugable-products-unofficially-compatible-with-nintendo-switch ).
Please let me know if you have any additional questions, or if there is anything else I can do to help, and have a great day!
