I’m trying to output from my Dell XPS 15 9550 laptop (USB-C port to Plugable UD-ULTCDL) to an IPS monintor (Crossover 27QD) using the DVI output from the Plugable dock. DisplayLink seems set on using the laptop’s onboard Intel HD Graphics 530, which doesn’t seem able to output to the IPS screen, though it sees the monitor and has the 2048 x 1152 resolution selected (though greyed out).
I’m trying to get the laptop to use the GTX 960m card (instead of the onboard Intel) to send signal to the external monitor, but can’t seem to figure out how.
Appreciate any help.
We worked with Graham via our email ticketing system, and are posting our reply for the benefit of others who may be researching a similar issue:
Thanks for contacting Plugable! This is a bit of a complex scenario, but I’ve done some investigation and figured out what’s happening.
Doing a bit of research, it looks like the Crossover you have is one of the models that only accepts a “dual-link” DVI input. This dock (and all USB docking stations we’re aware of) only support single-link DVI which has a maximum resolution of 1080P or 2048x1152. Also, the settings are probably greyed out in Windows because the Crossover doesn’t have a built-in scaler (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-…) – essentially meaning it will only support it’s native, maximum resolution, and not lower resolutions. A friend has a similar QNIX – great bang for the buck, but there are some trade-offs to contend with.
(We do mention the maximum resolution in the listing, but realize there’s a lot of detail there and it’s easy to overlook some specifics: “The DisplayLink outputs on the dock can each support a single display up to 1920×1080 (1080p60), and dual-link DVI not supported”. We’re always open to suggestion on how to improve complex compatibility details such as this!)
And unfortunately there’s no good way to convert one of the HDMI ports on the dock to dual-link DVI either because HDMI is inherently single-link.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1588344/un…
So unfortunately there’s not any options we’ve encountered to get a dual-link DVI display to work with USB graphics or Alt Mode. Generally these displays will only work with a dual-link DVI port found on a desktop GPU. The best approach at this point may be a return for a refund, which we’re happy to help with. Please send along your Amazon Order ID when you have a moment and I’ll provide the next steps for the return.
Thanks!
Gary
Thanks very much for your help Gary. I swapped out the monitor for a regular HD hdmi and am keeping your great dock.