I am looking for suggestions on connecting multiple external monitors to my laptop. Following are the hardware / devices that I have:
Dell XPS 13 9360 Laptop. This has an in-built Intel UHD 620 Graphics card.
Dell WD19TB Docking Station
Currently, I have connected two Dell U2415 external monitors through my Dell docking station and it is working perfectly fine. I have purchased two more external monitors - 1 Dell U2415 monitor and another ASUS VG259Q monitor. I can connect one more monitor through my docking station and my laptop is able to detect the same. However, given the limitation of my laptop graphics cards am not able to have another display activated. Either I can run 3 external monitors or my laptop screen + two external monitors.
I am looking for suggestions on purchase of new hardware so as to connect more number of displays to my set-up. My preference would be for 6 displays - 5 external monitors plus my laptop screen or 6 external monitors. I have checked various reviews + discussion forum here and I understand that it is possible to have my preferred set-up if I connect new monitors through a USD 3.0 Graphics Adaptor.
Appreciate your suggestions on the same. My current location is Mumbai, India so it would be helpful if you can suggest a set-up which I can procure locally either from a seller or through Amazon / Flipkart.
You are correct that in order to add more external displays to your system you would need to use a USB 3.0 video adapter based on DisplayLink USB video technology. We have an initial recommendation, however prior to us making said recommendation there are some important details of which you need to be aware:
Plugable does not have a local retail presence in India. We do offer all of our products via Amazon.com, and in many cases those products can be shipped to international destinations via the Amazon International Shipping program (formerly called AmazonGlobal).
When any Plugable product is purchased from Amazon.com within the U.S. for international shipment as described above, if the product requires external power only a U.S. style power plug will be included in the box. No other power plug types are included. In practice this means any solution we recommend must be able to be powered by the host laptop’s USB port.
The Asus VG259Q display you mention supports refresh rates up to 144Hz. The maximum refresh rate supported with any Plugable USB 3.0 video adapter is 60Hz. Higher refresh rates are not supported.
DisplayLink USB 3.0 video adapters are in essence ‘virtual’ graphics adapters that rely on the host laptop’s internal CPU and physical graphics processing unit (GPU) in order to generate the image shown on the adapter-connected displays. This means that each display added will require a certain amount of system resources from the host laptop in order to function.
With those details stated, I believe a good first step is for you to try our USBC-6950U adapter → https://plugable.com/products/usbc-6950u in order to add the new Dell and Asus displays to your system.
The adapter will connect to either a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port or USB 3.0 Type-A port within your laptop or within the Dell Thunderbolt docking station. The USBC-6950U adapter provides the ability to connect up to two 3840x2160 resolution displays at up to a 60Hz refresh rate to your system (lower resolutions such as 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 are also supported).
The USBC-6950U adapter has both DisplayPort and HDMI video outputs in order to provide flexibility in connecting your displays, however the video cables themselves are not included. Please keep in mind that the maximum number of displays supported via the adapter is two.
If you test the adapter and find that it meets your needs, we could then consider other options to add more displays at a later date.
Should you elect to proceed with a purchase and find that the adapter does not meet your needs, we do offer a 30-day no-hassle return policy for all products sold by Plugable and fulfilled by Amazon.