Using 3 external monitors with Latitude 5400 and WD19 dock

Thank you very much for a very quick and detailed reply, much appreciated! I'll buy the third monitor and cross my fingers it works!  Will the laptop automatically detect the three monitors each time I start p, or is it likely to need me to adjust settings every time I want to use it in that way, compared to using it as a regular laptop when I'm on the road?

You’re a star! One of the unspoken tech heroes that answer these random questions!

Let’s hope a curved 27” and a pair of flat 22” monitors works as envisaged!

@Mike-B  Happy to help!  Once you set up your displays to your liking, Windows will remember the desired configuration for that combination of displays and apply it for you each time that combination of displays is present.  One thing you can do is configure your displays while the laptop lid is open (you might have to disable your built-in display as a separate step before you can choose to light up the third external display), in which case even opening your laptop lid won't disrupt your existing triple external display setup because in that case Windows will remember that you always want that built-in display disabled when you have those 3 attached displays connected, even if the built-in display is available to be used -- as opposed to thinking you might prefer to lose one external display in favor of using the built-in display whenever the lid is open.  Good luck!

Hi @jphughan

Firstly - thank you. I've spent ages looking for this information and you've laid it out so clearly.

My issue is that my 5400 is a Chromebook (Linux OS), so my nice new 3rd external monitor has now become an expensive paperweight.

You said that the built in display can't be fully disabled. Do you happen to know any way around this?

Thanks

Wow! Thanks for the speedy and well formed response, it was very helpful.

Just for info the Dock I'm using is a WD19, which I believe supports a third display. 

My third display is only 1280x1024, and is only needed for emails/spreadsheets, so that will work perfectly for me.

I'll try one of the Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI adaptors, and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for the help!

@bragolgurth Thanks for the kind words, and glad I've been able to help.   In terms of your display issue, the only way around the GPU limit is to connect additional displays through dongles that rely on "indirect display" technology like DisplayLink -- not to be confused with DisplayPort.  That technology can have its drawbacks, which I've written about in the post marked as the answer in this thread, but for typical productivity use cases they're usually fine, or at the very least much better than not having additional displays at all.  And as luck would have it, while DisplayLink typically requires installing drivers that I thought would be a problem for Chrome OS, it seems that Chrome OS has had native support for DisplayLink for years, according to this DisplayLink page.  In terms of specific hardware recommendations, Plugable makes dongles that plug into a USB 3.0 port and give you either DisplayPort or HDMI outputs.  The single display dongles max out at 4K 30 Hz or 1440p 60 Hz, and then there are some dual display adapters and docks (including the Dell D6000 I mentioned in that thread I linked) that will allow you to run dual displays up to 4K 60 Hz via DisplayLink, plus a third display up to 4K 30 Hz via the GPU.  Hopefully this helps!

@bragolgurth  Excellent, please do report back.  And just in case you didn't realize, you can plug that Plugable adapter into a USB port on the WD19 if you want.  The bandwidth required to run DisplayLink displays is carried as USB 3.x data between the host system and the adapter, and therefore DisplayLink displays don't count against the "native" video bandwidth running between the system and dock to run displays that are connected to the WD19's actual video outputs.  Good luck!

@jphughan IT'S WORKING!! Thank you so much!!!! 

Tested both in the dock and direct in the laptop.

You have made my  day week month! You have my sincerest thanks.

@bragolgurth  Wow, that adapter arrived quickly!  Thanks for reporting back, glad to hear you're all set, and thanks very much for the kind words!

Wondering if I can tag a further question on, given the scenario is almost identical to the OP, and you appear to be the external-monitor-whisperer, @jphughan !

I've got a 5590, and was running laptop+2 displays (no dock). I moved the laptop under the desk, bought a new monitor, and discovered that although I've got VGA, HDMI and DisplayPort-over-USB-C ports, only two will work at the same time... 

The VGA is used for my portrait monitor, and I'm wondering what (if any) options I have to drive two landscape 1920*1080 displays from what I have left. I can see plenty of USB-C to 2*HDMI hubs on Amazon - is it that easy? Ideally I'd like them all to appear to the laptop as three external monitors in total so window snapping still works without faff.

Thanks for any guidance you can give.

(Think I lost a reply into the ether. Apologies if this double-posts)

Thanks @jphughan  - I take it something likethis would do the job without the future-proofing? 

This is a work laptop and I'm not sure how long we'll continue to be able to work from home. My personal machine is a tower with a dedicated GPU, making everything much easier...!

@RobWilliamsScotland Happy to help! Yes, it seems that on some Latitude systems, the 3 display output connectors are sharing 2 source GPU outputs, and therefore only 2 can be used at a time.  The USB-C to dual output adapters you're talking about are called MST hubs, because USB-C uses DisplayPort protocol for video output (USB-C to HDMI/DVI/VGA adapters incorporate active signal converter chips to switch that signal), and DisplayPort protocol supports MST, which allows running multiple independent displays from a single source port.  The only restriction is that the total bandwidth requirements of the displays driven this way can't exceed the total bandwidth available from that source port.  The 5590 supports DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2, which means if you want to run dual displays from an MST hub, they'll need to be no higher than QHD/1440p each.  And since the GPU in that system only supports 3 total displays regardless of resolution or how they're connected, you might also need to expressly set the built-in display to "Disconnect this display" in Windows Display Settings before you can light up your third display.  I'd recommend this MST hub if it's available in your location.  It offers 3 outputs (all of which be used simultaneously if the display setup doesn't exceed bandwidth requirements), supports DisplayPort 1.4/HBR3 source systems, which won't help with your current system but which might be good for futureproofing, and it also includes a USB-C power passthrough port, so if you ever want to run your system from a USB-C power source, you can do that while continuing to use it for display output.

Thanks. From some experimentation it appears it's the VGA and USB-C ports that are mutually exclusive, so I've also got a HDMI-> DVI cable in the post to sort the portrait monitor out as well. Should all get here tomorrow, fingers crossed!

Thanks again for your help! I shall report back...

@RobWilliamsScotland  Glad I could help.  Yes, the product you found is the same idea.  I'm not familiar with that specific product or vendor, but that should get the job done!