Dual Monitor Setup?

paulyjustin · 31 Aug 2018

I have a dell xps 9550 laptop that i connect to an external monitor as my primary monitor. Its syncmaster t240 hd and its 24' and 1920 x 1200 resolution. I have an old asus 24' monitor that a while back no longer worked... it stopped working and i brought it to a few repair shops and they said it no longer works.

I recently turned it on and surprisingly works. i connected it to my laptop via hdmi to hdmi cable and it works just like it would with my samsung syncmaster.

This is the asus 24 monitor i have that is 1920 1200 resolution.

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VS24AH-P...itor+1920x1200

I want to be able to do dual monitor. Currently my laptop screen is extended to my primary monitor and i use it for youtube etc but do everything on big screen.

I only have one hdmi port on my dell laptop. So how do i do dual monitor setup? Also i assume i could do triple monitor setup with my laptop screen as the 3rd screen? I rarely would use that one though. I want to use 2 of these monitors i have and be able to drag things from one monitor to another.

The other thing though i notice is when i connected hdmi to hdmi from laptop to asus, there is no sound at all. I think this possible is due to it being damaged from a while back? Again, back then monitor completely stopped working. But now it worked. How do i fix the sound if i could? If i can't fix it, could i still use it as a 2nd monitor with the samsung syncmaster monitor as my primary monitor? Also this asus monitor has like dark spots throughout the screen. I used a wet one to wipe the screen but apparently those dark marks are inside the screen it seems. I googled and apparently this is water inside that caused it? That isn't that big of an issue but there are lot of these spots. But i want to be able to use a dual monitor setup. And if the sound doesn't work on this asus monitor, would the sound work when im using a dual monitor setup where i make the samsung the primary screen?

What do i need to buy to do this. I have one hdmi cable. I also have a vga to vga cable and hdmi to vga cable that came along with the asus monitor.

Thanks.

badrobot · 01 Sep 2018

1. Regarding audio, you should be able to manually select any audio output that you would like to use (you may need to click the image below to see the animation),

2. for Dual Monitor, as long as you are not gonna use it to play games or watch video on it, your only option is a USB to HDMI adapter.

Link:

https://www.amazon.com/1080P-Graphic...ustomerReviews

paulyjustin · 01 Sep 2018

hi i clicked on that. It shows the asus monitor model. But thats all. There is no sound.

Im confused what you mean if not going to watch video on it? So usb to hdmi adapter is what i need? Is that the only option? Someone in another thread mentioned a usb-c to display port cable. So is that the same thing or different?

badrobot · 01 Sep 2018

You need to know what ports are available on your monitor. I am guessing that since it is an old monitor, it may not have a displayport. My best guess is HDMI (but you can also use DVI or VGA.... it's all up to you). Essentially they are the same except the interface (hdmi vs displayport and USB vs USB-C) is different.
It's not gonna be a good experience to watch a video coming from a USB. The speed will not be that good. It is only recommended for web browsing or creating documents. Use the other monitor to watch videos or play games if it is connected via HDMI.
Basically, if you want to do multi-monitor you should have a graphics card that allows multi-monitor connection (see image below). But since you are only using a laptop, a GPU is not an option. So, USB is your only solution.

paulyjustin · 01 Sep 2018

hi there. i connect current monitor the samsung to laptop via hdmi cable. It is good. The asus monitor i connected hdmi and it looks good. It also has vga as well.

im pretty sure my laptop has decent graphic card for this?

badrobot · 01 Sep 2018

paulyjustin said:

hi there. i connect current monitor the samsung to laptop via hdmi cable. It is good. The asus monitor i connected hdmi and it looks good. It also has vga as well.

im pretty sure my laptop has decent graphic card for this?

I am not saying your graphics card is bad. The problem is there is no way you can connect 2 monitors directly to your laptop's GPU. If you use a USB to run another monitor, the GPU has nothing to do with the video quality of the monitor connected via USB.
You should google up first how multi monitor works. When you do, you'll have better understanding of what you need and how you will go about it. Then you can ask questions to clarify things.
There are other factors to consider like passive or active adapter.

paulyjustin · 01 Sep 2018

hi there. Well its basically impossible to have 2 monitors directly connected to laptop right? Because there is usually only 1 hdmi port right?

Well i read in a thread that someone mentioned to buy the usb-c to displayport cable...

But you say to buy a usb to hdmi adapter. So i have 2 options... either that one or what you suggest correct?

badrobot · 01 Sep 2018

paulyjustin said:

hi there. Well its basically impossible to have 2 monitors directly connected to laptop right? Because there is usually only 1 hdmi port right?

Well i read in a thread that someone mentioned to buy the usb-c to displayport cable...

But you say to buy a usb to hdmi adapter. So i have 2 options... either that one or what you suggest correct?

If your laptop has a USB-C and your monitor has a displayport, then get that one. My suggestion is what kind of adapter that you will need. But it is up to you to check what type of ports are available on the hardware that you have. You can buy a usb-to-video adapter for any interface that the end-user have.

NavyLCDR · 01 Sep 2018

paulyjustin said:

hi there. Well its basically impossible to have 2 monitors directly connected to laptop right? Because there is usually only 1 hdmi port right?

Well i read in a thread that someone mentioned to buy the usb-c to displayport cable...

But you say to buy a usb to hdmi adapter. So i have 2 options... either that one or what you suggest correct?

Your Dell XPS 9550 laptop has a Thunderbolt 3 port. That will give you the best performance and should be what you use. Your monitors are HDMI from everything you have stated in your post. Thunderbolt 3 is also compatible with USB-C. So, for the best performance, with an HDMI port to be used with your existing monitor, you would want a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to HDMI adapter such as this:
https://www.amazon.com/ZMUIPNG-Adapt...bolt+3+to+hdmi

Notice that it will run up to 4K UHD resolution. On a standard HDMI monitor such as you have, I don't think you will notice any problems with video on the second monitor connected to it. However, I don't think that games which require 3D acceleration will work with any USB adapter, so you will have to use your primary monitor connected to the HDMI port on the laptop for games using 3D acceleration.

paulyjustin · 01 Sep 2018

Hi there. My laptop is dell xps 9550. It has 1 hdmi port that i currently use where i connect it from laptop to my samsung syncmaster monitor. It also has a thunderbolt port.

So i would get a thunderbolt to hdmi like this?

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...to%2Bhdmi&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...erbolt+to+hdmi