MBA M2: The Two-Display-Question

[learjet]

As the MBA M2 comes at a more affordable price and is more portable than the MBP 14'' (with M2/M3 Pro CPUs), and since I don't require the extra features offered by the MBP, the only factor hindering my decision to purchase the MBA is its limitation in supporting only one external display.

Hence, my inquiry is as follows: How does DisplayLink compare to native display support? Are there pure hardware-based options for connecting additional external displays available, or is the installation of drivers/software (which might break over time) always necessary? Is there noticeable additional latency or graphics distortions (due to compression), particularly when dealing with 4k or higher resolutions?

Are there any other drawbacks associated with DisplayLink solutions? If anyone has experience using DisplayLink, could you please provide insights into real-world usage? Thank you!

 

[iStorm]

I've got an M3 Pro MBP and my IT department gave me a HyperDrive Dual 4K HDMI 10-in-1 USB-C Hub for me to connect my two 1080p HDMI monitors. It works, but I'm not exactly thrilled about it...mainly because my Mac is capable of supporting two external monitors natively and feels like they are dumbing my Mac down. (Note: This one uses Silicon Motion's InstantView, but it works the same way as DisplayLink from my understanding.)

My main observations are:

• It mounts a read-only drive containing the installation software every time it's plugged in. Not a huge deal, but I'd rather not have it do this. I'm sure this doesn't apply to every adapter/hub out there though.
• For InstantView/DisplayLink to work, it needs the "Screen & System Audio Recording" permission in macOS.
  • My menu bar always has an icon indicating that my screen is being shared or captured.
    • It can be a bit confusing when I'm in a meeting and need to do some screen sharing. Did I share my screen correctly? Did I stop sharing my screen correctly? I dunno...the icon is always there no matter what (have to click it to see more details).
  • The Lock Screen will also say that your screen is being observed.
    • Because of the screen capturing on the Lock Screen, unlocking with Apple Watch does not work. The software does provide an option to fix this though, but I don't know what it does in the background to make it work again.
• Once in a while it'll be a bit laggy and show compression artifacts, maybe once a week or so...tends to be after watching a video or from the Lock Screen background animation Sonoma has. (Keep in mind I'm using a 1080p monitor and an M3 Pro, which is a less demanding display and more powerful chip than 4K & M2.)
  • Most of the time it'll catch up and look clear again, but sometimes I need to disconnect/reconnect or restart the software.
• Some solid colored text and icons/images (like a blue hyperlink or the user monogram/profile icons on this site) are pixelated for whatever reason I cannot understand when everything else looks fine. It's not because of my 1080p monitor because they look fine on my other monitor using native display support.

Overall, it's really not that bad. I would probably be happy with this if I had an MBA since it's pretty much the only solution out there. There are no hardware-based solutions that I'm aware of. Since I have an M3 Pro, I plan on just buying my own thunderbolt dock for a better experience using both external displays natively.

 

[styymy]

DisplayLink has two components - a software driver installed on your computer and a hardware chip in the dock or adapter. The software driver presents itself as one or more displays to the computer. The computer sends pixel data to the software driver, which then compresses the data and sends it over USB. The DisplayLink chip decompresses the data and sends the display signal to the (real) display.

On the drawbacks, for instance, an uncompressed 4K60 video signal requires 12 Gbps of bandwidth. The latest DisplayLink chips run over USB 3.0 which has a bandwidth of 5 Gbps. Even a single 4K signal is too big, let alone multiple displays. This is why DisplayLink needs to compress the captured screen.

For desktop browsing, email, software development, and other general computer tasks where the display doesn’t change much from frame to frame, DisplayLink compression can be very efficient and is unlikely to be noticeable.

Of course monitor specs play a big part as well.

You can read more information here:

How Does DisplayLink Work? | Synaptics

What is DisplayLink? How Does it Work? Corporate Benefits Corporate Downloads How Does It Work? The

www.synaptics.com

On my M2 Pro 14" MacbookPro, this is what I use from time to time and have no complaints:

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI 4K DisplayLink Video Graphics Adapter for Multiple Monitors up to 3840x2160 Supports Windows, Mac, and ChromeOS

MULTIPLE DISPLAYS—Connect multiple USB 3.0 display adapters to your computer to expand your screen space with up to 6 additional 3840x2160 HDMI displays (one 4K display per adapter) BOOST PRODUCTIVITY—Maximize your productivity and workspace. With multiple displays, you’re able to get more done i...

shorturl.at

However I just use two of these most of the time:

USB-C to HDMI Adapter 4K, ITANDA USB 3.1 Type C Male (Thunderbolt 3 Compatible) to HDMI Female 4K for The 2016 17 18 MacBook Pro, 2017 iMac, ChromeBook Pixel (Grey-2 Pack)

USB-C to HDMI Adapter 4K, ITANDA USB 3.1 Type C Male (Thunderbolt 3 Compatible) to HDMI Female 4K for The 2016 17 18 MacBook Pro, 2017 iMac, ChromeBook Pixel (Grey-2 Pack)

shorturl.at

 

[iStorm]

On my M2 14" MacbookPro, this is what I use from time to time and have no complaints:

Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI 4K DisplayLink Video Graphics Adapter for Multiple Monitors up to 3840x2160 Supports Windows, Mac, and ChromeOS

MULTIPLE DISPLAYS—Connect multiple USB 3.0 display adapters to your computer to expand your screen space with up to 6 additional 3840x2160 HDMI displays (one 4K display per adapter) BOOST PRODUCTIVITY—Maximize your productivity and workspace. With multiple displays, you’re able to get more done i...

shorturl.at

However I just use two of these most of the time:

USB-C to HDMI Adapter 4K, ITANDA USB 3.1 Type C Male (Thunderbolt 3 Compatible) to HDMI Female 4K for The 2016 17 18 MacBook Pro, 2017 iMac, ChromeBook Pixel (Grey-2 Pack)

USB-C to HDMI Adapter 4K, ITANDA USB 3.1 Type C Male (Thunderbolt 3 Compatible) to HDMI Female 4K for The 2016 17 18 MacBook Pro, 2017 iMac, ChromeBook Pixel (Grey-2 Pack)

shorturl.at

You must have an M2 Pro or M2 Max 14" MBP, right? There is no M2 14" MBP.

Just wanted to point that out in case someone sees you using an "M2" and two USB-C to HDMI adapters...which won't work with the base chip.

 

[jdb8167]

I've got an M3 Pro MBP and my IT department gave me a HyperDrive Dual 4K HDMI 10-in-1 USB-C Hub for me to connect my two 1080p HDMI monitors. It works, but I'm not exactly thrilled about it...mainly because my Mac is capable of supporting two external monitors natively and feels like they are dumbing my Mac down. (Note: This one uses Silicon Motion's InstantView, but it works the same way as DisplayLink from my understanding.)

My main observations are:

• It mounts a read-only drive containing the installation software every time it's plugged in. Not a huge deal, but I'd rather not have it do this. I'm sure this doesn't apply to every adapter/hub out there though.
• For InstantView/DisplayLink to work, it needs the "Screen & System Audio Recording" permission in macOS.
  • My menu bar always has an icon indicating that my screen is being shared or captured.
    • It can be a bit confusing when I'm in a meeting and need to do some screen sharing. Did I share my screen correctly? Did I stop sharing my screen correctly? I dunno...the icon is always there no matter what (have to click it to see more details).
  • The Lock Screen will also say that your screen is being observed.
    • Because of the screen capturing on the Lock Screen, unlocking with Apple Watch does not work. The software does provide an option to fix this though, but I don't know what it does in the background to make it work again.
• Once in a while it'll be a bit laggy and show compression artifacts, maybe once a week or so...tends to be after watching a video or from the Lock Screen background animation Sonoma has. (Keep in mind I'm using a 1080p monitor and an M3 Pro, which is a less demanding display and more powerful chip than 4K & M2.)
  • Most of the time it'll catch up and look clear again, but sometimes I need to disconnect/reconnect or restart the software.
• Some solid colored text and icons/images (like a blue hyperlink or the user monogram/profile icons on this site) are pixelated for whatever reason I cannot understand when everything else looks fine. It's not because of my 1080p monitor because they look fine on my other monitor using native display support.

Overall, it's really not that bad. I would probably be happy with this if I had an MBA since it's pretty much the only solution out there. There are no hardware-based solutions that I'm aware of. Since I have an M3 Pro, I plan on just buying my own thunderbolt dock for a better experience using both external displays natively.

If you use DRM encumbered video streaming you won’t be able to use it while the Display Link display is connected. For business no big deal but home use it is pretty annoying.

 

[styymy]

You must have an M2 Pro or M2 Max 14" MBP, right? There is no M2 14" MBP.

Just wanted to point that out in case someone sees you using an "M2" and two USB-C to HDMI adapters...which won't work with the base chip.

You're correct, my mistake, it's M2 Pro 14" MBP.

 

[pdxrevolution]

As the MBA M2 comes at a more affordable price and is more portable than the MBP 14'' (with M2/M3 Pro CPUs), and since I don't require the extra features offered by the MBP, the only factor hindering my decision to purchase the MBA is its limitation in supporting only one external display.

Hence, my inquiry is as follows: How does DisplayLink compare to native display support? Are there pure hardware-based options for connecting additional external displays available, or is the installation of drivers/software (which might break over time) always necessary? Is there noticeable additional latency or graphics distortions (due to compression), particularly when dealing with 4k or higher resolutions?

Are there any other drawbacks associated with DisplayLink solutions? If anyone has experience using DisplayLink, could you please provide insights into real-world usage? Thank you!

This question has been asked and answered 100 times. DisplayLink is garbage. It's fine if you're going to have a spreadsheet up on it all day, but not for anything else. If you try to play a game or watch a video, or heck, scroll quickly through a web page, I don't think you'll enjoy it.

 

[iStorm]

If you use DRM encumbered video streaming you won’t be able to use it while the Display Link display is connected. For business no big deal but home use it is pretty annoying.

Oh yeah, I’ve run into this when streaming and had to disconnect the display. Thanks for the reminder, I knew I was forgetting something! Forgot a few things, actually...

Here's a couple more that just came to mind:

• The software-based display doesn't support True Tone and Night Shift. I had to disable True Tone on my Mac in order to have all my displays look the same. Can't use Night Shift either because one display will remain normal/bright, unless I disconnect it.
• The hub I received supports dual 4K displays, but the second one is limited to 30Hz. It looks like others do support 60Hz for both displays, so pay attention to the specs if you go this route. Luckily this doesn't affect me since I'm still using 1080p, but would have been an annoyance if I had 4K displays.