Need Help Looking for a Suitable Kvm/ Display Switch (triple monitor setup)

slowmo on 05/05/2022 - 09:13

I have 3 x Dell U2414H wired up in a DP->miniDP daisy chain (MST), ending monitor has a mini-DP->usb-c wire that is currently manually swapped between a surface dock and a dell laptop. while another full sized DP port goes to a desktop.

are there any display switches out there that I could use? I can mostly see HDMI ones, or 2 port ones that support MST/displayport alt mode. The 4 ports or more ones doesn't seem to.

things to consider:
1) possible EDID emulation (or lack there of) issues, as the 3 machines do not lose their display states each time i swap screens
2) I'm okay with buying a full KVM and not using the keyboard/mouse/audio feature as I've spent a week looking and asking the presales tech support of a few brands and i don't seem to get anywhere.
3) I am okay that the interfaces change to just full sized DP, I have enough adapters to work around that, I would like to retain the daisy chain as much as possible to reduce wire clutter on my desk.

thanks!

Computing

Comments

  • toomuchdogfur on 05/05/2022 - 14:50
    +1

    https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-display-port-kvm-s…

    There's a few other neat KVMs on there that might interest you. This is the closest I've seen though to KVMs accounting for more niche setups (or at least what the market thinks is niche).

  • toomuchdogfur on 05/05/2022 - 14:59
    +1

    Also, I'm aware this isn't the question you asked… but I had a very similar situation to you (3 x Dell U2412) and after going through many setup iterations, eventually settled on a Philips 439P9H1 as:

    • Inbuilt KVM with 2 x USB-C inputs + DP + HDMI - also with 75W PD on USB-C 1, so perfect for a laptop + desktop + other setup
    • As neat as cabling can get - just run power and one USB-C cable per device to the monitor (my desktop has an RTX 2080 with the old VirtualLink USB-C port which transmits a DP signal + USB)
    • 3840 x 1200 is technically only 2 monitors worth of resolution, but I found it sufficient as you can divide your screen into three and still have enough width for most applications (for work at least)

    There's also the big boy 49" version with 5120 x 1440, but you lose the second USB-C port in favour of another DP port. Might still work for you though!

  • slowmo on 06/05/2022 - 10:31
    +1

    thanks for the info @toomuchdogfur , I'll have a look at those options. at this moment, I'm happy to take any info as I ran out of ideas/iterations. I didn't realise triple monitor setups are that rare when it comes to multiple machines. I was even thinking about 3+1 lol.

  • Flirtle on 09/05/2022 - 06:38

    Is using remote desktop applicable to you?
    Definitely keeps the desktop state.

    • slowmo on 09/05/2022 - 08:55

      Hi,
      remote desktop isn't, unfortunately. The machines are all on different isolated networks.

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