I have a dell latitude 7424 rugged notebook. It has one hdmi port going out for display. I want to extend this display to 2 external monitors in extended mode(not just duplicate same laptop screen on both monitors). Basically I want to close the laptop display or tilt it down and work on the dual monitor display. The monitors have VGA and DVI ports only(No DP) and I have 2 HDMI to VGA cables too.
- I searched for HDMI to dual HDMI splitter but found out that it will only duplicate the display on both screens. Is this true?
- Another option is to connect hdmi to vga splitter and then use(buy) a vga to dual vga splitter to connect to both monitors.
- A third option will be to use the usb type c port on the laptop using a usb c to vga converter(which also I'll have to buy) in one monitor and hdmi to vga to the other monitor.
Is there any other way to get this setup to work? Are there flaws in the above approaches and which one would work best?
1 Answer
Your setup is feasible, but not using a HDMI -> VGA cable. Unless its a powered (active) adapter, this doesn't work.
The best way to achieve your setup is to use an HDMI to DVI adapter for the main monitor. Choose the one with the highest resolution for example:
Connect an HDMI cable from your laptop towards this adapter connected directly on the monitor. This works with every single DVI monitor I've seen.
For the second monitor, you will have to use a USB to DVI/HDMI adapter:
This isn't the fastest solution, so this monitor wont be useful for gaming, but enough for browsing and apps like Skype, Discord, etc. If you choose an USB to HDMI adaptor, you will need another DVI/HDMI adapter as pictured above.
Once you've connected both monitors, you can then choose to make the primary monitor as your Main Display.You should also choose to make it so that the lid doesn't do anything in the Power Settings. Go to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\ and choose what the lid does.
