Thunderbolt

Daisy-chaining display monitors is one of the best ways to increase your productivity. Instead of having to find and position a second monitor, you can simply connect it to another display that’s already in place; much like how phone chargers are daisy-chained together.

Unfortunately, the majority of people who’ve tried daisy-chaining monitors with DisplayPort have either failed or only allowed them to use the monitor as part of a “chain.” So, the question still going around is whether you can daisy chain monitors with DisplayPort?

As a general guide, monitors with Displayport can be daisy-chained. They must have a GPU that can support Displayport 1.2multi-streaming transport capabilities and the monitor’s Displayport being daisy-chained must have Thunderbolt.

Otherwise, you can daisy-chain two monitors with Displayport 1.2 by plugging the first monitor’s Displayport to DVI adapter into the second monitor. The advantage of this method is that you don’t need a special graphics card or Thunderbolt enabled Mac. Just make sure your Mac has one free DisplayPort if it doesn’t have a Thunderbolt port.

In fact, there are a lot of products on the market that allow you to daisy-chain monitors with Displayport. For example, StarTech’s 40 Gbps USB 3.1 Type-C Cable with Thunderbolt support allows users to connect two 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth.

Though it is important to note that the graphic card should support multi-stream transport (MST) capabilities, which allows you to daisy chain monitors with Displayport.

This feature also enables advanced display features like driving multiple monitors in clone mode or extending your desktop to create one large virtual workspace.The last thing you want is to get the wrong product and no one wants to spend money on products that won’t work.

So, what should you do if your monitor doesn’t support Thunderbolt or multiple-stream transport? You can purchase a hardware or software solution which will allow you to daisy chain monitors with Displayport via USB 3.0. There are also options to daisy chain monitors with Displayport via Thunderbolt.

The good news is that not all hope is lost, especially if you still have a Mini DisplayPort or Mini Dock DisplayPort. You can purchase an adapter to convert the Multiport into a single-stream Multiport.

When purchasing daisy chain monitors with Displayport products, be sure to confirm whether your computer supports Multi-stream transport. If you’re not sure, just ask your dealer and they’ll be able to tell you if the product you want will work on your machine.

Overall, Daisy-chaining display monitors with DisplayPort is generally possible. From the four methods above, it is safe to say that you can daisy chain monitors with DisplayPort.

You should be sure of what you want to achieve, the best way of achieving your goal and which products are compatible with your machine before making your purchase. Keep in mind that not all devices are Thunderbolt enabled so you might have to get an adapter.

There are also a number of products on the market that allow users to daisy-chain monitors with Displayport that support Multi-stream transport capabilities.

All this means is that if your monitor doesn’t support Thunderbolt or multiple-stream transport, you can purchase a hardware or software solution which will allow you to daisy-chain monitors with Displayport.

You can also just purchase an adapter which converts your Multiport into a single-stream Multiport. You may have to get the help of a dealer since not all devices support Thunderbolt or Multi-stream transport capabilities.

Since you now know that it is possible to daisy chain monitors with Displayport, what are you waiting for? Purchase your daisy-chain monitor product today.

This way, you will enjoy advanced display features like driving multiple monitors in clone mode or extending your desktop to create one large virtual workspace.

Here is a list of the best products on the market that allow users to daisy chain monitors with Displayport. They are also the best products on the market for daisy chaining monitors with Displayport compatible with Multi-stream transport capabilities.

StarTech 40 Gbps USB 3.1 Type-C Cable w/Thunderbolt support StarTech Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter Cable.

The Startech MST Hub allows users to connect two 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth. If you are an avid users looking to connect two 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth, then this daisy-chain monitor product is the right for you.

The 4K Mini DisplayPort 1.2 Splitter Cable

The 4K Mini DisplayPort 1.2 Splitter Cable enables users to connect two 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth simultaneously.

If you are looking for an option that will allow you to daisy chain monitors with Displayport, the 4K Mini DisplayPort 1.2 Splitter Cable is an option worth considering.

The MST Hub allows you to daisy chain up to three 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth or daisy chain three WQXGA displays at 60Hz, all with just a single DisplayPort cable connection.

Overall, this is a great daisy chain monitor product for users looking to connect multiple 4K/UHD displays at up to 60Hz while maintaining excellent resolution and color depth.

The Samsung U28E590D UHD Monitor 28″ 3840×2160 supports Picture-by-Picture which makes it one of the best daisy chain monitor products on the market.

If you are in need of a daisy-chain monitor product with excellent resolution and color depth, the Samsung U28E590D 4K Monitor is an option worth considering.

This product is compatible with Thunderbolt-enabled computers only using one Multi-stream cable. It’s plug-and-play for Macs and has no software to install making it one of the easiest daisy chain monitor products on the market.

This means that there is no driver installation needed which makes this product easy to use for beginners.

Conclusion

As a general rule, only monitors with DisplayPort v1. 2 or Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained. Your monitors must have a GPU that supports DisplayPort 1.2 MST (also known as “multi-stream transport”), which allows daisy-chaining between DisplayPort ports.

It is possible to daisy chain monitors with Displayport. All you have to do is know what products are compatible with Multi-stream transport capabilities, purchase them and connect your monitor in clone mode or extend your desktop so that you create one large virtual workspace.

Being able to daisy-chain multiple monitors is one thing, but the question most people have is How many monitors can you daisy chain with DisplayPort?

As a general guide, you can connect up to 6 monitors or more off of a single DisplayPort on your graphics card. The challenge for daisy-chaining multiple monitors is the complications that arise when you mix and match different models and brands of monitors in your daisy chain.

For example, connecting 3 Acer monitors vs 3 Asus monitors or Dell Ultrasharp U3011 vs Samsung S27A950D will produce variable results; either they will all work or none of them will work.

In order to reduce the risk of issues in your multi-monitor daisy-chaining, using the exact same models of display(s) is recommended.

This is more of a precautionary measure, because if one monitor fails in your chain of monitors it will cascade down and affect the remaining monitors causing even more complications.

The way that you connect the monitors via daisy-chaining also plays into what works or doesn’t work. You can live plug the DisplayPort cables in a daisy-chain, but this is not recommended as the loose cables could likely cause damage to the DisplayPort port on your graphics card.

Using a simple DisplayPort hub or switch will reduce the risk of potentially damaging your graphics card, but also prevents you from using your display’s built-in USB hub that may be available.

If your video card does not have enough DisplayPorts to daisy chain all of your desired monitors then you must consider a hub that converts a single DisplayPort into several others, such as this 8-port DisplayPort hub on Amazon.

Another consideration for daisy-chaining is that you should not be mixing and matching who makes the monitor and whose video card that you are using. For example, it would not be recommended to pair an AMD Radeon video cards with an Nvidia Quadro display.

The reason for this is due to their differing DisplayPort implementations.

For example, if you were to buy a Quadro display and an AMD Radeon video card with only 2 DisplayPort connections, then you would be able to use it, but with slightly reduced features, such as a reduction in the available color depth or refresh rate that the monitor is capable of. This issue typically does not arise in consumer graphics cards.

Can a single DisplayPort support multiple monitors?

When you have a single DisplayPort, it can be hard to understand how it can work with multiple monitors. No wonder many folks often ask if a single DisplayPort can support multiple monitors?

As a general guide, a single DisplayPort can support multiple monitors a daisy chain setup using a series of DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport ( MST ) hubs .

In this setup you have one primary monitor and a secondary display, or multiple secondary displays. The challenge with running multiple monitors from a single DisplayPort is the challenges that arise when trying to mix different brands and models of screens in your daisy chain.

With a series of MST hubs, these issues are avoided by having the individual screens talk to each other through their DisplayPort connections on the hub. This setup works because it makes each screen think that they are in charge of deciding what needs to be displayed.

The only downside to this solution is that it does not work if your monitors have built-in USB connections.

What about using a DisplayPort KVM switch?

A DisplayPort KVM switch allows you to connect both your PC and laptop with one keyboard, monitor and mouse.

Using a DP daisy chain with a KVM switch seems like an ideal option because then the most popular feature of this type of switch, being able to share the keyboard and mouse, would also work for multiple monitors.

Unfortunately, this is not currently possible with this type of switch.

There are 2 reasons why using a KVM with your multi-monitor setup will not work: 1. Not all DisplayPort switches have enough bandwidth to handle 3+ monitors. Some only can work with more than one monitor, but there are some limitations to this.

It is possible that you will have issues if you mix and match who makes the monitors that are plugged into your DisplayPort on your graphics card or if you use a hub to convert that DisplayPort into several others.

2. The current DP KVMs that are available cannot handle the advanced MST technology that is required to support multiple monitors through a single DisplayPort .

Currently, there are no DP KVM switches that are currently able to work with multi-monitor setups where each monitor has different resolutions or refresh rates.

When shopping for a DisplayPort hub, make sure the monitor compatibility is the same brand. For example, if you were to use an HP ZR30w with 2 Dell U2312HM monitors then this will work fine as both are made by Dell and use the same MST technology , but it would not be possible to mix an HP ZR30w with a Dell U2412M because they use different MST technologies and would require their own hub.

As long as you do not mix and match monitors when daisy-chaining, then you will be fine using a DisplayPort KVM switch with your standards compliant monitor setup.

The biggest benefit of this solution is that the price of these switches are coming down, making them more affordable for home users.

A couple of years ago they were very expensive and only available to businesses, but now there are some options that are starting to mix and match the brands of your monitor and graphics card when using a multi-monitor setup.

Mixing and matching between brands, for example using an HP monitor with a Dell graphics card or vice versa, will often work fine but with limitations to how many monitors you can have in your daisy chain as the maximum resolution or refresh rate of each monitor.

In some cases, this solution has been known to work when you mix and match monitors from different brands in a single setup by forcing the monitor’s EDID to a default mode.

This is not always guaranteed to work but can be worth trying before going out and buying all new equipment for your multi-monitor setup.

You can force the EDID on your monitor by using a program such as DVITest and selecting the first option.

There is no easy solution to this problem but following the guidelines above will ensure that you will not run into issues when mixing and matching monitors from different brands for your multi-monitor PC setup.

While the article refers to the Dell U2711 display it may be worth looking at other DP 1.2 compliant displays if you are on a.

This is because these manufacturers use similar technologies when making their products.

It is always best to stick with the same brand of monitors on your DisplayPort KVM switch . If you are mixing and matching one of your screens is of a different brand or has unsupported resolutions then read on for some more solutions.

These problems can often be fixed by adding an active DisplayPort to HDMI converter into the mix, but this is not always guaranteed.

The first issue that may arise is that you will lose audio and/or video capabilities when using this solution as there are no standards to allow this.

The next issue is that not all HDMI monitors can display the same resolutions as your other screens depending on the type of converter you are using.

While most converters have an abundance of options, it is often very expensive for home users and may also require a power source if it does not use USB.

Conclusion

In general, you can connect up to six monitors or more to a single DisplayPort port on your graphics card. The complications that arise when you mix and match different models and brands of monitors in your daisy chain pose a challenge for daisy-chaining multiple monitors. Hope this information will be useful for you.