Features

• Connect up to six monitors to any brand of laptop or desktop (one adapter required per monitor)
• Adds plug and play, extensible USB 2.0 connectivity to any VGA, DVI, or HDMI monitor or projector
• Uses the top-of-the-line DisplayLink DL-195 chip, supports resolutions up to 2048×1152 (Analog VGA up to 1920×1080)
• Supports rotation to portrait mode for full-page editing (requires monitor stand that can rotate)
• Windows 7/Vista/XP drivers installed automatically via Windows Update (Internet connection required); Latest Windows 8 drivers available via download
• Mac OS X versions 10.8.3, 10.7.5 supported with some limitations.
• Linux configuration for advanced users only

Product Description

This adapter allows a standard VGA, DVI, or HDMI monitor to be connected via a standard USB 2.0 connection. Up to six adapters supported per PC. The virtual USB graphics driver extends or mirrors your desktop. Displays are configured using the standard Windows or Mac display control panels.

Package includes a USB 2.0 cable, DVI->VGA, and DVI->HDMI passive hardware adapters. No power is needed – power is provided by USB (adapter has LED indicator light). No fan – solution is very low power and completely silent.

Analog VGA connections support up to 1920×1080 and digital DVI connections up to 2048×1152. All standard monitor modes up to the maximum resolution can be set by the device.

Multiple Displays

We often hear customers say “After using multiple monitors, I can’t go back!”. If you’re doing information work — looking at one document while editing another, researching, or generally working on several things at once — it’s indispensable.

Simply drag windows back and forth to make use of all the extra Windows desktop space.

Plugable USB graphics adapters fully support rotation — turn one or both screens to show documents in gorgeous full-page layout (with a monitor stand that’s capable of rotation).

A common setup is to create a beautifully symmetric yet flexible 3 display desktop, combining your laptop display with 2 extra monitors on either side with your laptop’s external graphics port + one Plugable adapter, or with two Plugable adapters to allow easy USB dock/undock.

Included in the package

Hardware Requirements
Dual Core Intel CPU 2GHz or better. For Windows, the GPU should be Intel, nVidia, or ATI


Resolutions Supported
The hardware is capable of supporting nearly arbitrary resolutions, up to its limit of 2048×1152. VESA standard and widescreen resolutions are supported by most software, including: 1920×1080, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900. 1400×1050, 1280×1024, 1280×768, 1280×720, 1152×864, 1024×768, 800×600, 640×480 For all resolutions, the display is refreshed at 60Hz, and the hardware is capable of 16, and 32bpp color depths. Some operating systems require specific depths, like 32bpp for Windows Aero support.

Supported Operating Systems
This device only works with computers running the following operating systems:

• Windows 8 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or 2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows XP Home or Professional (including Tablet edition) with Service Pack 2 or 3 (no 64-bit support)
• Windows Server 2003, 2008 and 2008 R2
• Mac OS X 10.8.3, 10.7.5 with some limitations. Please note: Macs do not currently support audio via USB 3.0.

Operating System and Drive Details
WINDOWS VERSION COMPATIBILITY:
Drivers are provided automatically via the Microsoft Windows Update mechanism with approved drivers across for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 and Windows 8. 64-bit and full Aero support on Vista and Windows 7. Windows XP 64-bit not supported. Note that Microsoft limits multiple display support in Windows 7 “Starter” Edition and Windows Vista “Home Basic” Edition to mirroring screens. Even though drivers are provided automatically, we recommend visiting the Plugable driver webpage for the most recent drivers and other information.

For Server 2008 (32 and 64-bit) and Server 2008 R2 (64-bit), drivers are not provided through Windows Update. To function, Aero theme must be enabled (which is not the default), and a WDDM capable primary graphics driver installed (some server hardware comes with low-end graphics hardware like Matrox GPUs, which do not support WDDM). To insure everything is in place, the Windows built-in Aero troubleshooter should run without issues. Once it does, download and install DisplayLink drivers .

MAC VERSION COMPATIBILITY:
Up to 4 DisplayLink devices can be used with a Mac.
Only Mac OS X version 10.8.3 Mountain Lion and 10.7.5 Lion are supported for this device. Update your Mac if necessary, and download the driver at http://www.displaylink.com/support/sla.php?fileid=87. There are some limitations due to issues in the operating system: This driver does not support 3D acceleration. Some features of Mac OS X-based applications that require hardware OpenGL acceleration, such as Keynote presentations and iPhoto slideshows, will not function properly.

LINUX COMPATIBILITY:
As of Linux kernel 2.6.31, this adapter has open source drivers in the kernel staging tree. As of 2.6.38, the driver was promoted to the main kernel tree. Configuration of X Windows for USB displays is still distribution and scenario dependent, however, and only for very adventurous users. Plugable is involved with Linux development work, see http://plugable.com/category/platform/linux/ for details.

HDMI

The HDMI standard is built on DVI. This enables conversion from DVI to HDMI 1.0 with a simple, physical, passive adapter like the one included with the UGA-2K-A. HDMI routed through DVI does not include audio signals, and does not support HDMI content protection. It is suitable for displaying applications on a HDMI monitor and some TVs. It is not for Blu-Ray quality video playback.

HDMI TV Compatibility

Most, but not all, TVs are also compatible. The exceptions are TVs that don’t support EDID (which communicates monitor capabilities to the PC) or which require specific higher versions of the HDMI spec, beyond 1.0. Many TVs that have a VGA port in addition to HDMI, assume that computers will use VGA for connectivity rather than HDMI, provide the best results with VGA.

Performance Tuning

A USB graphics adapter is a “virtual” device that uses your machine’s CPU and memory to render graphics. It then transfers just the pixels that change over the USB 2.0 cable to the device. The screen itself is refreshed continually (60 times a second) by hardware over the monitor’s own cable, from memory on the device.

• When nothing on a USB screen is changing, the PC is doing little or no work and nothing is going over USB. Meanwhile, the screen continues to refresh directly from the device.
• However, when most pixels on the screen is changing, your CPU is doing the heavy lifting, and also the (480Mbs) USB 2.0 bus can become a bottleneck. You may start to notice lags in mouse or window movements.

If you’re experiencing slowness or latency on your USB display:

• Reduce your screen resolution with the operating system display control panel.
• Play 3D games and videos on your primary (non-USB) screen.

By reducing the amount of data that needs to be compressed and sent over USB, you’ll increase responsiveness.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the green LED indicate?

The green LED on the adapter indicates that both the hardware and the software involved in the functioning of this device is working properly. It remains steady when nothing is changing on the screen and blinks when data is transferred through the adapter.

The green LED on the adapter does not light up when:
1) The unit does not receive enough power because it is plugged into a port that does not provide the required 500mA of power or because of a failing USB Cable
2) Display to that monitor is disabled
3) The driver is not installed or is corrupted
4) The unit itself has failed.

 

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