Have you ever bought a docking station and wondered why only one of your monitors works when it advertises three monitors, or maybe all the monitors showed the same image when you wanted different images on all of the displays? This guide will help better understand why that happens and how to avoid it.
j5create offers a variety of docking stations that can connect one or more monitors to your computer, but the technology used to achieve this varies from product to product. Thunderbolt 4 and 5, USB4, Multi-Stream Transport (MST), DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP Alt Mode), and Trigger Graphics are the different technologies that make our docking stations function.
-
DP Alt Mode – Allows you to mirror or extend your 1 monitor similar to Trigger, but driver installation is not needed, it is purely plug and play if your laptop supports DP Alt Mode. This is often used with Trigger, MST, USB4, and Thunderbolt docks to allow multiple displays. Very versatile technology that also works with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and Apple mobile tablets and smartphones, and Chrome OS devices such as Chromebooks.
Example DP Alt Mode models: JCC153G, JCA153G -
Trigger – Requires a driver to be installed, allows multiple monitors even on MacBook models that normally only support 1 external monitors. All the monitors will show different content, so no monitors stuck in mirroring mode! The computer must support Windows or macOS.
Example j5create Trigger models: JCD543, JCD543P -
MST – Primarily supported on Windows computers and more recently Chrome OS computers, docking stations. Allow multiple mirrored or extended monitors to connect to your laptop. A driver install is not needed, so products that use this are plug and play. macOS currently does not support MST so it will only mirror the displays.
Example j5create MST models: JCD397 -
USB4 – Allows for 2 mirrored or extended 4K monitors to connect, no driver installation is required, this is a plug and play technology. A computer must support USB4 in order USB4 products to function, Thunderbolt 4 and 5 laptops are also compatible.
Example j5create USB4 models: JCD401 -
Thunderbolt 4 – Similar to USB4, Thunderbolt 4 will allow you to connect 2 mirror extended 4K monitors, no driver installation is required. Thunderbolt 4 docks are compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and 5 laptops.
Example j5create TB4 models: JTD562 - Thunderbolt 5 – Offer 2 to 3 times more bandwidth than Thunderbolt 4 allowing for triple 4K144 monitors to connect to your laptop. Like Thunderbolt 4 the technology is plug and play. A Thunderbolt 5 computer is recommended for full combability.
Products that use a combination of these technologies:
After reading this guide you should have a better understanding of which of our docking stations best suit your needs. If you have any questions, please reach out to our customer support team who can assist you with finding the right product for your needs.
