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Old 10-20-2021, 12:08 PM   #1
jupiterbee
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 2
Default 10 vs 5 Gbit/s connection: how much of a compromise?

Just joined the forum. I've been a DisplayLink user for a year, and been happy with it. I was wondering, how much of a real-world difference does it make, if I connect the dock to a 5 Gbit/s or a 10 Gbit/s USB-C port?

I've got a TB3 monitor which offers 5 Gbit/s USB-C ports. DisplayLink works fine on those. Alternatively, I could connect the dock directly to the Mac, giving it 10 Gbit/s. But then I have to connect two cables instead of one when docking and undocking. Fewer would be better.

1. What kind of differences, and under what conditions, should I expect between these two choices? Obviously "more bandwidth is better" in a general sense. But frankly, I don't see much of a difference. But are there specific example scenarios and workloads in which it starts to matter?

2. What kind of Gbit/s bandwidth does two 1080p 60 Hz monitors require from the video signal alone? What about 2x 4k at 60 Hz? I'm wondering how much is then left for Ethernet and possibly a USB drive attached to the dock.

3. What are the symptoms of the bandwidth getting saturated? Does DisplayLink lose frames, or quality, or both, when it has to work around degraded conditions?

Overall, I'm wondering, what it actually is that moves in that cable. I bet it's not a regular video signal, otherwise why have a DisplayLink chip inside the dock. What kind of wizardy does the chip actually do, if you don't mind me asking?

All that said, I'm constantly surprised how well this solution works. Using a Lenovo dock from 2018-2019.

Last edited by jupiterbee; 10-20-2021 at 12:10 PM.
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