DisplayLink & Intel Collage

[AetherGhast]

Hello All,

Recently I have been using a very rag-tag triple monitor setup, (one DP, one HDMI, one DisplayDink) and have come across an issue when trying to run intel collage. The DisplayLink monitor does not get recognized by my primary graphics card's software (Intel HD Integrated Graphics 4600) and therefore I have no way of using the collage feature with it. Does anyone know how to make the software recognize it?

Thanks!

[JamesH]

Hi,

The Intel control panel isn't aware of the DisplayLink enabled device.

As such you won't be able to use this feature.

Thanks,
James

[qp6019352]

Originally Posted by JamesH

The Intel control panel isn't aware of the DisplayLink enabled device.

As such you won't be able to use this feature.

Is this still true with the new driver architecture that was introduced with Windows 10 1607?

[AlbanRampon]

Originally Posted by qp6019352

Is this still true with the new driver architecture that was introduced with Windows 10 1607?

With the new architecture, they could modify their application like in the past.
I don't believe they have done it though.

[qp6019352]

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

With the new architecture, they could modify their application like in the past.
I don't believe they have done it though.

Obviously, the best thing would be if Windows 10 would support "Collage" mode natively via the native Windows Display Settings.

Since you seem to have good connections to Microsoft, would there be any chance you could ask Microsoft to implement it?

A collage feature would certainly be useful for DisplayLink, since DisplayLink allows to connect so many monitors simultaneously.

It would also mean one would no longer have to buy AMD Eyefinity or NVIDIA Mosaic hardware for video walls, but could use DisplayLink hardware instead.

[AlbanRampon]

Originally Posted by qp6019352

Obviously, the best thing would be if Windows 10 would support "Collage" mode natively via the native Windows Display Settings.

Since you seem to have good connections to Microsoft, would there be any chance you could ask Microsoft to implement it?

A collage feature would certainly be useful for DisplayLink, since DisplayLink allows to connect so many monitors simultaneously.

It would also mean one would no longer have to buy AMD Eyefinity or NVIDIA Mosaic hardware for video walls, but could use DisplayLink hardware instead.

Would you be able to tell me which feature(s) of Collage you wish, in priority order if you have several?

I will look into the AMD and nVidia names you mentioned. Features for the next Windows version have been frozen for a while already, but I can start gauging for the following one.
As the devices using DisplayLink technology are not GPUs, there will always be a GPU in the machine. We can see how we could get Intel customers to lean and get the software changed.

Kind regards,
Alban

[qp6019352]

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

Would you be able to tell me which feature(s) of Collage you wish, in priority order if you have several?

"Collage" is the feature.

Collage is just another multi-monitor display option besides "Duplicate/Mirror" and "Extend".

Let's say you have four 1920x1080 monitors. Now you put two of them next to each other and put the remaining two below them.

With "Extend" mode you would have four separate 1920x1080 desktops.

With "Collage" mode, you would have one big 3840x2160 desktop which spans across all four monitors .

It's also explained over there:

http://download.intel.com/support/gr...ature_Rev1.pdf

Is it now clear what "Collage" mode means?

If the native Windows 10 Display Settings would offer a "Collage" mode, then it could also be used with DisplayLink connected displays (the native Windows 10 Display Settings unfortunately only offer "Duplicate/Mirror" and "Extend" at the moment).

[AlbanRampon]

Thank you for the Intel Collage user guide. This seems like an old feature. Do you know if it is still maintained on new platforms?

I am sorry I do not really see the problem Intel Collage is supposed to solve, apart maybe from the bezel compensation in some rare cases where the someone is willing to sacrifice part of their image.

When you use "extend" in Windows 10, you still have a single desktop, I don't believe you have separate desktops. You can create separate virtual desktops by using Win+Tab whether you have a single or multi-display setups, and each desktop will span across all active extended displays.
Today, you can already span an application or video over different displays out of the box in Windows without the specific Intel Collage requirement of having at least one dimension identical between your displays (horizontal or vertical). With Windows out of the box, you can mix and match monitor resolutions and have content straddling or taking all display surface if resolutions match making a rectangle.
Windows 10 also allows you to disable the taskbars on the extended displays to only keep it on the primary.

Intel Collage doesn't allow you to play content protected content (that is expected) so you can't use it to build a bigger screen to watch Netflix, DVD, Bluray, Amazon Video, the same way you wouldn't be able to across extended displays because of the way HDCP work.

For productivity applications, I haven't received any feedback to date of people being willing to lose part of their displays to compensate for the bezel when you can now purchase displays with very thin or no bezel if you wish to do a slick video wall.

Microsoft will ask for a business case before developing a new feature.
Would you please explain what I am missing?

Regards,
Alban

[qp6019352]

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

Thank you for the Intel Collage user guide. This seems like an old feature. Do you know if it is still maintained on new platforms?

Yes, it is, see for example: https://www.anandtech.com/show/11645...-windows-15-46

Just because the PDF from the previous post is old, does not mean the feature is outdated, the PDF simply was released when the feature was first introduced.

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

When you use "extend" in Windows 10, you still have a single desktop

No, you do not. In "Extend" mode, all monitors are being treated as separate monitors.

In "Collage" mode, all monitors are being treated as one big monitor.

Treating all monitors as one big monitor has several advantages, such as for example being able to maximize windows to fill up all monitors.

With "Extend", when you maximize a window, it will simply maximize on the separate monitor, not on all monitors.

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

Today, you can already span an application or video over different displays out of the box

Probably, but it is awkward, you have to click the border of the window and drag it across all monitors to maximize it. You can not simply maximize it to have it maximized across all connected monitors.

Originally Posted by AlbanRampon

Microsoft will ask for a business case before developing a new feature.
Would you please explain what I am missing?

Maybe creating one big 48 inch 2160p (4K) screen out of four 24 inch 1080p monitors.

Or creating one big 54 inch 2880p (5K) screen out of four 27 inch 1440p monitors.

Or creating one big 56 inch 4320p (8K) screen out of four 28 inch 2160p monitors.

Or how about creating one big 128 inch 8640p (16K) screen out of sixteen 32 inch 2160p monitors, see:

https://youtu.be/Toft6fMvByA

?

[AlbanRampon]

Ok, I think I see where you are getting at now, thank you.
We showed 8x 4K at the Consumer Electronics Show a couple of weeks ago, and I don't believe this was a push-back we received. People moved windows around, straddle them across screens, but didn't extend them to fit multiple displays fully.

I'm wondering the size of the market for this. If you put something as a wide array of many displays for advertising, something like BrightSign comes to my mind.
Our solution is most optimised for productivity.

I will discuss to gauge interest. In the meantime, I could advise the free Dual Monitor Tools.
I set my primary display as the top left origin and then selected an area the size of the desktop. I have three displays of different resolutions (2 x1080p + 1 Surface Pro 3) so it can handle non-rectangle desktops.
Then that shortcut is used to maximise across displays.

Kind regards,
Alban