HP Spectre connecting to two monitors via USB-C and Thunderbolt

[Rhys-E]

Hi, 

I am trying to connect two external monitors to my Spectre via the two USB-C ports. Both external monitors work fine, when connected to either of the Spectre USB-C ports, but only one at a time.  When I connect both monitors at the same time, only one monitor (the first connected) works.  

Equipment as follows:

- Laptop: HP Spectre x360 15-bl0XX (1 x USB-C port, 1 x Thunderbolt port)

- Monitor 1: HP EliteDisplay S270n (1 x USB-C port)

- Monitor 2: HP EliteDisplay S14 (1 x USB-C port)

The laptop and S270n monitor also have an HDMI port but my preference is to connect to the S270n via USB-C, as this means I can use just one power supply (the S270n one) to also power the laptop (thus reducing desk clutter).  The S14 monitor only has a single USB-C port (nothing else) for both power supply and video signal. 

So my ideal set-up would be to connect S270n monitor to one of the Spectre USB-C ports (to supply power to the laptop and receive video signal from it) and connect the S14 monitor to the other Spectre USB-C port (to supply power and video signal from the laptop to the S14 monitor).

My hope is that there's a configuration or software change I can make, to enable both Spectre USB-C ports to send video signal simultaneously.

Kind regards,

Rhys.

[Huffer]

 It seems you may need a docking station/port replicator to drive two external monitors. 

[Rhys-E]

To clarify the symptoms:

Both monitors work, from either of the laptop USB-C ports, if only one of the monitors is connected.  So both laptop USB-C ports are capable of video transmission.  But I cannot get both monitors to work simultaneously, regardless of which monitor is connected to which laptop USB-C port. 

As an alternative approach, I have just tried to connect the S270n monitor via HDMI (laptop HDMI to monitor HDMI). But this does not work at all, even when nothing else is connected to any other laptop port. So I wonder whether there's an OS or BIOS change required (all drivers are up-to-date, accorting to HP Support Assistant).

Regarding the docking station/port replicator suggestion:

Would this enable each of the three monitors to display a different window (my desired functionality), or would only one monitor 'Extend' the main display, and the other monitor 'Duplicate' the main display?

[Rhys-E · Accepted solution]

A correction to my previous comment: HDMI is now working; I had to toggle input modes on the S270n monitor, using the physical keys on the back of the monitor.

I now have both displays working as desired, albeit not using the preferred ports: The S270n is connected via HDMI and the S14 is connected via Thunderbolt.

I can also successfully connect the S14 via the USB-C, but this leaves me short of a power supply to the laptop (it would run on battery only).  

I have concluded that whilst both the USB-C and Thunderbolt ports are capable of video transfer, only one can perform this function at a time.  

So, set-up is now as follows: Laptop power supply into USB-C port; Monitor 1 (S270n) display via HDMI; Monitor 2 (S14) display via Thunderbolt.

Whilst this necessitates three leads into the laptop, rather than the (hoped-for) 2 leads, going down the Port Replicator route would have also involved extra cables and extra cost.