Mixtile Blade 3 (hereinafter referred to as Blade 3) has two USB-C ports, USB0 and USB1. USB0 provides OTG and can also function as a DisplayPort. USB1 supports PD2.0 and functions as a DisplayPort as well. Therefore, through the two USB-C ports and the HDMI port, Blade 3 can be connected to three monitors for triple-monitor display.
This feature is applicable to smart advertising machines, digital exhibition halls, and monitoring centers.
You can set up triple-monitor display using Blade 3 in two methods: Via GUI and via SSH. This document describes the two methods respectively.
Note: In triple-monitor setup, the resolution of any monitor cannot exceed 4K. Otherwise, display of the other two display ports is affected.
Via GUI
Preparations
- One Blade 3 board
- Three monitors, two of them provide USB-C ports (recommended)
- Two USB-C cables (recommended)
- One HDMI cable
- One mouse and one keyboard
Note: You can use USB1 only as a DisplayPort and power Blade 3 by connecting to a breakout board through the U.2 interface.
Steps
Step 1. Set up connections
1.1 Connect one end of the two USB-C cables to Blade 3’s two USB-C ports, and the other end to the USB-C ports of the two monitors.
1.2 Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI Out port of Blade 3 and the other end to the HDMI port of the monitor.
1.3 Connect the mouse and the keyboard to the USB ports of the monitor.
Step 2. Configure display mode of the three monitors
2.1 On the main window, choose Applications > Settings > Display.
2.2 In the Display dialog box that is displayed, deselect Mirror displays.
Step 3. Open three video files and drag the windows to three monitors respectively
Via SSH
Watch the following video for a quick start.
Preparations
- One Blade 3 board
- Three monitors, two of them provide USB-C ports (recommended)
- Two USB-C cables (recommended)
- One HDMI cable
- One computer: MacOS, Ubuntu, or Windows
- Three video files
Note: You can use USB1 only as a DisplayPort and power on Blade 3 by connecting to a breakout board through the U.2 interface.
Steps
Step 1. Set up connections
1.1 Connect one end of the two USB-C cables to Blade 3’s two USB-C ports, and the other end to the USB-C ports of the two monitors.
1.2 Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI Out port of Blade 3 and the other end to the HDMI port of the monitor.
Step 2. Copy the video files to the directory of Blade 3
scp [video file 1] [video file 2] [video file 3] mixtile@[Blade 3 IP address]:/home/mixtileNote: Obtain the IP address of Blade 3 on the router device page.
Step 3. Install mpv, a media player for the command line
sudo apt-get update & sudo apt-get install mpvStep 4. Play video files on three monitors
4.1 Navigate to the directory where the video files are stored:
cd /home/mixtile4.2 Run the following command to repeat video playback:
mpv --loop [video file 1].mp4 & mpv --loop [video file 2].mp4 & mpv --loop [video file 3].mp4Following is an example.
You can also add the parameter –monitor to specify the monitor that plays the video file, for example, mpv –loop [ video file 1].mp4–monitor 1 & mpv –loop .mp4 –monitor 2 & mpv –loop .mp4–monitor 3.
Other connection options
Besides the preceding hardware connections, you can also introduce a USB hub to connect the USB0 port of Blade 3. Then connect a HDMI or USB-C cable to a monitor via the hub. The following diagram shows the connection methods:
