Hello,
I’ve just recently unpacked my new Dell P3421W monitor. I was like 80% sure there would be no Linux support for the proprietary piece of software that manages the monitor’s features, because that sorta stuff is hardly ever built for Linux for some fucked up reason, but I figured I could use my macbook (for which there actually is support) or the monitor’s own nipple menu to do stuff. Turns out the macbook version does not work properly on Apple silicon, and the nipple menu doesn’t have all the things.
I know it’s a long shot, since google hasn’t helped much, but would anyone here know if there’s a way to go about it? Maybe there are existing tools?
I’m not very familiar with that software, what features does it have that you want to use?
I mainly want to be able to adjust the split of the picture-by-picture mode. By the default, the monitor splits the display 50-50 between the two inputs. It can, or at least should according to the official documentation that I currently have open in another tab, change that ratio but apparently that can only be done through the control software.
edit: nvm, turns out it can only adjust that ratio when connected to the same computer. And only on windows and mac. Meh.
It sounds like this software was made to address a problem that exists in Windows, poor window management options. Although with Win11 it’s been significantly improved.
Have a look into tiling window managers, or tiling add-ons for major desktop environments. You can split windows in all different arrangements without any extra software or splitting inputs.
Personally I’m using KDE and it’s built in tiling options work very well.
I’m familiar with the tiling options on Linux.
But what I’m trying to do is beyond any window manager. I was trying to play with the “tiling” of different display inputs from different sources. One input from my desktop and one from my work laptop. The monitor can display those two inputs side by side just fine, but I wanted it to split the screen 80-20 between the inputs instead of the default 50-50, which can only be done by the monitor firmware. Some monitors have that feature, but apparently mine can only do that when both inputs are coming from the same source, which is… meh. Why mess around with 2 inputs coming from the same computer when any major OS in 2023 has decent tiling capabilities already?
Oh I see your use case now. Yeah agreed, bit of a useless feature. My monitor supports PiP but not in way that makes it feasible to get work done on both, it’s only really good for a full screen video.
Someone else mentioned RDP/VNC which could work well, if your work computer allows it.