DisplayLink Direct

DisplayLink Direct is a software development kit (SDK) that lets applications render content directly to displays connected through DisplayLink® hardware. DisplayLink (developed by Synaptics) is a software-aware hardware protocol that encodes and transmits video over standard data buses, such as USB 2.0 and USB 3.2 Gen 1, without relying on native video pass-through such as DisplayPort Alt Mode or Thunderbolt.

Instead of pushing raw, uncompressed pixels down a native display pipeline, DisplayLink compresses frame deltas on the host and packetizes that data over USB bulk transfers to a hardware decoder chip inside the dock or dongle, which drives the attached displays.

Motivation

Unlike a traditional DisplayLink deployment, DisplayLink Direct does not require host-side graphics drivers or compositor integration. Your application talks to the SDK through a small, C-compatible API and submits frame buffers directly to each display. This makes it a lightweight, self-contained solution that is well-suited to embedded systems, kiosks, digital signage, and any application that needs deterministic, driver-free multi-display output.