Dizzy It makes me wonder if the DisplayLink on the docking station is what is calming down symptoms. However, I am not sure exactly what “it calms or disables/adjusts” and you can’t use this docking station with a Desktop.
I have a solid theory why DisplayLink seems to cause less issues.
Basically, the way that DisplayLink works is bypassing the graphics card's own video output and instead "streaming" pixel-perfect screenshots of the screen (similar to uncompressed VNC) to the adapter first, and then the adapter relays that to the display.
But here's what makes that interesting…
Since the streaming is done by the OS, similar to taking a screenshot, what the adapter recieves contains what you'd see in a screenshot and NONE of the post processing done by the GPU.
…(Think about how when you zoom in on a screenshot you took, you get a "clean" image without temporal dithering or color artifacts)
That "clean" screenshot is actually what's being sent to the adapter. This essentially skips all of the weird image processing that usually happens between the final "pure" desktop image and the GPU…
This is also why the adapter is better than the laptop screen, since the laptop screen is still being driven by the GPU. In fact, even when GPU drivers aren't installed, a GPU still has "default" functionality.
…(For example, my 2009 MacBook Pro defaults to "temporal dithering on" for the laptop screen, even in the boot menu without drivers — even though I can tell the GPU to disable it later with a driver setting) Using DisplayLink also avoids this!
DisplayLink adapters are very "low-tech", especially older ones + older DisplayLink drivers which didn't even support color calibration at all… (for example, many color adjustment apps like f.lux don't work over DisplayLink without a workaround)
Given the simplicity of the drivers, it increases the chances that the adapter hardware itself is pretty simplistic in its design too — it likely doesn't do much to the signal between the adapter and the monitor, especially if you have an older adapter.
TLDR:
DisplayLink is the closest you can easily get to sending a nearly-"clean" signal to a monitor
It skips the GPU's image enhancements & other "hidden-from-screenshots" kinds of processing
The only factors that remain are the adapter's own processing (likely minimal) and the monitor itself
This is why it's better than both your laptop LCD and your desktop's output