IMac multiple monitors VGA Switch

Hi.
I have an iMac 20" early January 2006, a 32inch Samsung LCD TV with PC Input and a 17 inch external monitor.
I wish to use both the TV and external monitor as a secondary monitor for my iMac. Obviously not at the same time.
Would I be able to use a VGA Switch Box to plug both the TV and external monitor into, with the other connection going to the iMac. This was I would be able to choose which Monitor to use?
I think these Switch Boxes are usually used for plugging in devices such as Xbox 360, with the main connection going to the monitor. Basically, PC and Xbox, with the main going to the TV. So basically the question is, can I plug the iMac into the main connection, with the other two monitors from the other two, allowing me to choose which is active?
Here is the product:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/B000J249JC/sr=8-1/qid=1213461171/ref=d pimage0?ie=UTF8&n=560798&s=electronics&qid=1213461171&sr=8-1
Thanks In Advance

Stephen, it has been almost a month since your post and I was hoping to learn something new about our type iMac monitors.
I have checked with AppleCare and several on-line discussions and it seems the only thing that can be added is a "mirror" monitor VGA, which may be what you want. There is apparently no way to increase the "real estate" like on a Windows PC or the new iMacs, Macbooks and Pros.
Hope this helps a little to know others are trying, too.
Ed

Similar Messages

Imac multiple monitors

Hi
I have a weird startup problem on my iMac 27". It boots past the apple logo and blue screen but then I getaway white screen with random grey checkers all over the place!
I had issues with my snow leopard install which we're fixed after a fcsk command.
For some annoying reason I can't boot to a different USB or flash drive as I don't get past the mac logo!
Any help would be appreciated

Sorry nothing to do with multiple monitors!! My 1st post, don't know where that came from!

IMac, Multiple Monitors & Spaces

I have 2 monitors connected to my new iMac. I arrange various setups using Spaces on all 3 monitors. When the iMac comes out of sleep mode, all of the panels are always pulled into the iMac monitor (e.g. the other monitors are empty) in each Space. How do I get it to stay "as is" after it comes out of sleep mode?

Stephen, it has been almost a month since your post and I was hoping to learn something new about our type iMac monitors.
I have checked with AppleCare and several on-line discussions and it seems the only thing that can be added is a "mirror" monitor VGA, which may be what you want. There is apparently no way to increase the "real estate" like on a Windows PC or the new iMacs, Macbooks and Pros.
Hope this helps a little to know others are trying, too.
Ed

Find monitor instance name , device name , resolution and frequency of multiple monitors (VGA and HDMI)

hi,
In my system multiple monitors are connected (VGA and HDMI). In need to know the
monitor instance name , device name , resolution and frequency of each monitor.. any solution?
i used wm class 'WmiMonitorConnectionParams' to determine Video output technology connection type and InstanceName.
But i didn't get the device name , resolution and frequency of each monitor.??
There are other wmi class like :
WmiMonitorBrightnessEvent
WmiMonitorConnectionParams
WmiMonitorRawEEdidV1Block
WmiMonitorListedFrequencyRanges
WmiMonitorDigitalVideoInputParams
WmiMonitorAnalogVideoInputParams
WmiMonitorID
WmiMonitorBrightnessMethods
WmiMonitorBasicDisplayParams
WmiMonitorColorCharacteristics
WmiMonitorDescriptorMethods
WmiMonitorListedSupportedSourceM…
WmiMonitorBrightness
WmiMonitorColorXYZinCIE
WmiMonitorSupportedDisplayFeatures
WmiMonitorBasicDisplayParams
Win32_VideoController
Win32_VideoConfiguration
Win32_VideoSettings Win32_DisplayControllerConfiguration
Win32_DisplayConfiguration
But unable to determine monitor having its corresponding values? please help me to find a solution .
is there any other method to get multi monitor details?
thank you

Hi sumith,
I read some documents about WmiMonitorConnectionParams class, it should be able to get the video putput technology by the D3DKMDT_VIDEO_OUTPUT_TECHNOLOGY enumeration.
D3DKMDT_VIDEO_OUTPUT_TECHNOLOGY enumeration
So what happens when you are using WmiMonitorConnectionParams class? What prevent you? Anyway, please see a example of using WmiMonitorConnectionParams class, maybe you could get some hints on it.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10085900/querying-wmi-for-d3dkmdt-video-output-technology
Best regards,
Shu Hu
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Hi everyone, I have just purchased a new iMac 27. Is this device able to support a multiple monitor set-up (additional two screens)? If so what do I need and are there any draw backs?

Hi everyone,
I have just purchased a new iMac 27. Is this device able to support multiple monitor set-up (an additional two screens)? I am not a gamer, so require the set-up for 'office suite' type work and video viewing. if the set-up is possible, what would I need, is it pretty straight forward and are there any draw backs?
Thank you.

I just purchased the same imac. I connected the other displays using a thunderbolt to dvi adapter and it works fine.

Let's Be Honest / Save Time: Lenovo T430s (NVIDIA) DOES NOT Support Multiple Monitors

There have been a few comments / complaints / articles around the web regarding the T430s and difficulties using multiple monitors.
But since this capabilitiy is clearly documented in all of Lenovo's specifications and marketing literature, I went ahead and bought an i7, NVIDIA, SSD, T430s with the docking station and all the bells and whistles to facilitate 3 or even 4 monitors.
Well please listen and let's be clear: IT DOES NOT WORK. Therefore, to be clear:
DO NOT BUY THIS MACHINE AND DOCK IF YOU WANT IT TO LIVE UP TO ITS MULTI MONITOR PROMISE.
In the two weeks since FedEx arrived, here is the deal:
1) I fussed around with the dock and monitors at home and the office to no avail, for most of TWO weekends. (I am not a beginner).
2) Then, I spoke to Lenovo in Atlanta's tech support for THREE HOURS. No results
3) I spoke to Lenovo's "premium support" (paid) for FOUR HOURS. No results.
4) I consulted with a 3rd party expert on mulitple monitors who was kind enough to remote into my machine for another HOUR. No results.
5) Muliple parties have confirmed that yes, all hardware is working and yes, everything can be seen in device manager, and yes, the NVIDA card is properly switched on in the BIOS, yes I bought the i7 version etc.
6) And just in case, yes, we wiped the drive clean for a factory reset, yes we unistalled and reinstalled all the drivers and yes, we even deleted the Lenovo driver just in case the NVIDIA driver was newer or better and yes, we double checked the settings in the BIOS again.
7) Yes, we tried every connector in the dock AND the laptop: VGA, DVI, DP and mini DP - in EVERY possible combination.
And NO, IT STILL DOESN'T WORK. AT ALL. Two screens, take your pick, but THAT'S IT.
Finally, not one but TWO technicians asked me to not quote them (so I wont mention any names) but that in their opinion IT JUST DOESNT WORK AT ALL, EVER, despite Lenovo's claims / insistance that it is configured for 3 and even 4 monitors.
So the final conclusion was only that Lenovo must have rushed this T430 spec / configuration / capability to market (including the glossy brochures!) before figuring out that something is missing in the handshake between the mother board and the NVIDIA card?
Or in the firmware re swithing between the Intel (internal) and NVIDA card?
Or something else which prevents the NVIDIA card from seeing the ports on the laptop or the dock?
In summary 1) you get NOTHING from the NVIDIA upgrade and with respect to more than 2 monitors, IT JUST DOES NOT WORK, AT ALL, EVER, PERIOD and END OF STORY.
I too am a die hard old school Thinkpad enthusiast and with the company's service could match their classic products.
I have an X201 that I generall love, but would appreciate more speed, an SSD and I have to drive at least 3 external monitors, using at least 1920 x 1080 resolution.
Perhaps a W series Thinkpad would work, but I also travel so going up to the T430s was already a sacrifice vs the small size of the X201.
There are some 3rd party solutions but they are expensive and not so sure how plug and play they are with 3 or more monitors - what the T430s and Mini Dock 3.0 are SUPPOSED TO DO. But they dont.
Not giving up yet, but this has been a real bummer.
PS
Lenovo was very focused, efficient, and uncompromising when charging my CC for "premium" support.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thors,
Thank you and happy to report, albeit after all the hours and now weekend number 3:
1) For the moment, I am able to repeat the 3 screen performance using mini DP from the Thinkpad and 2 DPs from the dock to the external monitors
AND
2) For the first time ever, I am just now for the first time running the 3rd external monitor from the VGA port on the dock.
That is what I meant by using the various ports on the dock, so that the Thinkpad can simply be docked and undocked without connecting the mini DP - the purpose of a dock obviously. As stated in other threads and articles, various configurations of the dock ports supposedly work to achieve 3 external screens, but until today was not able to do this.
That is the good news and thank you for all help.
The bad news is I stil have no clear idea why this has been so difficult, or where the problem lives that consumed so many hours of my own time and many hours with Lenovo tech support as stated above.
Some success seems to have happened only after more than one set of LONG updates to Windows 7 (?)
If I can replicate this set up the office (where I have 3 of the same monitors) I will be almost there.
Thank you again to all for help and support.

KDE resetting multiple monitor setup

I'm having problems getting multiple monitors working and staying working in KDE. If I go to System Settings > Display, my HDMI output starts off at 1024x768, even though 1280x1024 is marked (Auto) (and is the correct res). If I set it to the right res, and left of the laptop display, it works, but after some time the HDMI output just switches off. Going back to Display shows it as Disabled. Even after setting it back to the correct settings, after reboot it's all forgotten and back to 1024x768.
I've worked out that the following line sets up my external monitor correctly:
xrandr --output HDMI1 --mode 1280x1024 --left-of LVDS1
and this line sets up the internal one:
xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1366x768
If I put these in .bashrc (seemed to be the only place it worked) then the monitors work on startup, but after a short amount of time everything goes fubar (either the HDMI monitor turns off, or the laptop screen goes the wrong res). If I open up another terminal (to run .bashrc again) once or twice, everything seems to settle and the monitors don't reset themselves again.
It feels like KDE's trying to do some funny business which is interfering with my xrandr efforts. I've got a blank xorg.conf.

I've done all of this but still there is no signal. Could it be because I am running a wire from my mac's mini displayport to a VGA adapter, and then to the monitor? Or could it be a driver issue? when I start windows, the only thing to show up is the "starting windows" screen. Then the monitor loses signal every time.

Mission Control useless when using multiple monitors

Background:
From my iMac I'm watching NetFlix on a 2nd TV/Monitor. The movie is playing.... On my iMac I switch to another space. Bam! The movie window on the other monitor is gone.
Conclusion:
Using Mission Control and changing "spaces" does so on all attached monitors. This is not good.
Need:
There needs to be pref in "monitors" control panel to "exlude monitor from Mission Control" functions.
Frustration:
Grrrrrrrrrrr! No more "Mission Control" as long as I'm using more than one monitor.
What say Ye?

Yes, mission control is a completely abomination on multiple monitors... I use a 4 screen setup, 1 of them is a 140 projector for movies... so i definitely understand what you mean about the movie issue.... MC isvery very limited in what could potential be a step up from Spaces... instead is a step backword...
1. no way to lock monitors (such as you are talking about with watching a movie)
2. no way to move windows from one desktop to another... Spaces was great for organization... MC is a very dumbed down version.
3. Spaces showed all "desktops montitor groups together" where the way MC splits them seems unnatural and odd to me... makes sense on single monitor, but horrible on multi monitors
4. Full screen apps are worthless with multiple monitors... it should give me the option to do full screen app on EACH monitor... this would definitely ogranization.

Using a 27" iMac as Monitor for PC

I am building a PC for Network Attached Storage (NAS) using FreeNAS:
http://www.freenas.org/
Once it's all set up I'll just use the web/network interface to manage it. But, as I assemble the PC I'll probably need a monitor to make changes to the BIOS settings.
I'm wondering whether I can use my iMac (iMac11,3) as a makeshift monitor for the PC. Apparently it's possible to do this if the PC has a Mini DisplayPort.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924
My PC has the followoing video ports:
- VGA
- DVI
- HDMI
Can anyone tell me whether I can use my iMac as monitor to a PC with one of these ports?
If so, can anyone recommend a cable to do so? For example, this Mini DisplayPort <-> HDMI cable says it won't work for my purposes:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802 &p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2
"This device is not Bidirectional. It can only connect a Mini-DisplayPort source to an HDMI® display. It will not work in reverse."
I want to display my PC's VGA, HDMI, or DVI as the source to my iMac's Mini-DisplayPort, not the other way around.
Thank you for your help.
- nello

But that one doesn't support the 27" screen, you need Dual-Link DVI if it's going to work at all...
Note: This product supports single-link DVI. Dual-link DVI and the Apple 27" Cinema Display are supported by the GTV-DVIDL-2-MDP.
Which is even more money...
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=9898

How to set up multiple monitors

I got a 27" 3.1 gz Imac for Christmas. I need to run multiple monitors on it.
#1 How many monitors will it support?
#2 How do I hook them up to the Imac?
#3 What hardware do I need in order to do this?
Phillip

This link is talking about using the Imac as a display for another computer. So basically, this article is telling me how I can use my Imac as a display monitor. That is not what I am trying to do.
I want to use multiple monitors on this Imac.
Phillip

Wanting to use multiple monitors on HP hpe210Y w-DVI-I and HDMI. Audio: 5.1 Surround

I have a HP Elite hpe210y with only two outputs of which are: 1) DVI-I and 2) HDMI. My situation is that I have 2 new HP Monitors with VGA Cables. I have an adapter for DVI-I to VGA and also VGA to Dual VGA. I do NOT want the monitors to work as Duplicates however. I want the second monitor to be an extension. I am also interested in getting even 2 more monitors in teh near future for a total of 4.
Is there some way I can get two monitors to work off one DVI-I ?
Will I be able to upgrade to up to 4 monitors?
Is there a part I need?
Wanted to mention that my OS is Win7 Home Premium 64 bit. I use IE9, Chrome and Firefox
I would of never bought this from Best Buy if I had known in advance that there was just the one regular output. I see they have one called a Phoenix which I may look into.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

>Is there some way I can get two monitors to work off one DVI-I ?
I've not yet seen a solution for that.
You can use a hdmi2vga adapter for the second port.
>Will I be able to upgrade to up to 4 monitors?
>Is there a part I need?
you can try one of these:
http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/100-U2-UV19-TR.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Universal-Multi-Display-Adapter-Black/dp/B002F9NSMQ/ref=pd_cp_e_1
http://aluratek.com/usb-2-0-high-resolution-vga-adapter
They will use your current graphics device.
If you are looking for a new solution - I've read about DisplayPort version 1.2 that can do 'daisy-chain connection' with multiple monitors. But this you have to 'google' yourself.
HTH
V.
*** Say 'Thanks' with Kudos ***

Feature Request - Better Multiple Monitor Support

Lightroom's support for a second display has definitely helped my workflow. I hope the team will consider adding more flexible multiple monitor support in version 4. Here's why.
I've recently experimented with running one of my three screens in portrait mode. When this screen hosts Lightroom's secondary display window in Loupe view, my verticals finally get equal real estate for editing. While I've not done hard statistics on my library, I know more than 50% of my imagery is in portrait orientation.
I'd like to see LR V4 support three or more screens so I could set up as follow:
Screen 1 - main lightroom interface, would not need to be calibrated, for controls and navigation
Screen 2 - Portrait orientation, loupe view - this would be a calibrated display, all develop changes to verticals would be judged on this screen
Screen 3 - Landscape orientation, loupe view - another calibrated display, all develop changes to horizontals would be judged on this screen
If Adobe could make the app intelligent enough to route the image to the correct screen based on orientation (recognizing and respecting cropping that could change orientation) my edit sessions would certainly speed up and I could maximize the productivity of multiple screens.
I'd be happy with this, but I'm also stymied by the need to switch back to Library mode to tag images when my primary workflow has me in develop. Ultimately everything depends on the quality of the image. Before I invest in image-specific meta data, I have to process or at least "test-process" an image. IMO the Quick Develop panel is useless, once you become accustomed to the granular control of the develop sliders, it just doesn't cut it.
In the three monitor setup I described above I'd love to be able to configure screen 1, with a combination of panels from Library and Develop, so I could stay "develop centric" with immediate access to keywording and meta. The two additional screens would intelligently handle image display.
I think this might speed my workflow by 33% and having just returned from a Tour de France project that generated 23,000 images I need all the productivity help I can get.

VeloDramatic wrote:
Thanks for all those votes Rob. Now we just need to get the other 999,999 on board.
Actually, this topic has come up a lot on this forum. At this point, I think we just need to get Adobe on board.
VeloDramatic wrote:
There may be another thread for this one additional thought. If Adobe does improve multiple monitor support, we should be able to optimize our previews for those screens. Even after prerendering 1:1 previews there are issues with DEVELOP doing its own thing (I believe) each time a new image is loaded. I make extensive use of the PREVIOUS button moving through my shoots and there's always a lag of one or two seconds while the develop preview loads before the button is active. In a desktop environment where multiple screens allow landscape and portrait images to be displayed full screen I'd argue that 100% of the host screen resolution would be the ideal preview. Hope that made sense.
Yes, faster switching would be nice. I'm not sure what that would take. As it stands, there's like "9" previews generated when you do 1:1s - 100% down to tiny thumbnails. Still, one at exact monitor size that does not need to be resized at all does seem like it would be the fastest - I'm a bit on a limb though at this point.
Rob

Windows 7 and Multiple Monitor Issues

Alright, I have spent the past 3 days searching these forums as well as on Microsoft's support pages and all of Google to find the answer to my issue and it seems as though I'm the only one who is running into this problem.
I have a 15 inch Macbook Pro with the GeForce 9600M GT Nvidia Graphics card with the latest version of Mac OSX and Bootcamp installed on it. I have Windows 7 installed in bootcamp. I just purchased a Mini DisplayPort to VGA cord with a VGA cord so as to connect my computer to my Sony Bravia HDTV to use as a second monitor. I plug in the cords, plug them into my TV, and put it into the proper input and it works like a charm. Then I go and boot up in bootcamp under Windows 7, plug in the cord, and my screen gets to the "starting windows" logo and then it goes black. I push ever button, I try control alt delete, nothing. I have to hold down the power button to turn off the computer and then turn it back on.
I turn it on, boot up into Windows 7, let it load, then plug in the cord, and the computer display instantly goes black, again, and yet nothing displays on the TV. Again, I try everything to no avail, so I power it off and back on. I go through this at least 10 times to no avail. I finally give up and try again the next day.
Next day, I plug it in, and the monitor stays up, but yet nothing is displayed on the TV. I go to my resolution settings in Windows, and go to the multiple monitors tab, and select every possible option (extend, duplicate, etc) and nothing will display on my TV. I try to change the settings to which it responds with "unable to save display settings" and nothing changes. I attempt to enter the nvidia program and make changes that way. The TV is detected, but when I select it and attempt to apply anything, no changes take effect and I am left with only the laptop display. Keep in mind I uninstalled and reinstalled all of the video drivers and such.
Finally I get fed up so I purchase a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapted and a DVI to HDMI adapter. I try again. Again in OSX it launches immediately, no problems. I go back into Windows, and immediately I'm dealing with the instant black screen.
I'm going crazy over here trying to figure this out. I know it's possible to do this because I've seen people on youtube doing this and again it works on OSX so why the heck won't it work? If anyone has any idea what's going on here please help me out. Thanks.

JonMarx... I'm having the exact same problem. I'm in the exact same situation as you are. I'm going mad, and it's only by divine providence that I've finally located the only other person who knows what I've been going through. I've spent at least 20 hours trying to get this started back up, to no avail.
I had the secondary display working peachy for a while, long enough to configure everything to be exactly how I wanted it. I unplugged the monitor from the computer just to see what would happen, and that's when the problems started. I managed to get it to work one last time for a brief period a few hours later, but the way it just clicked on made it feel too good to be true.
I've had a wierd problem with a phantom display as well. The display will frequently show up as being available in both the nVIDIA panel and the windows settings, but if I apply the settings, they won't go through. I got a few screenshots of it the last time it happened.
I was just about to reinstall windows completely, but it seems that I'll just run into the same problem again if I do... Here's to hoping a solution is found.

Vga switch causing resolution problems

Hi, I recently bought a VGA switch by MayFlash so that i could share my 22" widescreen LG monitor with both my x360 and my mac mini. The problem I have is that when i was running my mac mini directly into the monitor via vga cable (with a built in DVI adaptor) the display was instantly recongnised by my mac and displayed at the correct 1680x1050 resolution. However, now im running it through the switch im having all sorts of res problems, firstly the mac doesnt seem to be able to detect the monitor anymore and i have a massive list of resolutions to choose from none of which go up to 1680x1050. All of the resolutions are unsuitable as they are lower res and crop / stretch the screen image. The manufacturer of the switch claim there should be no loss of signal and i've tried upgrading the vga cables im using to superior quality ones to no avail, any ideas?

Likely the easiest thing to do will be to use SwitchRes X to restore 1680 x 1050 as a choice within Displays preferences.
http://www.madrau.com

Video & multiple monitors

I have a 2nd monitor next to my iMac. I always keep my iTunes there. Until I upgraded to Snow Leopard, whenever I played a video podcast, it would open on that monitor.
Now when I play my video podcast, the video window opens on my main screen. If I drag it over and then press the green button, it returns to the first menu. I need to push the green button to get it small, then move it to my second monitor, then press the green button to get it big again on that monitor.
This did not happen with Leopard.

Hi,
As HiLogics says, it will work with video card with more than one DVI ports
Watch set of videos here to experience the fix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkbaXkMQrIM
To Configure Dual Monitor , please look at this link:
http://www.wikihow.com/Set-Up-Dual-Monitors
Setup 3 monitors:
http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-1839185/set-triple-monitors.html
Hope this will give you some idea to setup multiple monitors with same image.
Binu Kumar - MCP, MCITP, MCTS , MBA - IT , Director Aarbin Technology Pvt Ltd - Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

IMac multiple monitors VGA Switch

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