Switching between a DVI monitor & an LCD TV?

My Mini is attached via DVI to my LCD monitor. My cable tv, vcr and eyeTV work with my VGA only LCD HDTV.
The tv makes a lousy internet viewing screen, but a great video watching one.
The tv has compposite, component, and S-video ports.
The computer monitor only sports DVI.
The operator is nontech saavy.
What would I need to be able to switch my Mac Mini from the monitor to the TV without having to unhook the monitor and use a DVI/VGA adaptor each time I wanted to unplug one or the other each time I switched?
Is there some sort of switching control device that would require just the moving of a toggle or press of a button?
I don't want to have to purchase a new tv/monitor with both VGA and DVI ports even if one exists.

What are you going to use it for?
A monitor is built to be a monitor, while a TV is built to be a TV first. If you're only doing your computer for general things, either will do, but if you need accurate graphics and color, the TV will not be as good.
Also, as Malcolm said, they use two different pixel densities. The 30" Apple Cinema Display and similar Dell and HP displays of that size have 2560x1600 pixels. You probably cannot find a 30" TV with such fine resolution. In fact, most LCD TVs top out at 1920x1080 because their purpose is to display up to Blu-Ray HDTV, and that's 1920x1080.
In other words, if you were to choose a 52" LCD TV thinking you would have gargantuan screen space, in reality you would have no more screen space than the cheapest 21.5-inch iMac, because both are 1920x1080. LCD TVs don't attempt to have more resolution than that because they are intended to be viewed from 10 feet away on the sofa, not right up to your face. On the sofa, you wouldn't be able to see the resolution that a computer monitor would have.
If you are going to use it as a living room monitor, then it's fine to use an LCD TV. I do this since one of my TV inputs is connected to an old Mac so I can surf from tha sofa. But if you actually need a desktop monitor, you should use a real computer monitor.

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Switch 2nd monitor between dvi monitor and hdtv

I have an Intel iMac and I use the mini-dvi output to have a second monitor for working on the computer and also to watch online videos on my hdtv. Both work great. The problem is I have to reach around the back of the iMac to unplug the dvi monitor and plug in the tv and then do it again when I want to get back to work. I am pretty sure that the mini-dvi socket is not built to be used twice a day or more, so I am eager to find a better solution (preferably cheap).

I am using the apple mini-dvi to dvi adapter with a dvi-hdmi cable to connect to the visio 42" hdtv and the same apple mini-dvi adapter with a regular dvi cable to connect to the Sceptre 22" monitor. The TV is in the next room, so it is not really practical to use as a second monitor, besides sometimes my wife wants to watch TV while I am working.
I think what i am going to do is get a small dvi extension cable and leave that connected to mini-dvi adapter which I will leave plugged into the iMac. That way I will just be plugging and unplugging into the dvi extension cable (which is more robust than the mini plug) which will be much easier than reaching blindly behind the iMac. If the extension wears out I can just get a new one rather than having to get the iMac repaired.

Satellite U200-112: Switching between monitors

Sattelite U200-112.
At switching from the display notebook on the external monitor the resolution is exposed to the display, instead of the external monitor. Who faced such problem?

My English language is not so perfect but I believe in your case the option called Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor is enabled. Am I right?
Anyway, if the external monitor is properly connected please use FN+F5 key combination to switch between notebook LCD display and external monitor.

Is it possible to connect an older Power Mac (running OS 10.5.8) to an iMac running 10.9.5. I want to share the monitor, keyboard and mouse and switch between the two computers.

Is it possible to connect an older Power Mac (running OS 10.5.8) to an iMac running 10.9.5. I want to share the monitor, keyboard and mouse and switch between the two computers.

as far as I know then the target display mode is not an option with such an old mac

CS6/CC - switching between source monitor and timeline disaster

Now what is this?
It all works fine until you try DV Output.
In DV Output mode every time you switch between source monitor and the timeline it goes to some scary ritual:
1. output disabled on external monitor
2. some crazy flickering happens
3. ok, now updated picture on external monitor finally appears
Same happens when switching back to timeline.
Also when scrubbing through timeline video and audio is late for a few centuries on DV device/external monitor/speaker.
Why Adobe screwed firewire environment editing? I'm thinking about changing my job. Editing with Premiere is killing me lately. I'm thinking about starting to work with bees or strawberries, or something else less frustrating.
And Premiere CS 5.5 was the best editing software ever released. It has no similar problems. Why CS6 and CC are retarded?

I'm just asking for properly working feature which is alredy implemented and worked fine in earlier versions.
Adobe, can this be fixed, please?

Mac, second monitor changes to canvas background when I switch between full screen apps on my mac display?

When I plug in my monitor using a thunderbolt to hdmi cable I would like to use my moitor as a second display, which i can do, but then when i switch between full screen apps on my mac it changes what i have on my monitor to a canvas background. Is there a way to fix the display on my monitor so that it will always be accesable?

Apple:
This is how it "Should" work.
Each display should be treated as it own desktop. If you swipe on a desktop it should swipe through the hidden screens/displays. If your a user with multi displays connected to your Mac, you could have "Full Screen" Apps, Dashboard, Mission Control, and etc available to swipe on each of your connected displays.
Display 1...swipe, swipe... mouse over to Display 2... swipe swipe swipe... oh.. Display 3, swipe! All set for work or play!
This would be a well received "Feature" for the Worlds Most Advanced Operating System.
Cheers
I have seen apps (like MPlayerX and VLC) have their own "built in" workaround for the full-screen problems on multi-displays.

[Z87 MPOWER] Monitor doesn't detect Video. LED-POST switches between numbers

Hey folks!
I build my first PC yesterday and sadly I came over a seemingly unsolvable problem. I made a test-run with the Motherboard on the box, GPU, PGU, RAM, CPU+Cooler. I started it and everything worked fine, but the Monitor doesn't detect graphic input! It detects the cable I uses (HDMI and AVG) AND that I plugged it into a PC, but it just switches into sleeping mode as soon as I start the PC! (The Monitor works fine on my laptop).
Now I removed the GPU and used the onboard graphics with HDMI connection - the same problem! Now, I only have one 8GB-RAM stick, and I switched it between all 4 slots just to be sure - nothing. I double-checked the two PGU cables I have connected (8pin and 24pin ATX) - everything seems fine!
I just can't find the problem and its driving me insane! The only thing that says that something might be wrong is this little LED thing on the mb, it switches between 10 / 19 / 15(I think, its to fast to see!) / 55 endless! That's definitely not normal is it?
Is someone able to help me? I don't want anything more right now than getting this working.
SPECS:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z87 MPOWER ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
RAM: Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card
PGU: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Also if nothing works, can someone tell me what part might be the fault, so I can switch it in?
THANK YOU!

You may be able to repair this.
Remove the cpu and inspect the socket with a bright light and magnifier.
Fine the culprit pin and straighten it if possible. If not just RMA the board.

Recommendations for switching between two machines and one monitor

Hi,
I have a MacMini and a MacBook Air, both with Thunderbolt Display ports but I have one monitor. I'd like to switch between the two without having to unplug and plug the monitor back in every time. Any recommendations for some sort of switch or Thunderbolt hub would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Chris

This should work if the display use display port/mini displayport inputs. A mini display port connectors plugs into the Mac's Thunderbolt port for video
http://www.kanexlive.com/snapx

Mid-2012 RMBPro 10.9.4: Is it possible to switch between graphic cards? Activity monitor shows the high perf card always active even through no running apps need it.

How does one switch between graphics cards on a RMB Pro that has both a regular and high performance card installed?

There's no control built into OS X to manually switch between them (that I know of). But in your Energy Saver preferences, there is setting called Automatic Graphics Switching that will either keep the discrete GPU on all the time, or automatically switch it off when not in use. Do you already have this preference turned on?
It might keep the high performance graphics card on if it's plugged into AC power, since there is no battery life penalty in that case.

7344 servo motion switching between open and closed loop operation

I have a custom end-of-line test system presently using a 4-axis 7344 servo controller to perform various functional tests on small, brushed DC motors. The system is programmed in C/C++ and uses flex motion functions to control the motor during testing. Motors are coupled to external encoder feedback and third party PWM drives running in closed-loop torque mode from an analog command signal. The system uses all four motion axis channels on the 7344 board to independently and asynchronously test up to four production motors at a time.
In closed-loop mode, the system runs without issue, satisfying the battery of testing protocols executed by this system. I now have a request to add additional test functionality to the system. This testing must be run in open loop mode. Specifically, I need to use my +/- 10v analog output command to my torque drive to send different DAC output levels to the connected motor.drive while monitoring response.
I do not believe the flex motion library or 7344 controller includes functions to easily switch between open and closed loop mode without sending a new drive configuration. I am also under the impression that I cannot reconfigure one (or more) servo controller axis channels without disabling the entire drive. As my system runs each axis channel in an asynchronous manner, any requirement to shutdown all drives each time I change modes is an unworkable solution.
I am open to all ideas that will allow asynchronous operation of my 4 motor testing stations. If the only solution is to add a second 7344 controller and mechanical relays to switch the drive and motor wiring between two separately configured servo channels, so be it. I just want to explore any available avenue before I place a price tag on this new system requirement.
Bob

Jochen,
Thank you for the quick response. The 7344 board does an excellent job running my manufacturing motor assemblies through a custom end-of-line tester in closed loop mode. A portion of the performance history and test result couples the motor through a mechanical load and external shaft. The shaft is in contact with a linear encoder that closes my servo loop.
My new manufacturing requirement is to also sample/document how the small DC motor behaves in open loop operation. Your solution is exactly what I need to perform the additional functional tests on the product I am manufacturing. I see no reason why this cannot work. I was originally concerned that I would need to reinitialize the 7344 board after changing axis configuration. Initialization is a global event and impacts all four channels on the 7344 board.
Using flex_config_axis() to change axis configuration on a single channel without disturbing other potentially running axis channels will solve my concern. It will be several weeks before I can return to the manufacturing facility where the 7344-based testing machine is located. I will update this thread once I verify a successful result.
Bob

The difference between VGA, DVI-D and ADC?

Hi.
The difference between VGA, DVI-D and ADC and which should be used with a T244 widescreen monitor into a Quicksilver G4 with a GeForce2 MX nVIDIA (0x10de) card. What's a good upgrade card if the above is not good enough?
Thank you for your input.
Walter

Look at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigitalVisualInterface
 Cheers, Tom

About monitors and LCD displays

I want give you some directrices about the display sub system.
Like you all know there are CRT monitors and LCD displays.
CRT
CRT monitors are based upon electron beams hitting Electroluminescent phosphorus. In these monitors the most important parameters are:
1) Dot pitch
2) Refresh rate
Dot pitch is the size of a single phosphorus point, smaller is better. Typical values range between 0.24 and 0.25. Beware with monitors having a not constant dot pitch, there are monitors with dot pitch of 0.24 at center of screen and 0.25 at the borders. I recommend monitors with constant dot pitch size across all screen.
Refresh rate is the number of times a single electron beam travels across the screen drawing a single frame (from left to right and top to bottom) each second. It is measured in Herz (Hz). Bigger is better. Typical values range between 60 Hz and 120 Hz and the value depends upon resolution, more resolution goes to less possible refresh rate. If you are going to play games with shutter glasses, make sure your monitor is capable of 120 Hz minimun at the playing resolution. In 3D Stereo, each full 3D frame must be drawn 60 times/second (60 Hz) but a 3D frame is a single right eye frame and a single left eye frame, 60 Hz for left frame and 60 Hz for right frame are the full 120 Hz. If you CRT is not capable of these 120 Hz your eyes will suffer fatigue / strain and you would have a great headache after prolonged time periods.
LCD
A LCD display do not uses a electron beam to excite phosphorus and generate colored points, instead this it uses a grille and a special lamp. Instead drawing a frame line at line from top to bottom and left to right, it renders the frame in a step only and continuously, these displays are flat for this, there is no necesity for high voltage and magnetic fileds to move the electron beam. In these displays these are the more important parameters:
1) Dot pitch
2) Response time
3) Number of colors (color space)
Dot pitch is the same as with CRTs
Reponse time is the time it gets going from pure white to pure black. Less is better. It is measured in miliseconds. Good typical values range about 16 ms. If you are going to use the LCD to play games, response time is the more important parameter at all.
Number of colors are the simultaneus colors in screen. It have a inverse relationship with response time. It is measured in million of colors or bits. 24 bits of color depth are 16.7 million of colors. Typical values range agout 16 / 16.7 millions. Greater is better. LCDs with 16 ms response time have, usually, 16.5 millions of colors.
Somethimes, the manufacturer will provide you drivers (setup or inf files) for your operating system. I recomend install this drivers. Don't panic if there are no drivers for your display device, Windows, probably, will find the suitable driver for your brand and model.
If you have a CRT and you are stuck at 60~85 Hz you will need the right driver because Windows would not have found a suitable driver from its drivers base and it chose a standard monitor driver.
If you have a LCD and you are stuck at 60 Hz, all is fine, as i have told you yet, LCD displays paint the screen continuously, you will not appreciate any flicker at 60 Hz in these devices. You can check this if you have a digital camera, make a photo of a CRT with a shutter of <monitor refresh rate> * 1.5. You will see a partially drawn picture. If you take a photo of a LCD with the same shutter rules you will get a full picture. With LCD you will get full pictures always, independently of the shutter.
I hope al this info will be helpful to you.

I have found a very interesting link on the Anandtech Web site about LCDs, it is a old one but i think it will be useful.
The link is this

Best way to speed up switching between apps?

Hi,
I'm trying to figure out what I can do to make my Mac Pro better, (ie, faster) at switching between applications. There will be times when I am working in Photoshop and I need to go back to Illustrator, or InDesign (these seem to be the 2 worst offenders) and it will literally take minutes for my computer to finally open the .ai or .indd file. And just fyi, the files are already open, I'm just clicking from the PS environment to an already open file in Illustrator or InDesign and bringing them to the front.
Is this a lack of RAM? Is it something else? Is it an Adobe issue? I'm just pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to make this better/more efficient. If buying/installing more RAM would help, then I am open to that, but I just want to make sure that is the root of the problem, or that it will at least make it better. I suspect that it's not necessarily just an Adobe-centric issue since clicking on Firefox will also reproduce the same problem, ie. it will take a minute or two to finally come to the front.
The basic breakdown of my system: Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xenon, 8 GB Memory (8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3), running system 10.6.8. Adobe Creative Suite 5.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
-Eric

It might help to have Activity Monitor running while you're working like this, to see what's happening to the CPU, the RAM, and the drives. Activity Monitor is in your Applications/Utilities folder.
The first tab of the application is CPU usage. Unless you're pegging the cores with a heavy processing job (eg, file conversion), that's unlikely to be your bottleneck, but it's always possible that there's a process running there you weren't aware of.
Next is RAM. When you have large files open, those files are stored in RAM, so with PS, AI and ID files open at the same time, you may find you quickly use up your available memory. Check how much red, yellow, blue and green you have in the pie chart. Any time you have to page RAM out to the hard drive, it'll cause a slowdown. I would say 8GB is actually on the low side for that kind of simultaneous use of Adobe apps. Get 12GB or really as much as you can afford.
Obviously check drive space - you should leave a good 10-15% room free on your project drive. And are you storing the media/project files on your system drive? Using a separate, fast (ie, 7200rpm) drive, or even two striped, can give you MUCH better performance when reading/writing media.
Matt

27" apple cinema display switch between mac and pc

I have a 27" ACD with a standard mini display port and USB connector for my macbook pro. I'm going to bulid a PC (for gaming) and I'd like to connect the mintower PC to the 27" ACD. Is there a product that will allow me to switch between the MBP and the PC? If possible I'd also like to have the sound run through the switch as well.
One other thing to note - I'm considering the GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphix card, the card does not have a mini display port, it have two dual link DVI's and one mini HDMI.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Simple, the gaming PC must have a GPU with minidisplayport output. Then use Kanex snap X switch to do the switching between the PC and the Mac.

Dual DVI Monitor KVM

Hi, I like to know if there is any one have experience using a dual DVI monitor kvm switch with Mac Pro successfully. I own a 'Uniclass' 2-port dual dvi kvm, so I can share the dual monitor with another Linux box. However, it works on the Linux box, but when I tried to switch to Mac Pro, all I can see it works just in the beginning before the OS X load, that is the grey apple and small spinning circle on primary monitor, then the monitor lost the signal.
If you have successful story, can you let me know which brand of kvm you are using? Thanks in advance.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8) Monitor: BENQ FP202W, Display Card: ATi Radeon X1900 XT w/ 512MB RAM
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi, I like to know if there is any one have
experience using a dual DVI monitor kvm switch with
Mac Pro successfully. I own a 'Uniclass' 2-port dual
dvi kvm, so I can share the dual monitor with another
Linux box. However, it works on the Linux box, but
when I tried to switch to Mac Pro, all I can see it
works just in the beginning before the OS X load,
that is the grey apple and small spinning circle on
primary monitor, then the monitor lost the signal.
If you have successful story, can you let me know
which brand of kvm you are using? Thanks in
advance.
I'm using a RATOC Systems switch with mine. It supports
dual monitors but I only have one monitor so i only use it
like that. The model I have doesn't seem to be available
in the USA. Only Japan where I live. Here's a analogue
switch that they make however. Two of these would probably
work if you don't mind going throught the analogue 15pin
conversion.
http://web1.ratocsystems.com/english/products/subpages/RS-210c.html
I guess since that page is one of the few offerend in English
that it's available in the USA.
My RATOC KVM is dual monitor / KB / Mouse / Line-in / Line-out
for 4 PCs and cost about $150. Switchable either by a button
on the KVM Box or by a KB HotKey sequence. Mine is made
for PCs but it's working fine with the MacPro.

Switching between a DVI monitor & an LCD TV?

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