USB Video adapters

[mikehalloran]

I am bowing to the reality that my new job (same company) really needs me to have three monitors active to display all of the browser tabs that must be open. Now that people report to me, I need a third screen to display it. It will also come in handy with DP, of course.

I've a 2010 iMac and my external monitor is connected to the Mini DisplayPort. I understand that a third display is possible through USB. Is anyone doing this? If so, what adapters are you using?

I understand that there will be limitations but, since I will be viewing GoogleDocs and email, this shouldn't be an issue. Whatever adapter I get, it needs to have Yosemite drivers so, if one company is better than another, I'd like to know.

My printer is in a bookcase on my desk that has to be relocated. I'm so not looking forward to this. I really wish that my budget could justify an nMP and three nice monitors. A newer iMac and two TB monitors would work, too.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I haven't bought it yet as I don't need it yet, but I've done a lot of research on this and if you have a DVI monitor, this is what you want. Be sure you have a dual link cable and monitor.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571 ... r?fnode=51

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Wait, I thought this was USB... I'm sure there is one...

[monkey man]

Great timing, this question from Mike.

Building my vocal booth sometime later this year, probably in 3-4 months' time. Always figured I'd be able to hook up a monitor in the booth via USB to my beloved Mac tower. Obviously the idea is to be able to play recording engineer whilst tracking vox.

Assumed it'd be a no-brainer USB extension-cable hookup. Wouldn't this be the case?

[bayswater]

Always figured I'd be able to hook up a monitor in the booth via USB to my beloved Mac tower. Obviously the idea is to be able to play recording engineer whilst tracking vox

Consider Screen Sharing. Won't work for Mike, but it might work for you. Assumes you have an old laptop around with 10.6.8 or better (earlier might work, but don't seem as stable), and wifi. Enable system preferences screen sharing on the main Mac, and access it's screen on the laptop via the Finder. Whatever you can do with the keyboard and mouse on the main Mac, you can do from the laptop. And you can use it anywhere, not just where you have wired things up. There is a compromise between the level of resolution you can get, zoom levels, and the screen refresh speed, but for this purpose, I doubt it will matter.

You can do the same with an iPad, but I found that a bit clunky. Having a proper keyboard is better.

[mikehalloran]

Thanks for the suggestions. There are a few ways to do it but none are ideal.

The USB monitor solutions all use the same drivers that have major issues with Mavericks and Yosemite.

There is a solution that can split a monitor into two. Its driver issues are benign but it takes one large screen and you split it between the two monitors. I could probably make it work but not really what I want.

Really, I need a Mac Pro, new Mac Pro or an iMac that's 2011 or later with its two TB ports. Recent plumbing and pending electrical take the nMP off the table this year – damn. It's time to upgrade from the 2-conductor aluminum wiring installed when the house was built in 1960, ya know?

My wife has offered me a straight swap with her 2011. That way she gets the i7 and SSD while I get a hard drive and i5. Uh... yes, I can do three monitors while she gets a very fast iMac. I have done DP on an i5 identical to hers. For many tasks, there is no speed difference but on some, it's huge.

Anyway, there's a 2011 27" i7 with an installed 250G SSD that closes on eBay in 7 hours with free local pickup (90 minute round trip). I could pop my 960G into it, throw the 250G into my wife's i5 and sell my 2010 with the eSATA port. If I can get it for a grand or less, that's the way I should go.

[FMiguelez]

I'm currently using these USB adapters, so I can use my monitors with my Mac minis. They have similar interfaces with different connectors as well.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/VIDU3DVIA/

They work fine, except for an issue where you can not place any windows in such a way that they share both screens... Things can only be in one screen or the other, but not both... Which sucks for things like DP's mixer, where it's nice to spread it in 2 different monitors. I really miss doing this

That was the only viable solution I found when I purchased my little devils.

[mikehalloran]

I'm currently using these USB adapters, so I can use my monitors with my Mac minis. They have similar interfaces with different connectors as well.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/VIDU3DVIA/

They work fine, except for an issue where you can not place any windows in such a way that they share both screens... Things can only be in one screen or the other, but not both... Which sucks for things like DP's mixer, where it's nice to spread it in 2 different monitors. I really miss doing this

That was the only viable solution I found when I purchased my little devils.

Does it use the DisplayLink driver or another?

[FMiguelez]

It uses DisplayLink.

It was a little better in Mavericks than Yosemite, but putting objects across 2 screens has never worked here.

[mikehalloran]

It uses DisplayLink.

It was a little better in Mavericks than Yosemite, but putting objects across 2 screens has never worked here.

That is not an issue for me. It needs to support a browser window with multiple open tabs, probably 10-15 at any time, on a 23" or 24" monitor that I have yet to purchase.

[mikehalloran]

FMiguelez wrote:
I'm currently using these USB adapters, so I can use my monitors with my Mac minis. They have similar interfaces with different connectors as well.

Well, I went to Fry's, bought a 24" backlit LG and a Diamond 3 USB 2/3 to HDMI/DVI adapter. Including the HDMI cable and tax, I was out the door for $229. No doubt I could have saved a few $ buying online but I wanted to try it before bidding on some used iMacs and Mac Pros that close in a few hours.

The adapter was $50. Since they all use the same DisplayLink drivers, I figured one is probably as good as another. I downloaded v.2.3 for Yosemite and v.2.41beta, installing the beta. I rebooted and had everything configured in about a minute.

Bottom line: it's working great or rather, more than good enough for my needs. I'm certain that scrolling would be faster if I had a USB 3 connection and there are certain protocols this doesn't support:
http://support.displaylink.com/knowledg ... les/528023
It also has an issue with Display Preferences remembering the settings on reboot – a 15 second annoyance that I can live with.

No matter. It does exactly what I need which is to let me move employee reports to their own window.


Thank you and everyone for your posts. I wouldn't have given it a shot otherwise.


I still want a newer Mac but this way, I get to decide what and when instead of letting the circumstances force me to a quick solution.

Now to make room in my studio and on my desk. I have two days.

[monkey man]

Ha! Ripper Mike. Well done mate.

You must be happy 'cause it's rare for you to use so many emoticons.

Assumes you have an old laptop around with 10.6.8 or better (earlier might work, but don't seem as stable), and wifi...

No BT, WF, cells, base-station home phones and so on for the Monkster, remember?

Otherwise, it sounds like an excellent solution, Bays. Thank you!

Now that Mike's sorted, I'd still like to know if a simple USB3 hookup from a monitor to my Mac would allow me to see exactly what I do on my main one, real-estate differences aside. It's really only to be able to record-enable tracks, undo takes and use the transport functions.

Thoughts, anyone?

[FMiguelez]

It also has an issue with Display Preferences remembering the settings on reboot – a 15 second annoyance that I can live with.

Yeah. It's a little weird.
Most times, when I start one of my slave Minis, one screen comes on first, and a few seconds later the second one. Some times, the preferences get messed up... The computer forgets the monitor settings, and I must reset them manually.

Like you say, not a big deal, but it's funny because that only happens with ONE of the macs that use DisplayLink. And that Mac didn't use to do it. I think it has something to do with which USB port you use to connect the displays, and in what order the computer sees them. I changed them recently and that's when this started happening again.

My adapters work very well (except for sharing objects among screens, which I really miss).

Thank you and everyone for your posts. I wouldn't have given it a shot otherwise.

Very glad you found a good solution. It is not every day that we can suggest to YOU things related to hardware...

[bayswater]

No BT, WF, cells, base-station home phones and so on for the Monkster, remember?

DOH! Right. Not thinking.
You can do it with an ethernet cable too.

[mikehalloran]

I'd still like to know if a simple USB3 hookup from a monitor to my Mac would allow me to see exactly what I do on my main one, real-estate differences aside. It's really only to be able to record-enable tracks, undo takes and use the transport functions.

Thoughts, anyone?

The $50 box solution should work. Turn display mirroring on. The only issue I can see is that mirroring works for all three monitors. I can't see a way to have it mirror one monitor only while leaving the other independent. I haven't explored the issue beyond what I did yesterday.