Connecting more than 2 HDMI displays to Mac Pro

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Level 1

4 points

Connecting more than 2 HDMI displays to Mac Pro

I have a mac pro late 2013 model running yosemite 10.10.5. I have tried to connect 3 HDMI displays to it but it just doesn't seem to work.

1 screen is connected via HDMI port and the other 2 via HDMI to Mini-display adapter. I checked all the adapters and they work fine on the same mac pro because when i try to connect any 2 it works absolutely ok. I also borrowed another friends adapter and tried all three via the Minidisplay/thunderbolt ports but that didn't work.

I came across this - Use multiple displays with your Mac Pro (Late 2013) - Apple Support but it doesn't mention what to do for more than 2 HDMI displays. Also the same setup with my early 2013 mac book pro 15inch works perfectly. so i am guessing all my adapters and cables work ok.

Can someone please tell me what to do. Basically i need it working urgently in my studio for dubbing sessions with video sync.

Thanks

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Apr 28, 2016 5:05 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Apr 28, 2016 5:29 AM in response to jjsticks

The 2013 Mac Pro only supports two legacy outputs unless additional connections to legacy outputs use active adopters.

HDMI and DVI are legacy connections.

Thus, you need one active mini displayport>HDMI adopter like this one. Note it only support max of 1920x1200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158351

Also, each connection should be connected to a different Thunderbolt bus

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Answer 2

Apr 28, 2016 6:25 AM in response to jjsticks

In addition to Illaass' excellent answer you might want to consider the following adapter.

http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/reader.en/product/mini-displayport-12- to-hdmi-20-uhd-active-adapter.html

This adapter is -

Active
Supports 4K on HDMI
Supports 4K at 60fps on HDMI 2.0
Supports HDCP 2.2

Based on the above it should do everything you would want.

Note: The built-in HDMI port on both the new Mac Pro and in fact all Mac models so far released is only a HDMI 1.4a or earlier. As such it can only do 4K at 30fps. The above adapter solves this as well by converting from Displayport 1.2 to HDMI 2.0. HDMI 2.0 can support 4K at 60fps unlike HDMI 1.4.

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