Display Port/Multiple Monitor questions

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Level 1

18 points

Display Port/Multiple Monitor questions

So I have a mid 2011 Mac Mini with Intel HD Graphics 3000 512MB graphics and I am considering the purchase of two Dell U2414H 24" monitors that have Display Port/Mini DP connections.

1. Are Display Port and Thunderbolt connections the same thing and would I need any adaptor cables to connect from the Mac Mini to the displays?

2. I've read that you can daisy chain multiple monitors via Display Port connections and wanted to know if this is the preferred way to connect two monitors to the Mac Mini.

3. Is there any special setup required to have the ability to have the two monitors each displaying different things and be able to drag open windows between screens etc, I'm assuming this would be the case with a Display Port daisy chain sort of setup.

4. If the two monitors are daisy chained via Display Port can you also connect another computer to one of the monitors HDMI inputs and switch to that input when I want my Windows based PC on one monitor and the Mac Mini on the other.

Thank you for your assistance,

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), Corsair 128GB SSD, 16GB 1333 DDR3 RAM,

Posted on May 4, 2016 3:34 PM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

May 4, 2016 3:58 PM in response to sjc47

To daisy chaining via displayport/mini displayport the graphics card output and monitor inputs and outputs have to support displayport 1.2.

I do not thin the Thunderbolt port on the 2011 Mac Mini supports DP1.2. I do not know if the monitor does

The page for the monitor does not say

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&sku=860-BB CG

mini displayport is a subset of Thunderbolt

Your monitor has an HDMI port so why not use that with one monitor. The monitors are only 1920x1080.

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Answer 2

sjc47 Author

Level 1

18 points

May 4, 2016 5:46 PM in response to lllaass

Thanks, I'll have to check into the DP 1.2 compatibility.

As for connecting with HDMI, if you connect one monitor with HDMI and the other with Display Port wouldn't they both display the same desktop on both monitors. I want to be able to have different windows open across the two monitors. So I guess I need to know how you setup the Mac Mini for use with two monitors.

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Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

May 5, 2016 1:03 AM in response to sjc47

You can have separate images on each monitor or have one screen mirror the other screen. See:

OS X El Capitan: Connect multiple displays to your Mac

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Answer 4

sjc47 Author

Level 1

18 points

May 5, 2016 6:57 PM in response to lllaass

Thanks, the link you provided was helpful, I don't need to daisy chain the monitors via DP, I'll just run one from the Mac Mini's HDMI out and I picked up a Mini-DP to HDMI adaptor for the other monitor. My monitors arrive tomorrow so I'll see how it goes!

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