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Dual monitors on new Macbook
- Thread starter goncode
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If you want to drive two 24" monitors at 1920x1200 each, you will need:
1) Mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter
2) TripleHead2Go Digital edition
Only the TripleHead2Go Digital can drive out two DVIs at 1920x1200. I have tried this on a last generation Macbook Pro and it worked fine. I'm currently awaiting the release of the mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter from Apple ... For the Matrox solutions, bear in mind that both screen are treated as one giant screen, so anything that centers the window (think PowerPoint) will end up spanning both monitors.
Another option is to use a USB display driver, but at 1920x1200 you are limited to 16b color which I found unacceptable.
1) Mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter
2) TripleHead2Go Digital edition
Only the TripleHead2Go Digital can drive out two DVIs at 1920x1200. I have tried this on a last generation Macbook Pro and it worked fine. I'm currently awaiting the release of the mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter from Apple ... For the Matrox solutions, bear in mind that both screen are treated as one giant screen, so anything that centers the window (think PowerPoint) will end up spanning both monitors.
Another option is to use a USB display driver, but at 1920x1200 you are limited to 16b color which I found unacceptable.
Yes, the TripleHead2Go takes a dual-link DVI as input, so you need the fancy (unreleased) mini DisplayPort to dual-link DVI adapter. You could use the plain DVI or even VGA connector, but would not be able to use as high of a resolution.
Macbook and Matrox DualHead2Go
I found this thread very helpful. Trying to hook my new generation (just purchased) macbook and a last generation macbook to 2 Dell 19in monitors using a Matrox Analogue DualHead2Go. Only thing I cannot achieve (going mini-dvi to VGA) is 2560 x 1280 resolution. Highest I can obtain is 2048 x 768. This is the last piece of the puzzle, after which I'm sorted. Thanks for any thoughts.
I found this thread very helpful. Trying to hook my new generation (just purchased) macbook and a last generation macbook to 2 Dell 19in monitors using a Matrox Analogue DualHead2Go. Only thing I cannot achieve (going mini-dvi to VGA) is 2560 x 1280 resolution. Highest I can obtain is 2048 x 768. This is the last piece of the puzzle, after which I'm sorted. Thanks for any thoughts.
Looking for 2560 x 1024
I'm in the same boat. Ive used the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition successfully with my older MacBook Pros DVI port up to the desired 2560×1024 resolution, but on my newer UniBody MacBookPro I am only able to reach 2048×768. Matrox told me this is a limitation with the new mini DisplayPort, but it looks like you were able to make it work. I've tried both DVI and VGA to mini DisplayPort adapters and still hitting the wall at 2048x768. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. - Vince
I'm in the same boat. Ive used the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition successfully with my older MacBook Pros DVI port up to the desired 2560×1024 resolution, but on my newer UniBody MacBookPro I am only able to reach 2048×768. Matrox told me this is a limitation with the new mini DisplayPort, but it looks like you were able to make it work. I've tried both DVI and VGA to mini DisplayPort adapters and still hitting the wall at 2048x768. Any insights would be greatly appreciated. - Vince
Cool, thanks dmayle ... I'll give the DualLink-DVI Adapter a try. Are you having the issues reported on the Apple site ratings for this product? See ... http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB571Z/A
Was anyone able to get the 2 (1920x1200) monitors to work at their full resolution. I have been tying to get this to work for a few days now. I purchased the matrox dualhead2go digital as it said it could do 2(1920x1200) resolution monitors to give me 3840x1200 but it is not working. So i was thinking about getting the matrox tripplehead2go and a mini dual link dvi cable to see it if would give me 3840x1200. I have a 2009 unibody macbook pro.
I have a 2010 15" Unibody and when using a Dual Link DVI adaptor (Oww - that wasn't cheap) I can get OS-X 10.6.6 to detect the 3840 x 1200 resolution although its far from reliable. I need to plug it in in a specific order to get it to not send weird 'out of range' signals to the screens.
When I did get both screen working there was weird digital noise in some areas of the screen - normally in white areas (web pages). It takes me about 10mins to reset up again if it does freak out - far from ideal.
And of course, annoyingly, my old MacBook Pro (17" w/ DVI) works perfect with this setup.
By the looks of things theres some bugs in the TH2Go, that isn't helped by the Dual-Link DVI via MiniDisplay Port adaptor. As the noise appears mainly in white areas (which are harder to process) it may be making the TH2Go work to hard and is crashing/overheating?
I would hope that Matrox could fix this with a firmware update?
One tip though if someone is having the same issues I found setting only the 3840x1080 resolution doesn't give me any noise - so thats what I'll stick to for now.
Also when I do have issues the first thing to try is to unplug/plug the TH2Go USB cable - it resets the split screen side of things but keeps OS-X sending the current resolution.
When I did get both screen working there was weird digital noise in some areas of the screen - normally in white areas (web pages). It takes me about 10mins to reset up again if it does freak out - far from ideal.
And of course, annoyingly, my old MacBook Pro (17" w/ DVI) works perfect with this setup.
By the looks of things theres some bugs in the TH2Go, that isn't helped by the Dual-Link DVI via MiniDisplay Port adaptor. As the noise appears mainly in white areas (which are harder to process) it may be making the TH2Go work to hard and is crashing/overheating?
I would hope that Matrox could fix this with a firmware update?
One tip though if someone is having the same issues I found setting only the 3840x1080 resolution doesn't give me any noise - so thats what I'll stick to for now.
Also when I do have issues the first thing to try is to unplug/plug the TH2Go USB cable - it resets the split screen side of things but keeps OS-X sending the current resolution.
So if I understand this correctly, at this point in May 2011, there is no way to run two monitors, AND the macbook pro's internal screen. --- Its either 2 external montiors OR macbook internal screen. Unless you want to do a a USB to DVI convertor but then are limited to 16 bit color...
well that sucks.
well that sucks.
PC notebook, onboard HDMI port, and express card slot video card?
Just a guess...
I know there are ways to hook up 2 screens... but even with it, the internal screen isn't supported at the same time, is it?