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Multiple Monitors - getting really close!

K

KoSoVaR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2012
9
0
Hello all,

I'm really trying to avoid purchasing the Apple Thunderbolt display. I just don't like it, not for me. I have 2 Dell 27" U2711's, 2 Dell 30" U3011's, and other monitors I consider nicer.

The problem, as you all may know, is hooking up multiple monitors. Now that Thunderbolt is gaining ground - simple solution that I just tried. I have this adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-GoFle...340734736&sr=8-2&keywords=seagate+thunderbolt

I have an Apple Thunderbolt display and hooked up the adapter. Then I took a Dell U3011 and used a Dual Link DVI adapter.

Thunderbolt Display [thunderbolt cable] Seagate GoFlex Adapter
Dell U3011 [dual link dvi adapter] Seagate GoFlex Adapter

Basically a daisy chain - and I have picture on both displays running off of the nVidia 650! It's actually amazing, much much better than the ****** Diamond BVU195 cards.

My question is, has anyone seen a "Thunderbolt Hub" - basically should be what it sounds like. I believe this device would allow me to hook up several monitors to my new MBP over Thunderbolt/DisplayPort.
 
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As far as I know Thunderbolt doesn't support hub layouts, only daisy chaining.

Which Macbook are you using? The Retina model supports 3 external monitors (two Mini-Displayport and one HDMI) without any daisy chaining.

Edit: I thought that the Belkin Thunderbolt dock might work as well but it doesn't have its own HDMI/DVI output, only the Thunderbolt/Mini-displayport pass through.
 
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Stetrain said:
As far as I know Thunderbolt doesn't support hub layouts, only daisy chaining.

Which Macbook are you using? The Retina model supports 3 external monitors (two Mini-Displayport and one HDMI) without any daisy chaining.

Edit: I thought that the Belkin Thunderbolt dock might work as well but it doesn't have its own HDMI/DVI output, only the Thunderbolt/Mini-displayport pass through.
Click to expand...

I'm using the newest MBP, with the 650M 1GB, 8GB RAM. Ivy Bridge of course.. not the Retina model.

I just saw that the Retina model has 2x Thunderbolt and an HDMI, well, that's pretty damn cool. We didn't want to get the Retina model with it being new and if something had to be swapped out (i.e. hard drive, RAM, etc) we'd have to go the good ol' Apple store.

The Belkin Express that's coming out in September has one HDMI and one extra Thunderbolt I believe. That allows for daisy chaining and theoretically two monitors ... but gah. I just want a device with 3-4 thunderbolt ports. Is that so hard? I don't know the limitations but 10GBps seems like more than enough for a gigabit ethernet, hooking something else up to the video, and an SSD still transferring 3-400MBps.

edit: As far as I can tell, http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/, Belkin updated it. They took out the HDMI? So only 1 Thunderbolt port supported now. I've seen Lenovo docks with 2 dual link DVI outputs. I find this pretty crappy. The dock is cool because well.. I don't have to plug everything in when I come to the office, just one cable. Now my issue still exists.. I still can't hook up a second non Apple monitor. Need more thunderbolt/display port combo ports.

This thing is insane.. I've been using some Intel 520s on the GoFlex adapter and the speeds are just ridiculous.
 
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InuNacho said:
I know your pain, I've been looking for some kind of Thunderbolt splitter or display hub so I can use a Blackmagic Intensity with an external display.

Matrox has a Thunderbolt hub coming out with a DVI port on it so it seems more than possible to create a display hub.

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/03/matrox-announces-ds-1-thunderbolt-docking-station-for-249/
Click to expand...

Matrox's hub doesn't have an extra thunderbolt for daisy chaining and IIRC I read somewhere that it's only single link DVI. But I may be wrong..

So again, 1 monitor FTW.
 
This is a pain, why didn’t Apple put an extra T/B port or add an HDMI port to the non retina MBP's?

I had the 15 MBP, took it back as I couldn’t see a solution to connecting to 2 monitors without spending a fortune on a T/B display, then picked up the 13 MBP, to small and have today just picked up the rmbp, which I'm not to sure about..yet. It has the connections but hardly any room on the ssd, plus in Win 7 at full res the text is too small for me to read!
 
Tombs said:
This is a pain, why didn’t Apple put an extra T/B port or add an HDMI port to the non retina MBP's?

I had the 15 MBP, took it back as I couldn’t see a solution to connecting to 2 monitors without spending a fortune on a T/B display, then picked up the 13 MBP, to small and have today just picked up the rmbp, which I'm not to sure about..yet. It has the connections but hardly any room on the ssd, plus in Win 7 at full res the text is too small for me to read!
Click to expand...

I just can't believe no one sees an opportunity in creating a thunderbolt/displayport hub... I would pay $100 - $150 for it.

What, like 4 TB ports on it? I don't care about the rest.
 
KoSoVaR said:
I just can't believe no one sees an opportunity in creating a thunderbolt/displayport hub... I would pay $100 - $150 for it.

What, like 4 TB ports on it? I don't care about the rest.
Click to expand...

Agree, there must be a huge market for a dual display hub......hold on...what would one need? I have a laser cutter I can play with...;)
 
KoSoVaR said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

Technicals way over my head.

Maybe you need 5 controllers, one for output, 4 for input.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-technology-developer.html

https://thunderbolttechnology.net/
Click to expand...

We produce Cobra (Replica) race car parts so they are very detailed "bits" when it comes to the finish. Anyone on here up to helping with design etc? We could brand it the Mac R (for rumours) TB (my initials and stands for Thunderbolt!) hub.....(PS this is dated and would be used in defence if Samsung came along and "nicked" my idea!)
 
Tombs said:
We produce Cobra (Replica) race car parts so they are very detailed "bits" when it comes to the finish. Anyone on here up to helping with design etc? We could brand it the Mac R (for rumours) TB (my initials and stands for Thunderbolt!) hub.....(PS this is dated and would be used in defence if Samsung came along and "nicked" my idea!)
Click to expand...

ygpm

Also sent a request to Intel Thunderbolt.
 
I think you would need two Thunderbolt controllers to achieve this:

Computer
||
[TB Cable]
||
Controller 1 ---> Displayport output
||
[Internal Daisy Chain]
||
Controller 2 ---> Displayport output
||
[External Daisy Chain Port]

So basically 2 TB devices in a single enclosure.

Since computers that use the full 4 channel TB controllers (classic Macbook Pro included) support two Displayport outputs over Thunderbolt, this may work.

I think that this is basically the same thing that's going on when you have two TB displays daisy chained. Each one has its own internal Displayport via the TB controller.

Edit: Diagrams make everything better:

wvrgq.png


According to Anandtech's explanation, that would work:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4832/the-apple-thunderbolt-display-review/8

I guess it's just a question of expense and how many people would actually buy it.
 
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