I have tried to do some research on this but most talk is about multiple monitor connections. So I am hoping that someone here knows enough to give me some guidance about this as to whether one or the other is actually better or if it does not really make much difference. I am getting the ASUS Proart 6K 32 inch monitor which will be a stand alone monitor for me. Thanks in anticipation.
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Which is better: HDMI 2.1 or thunderbolt to connect a 6K 60Hz monitor to M4 max Studio
- Thread starter eldho
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The TB ports on a Mac are the primary video output source, sending a DisplayPort signal through the USB-C ports.
If the monitor doesn’t have a USB-C input, then a USB-C to DP adapter cable does a straight lossless conversion of the video.
It needs to be a 8K cable/adapter for 6K.
The HDMI output on a Mac is derived from an internal conversion.
Historically it suffered from a minor problem of the Mac detecting an HDMI monitor as a TV, and sending a YCbCr signal (which is OK for movies) rather than a RGB signal, which is better for a monitor displaying computer text and graphics.
If the monitor doesn’t have a USB-C input, then a USB-C to DP adapter cable does a straight lossless conversion of the video.
It needs to be a 8K cable/adapter for 6K.
The HDMI output on a Mac is derived from an internal conversion.
Historically it suffered from a minor problem of the Mac detecting an HDMI monitor as a TV, and sending a YCbCr signal (which is OK for movies) rather than a RGB signal, which is better for a monitor displaying computer text and graphics.
Coincidentally, I have just followed up another thread about keyboard control of an external monitor with the Mac's keyboard.
It is possible that Apple has introduced an undocumented feature whereby the usual keyboard controls may work when connecting M3/M4 Macs to the monitor by HDMI.
This is quite easily done with USB-C or DP (and HDMI) using a free app like Better Display or Monitor Control (available from Github) but people have been reporting it happening without an app using HDMI.
So that's an advantage for HDMI if just connecting a single monitor.
It is possible that Apple has introduced an undocumented feature whereby the usual keyboard controls may work when connecting M3/M4 Macs to the monitor by HDMI.
This is quite easily done with USB-C or DP (and HDMI) using a free app like Better Display or Monitor Control (available from Github) but people have been reporting it happening without an app using HDMI.
So that's an advantage for HDMI if just connecting a single monitor.
Thanks for your responses Paul. I will go with using the TB port as that sounds more reliable and I certainly have enough TB ports available. I was wondering what the point of the HDMI port is and so wondered if it might be in some way the better option. I assume that it is a useful extra for people using multiple monitors.
What are you hoping to achieve by using thunderbolt vs hdmi? If you have just one monitor, what will thunderbolt do that you cannot with HDMI?