Connecting a Second Monitor

[gathompson56]

If your two Macs support it, there's Apple's Continuity so you can share the clipboard and web pages easily between Macs.

that was looking promising until I discovered that my 2009 iMac does not support Continuity.

[Tom Robinson]

I have Reunion 12 on my left monitor and view Ancestry and other websites on the left monitor. I already find this to be very helpful although if I find something through Ancestry that I want to keep I have to conduct that activity on my newer iMac on the left.

If your two Macs support it, there's Apple's Continuity so you can share the clipboard and web pages easily between Macs.

[Bob White]

Sidecar works with several iPad models: iPad Pro: all models, iPad (6th generation) or later, iPad mini (5th generation) and iPad Air (3rd generation).

I have set it up and used it but I feel it needs more development. You know those commercials running TV currently where base idea is something is "just OK"? I'll say that about it for now. This was using a current model 10.5 in iPad Pro with a 2019 iMac. Under 10.15.0, I couldn't even get it to synch. Under 10.5.1, it would connect but the connection was flaky. Under the current 10.15.2, it easily connects and steadily maintains the connection. But the things one can do are limited.

Pretty much all the information one would want about Sidecar is at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210380.

[gathompson56]

Mac OS Catalina supports what Luna Display does with the Apple app called Sidecar. So I have been told. I haven't tried it.

Unfortunately SideCar only works with iPads AND you have to have a specific iPad model. It does not work with my iPad Air 2.

In the meantime I have setup both my newer and older iMacs beside each other, they are not connected but sort of a "simulated" 2nd monitor. Now I can get a feel of how 2 monitors might work. I like it already.

I have Reunion 12 on my left monitor and view Ancestry and other websites on the left monitor. I already find this to be very helpful although if I find something through Ancestry that I want to keep I have to conduct that activity on my newer iMac on the left.

[romad]

Thanks Paul.

I took one more look for YouTube videos of how to connect a 2nd monitor to my iMac and I discovered a video on Luna Display. The dongle and app they developed was originally designed to allow you to connect your iPad to your iMac. In October they updated the app to allow you to connect your current iMac to an old iMac, which is my situation.

Has anyone here tried this technique? It's cheaper than a new monitor and solves some of the issues that Paul identified.


https://lunadisplay.com

https://youtu.be/cATwST_VXlU

It's limited to Macs that have EITHER an USB-C port OR a Mini-Display port. My iMac doesn't have either. Perhaps it will work if you use an female USB-C to male USB-A adapter.

[Blaise A. Darveaux]

Mac OS Catalina supports what Luna Display does with the Apple app called Sidecar. So I have been told. I haven't tried it.

[gathompson56]

Thanks Paul.

I took one more look for YouTube videos of how to connect a 2nd monitor to my iMac and I discovered a video on Luna Display. The dongle and app they developed was originally designed to allow you to connect your iPad to your iMac. In October they updated the app to allow you to connect your current iMac to an old iMac, which is my situation.

Has anyone here tried this technique? It's cheaper than a new monitor and solves some of the issues that Paul identified.


https://lunadisplay.com

https://youtu.be/cATwST_VXlU

[Paul Reitz]

Anything I should look for in a new 2nd monitor?

Grant, with multiple monitors you should consider what different vertical screen heights will do — the pointer will constantly hang up where the monitor window edges don't overlap. It also tends to engage the Dock or activate one of your window corner prefs when you least want it.

Try to get as nearly equal monitor window heights as you can. Not as easy as it might seem: different monitor physical sizes, pixel dimensions, and mounting heights. For example (see image below) there's no way to raise the middle monitor (MBP) to the height suggested by the layout, but at least by aligning the tops of the windows, a zero-finesse motion of the cursor vertical as far as it will go allows it to glide from one screen to the next without issue.

My setup: on the left, LG Ultra HD 27" set to 1692 pixels vertical, middle an MBP 15" Retina set to 1050 pixels vertical (that combo happens to give nearly equal ppi, so images sizes remain nearly the same when dragged from one screen to the other.) The right monitor is an old Dell 20" at the default 1200 pixels vertical height. Not much can be done about that.

I've looked but not found any software that would make the cursor glide across those discontinuities. Heck, I don't even know how to that function would be described! There is software, Warp Mouse, that allows the cursor to jump from leftmost edge to rightmost or vice/versa, but the cursor still hangs at window discontinuities.

monitor pixel heights.png

Once you become accustomed to that much screen space, you'll wish Reunion would permit multiple simultaneous open windows.

-Paul

[gathompson56]

Well, as expected I could not get either my old iMac nor my old laptop PC to connect to my 21.5" 2018 retina iMac. They will now have to find a new home.

I now have the necessary cable to connect to a 2nd monitor via VGA connection. Anything I should look for in a new 2nd monitor?

[gathompson56]

I use my iMac's monitor plus 2 others - an old Dell monitor I had laying around (the Dell laptop I used this with is long gone) and an Acer monitor which cost under $100 and whose output is great. These were originally hooked up by USB connections (I think). But with my new iMac 2019, I had to use the Thunderbolt output on my iMac - which caused me some grief trying to figure out how to do. I had to buy a Thunderbolt hub with two Thunderbolt outputs (not real easy to find) and new cables to make it all work - which I finally got it to do. I can't imagine trying to use Reunion without at least two monitors. The three allow me to have Reunion open on one screen and Ancestry or FamilySearch (or whatever open on the 2nd) and email or another genealogy program or Google open on the 3rd.

I like your use of 3 screens. I am awaiting an adapter from Amazon that is intended to hook form my current iMac to either my old iMac or my old PC laptop. I will post my results later next week.

[cponeill]

I use my iMac's monitor plus 2 others - an old Dell monitor I had laying around (the Dell laptop I used this with is long gone) and an Acer monitor which cost under $100 and whose output is great. These were originally hooked up by USB connections (I think). But with my new iMac 2019, I had to use the Thunderbolt output on my iMac - which caused me some grief trying to figure out how to do. I had to buy a Thunderbolt hub with two Thunderbolt outputs (not real easy to find) and new cables to make it all work - which I finally got it to do. I can't imagine trying to use Reunion without at least two monitors. The three allow me to have Reunion open on one screen and Ancestry or FamilySearch (or whatever open on the 2nd) and email or another genealogy program or Google open on the 3rd.

[B Jansen]

It's after the holidays, check the free section of Craigslist for them!

[gathompson56]

Thanks Bradley. Before I invest in new hardware I want to try using some equipment I already have on hand.

[B Jansen]

Hi Grant, second (or third) monitors are great! I can't speak to your specifics, but you can get creative with connections: there are USB to monitor connections (check the drivers) and all kinds of ways to make it work. It might be easiest though to just use monitors themselves without using computers attached.

[gathompson56]

In addition to my 2017 21" Mac I have two monitors sitting on the side of my desk. The first is my 2009 21" Mac, the second is a 17" Windows based laptop.

Instead of chucking the older Mac and lap top out I thought I might connect one of them up as a second monitor. I seem to recall that I read an Apple document that stated I COULD NOT link the 2009 Mac as a 2nd monitor. Although it has the necessary ports there is something about the bus that is not compatible. Apparently the 27" from 2009 will work. Can anyone confirm this?

The alternative is to connect my 2017 Mac to the Windows laptop. It looks like I need a Thunderbolt to VGA connection. Can anyone here confirm that this works?

A little extra screen space would be a benefit when transcribing details from a source into Reunion 12.

Thanks in advance.