Best way: 27" additional monitor and TV.

[Qwerty11]

So what the best way to accomplish what I'm wanting?

I have a 27" iMac. I want an additional 27" monitor. This monitor will have these duties:

1. Primarily serve as a TV while I'm using the iMac.
2. Serve as an additional monitor for the iMac if I need the screen real-estate.

A desired function is that the audio when using the monitor as a TV would go through the mac, to my Apogee, then out to my studio monitors if I wanted it to.

I can think of several ways of doing this, but I'm sure somebody has the best advice.

Also, what is a good monitor I should pick for this? I don't want to spend $1k for an Apple display, and honestly I don't need that quality in this application. It doesn't necessarily have to be a 27', but I do like the size.

Thanks!

 

[Qwerty11]

After looking at the prices, looks like its going to be best for me to go with a 24" monitor. However, the above questions still apply.

 

[Qwerty11]

bump for some assistance please!

 

[zhenya]

In order to pass the audio to the Mac, whatever source is feeding the tv will have to have its audio connected directly to the Mac.

Can you connect it directly to the Apogee instead?

 

[lunaoso]

I would say buy a 27" TV and hook up the iMac to it via either HDMI, VGA, or DVI (whatever's best). Then just use the other ports for TV stuff. But then you wouldn't get much more screen real estate because of the 1920 by 1080 resolution. It depends if you'd use it more as a TV or a monitor.