Or can it not because the MBP itself probably counts as a screen? Will it even do well with one 30" monster?
Daniel.
Daniel.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can MBP support dual 30" cinema displays?
- Thread starter BurtonCCC
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There's only one external monitor hookup... how do you plan on plugging the second one in? You gonna invent the USB adapter?
Be nice. I've only played around with a MBP once and sorry if the external monitor ports don't really concern me upon first glance.Heb1228 said:
Daniel.
Sorry... not trying to be smart with you but have you ever seen a laptop with more than one external monitor port?BurtonCCC said:
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/whatsinside.html
"Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors"
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html
"When you connect an Apple Cinema Display to MacBook Pro, you lose nothing in translation. That’s because the DVI connection gives you a pure digital signal from system to display. View more than 4 million pixels on the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD display, powered by the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 and the dual-link DVI built into MacBook Pro. With Mac OS X, you get three options for using your display: dual-display mode, video mirroring, and lid-closed mode."
"Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors"
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html
"When you connect an Apple Cinema Display to MacBook Pro, you lose nothing in translation. That’s because the DVI connection gives you a pure digital signal from system to display. View more than 4 million pixels on the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD display, powered by the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 and the dual-link DVI built into MacBook Pro. With Mac OS X, you get three options for using your display: dual-display mode, video mirroring, and lid-closed mode."
I've never even looked before. I don't even know what the PowerMac/Cinema Display hookups look like. I just thought you could go MBP to Cinema Display and then from the first Cinema display to the second. That's just how I assumed it would work.Heb1228 said:
Daniel.
OK, well for future reference that's not how any monitors work. No daisy-chaining like Firewire. The difference is that Firewire is a communications buss, and video is not.BurtonCCC said:
Each monitor requires its own connection, and each of those connections has to be supported by the graphics processor and sufficient video RAM, because the video card has to "paint" the screen in RAM before it transmits it to the monitor.
The video cards that can do dual monitors (like the internal Powerbook/MacBook plus an external DVI, or a G4/G5 video card that has both DVI and ADC or DVI and VGA outputs) have enough VRAM to cover 2 monitors worth, and their GPU is set up so it can paint 2 independent screens simultaneously.
Also the 30" cinema is special, beacuse it has so much acreage, it requires a "Dual Link" DVI connection, which essentially is built to be able to pump out two screens worth of data, which the 30" comines into one image. That's why you can't run the 30" on earlier Powerbooks and mere mortal Macs.
The other thing we are tweaking you on is that the information is readily available at apple.com; it's good MR manners to have made at least some effort to answer your own question before asking the forum members to do the work for you.
I've seen some really expensive video cards for PCs that will do 3 monitors, but only for desktops of course. There may be some that will do more that that but I've never heard of them.
Aww, I just like you guys. I'll just go read it from the boring Apple site in the future.CanadaRAM said:
Daniel.
Heb1228 said:
Yes, actually- the Dell E1710 has both a DVI port and a VGA port. Unfortunately, it's an 8+ pound, 2" thick monstrosity...
YES!! And I think the MBP will going to drive two 30" monitors. One native and the other one with a expresscard when it comes out. Probably from this company:Heb1228 said:
http://www.villagetronic.com
Ok here's what you were talking about... this is from an E1705 (I couldn't find the 1710 on Dell's website for some reason)StealthRider said:
This does technically have 2 ports, so I stand corrected technically. HOWEVER, you cannot run two separate displays on those, it is just giving you the option of pugging in either VGA OR DVI. So basically its the same thing Apple has, except Apple just gives you an adapter so you they don't have to use up space putting a useless extra port on the laptop. This is really just poor design by Dell (IMO) and not an extra feature.
EDIT: BTW, none of the optional video cards on these will even drive a 30" display.
Heb1228 said:
My uncle's Alienware desktop has a card in it with 6 separate DVI ports. He has two 19" LCDs running on it at the moment.
The desktop itself is huge - only thing I've ever seen that dwarfs a PowerMac G5. It's probably 1/3 bigger in every dimension.
EDIT - Come to think of it, maybe it was just three graphics cards, not sure - he gave the impression it was one card but he could've been running SLI or Crossfire or whatever, maybe using a DVI hub or something. Doesn't really matter, this machine was an absolute beast - you could hear it from upstairs and his house is a very old "New England" style house but made from bricks - very different style to the all the other houses I saw round Boston - solid as a rock and this thing still made a noise like a jet engine taking off.
Heb1228 said:Ok here's what you were talking about... this is from an E1705 (I couldn't find the 1710 on Dell's website for some reason)
This does technically have 2 ports, so I stand corrected technically. HOWEVER, you cannot run two separate displays on those, it is just giving you the option of pugging in either VGA OR DVI. So basically its the same thing Apple has, except Apple just gives you an adapter so you they don't have to use up space putting a useless extra port on the laptop. This is really just poor design by Dell (IMO) and not an extra feature.
EDIT: BTW, none of the optional video cards on these will even drive a 30" display.
lol i had to laugh