Mac computer external monitor full introduction

Apple now sells more notebooks than desktops, so many people now use a Mac screen that is only 15 inches or less. When people try to add a monitor to a Mac notebook, those professional words are dazzling: Display type, connection mode, screen size, and so on. If you are worrying about how to choose the right monitor, our presentation today will help you.

Benefits of using an external monitor

If you're using a Mac to browse the Web, the size of the screen is not that important, but running complicated software (like Xcode,photoshop), the Macbook Air 11-inch screen can't handle all the windows, This requires the user to constantly press Option-tab to switch windows. An external display allows you to have a larger display space to help you get your work done smoothly. Here's a quick introduction to how I use Macs and external monitors.

My Mac is a 11-inch MacBook Air, and it's definitely the best mac I've ever used. But as a freelance and web designer, it's not so good to work alone: a 11-inch screen is clearly not representative of advanced productivity.

To solve the problem of the air screen is too small, I have an external 24-inch resolution of 1920 x 1080 monitor. This display, with a MacBook Air base, turns the MacBook Air into a 24-inch imac, so that I have a large display space at my desk and can also enjoy the convenience of a MacBook Air when I go out.

It is worth mentioning that an external monitor does not only mean larger display space, but also some software that is optimized for multiple displays (such as aperture and iMovie) makes it easier for users to use. For example, if you use imovie to edit a movie on a single display, the movie preview will be squeezed by other windows to the upper-right corner of the screen. If you have two monitors, you can have the preview exclusive to one screen, imovie other windows to the other screen.

I've seen some users who buy the imac, and the reason they chose the imac was that "the monitor is big enough," and the laptop and the external screen are the same to meet their needs.

The more the monitor?

Some users will feel that two side-by-side displays are too space-consuming or more accustomed to a large monitor than two working simultaneously. The Mac notebook also offers a "close-cover Mode": The feature introduced from PowerBook G4 can be combined with a notebook's own screen, working with an external screen alone (of course, since the notebook is closed, the external keyboard and mouse are required).

After you close the screen of your Mac notebook, you only need to connect an external monitor, a power supply and a mouse keyboard, and the Mac will automatically wake up from hibernation so that it can work like a desktop computer. Some of the most discerning companies have discovered business opportunities, such as The Henge company specializes in producing a base that eliminates the hassle of connecting peripherals one at a time and saves a lot of space.

Monitor connection mode

With the continuous development of interface standards, there have been some of the display connection mode, at present these methods can be used:

· Vga

· Dvi

· Dual-link DVI

· Hdmi

· Mini DisplayPort

· Thunderbolt

Vga

Monitor for VGA interface

The history of the VGA interface dates back to the time when CRT monitors were popular (perhaps some readers have never used CRT monitors, you're lucky) and are still active on a variety of display devices. Some models still support this interface in the production of LCD monitors.

The VGA transmission is a "analog" signal-it uses a cable to simultaneously transmit red, green and blue (RGB) Primary colors, horizontal sync signals, vertical sync signals, and some display settings related information. and VGA transmission of the signal, the MAC output is a digital signal, so need to convert the digital signal to analog signals, and then the display will receive analog signals to the digital signal after the display. Transmission of analog signals means that there is no checksum, retransmission, so the screen transmission will have attenuation and interference. But do not worry, the analog signal caused by the distortion of the screen may not be able to distinguish the naked eye, so VGA is still a good choice.

Dvi

The same can be used for VGA, HDMI interface monitor via adapter

Unlike the VGA interface for transmitting analog signals, the DVI interface is designed for digital display devices such as liquid crystal displays, which use digital signals to transmit images without distortion problems. Some older Macs are paired with the Mini-dvi interface, which is exactly the same as the DVI interface (just a little bit smaller) and requires only one adapter to be on a monitor that supports DVI input.

Dual-link DVI

VGA, DVI, and HDMI interface monitors can also be used with adapters

The DVI interface only transmits all the way, and you can imagine it as a single cable in the interface. Dual-link DVI has made a number of changes to the DVI connector pins that allow it to transmit two screens (quite a couple of cables plugged into an interface). Stronger screen transfer capability means it can support resolution exceeding the DVI and VGA transmission limits (such as an apple 30-inch retina monitor with a resolution up to 2560 x 1600). The feeling of switching to this display from the 11-inch MacBook Air 1366 x 768 screen can really be described as "enlightened".

Hdmi

The adapter can also be used for VGA, DVI interface monitor

HDMI is a revolution based on the DVI interface, which transmits video and audio signals to the same cable. So devices that need to transmit both sound and video at the same time generally use this interface.

Mini DisplayPort

Also available for VGA, DVI, Dual-link DVI, and HDMI interface displays via adapters

To replace the VGA and DVI interface, the VESA video Electronic Standards Association released the DisplayPort specification. The Mini DisplayPort is an implementation of this specification. This interface has been in use since 2009, but because the market share is not particularly high, the number of monitors supporting it is relatively small.

Thunderbolt

The adapter can support most of the available monitors on the market

The Thunderbolt and Mini DisplayPort interfaces look exactly the same: they use the same physical specifications as the interface; Thunderbolt also used the DisplayPort standard. But this does not prevent Thunderbolt from appearing as a new generation of interfaces: it is not just for the support of the transmission screen, it supports simultaneous transmission of multiple signals. Apple's newest Thunderbolt display supports both USB, Ethernet, and display cascading. It looks the same as the Mini DisplayPort, but the data is different, so the Thunderbolt monitor directly connected to the Mini DisplayPort interface is not working.

Apple is currently the only company in the market to produce Thunderbolt displays, but given the company's influence in the industry, Thunderbolt popularity is only a matter of time. One of the innovations of Thunderbolt is to support display cascade, so you can work with 3 screens at the same time by cascading the 11-inch MacBook Air that I shipped out of the 2012. Don't be surprised, if you use Retina MacBook Pro, you can also use the HDMI interface to connect a third screen to the Mac in addition to the two Thunderbolt monitors: a total of 4 screens, and what windows are not open.

Tip: It's best to use the native interface of the monitor, although there are a wide variety of adapters on the market, but they inevitably have some annoying little problems.

Interface adapters

With each interface described earlier, it also mentions which interfaces can be supported using the adapter. For example, your monitor only has an HDMI interface, which can be used by a Mac that supports DVI, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, or Thunderbolt interface. Most interfaces are designed with backwards compatibility in mind (but not forward compatible), so you can buy Thunderbolt to DVI adapters, but no DVI to Thunderbolt adapters.

If you need the following models of adapters, you can go to the easy to order one online:

Mini DVI Turn VGA

Mini DVI Turn DVI

Mini DisplayPort Turn VGA

Mini DisplayPort Turn DVI

Mini DisplayPort Turn Dual-link DVI

Mini DisplayPort Turn HDMI

Support Thunderbolt Mac, you can use the Mini DisplayPort monitor directly.

Pick a favorite monitor

In addition to the various interfaces described earlier, there are a number of factors that should be taken into account when choosing a monitor.

Screen resolution, Aspect ratio

Generally speaking, the larger the display resolution, the better. If you often deal with High-definition video, the 1920 x 1080 (1080p) Resolution monitor should be necessary. If the resolution is small (such as 1680 x 1050), then the video you see will not be its original resolution. Most monitors currently on the market have a resolution of 1080p or higher, which should be a standard configuration.

Macs with Thunderbolt interfaces support 2560 x 1600 resolution monitors, which means you can add a 30-inch Retina display to a 11-inch MacBook Air. Macs with DVI or Mini DisplayPort interfaces may differ in their maximum resolution, and Apple's Web site lists the maximum resolutions for different models of MAC support for user enquiries.

Aspect ratio refers to the ratio of the length of the screen to the height. Currently, most Macs use 16:9 or 16:10. If you've ever used Apple PowerBook, you'll be impressed with the 4:3 screens it uses.

Tip: The best resolution for a liquid crystal display is its original resolution, which can be greatly compromised by high or low resolution.

Screen size

The choice of screen size will refer to your work environment: 30-inch display will make the narrow working space become stretched, 19-inch display on the large table will appear too thin.

At the same resolution, the larger the size of the display, the larger the area of a single pixel, the more coarse the picture will be. So the same 1080p display, 22-inch display will be more clear than 24 inches.

Tip: The screen size is used to measure the area of the display, so we say that a monitor is 24 inches, which means that the length of the display diagonal is 24 inches.

LCD, LED, IPS?

Some of the display's promotional material will be introduced as an LED or IPS display, these nouns may cause some trouble. In fact, they are still LCD monitors, but there are some technical differences.

Before the advent of LED backlight technology, the display is by the screen behind some of the lamp (and we usually use the same fluorescent lamp, known as cold cathode fluorescent lamp-referred to as CCFL) to shine. Because of the alignment of the backlight tube, resulting in uneven light and shade on the screen, the area between the two lamps may look slightly darker. In addition, CCFL takes about 20 minutes from the power supply to its maximum brightness, which allows people to look for new backlight sources –led.

The working mechanism of the LED is different from the CCFL, it can provide even backlight, and do not need preheating, and will not cause the brightness of the screen is not uniform, so widely accepted by the market.

IPS is a new technology that has received widespread attention as the iphone and ipad are selling well. Traditional LCD display visual angle is very small, from the side of the picture distortion serious (positive basic observation is not, because you are basically looking directly at the monitor), the IPs screen does not exist this problem, its visual angle is very large, can provide more accurate picture.

Response time

Response time is the amount of time that a monitor takes to switch the color of one pixel, usually in milliseconds (ms). The longer the response time, the more easily the screen will appear, so try to choose a monitor with a short response time.

Visual angle

If you are not buying an IPS display, be sure to pay attention to the visual angle of the monitor. A large visual angle means a small distortion of the picture.

The visual angle of the monitor has horizontal and vertical two values, so you need to see it from left to right, from top to bottom to make the right judgments.

Brightness

Simply put, brightness is the intensity of the display's glow. The brightness of the general display is around 250cd/m2. If you often edit videos, watch movies, or play games, you should choose a display with a higher brightness.

Contrast degree

The contrast is defined as the ratio of the brightest (white) to the darkest (black), but there is currently no industry standard, so a manufacturer's claim of a 1 million ratio of 1 to the contrast of another manufacturer 500,000 than 1 looks likely to be no different. At present, can do is in some of the electronic business site to view the user's comments, choose a good return policy merchants, and in receipt of goods carefully acceptance, if the effect of contrast does not meet the requirements, can be replaced in a timely manner.

Extensibility

Some monitors offer features such as USB hub and speakers, but these should not be the main factors that affect your purchase. The USB hub on the market is also very inexpensive because they have a very good loudspeaker effect.

Ease of Use

Many monitors are equipped with a bracket or wall hanger that can be used to adjust the display posture for optimal viewing angles. Dell, Eizo and other manufacturers of the display can be rotated 90 degrees, to meet a number of special application scenarios.

Budget

All of our procurement plans will be affected by the budget. The purchase of two Apple Thunderbolt displays will certainly bring a better experience, but its price is unbearable for the average person. Other manufacturers can also produce products that show the same effect as Apple displays: Acer, AOC, Dell, LG and Samsung all have a range of products to choose from.

Tip: The main component of the display is the LCD panel, the world can produce a few LCD panels, Apple's display generally use the LG Custom panel. So you can often see different brands of monitors using the same model of the LCD panel.

Pond better to retreat and spin the webs

We discussed how to use an external monitor to extend or replace the Mac notebook screen. Although a lot of information is listed, but the real effective way is to select their own content, and then go to the electrical business to check the relevant comments, to the electronic store to check the physical, to select a favorite display.