M1 Mac Mini to 2 projectors

[Cathy Lee]

Hello! 

Working a show where the projection computer is a M1 Mac Mini (2020) that runs Big Sur. As this mini only allows 2 displays (one already taken by a monitor), I'm trying to find hardware that would allow me to connect 2 projectors to the mini. The show I'm working will have projectors shooting videos at 2 locations on stage. I was looking at Matrox Dual Heads, but its listed compatibility doesn't seem compatible with our mini. Datapath and Matrox QuadHeads2Go is out of budget so I'm looking at AJA converters but I'm a bit out of my depth. Anyone have any hardware recommendations?

[Pedro Alfonso]

Hello, Maybe this can help: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C24523X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I have used the HD version with a M1 Mac Mini.

[Jason K]

I've had absolutely dismal luck with the M1 Mac Mini and multiple displays, and I've tried everything. Have one sitting here that is basically a boat anchor at the moment. Just when you think it's working you reboot and it forgets displays, changes resolutions, ugh.

Now, what DOES work really well is a base model M1 Macbook air and a 4k 2x2 video wall controller. That will give you four 1080P outputs, you just map four surfaces in QLab to the corners, and it works flawlessly. I had one running a submarine attraction at our local aquarium for about 2 months, 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. Reboots were no problem, it remembered the output.

[Koen Keevel]

I have a macmini M1 running with 3 screens.

2 x beamer

1 x monitor.

On youtube I found a video where a guy connects 6 screens to a M1 MacMini, using Startech device that supports DisplayLink (Video over USB 3)

I bought the Startechn USB 3.0 to 4K HDMI, installed the DisplayLink software and all works fine.

The video is here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq_FyjcAULA

I use the 2 HDMI supported outputs from the M1 to the beamers and the DispplayLink output for my monitor.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

[Seablade -]

I have just built my second M1 Mac Mini rig with a Sonnet Technologies DuoModo system with a Blackmagic Design Decklink 8K (4 SDI ports that can be either input or output) and so far they have been working fine for me.

   Thomas

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[Hordur Sigurdarson]

Reviving this one+ year old thread: 

Koen Keevel! I am curious what your experience has been with the Startech USB 3.0 to 4K HDMI during the 1+ year since your post. I am looking for a solution where I can safely and reliably run 2 projectors from Qlab on a Mac mini M1. 
Can you share how your experience has been? 

[Thierry Wilders]

to be honest for me the display link units work very bad for my mac's and especially qlab. 

For normal business things like word and excel its fine to use multiple displays over a display link unit but as soon as i start video's you can see the mac can't keep up.

and its not te mac itself, if i play the same kind of video's on the main screen there is no problem.

i've had good luck with my m1 mac mini and a cheap 2x2 videowall splitter on amazon: https://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B09TL52V13/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1Z2WO1H2YB13R&psc=1
its not a datapath but for most things its just fine

Op vrijdag 3 november 2023 om 10:20:35 UTC+1 schreef Hordur Sigurdarson:

[Sam Kusnetz]

On Nov 5, 2023 at 8:17 AM -0500, ql...@googlegroups.com, wrote:

to be honest for me the display link units work very bad for my mac's and especially qlab.

This is consistent with the majority of reports we’ve heard.

DisplayLink USB video is, in my opinion, a fundamentally bad technology which cannot ever perform well because of how it’s conceptualized. I believe it should be avoided for any application that is remotely performance-sensitive. I never use it and never recommend it. If I could wave my magic wand and uninvent it, I would.

Fortunately, there are three good ways to use more displays than are officially supported on any Apple Silicon Mac:

1. Use a display divider like those made by datapath, Matrox, AJA, and Blackmagic Designs, where the Mac believes itself to be attached to a single high resolution display (usually 4K) but the hardware slices the video signal into two, three, or four smaller segments.
2. Use NDI to send video over a network to NDI-enabled displays or an NDI-to-HDMI (or SDI) adapter.
3. Use a Blackmagic Designs DeckLink device to add non-native displays to the Mac. These are supported in QLab directly. 

Option 1 will provide the lowest latency and best frame-sync between displays. All three options can perform very well, though, and which will work best for you is dependent on too many variables to generalize. I’ve used all three approaches at one time or another.

You can always write to use at sup...@figure53.com to talk it out.

Best
Sam

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