Extra displays on Mac set up

[powling]

I’m currently in the process of planning an upgrade to the home office. I currently use a IMAC Pro as a desktop, and regularly have a MacBook Pro and IPad open sitting on the desk. The MacBook Pro will often be running WIndows via parallels as there is a particular program that wont run on mac.

My plan is to add two LG 4K displays (As sold by Apple) either side of the IMAC to add screen space to the IMac Pro. However sometimes it would be nice to have the MacBook display on a larger monitor.

From what I can see, the IMAC pro will power the two displays ok, and the mac book pro could link to the display ok as well, but what happens if both the iMac and MacBook are connected at the same time ? Ie open cable from IMAC to monitor and one cable from MacBook to monitor.

If I want to switch what is shown on the monitor display (ie iMac or MacBook), will I physically need to unplug the one not required ?

Could I for example leave the IMAC connected all the time, and the cable from the display to the MacBook Pro and then disconnect it at the MacBook end (rather than at the monitor) ?

Thanks in advance for your replies !!

[RSTurboPaul]

If the monitor has different input options (like a TV has different input options to choose from) then perhaps it would be possible if you cycle through the menus on the monitor and select which you want.

That said, unplugging the cable from the iMac and plugging it into the MBP would seem to be a lot quicker/easier?

[acd80]

It sounds like (and I've had to reread it a couple of times) that you want to use a KVM Switch solution.

It's relatively straightforward to do. Rather than me bore you to tears, this video should explain it in a bit more detail (but it's a dual screen set-up, not a triple screen set-up but that's relatively easy to deal with).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ55dfwfJkY

[powling]

Thank you !!

[tog]

RSTurboPaul said:

If the monitor has different input options (like a TV has different input options to choose from) then perhaps it would be possible if you cycle through the menus on the monitor and select which you want.

That said, unplugging the cable from the iMac and plugging it into the MBP would seem to be a lot quicker/easier?

I have two Mac Pros connected to one monitor and simply use controls on the front of the screen to change the input source if I need to see the other computer's output directly. (I usually screen share into it as there is no second keyboard permanently connected to the server machine, but you won't have that problem using a MacBook.)

[mikef]

That was my first thought. But checking the LG spec it doesn’t appear to have multiple inputs, which is quite unusual