Using an iMac 5K as a display for MacBook (or Mac Studio)

[Christiaan]

Has anybody used either of these products to use an iMac 5K as a second display for a MacBook (or Mac Studio)?

https://astropad.com/product/lunadisplay/

https://www.duetdisplay.com/duet-extend-to-a-second-display

 

Is the latency small enough to work with Vectorworks smoothly?

Edited February 7, 2023 by Christiaan

[bob cleaver]

I am using Astro pad from Luna successfully on a 2011 iMac as a second display with a Mac Studio and LG main monitor - 

VW palettes sit on the iMac while the LG has the drawing - 

I have this setup for months and like it 

[E|FA]

I don't have experience with this, but have been looking into it as well, potentially for Mini M2 + Intel iMac Display combo. My understanding is that Astropad Luna is the only option that allows for 5K on the iMac.  Duet maxes out at 4K.  Ports can be an issue, because the source Mac must use the Luna dongle, and for best performance a wired connection between the source & display Macs is recommended.  Not an issue for Mac Studio, but may be limiting for base model Mini or MacBook.

 

@bob cleaver Thanks for posting your experience.  I'm interested in hearing if anyone else has this setup.

 

 

[Christiaan]

16 hours ago, bob cleaver said:

I am using Astro pad from Luna successfully on a 2011 iMac as a second display with a Mac Studio and LG main monitor - 

VW palettes sit on the iMac while the LG has the drawing - 

I have this setup for months and like it 

So, no lag?

[Christiaan]

17 hours ago, E|FA said:

My understanding is that Astropad Luna is the only option that allows for 5K on the iMac.  Duet maxes out at 4K.  Ports can be an issue, because the source Mac must use the Luna dongle, and for best performance a wired connection between the source & display Macs is recommended.

Thanks for those tips.

[bob cleaver]

@Christiaan no lag when there is good wifi, otherwise the iMac has a blurred appearance - 

Since I do not use it for drawing and it is used a s a reference monitor, it has worked well - 

The iMac is also used for displaying PDFs of consultants drawings in stead of importing hand written comments / marked up drawings - 

 

I will be posting another issue for the very talented Forum Team of Professionals (ie: the usual suspects 🙂 ) to consider, relative to using the Mac App 'Moom' for automatically organizing palette locations on both screens - right now every time VW is reopen, the palettes have to be relocated from the main monitor over to the second monitor (the iMac). 

Edited February 9, 2023 by bob cleaver

[E|FA]

@bob cleaver I'm curious about the blurriness.  Is your iMac a Retina 5K model?  

 

Here's the help page with settings info for Luna in 5K (see the note at the very bottom): https://help.astropad.com/article/226-retina-c2m

 

Info regarding wired connections: https://help.astropad.com/article/154-usb-ethernet-connection.  It looks like the ethernet option doesn't need to be a direct connection. 

 

 

[bob cleaver]

Imac:

mid 2011, 

27inch 2560x1440

AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB Graphics

[Christiaan]

So you're using a 4K iMac. I wonder if there will be lag when using a 5K iMac?

[Christiaan]

I think we're going to pull the trigger on some laptops. Have you got any further along with a conclusion on this one @E|FA?

[Christiaan]

On 2/7/2023 at 6:56 PM, E|FA said:

Ports can be an issue, because the source Mac must use the Luna dongle, and for best performance a wired connection between the source & display Macs is recommended.  Not an issue for Mac Studio, but may be limiting for base model Mini or MacBook.

I see, at first I thought it was all wireless. So the dongle plugs into the primary machine but then you can also connect to the two Macs with thunderbolt or ethernet (network or direct). There are three Thunderbolt ports on the 14"/16" Macbook Pros, so should be okay.

 

[E|FA]

I haven't made the purchase yet.  I think you've already figured it out, but based on my research, you'll plug the Luna dongle into the MacBook (taking one USB-C/Thunderbolt port).  For best performance one of the wired connections is recommended, so if you don't have an Ethernet port, you'll need to take use a second MacBook Thunderbolt port to connect to the iMac.  If you have other peripherals, you'll probably need a Thunderbolt dock connected to the last remaining port.    I'm planning on using this with a Mac Mini, so I would use Ethernet to save the Thunderbolt port.

Edited February 28, 2023 by E|FA

[bob cleaver]

Connections on the iMac (the second monitor) are old thunderbolt and I assumed using the wifi in the office (300 Mbps symmetric via fiber) would be faster than using the available wired connection.  

[Christiaan]

No, Thunderbolt 3 is 40 Gbps. Even Thunderbolt 2 is 20 Gbps.

[Christiaan]

How much is the 30/45 Hz refresh rate limitation going to effect us I wonder?

 

Quote

 

Options:

Resolution of 5K at a refresh rate of 45Hz (macOS Big Sur required) or

Resolution of 5K at a refresh rate of 30hz (macOS Big Sur required) or

Resolution of 4K at a refresh rate of 60Hz

 

 

https://help.astropad.com/article/226-retina-c2m

[Pat Stanford]

It depends on your personal sensitivity, but probably not that much.

 

Cinematic movies are only 24 frames per second, so you can get very reasonable motion effects at low frame rates.

 

If you are doing detail work where you are only moving across a small distance on screen, then there should be minimal effect as updating 30 times per second will give relatively smooth movement over a few centimeters of distance.

 

The place you are likely to notice it is panning the drawing.  If you drag something 50 cm (screen width) in 0.5 seconds, you are only going to get 15 updates, so approximately 1 every 3 cm.  But your visual persistence will make this seem much smoother. Especially since only the outline is displayed while dragging. But on my 16" MBP, I already get banding even at native refresh. I don't expect that 30 FPS would be much worse.  If you want I scan do a screen capture and slow it down to 30 or even 15 FPS so you can see.

 

[Christiaan]

Thanks Pat.

[Christiaan]

One little hitch I've run into is that they don't have any distributors in the UK or the EU. And the value of Luna Display + delivery is over the amount that attracts more VAT and customs duties.

[G D]

Hello

 

Did you manage to get hold of a Luna Display unit and try it out with VW? Would be good to get an update before I get one myself.

 

Thanks

[Christiaan]

I ordered some yesterday so should have them in a week or so.

[G D]

Thanks - can I ask where you sourced them from? Struggling to find them this end!

 

[Christiaan]

Purchased them online direct:

https://shop.astropad.com/collections/shop-astropad/products/luna-display 

[McG]

On 2/9/2023 at 10:57 AM, bob cleaver said:

Imac:

mid 2011, 

27inch 2560x1440

AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB Graphics

I have the same iMac (High Sierra) I am currently using as a second monitor for a 2017 iMac 5K and its fine for PDF, screen shots, notes and such. I am moving on to Mac Studio and am finding conflicting info on whether or not I can use it as a 2nd with Studio without second party help.

Can anyone shed light on this?

 

Thank you

[bob cleaver]

The iMac worked well as a second monitor with Luna Display -

Update:

The iMac power element died and so not iMac as a second monitor -  

I switched to a 42" LG C2 TV and a Mac Studio and I like it very much - one screen large enough for a great VW drawing and multiple palette layout - the cost was reasonable including a visa mount and the adjustments (using dark mode to reduce auto dimming) works well for me - the resolution also works well - 3200x1800, 60 Hertz (I do not play video games)

[Christiaan]

I finally got my Luna Display dongle and a Thunderbolt 4 cable. I had a problem getting it to connect via Thunderbolt but after some resetting of Network settings and the Luna app I managed to get it connected and I'm pretty happy. 

 

Retina Display mode works. There's a tiny but perceptible amount of latency which lets you know you're not working on a native display but I'm really happy with it. I was expecting to have to return it, but am pleasantly surprised.