I'm thinking of getting the latest Apple Mini for work and as an added bonus load LR4 and post process photos when I have time. Instead of getting the Thunderbolt display which is hard to accurately "soft proof" on, I'd like to get a NEC PA 24 with Spectraview II, just like the one at home which works well hooked up to my MacBook Pro, printing on an Epson 3880/Imageprint 9 RIP.
I've read on the internet about issues with the latest Mac OS Mountain Lion and SpectraView II. Does anyone know if SpectraView II will work with the Mac Mini (latest with ML) and the NEC PA 24 inch monitor with SVII when connected via the DVI adapter?
The answer I got from NEC was to use a
"miniDisplayPort to DisplayPort cable to the PA"I had the same concern when looking into using the NEC PA271W with the Mac Mini or the MacBook Pro Retina 15".
The Video Output for both the Mac Mini and the MacBook Pro Retina 15" is Native Mini DisplayPort output. What I did not know is that the Thunderbolt port is also a Mini DisplayPort.
It is my understanding that all Thunderbolt ports can act as Mini DisplayPorts - Mini DisplayPorts can only be Mini DisplayPorts.
There are aftermarket Thunderbolt hubs, does anyone know if by using one of these Thunderbolt hubs you could drive two external monitors with the new Mac Mini?
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I had an email exchange with Will Hollingworth, Senior Manager - Product Development, NEC Display Solutions of America Inc. This is what he wrote back to me:
Joe
You would be using a miniDisplayPort to DisplayPort cable to the PA271s, and would therefore not be impacted by this issue. This issue only relates to configurations that use a miniDisplayPort to DVI, and DVI to DVI connections.
Regardless, the PA series also allows USB to be used for communicating with the display, so simply connecting a USB cable between the Mac and display would get around it.
Best Regards
Will Hollingworth
The issue in the above email exchange is this one From NEC:
Important compatibility notice:
Due to issues with the new Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and the recent update to Mac OS 10.7.5, SpectraView II is not able to communicate with the displays on some systems with Nvidia based video chipsets when connected to the DVI inputs on a display. This includes both Thunderbolt (miniDisplayPort) video outputs when using a miniDisplayPort to DVI cable, and DVI to DVI connections. This impacts all MultiSync 80 series, MultiSync 90 series, and the MultiSync P221W models. NEC is currently working with Apple to resolve this issue, which is expected to be fixed in future updates to Mac OS.
The NEC MultiSync PA series and newer MultiSync P series models can utilize a USB connection to the display if necessary.
Customers with impacted systems currently using OS 10.7.4 or earlier are encouraged not to update to OS 10.7.5, or OS 10.8 at this point.