IMAC as second monitor on PC (possible?)

[ibycus]

Hi everyone!

So I've been searching forums about this and haven't found a straight answer...or at least not the answer I want to hear. People say its not possible but is that really true?

I'll soon be working from home and taking my i7 imac work computer with me. At home I have a PC with p8z77-v motherboard, two 580's in SLI (I also have a 7850 graphics card I'm not using at the moment). I'd love to use the imac as my second monitor for the pc but is it possible?!?!

Thanks for the help!

 

[P1nnacle]

Nope, it's not going to be possible.

 

[ibycus]

Nope, it's not going to be possible.

NOOOOO!

 

[eatmypie]

I used this guide before when I found an imac with a bad screen that I replaced so I could do the same http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/using-target-display-mode.htm

 

[P1nnacle]

I used this guide before when I found an imac with a bad screen that I replaced so I could do the same http://macs.about.com/od/usingyourmac/qt/using-target-display-mode.htm

That's Mac to Mac, he's looking for PC to Mac. Also, the Mac is the output in that situation.

 

[MauveCloud]

Does your iMac have a video input port? I wouldn't expect it, since iMacs are generally all-in-one computers, and without one, using it as a second monitor would at the least be impractical. If there's some remote desktop software you can run on the iMac to show what the PC considers a virtual extension of the desktop, that might work. No idea if such software exists, though. Another trick that might work would be to open up the iMac and hijack the onboard computer's video connection, but there's a good chance it's a proprietary interface.

Edit: that page that eatmypie linked indicates the Thunderbolt/mini displayport connectors on the iMac are bidirectional, so all you need is the right adapter.

 

[ibycus]

Does your iMac have a video input port? I wouldn't expect it, since iMacs are generally all-in-one computers, and without one, using it as a second monitor would at the least be impractical. If there's some remote desktop software you can run on the iMac to show what the PC considers a virtual extension of the desktop, that might work. No idea if such software exists, though. Another trick that might work would be to open up the iMac and hijack the onboard computer's video connection, but there's a good chance it's a proprietary interface.

Edit: that page that eatmypie linked indicates the Thunderbolt/mini displayport connectors on the iMac are bidirectional, so all you need is the right adapter.

No video input on the imac....just thunderbolt and USB connections. There has to be a way! or not... but that would really suck.

 

[ibycus]

Edit: that page that eatmypie linked indicates the Thunderbolt/mini displayport connectors on the iMac are bidirectional, so all you need is the right adapter.

hmmm, interesting....I wonder if anyone has succeeded with that method yet.

 

[MauveCloud]

If I'm understanding that About.com page correctly, the thunderbolt connectors can act as video inputs: you'd just need an adapter from one of your video card's outputs to mini-displayport, and once that's connected, the iMac would detect it as an incoming video signal and display it.

 

[ibycus]

A little follow up.

I got my imac (mid 2011) home today and tried hooking it up with an adapter into one of my 580's but no luck, it didn't seem to recognize it at all. From what I've read the 2011 imac can only use its target display mode via thunderbolt which is not included on my p8z77-v. I thought there was the ability for the p8z77-v to expand later and add on a thunderbolt port but there doesn't seem to be any models that exists to do that.

If anyone has experience or more insight into this that would be great!

Thanks!