Thunderbolt Display as 2nd Monitor

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Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could give me a DEFINITE answer since I can't seem to find it anywhere (not even at the apple store by a genius).

I own an iMac and I would like to have a 2nd monitor. I was thinking of just purchasing any 3rd party monitor (samsung, hp, benQ, etc) but I was wondering if I were to invest the money into a 2nd thunderbolt display...If I dim/increase the brightness of the monitor via keyboard keys...will it control BOTH monitors and keep the brightness in sync? or will it just dim the main monitor (iMac).

This is my dilemma...I would just buy a 3rd party monitor but often times I work with low light and I don't want to stare at my iMac with a dim screen and have the 2nd monitor be all bright...(annoying) haha.

keep in mind, this will obviously be used in extended desktop mode...not mirroring mode...another reason I was thinking of buying another thunderbolt display was because both monitors would match in terms of having a glossy display...i wouldn't want a glossy iMac and a matte finish 2nd monitor...i'm concerned with eye strain switching because the two...I'm a policy analyst so I stare at documents day in and day out.

Thank you to anyone who can answer this with a definite for sure answer! :)
 

chscag

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I'm not sure you're going to get a definite answer without testing. However, the controls on your iMac keyboard for brightness, etc. are only for the built in monitor and will not have any effect on an external monitor. It's likely that whatever you buy, the brightness will have to be controlled and adjusted separately. Maybe someone else knows of something that will help, so stay tuned....
 
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^^^ Yes I know there is no way i'll get a definite answer without testing but I'm hoping and I'm sure someone on this forum has this set up and can provide the answer...:) I'm not the type to buy & return...and I surely don't want to drop $1000 just to "try" this out.

Thanks for your input though!
 
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My Thunderbolt Display should be here Monday around noon. I'll test it and let you know the results.
 

Slydude

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^^^ Yes I know there is no way i'll get a definite answer without testing but I'm hoping and I'm sure someone on this forum has this set up and can provide the answer...:) I'm not the type to buy & return...and I surely don't want to drop $1000 just to "try" this out.

Thanks for your input though!

If I were the salesperson and you were looking at a matched set of screens in that range I would probably hook things up and test it. Best case scenario it works and I may make a sale. Worse case scenario it does not work but you will likely remember that service the next time you need something.
 
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lol! when I asked the question, the sales guy was so thrown off he immediately tossed me off to another person and called her a "genius" from a distance....so I walked over to her and asked if she was a "genius" and she said...no...haha the original guy knew i was asking a technical question and his usually "apple sales lingo" wouldn't work so he tried to avoid it...=/ and when I told them i was interested in purchasing another screen and I asked about the contrast ratio, response time, etc...all they did was open up apples website and go to technical specs and said..."here u go...u can find all the details yourself"....HORRIBLE.
 

Slydude

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Sorry you got such horrible service. Reminds me of the store we went to when shopping for our first Mac. At that time there were two different types of expansion slots in use on Macs. I asked about the slot for the machine we were looking at and got gibberish. Had I not known the answer it would have sounded great. Needless to say we did not buy there.
 
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PLEASE do so!!! I would very much appreciate it!!! :D :D!!

Alright, I thought I would be able to give you a definitive answer, but I'm using a Macbook Pro, and the built-in MBP keyboard controls it's brightness and the bluetooth keyboard I have controls the display. Sorry.
 
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Unfortunately the keyboard keys to dim/brighten the display will only work for the iMac. It does not dim the attached thunderbolt display. :Grimmace::Grimmace::Grimmace: :Shouting::Angry:

However, you can manually adjust the brightness of the thunderbolt display by going to settings -> display (even though this isn't convenient).

I did come across a tool that claims to be able to control the brightness of both monitors (Download Brightness Control for Mac - Dim your monitor easily. MacUpdate.com). I haven't had a chance to try it out, but it doesn't look like it works with the keyboard.

Poo on this slip of Apple's Quality Control.
 

chscag

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It's a third party application and has nothing to do with Apple's quality control. Also, if you're using Lion or Mountain Lion it's not going to work since it's a universal binary app which means it includes Power PC code. The last version of OS X that can run Power PC code is Snow Leopard.
 

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