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There are many options and cable types that I am mighty confused about the best way to connect the Dell as a second monitor to my iMac.

I would like the Dell to wake up when the iMac wakes up and I would like to have the best color and resolution that I can have. I assume that using HDMI is not the best way but that some flavor of DisplayPort is better.

But which one? There's USB3, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, and then there are several cables. The monitor came with a cable that fits in Thunderbolt but I think is called a USB3 cable. I am not averse to ordering a new cable if that's what is needed.

Can someone help me sort this out?

Allan
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pitosalas
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1 Answers1

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The only signal that comes out of your iMac is DisplayPort. So, going from DisplayPort to DisplayPort is the best and most reliable connection as there’s no signal conversion.

USB-C is just a port type. Thunderbolt is just a multiplexing of several signals: PCIe, DisplayPort, USB, and power. The cable that came with your monitor (USB-C) will support DisplayPort so, its perfect to use with your monitor; plug it into one of the two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Converting to HDMI will undoubtably require an active adapter. I don’t recommend it as it adds unneeded complexity because the signal must be converted; it’s inherently a point of failure.

Allan
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  • Will it sleep and wake the dell alongside the iMac? – pitosalas May 21 '20 at 01:19
  • Yes. Mine does exactly as you describe. – Allan May 21 '20 at 01:20
  • Also, there’s no advantage to hdmi? – pitosalas May 21 '20 at 01:20
  • The monitor talks about a pd connection, what is that? – pitosalas May 21 '20 at 01:22
  • Why convert the signal and introduce complexity? PD is power delivery, meaning it has the ability to charge a connected device. – Allan May 21 '20 at 01:27
  • Thanks for the revision. With your explanation I am closer. But here's one more wrinkle: it looks like the display port to display port connector supplied with the monitor doesn't match the thunderbolt which I think apple calls a mini display port. But the cable that does fit the thunderbolt connector on the iMac is called a usb-c to usb-c cable. – pitosalas May 21 '20 at 03:03
  • The mini DisplayPort cable is for older Macs. Use the USB-C cable. This should be in the monitor documentation. – Allan May 21 '20 at 03:08