Using Multiple Displays In OS X Mavericks

In this demo, I’ll be showing how to use Multiple Displays in Mavericks. The Procedure and hardware used for connecting an external 1080p display and an Apple TV display to a Mac can be found in the description below.

Two ways of connecting a Mac to an external display, one using a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable and the other, using an Apple TV.
Hardware Used:

One being the MacBook Air (late 2013 model) with Wi-Fi turned on,  a 1080p HD Display, LG 720p HDTV,
Apple TV, Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, HDMI cable, (optional) Ethernet cable to Apple TV.

And as for the software…well obviously OS X Mavericks.

Making the connections -

For MacBook Air:
Connect the Thunderbolt cable to the Mac, then connect the HDMI end to the HDMI socket on an external 1080p display.

For the HDTV:
Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the Apple TV HDMI socket and the other end of the HDMI connector to the HDMI socket on the HDTV.

Finally, I prefer to connect an Ethernet cable to the Apple TV, content streams better than when using Wi-Fi.

Once all necessary cables are connected, turn on all devices.

TRANSCRIPT:

Now for the Demo…..Soooooo, Let’s Get Started

After making all the necessary connections as described in the description below, open the Display preferences window by clicking on the Airplay menulet here or from the Dock, launch System Preferences and click on the Displays Icon.

From the Displays preferences window, you can arrange the displays the way you wish by dragging the blue box anywhere you want and also choose which display you want to make primary by moving the menu bar shown here to the required display.

When working with multiple displays in Mavericks, each display behave independently of each other, each occupy their own spaces or desktops.

Clicking on the individual desktops makes the menu bar active and moving the mouse pointer in the downwards direction unhides the Dock.

You can even assign different wallpapers for each display, move windows from one display to another or launch and work with Apps in full screen on each display as shown here.

Mission control has been super charged for multiple displays in Mavericks.

let’s just load a few windows and full-screen apps then launch Mission Control by either pressing F3 or the keyboard shortcut ctrl+Up Arrow.

Now arrange or move windows and full-screen app spaces to the required display.

In Mavericks, you can also connect an Apple TV to act as an extended desktop. On the Apple TV, navigate to the Airplay option as shown here, then turn on Airplay.

Once that’s done, on the Mac, click the Airplay menulet shown here and select Connect to Airplay Display, then select Apple TV to make the connection.

Open Displays Preferences as before if you need to re-arrange the displays.

By the way, since updating OS X Mavericks from 10.9.2 to 10.9.3, the Apple TV Image has change, before it showed the following image, now it shows the image shown…I think this is just a glitch and hope Apple fixes this.

Anyway…moving on…

Again Using Mission Control move any desktops or spaces to the Apple TV.

Incidentally, I found no lagging present when using an external display connected via a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, unlike a small lag when using the Apple TV.

Therefore, watching videos, photos and basic file viewing, the Apple TV is idea for that. But for doing any serious video or photo editing , the Apple TV is not suitable.

That’s all there is to it, working with multiple displays in Mavericks couldn’t be more simply.

Coming up in the next episode, how to Airplay Mirror You Mac, iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV.

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