How do I set up a dual monitor PC to share those monitors with my Mac Book Pro

Question

I currently run a PC with a Geforce GTX 670 and Dual DVI ports. Each DVI port on the graphics card is hooked into an Asus 21" monitor. I also have a 15inch Mac Book Pro Retina (Late 2013) model. I currently use Mini-displayPort-to-DVI adapters to hook it into the same monitors.

The monitors support HDMI, VGA, and DVI connections.

I currently unhook a set of cables to hook in the other set of cables, and as you can imagine, this is rather tedious.

While researching this question, I've run into a number of KVM solutions, but they seem to mean 'dual' differently than I do (they use Dual to mean a KVM can support "Dual-Link DVI", whereas I'm using it to mean dual monitor setup between two computers. I also looked at this SuperUser Question along the same lines, but the solution provided there is cost prohibitive, and doesn't solve my problem.

There is also the physical difference to consider: The adoption of thunderbolt may have changed the landscape for possible solutions.

Here are my questions:

1. How do I share monitors between the two computers? It would be nice to share the keyboard as well, but this is not a requirement.

2. What is the terminology for wanting to have a solution that supports a two monitor setup in the KVM world?

Answer 1

To share 'only' keyboard and mouse between computers, you can use synergy

For monitors + keyboard + mouse sharing, you need kvm switch, something like this - Not sure about the price though.

And this one should be in your budget.

Here is the keyword I used to search this product.

Answer 2

Air Display sounds like a software solution and is free for Mac and PC :

Air Display is an app that lets you connect an iPad, Android tablet, or Mac or Windows computer as a secondary display to a primary Mac or PC desktop using your wireless network.

By default Air Display is set to function in Extended Desktop mode, which will have the display device behave just like an additional screen once connected over Wi-Fi.

Air Display works by using two different pieces of software, a Host and a Client, which allow your computer to communicate with your chosen display device.

The Host listens for Client connections over Wi-Fi, and when you launch the Client app and tell the Host to make a connection, your computer treats that new screen the same as if you’d plugged in an extra monitor!

Although the text above mentions WiFi, this should work over any network. You will also need to permanently connect one monitor to the PC and the other to the Mac.

The drawback is that you would need to switch between the client and host versions of Air Display on the two computers, and you cannot share the mouse and keyboard. There were also some complaints about latency. Sharing the mouse and keyboard can be done via a cheap hardware KVM.

If Air Display is not a solution, you may need to invest in a hardware multipurpose KVM, which as you noted may be rather costly.

Answer 3

Generally: To share two monitors with two computers you want to buy a "Dual-DVI 2-port KVM switch" but I don´t know if you could get it with your budget.

If your monitors has a simple solution to change the input from DVI to HDMI (for example a hardware button) maybe it will be better solution to change your "Mini-DisplayPort to DVI adapters" to two "Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapters". So you could always plugged in both computers and change your monitor inputs with two buttons. But you will need two keyboards and two mouses but it will be cheaper as a KVM switch.

Answer 4

You could use Synergy and buy these: HDMI Cables, an HDMI Splitter, and a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter.

Pastebin with links: http://pastebin.com/7biprcZA