Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to dual HDMI

sommerdi

I am looking for replacement of Matrox Tripplehead2go and found a solution Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to dual HDMI.

Does someone have some experience with this adapter for MAC OS X 10.15?

bonemap

I don’t have experience with it but was interested to look over the tech specs and claims made for this adaptor. It looks good as a solution for a MacBook Pro particularly as the manufacturer suggests that two of these adaptors can be used simultaneously attaining 4 hdmi outputs and that a decent/useful range of resolutions are supported.

Best wishes

sommerdi

I brought one .... first test with fullHD and two projectors is running perfect over more than one hour ...

No further software is needed. I haven't tested other formats ... so far so good ..

davidcoll

correct me if i'm wrong, but it doesn't appear to do anything as special as matrox, it just saves you a port, since before this existed, there were single hdmi dongles and you could use two of them.

sommerdi

yes, you are right ... but with second part you can have 4 hdmi outputs and no additional software.

i tested this part with 20/30m active hdmi cable and it looks like more stable compare to matrox...

CraigAlfredson

I'm curious if anyone has tried using two of these on an iMac (2017 or 2019). The specs state that this machine can only output to two external displays, but I'm curious if there is a way to circumvent this.

Craig

sommerdi

i found in the Sonnet Spec "Macs with four Thunderbolt 3 ports support four 4K monitors with two Sonnet adapters⁽⁵⁾"

but anyway i am going to test it ... one is workung so far

bonemap

@sommerdi said:

20/30m active hdmi cable

Hi,

Are you able to provide more specific detail about the long cables you are using please?

Best wishes

Russell

sommerdi

this are cables ... https://www.amazon.de/gp/produ.

Diether

bonemap

@sommerdi

Those cables are expensive. I am leaning towards Cat5e/Cat6 HDMI extenders or most likely HD BaseT for long cable runs. It is also because the shielded Cat6 cables have multiple uses and can be reused for different purposes and extenders making them attractive. There is also a nice flexible black Cat6 cable that has become available.

Best Wishes

Russell

dbini

@bonemap said:

There is also a nice flexible black Cat6 cable that has become available.

that's nice to know. Cat6 is generally a bugger to coil. do you have more details?

bonemap

@dbini said:

do you have more details?

Hi John,

I had three 40 mtr cables made up last year but I am now unsure of the brand. They were made to measure at an AV shop. The flexible cable is much easier to deal with. I would have possibly looked at SDI cable and black magic boxes too, but the Epson projectors I am currently using have HD Base T ports built in.

sommerdi

i started with one hdmi cable in the past, today i would rethink for multi projection..... and would go for fiber, approx. 300€ per line ( up 500m no topic)

thanks good to know Cat Extenders ... in a simelar cost range ....

i worked in theater with BM SDI to HDMI converters, of coarse more stable, but more expensive

Diether

Woland

@sommerdi

Fiber is fragile, expensive, and is usually overkill for most applications (unless you need to run a cable for a mile or more).

SDI or extending over Cat are the better options imho.

sommerdi

short feedback ....

it is running on my MBP 4 HDMI HD streams/videos with 2 Sonnet TB3 to dual HDMI

Diether

CraigAlfredson

Good to know. I'm curious if it will work on an iMac 2017. I'm thinking no because it only has 2 TB3 ports. I actually only need 3 video outputs, so I'm hoping I can use one Sonnet and one "regular" USB-C to HDMI adapter. I received the Sonnet today, so hopefully I can test it soon.