I’m really happy that most modern monitors support DDC so that we can programmatically change settings rather than go through clunky OSDs.
The problem
At my desk I have my Mac Studio and my latest gaming PC and they both share a triple monitor setup. When I want to switch the monitors between the two, I either need to:
- Turn on auto-switching mode
- Manually change the input x 3
Auto-switching kinda worked, but has quirks I can’t live with. One is when I’m playing a game on the PC and the Mac wakes up for whatever reason, the PC receives a signal that hardware has been connected or disconnected and the screen freezes. It seems like a firmware bug to me – if an input is being actively used the others should be ignored.
The manual route is pretty bad as well. The M32U‘s input switchers are on the back of the monitor, which is pretty much the worst spot possible. Only the far right monitor is slightly more convenient to access.
How DDC solves it
By using m1ddc on the Mac we can easily script a way to switch between the two machines. 🎉 This means I can create a keyboard shortcut to toggle the inputs, a physical button, or even run it from an external computer. Hooray!
Edit: Now with web appi-ness!
I threw together a quick Flask app that can be accessed from any device on my network to switch inputs. Neato!
Note: Once I connect the left monitor the same way I connect the other two, the transition should be more in sync. Currently it’s a little slower due to the HDMI connection.