Can one computer switch between two monitors?

[bastette]

Hi,

I have an old Mac Mini attached to my TV. However, sometimes it's hard to read what's on the screen because it's far away and not a huge screen. In a browser I can zoom in, but I can't enlarge the text on menus nor on all applications.

I have a spare monitor hanging around and I thought I could hook that up to the Mac. However, the Mac has only one video card and I'd just as soon not buy another one. I don't need to view the TV and the monitor at the same time. So if I can switch between them, I can work up close on the monitor - for example, to find what I want to watch, and then switch back to the TV once it starts streaming.

Is there inexpensive hardware that would let me do this (that would cost less than a second video card)?

Thanks!

 

[VincentP]

If there is more than one video connector on your current card, you should be able to connect two screens and they should both work.

 

[i7Baby]

Yes - just turn them on and off in Control Panel, Display Settings

 

[Outlander_04]

If you have an ipad .............

 

[bastette]

Yes - just turn them on and off in Control Panel, Display Settings

Yes, but how do I hook that up in the hardware? I have a single video card, and I'm pretty sure there is only one connector (but I need to take a better look when I get home because I'm not positive).

Assuming I have just the one connector, I'll need some kind of hardware mechanism to divert the output to the desired display at any given time. Something like a KVM swtich, but in reverse. The control panel solution you suggested assumes that I already have this configured in the HW.

Thanks.

 

[i7Baby]

Most graphics cards have more than one connector