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Step 1
How do you connect two computers to one monitor? Most advise using a VGA switch box. But if you forget to make a needed switch before you turn on your computer, you are not supposed to just switch to the other computer because, in rare cases, this can damage a computer. Instead, you are supposed to shut down the computer, make the switch, then boot up the other computer. Also, if you have a lot of computers that need this arrangement, as in a computer lab, there is the cost of buying one switch box for every set of paired computers.
But there is a less expensive way to attach two computers to one monitor. All you need to do is to use a VGA Signal Splitter and reverse it using gender changers. That way you don't have to switch from computer to computer; it all works automatically. Whichever computer you boot up with, that will be shown on the display. If you happen to forget and turn on both computers at once, no damage will be done; you will just get a distorted display, in which case you will be able to see well enough to turn off the computers. The last computer to be turned on is what will be mostly displayed, well enough to shut it down. Then the first computer that was turned on will be displayed clearly on the display. This works with pairing two Win PSs, two Macs, or one Win PC and one Mac. Your monitor just has to be able to accommodate either.
For the details of what I discovered, out of nine eMacs and three iMacs, and eleven Dell Optiplex 240s and 260s, this worked well for all except one: a Dell Optiplex 260, the slimmest and smallest type (there are three types). The other Dell Optiplexes were towers and the slim model, with which there were no problems.
Right now there is no such thing as a video splitter cable which goes from two computers to one monitor; there is only a video splitter cable which goes from one computer to two monitor. So, you start with that, a cable VGA signal splitter (one computer to two monitors). For the next step, see below (this format will not permit only one step being listed here; other steps must be listed below). -
Step 2
Next, you reverse the signal splitter using gender changers: you will need two gender changers which have a male connection on either side of it, and one gender changer which has a female connection on each side of it.
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Step 3
Now just connect the gender changers to the signal splitter and connect the signal splitter to the computers and to the monitor, and you are all set.
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Step 4
However, I must add this advisor: the display for the Mac computers may not be as bright as they are without using this adapter arrangement. I don't know the reason for this; it may have to do with the frequency capabilities of the adapters. But I'll have to say that when I tried this using a switch box, it worked even less well or not at all. Although, this may be because the boxes were cheap (about $3.00) and not made to handle the frequencies of the Macs. A more expensive switch box may be the answer if one is using Macs and need the display to be as bright as possible. But getting back to the adapter arrangement, the PCs seem to work just fine.
