Dual editing monitors with mac mini

[Corpus-photo]

I am working on getting my photo editing computer setup and was looking at a Mac Mini with dual Asus PA249Q ProArt LCD displays, one for editing photos for print output and another for editing for web output. The mac mini comes with an HDMI and a Thunderbolt display ports and the Asus monitor supports HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort and DVI-D. Does anyone have any suggestions for the ideal way to connect the monitors to the mac mini? It seems like there are several ways to do this, my primary concern is avoiding a loss in image quality or speed.

Asus monitor:

Mac Mini:

 

[sscarmack]

You can buy a display port to vga, or hdmi to vga.

Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

Kanex ATV Pro HDMI to VGA Adapter with Audio Support - Apple Store (U.S.)

 

[Light Guru]

You can buy a display port to vga, or hdmi to vga.

Don't use the VGA port it is an analog connection where others are digital.

Connect one display via thunderbolt to DVI cable (or dvi cable with thunderbolt adapter)
Connect second display via HDMI

 

[Light Guru]

Accidental double post

 

[Corpus-photo]

It looks like HDMI 1.0 has a resolution limit of 1920x1200 which works since the Asus PA246Q also has a resolution of 1920x1200. HDMI 1.3 allows a resolution of 2560x1600, I would need to double check the mac mini specs to see which HDMI version it has in case I go with a higher resolution monitor in the future. I have read that display ports allow a resolution of 3840x2160 so it seems the display port is the best option.

Does anyone know if there is a way to connect 2 monitors to the mac mini display port via a splitter? I understand displays supporting thunderbolt technology can be daisy chained together but I do not believe Asus monitors support thunderbolt connectivity (do only apple products support thunderbolt technology?).

If I cannot split the display port I think using the HDMI and display port is the only viable option.

 

[Light Guru]

It looks like HDMI 1.0 has a resolution limit of 1920x1200 which works since the Asus PA246Q also has a resolution of 1920x1200. HDMI 1.3 allows a resolution of 2560x1600, I would need to double check the mac mini specs to see which HDMI version it has in case I go with a higher resolution monitor in the future. I have read that display ports allow a resolution of 3840x2160 so it seems the display port is the best option.

Does anyone know if there is a way to connect 2 monitors to the mac mini display port via a splitter? I understand displays supporting thunderbolt technology can be daisy chained together but I do not believe Asus monitors support thunderbolt connectivity (do only apple products support thunderbolt technology?).

If I cannot split the display port I think using the HDMI and display port is the only viable option.

You would have to find a thunderbolt hub which would probably cost at least as much as your monitor and definitely not worth it considering the resolution of your monitor is 1920x1080.

If you ever want a monitor with higher resolution your probably also going to want a better graphics card anyway which would mean you would also need a new machine.