Play media on an external display in Final Cut Pro for Mac

1. Install the video interface hardware and software according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Connect an external video monitor to the video interface, and make sure the monitor and all other external devices are connected to power and turned on.

3. To select an A/V output device in Final Cut Pro, choose Final Cut Pro > Settings (or press Command-Comma), click Playback, then click the A/V Output pop-up menu and choose the external monitor.

4. In Final Cut Pro, choose Window > A/V Output.

   The viewer contents appear on the broadcast monitor. Viewer features (such as onscreen controls and the title-safe and action-safe overlays) appear only in Final Cut Pro.

   Note: Video and audio are synced at the video frame (not audio sample) level.

   

   To turn off A/V Output, choose Window > A/V Output.

On a system with a Pro Display XDR, Final Cut Pro provides the maximum color and brightness accuracy in HDR video playback. This makes the Pro Display XDR the ideal professional reference monitor for critical work such as HDR color correction.

You can enable A/V Output to set up an HDR color correction system with at least two displays: the Pro Display XDR as the external HDR reference monitor and a display for working with the Final Cut Pro interface.

For instructions, see Color correct HDR video with Pro Display XDR and Final Cut Pro for Mac.

If you’re using Final Cut Pro 10.1 or later on a 4K-capable Mac with an HDMI port or a Thunderbolt port and an HDMI adapter, you can play 4K or HD 1080 video on an external video monitor connected to the HDMI port.

1. Use an HDMI cable to connect the external HDMI video monitor to the HDMI port on your Mac, and make sure the monitor is connected to power and turned on.

2. To configure the HDMI monitor, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Displays.

3. In Displays settings, set the HDMI monitor to be a secondary display.

4. Select Scaled, and in the list that appears, select 4096 x 2160, 3840 x 2160, 1080i, or 1080p.

   Note: You may need to press the Option key while you click Scaled to see additional resolutions for the HDMI monitor.

5. To select the monitor in Final Cut Pro, choose Final Cut Pro > Settings (or press Command-Comma), click Playback, then click the A/V Output pop-up menu and choose the HDMI monitor.

6. In Final Cut Pro, choose Window > A/V Output.

   The viewer contents appear on the HDMI monitor. Viewer features (such as onscreen controls and the title-safe and action-safe overlays) appear only in Final Cut Pro.

   Note: If you’re viewing HDR video on a system with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, you can have Final Cut Pro show the HDR image as tone mapped. Tone mapping compresses bright image content and reduces the apparent dynamic range of the video to fit the viewable range of the connected display. To turn on tone mapping, open the Playback pane of Final Cut Pro settings and select the Show HDR as Tone Mapped checkbox at the bottom of the pane.

   Video and audio are synced at the video frame (not audio sample) level.

   

   To turn off A/V Output, choose Window > A/V Output.