If you are mirroring a program that should be seen in high resolution and have a high frame rate, you should purchase a capture card that can handle those demands.

If your laptop does not have a USB port, you can buy an adapter. New Macbooks, for example, have only Thunderbolt 3. 0 ports, but this adapter from Apple will allow you to connect a USB device.

Again, if your laptop does not have an HDMI port, you can buy an adapter. This Apple adapter allows you to connect an HDMI cable to your laptop (as well as your charger and a standard USB device). After connecting the capture card for the first time, the secondary laptop will likely display something like “Setting up a device”.

If your mirrored display is lagging, click Settings in the bottom right of the OBS window, then go to the Video tab and select a higher FPS. Try experimenting to strike a balance between seamless mirroring and a framerate your laptop can handle.

If your mirrored display is lagging, click Settings in the bottom right of the OBS window, then go to the Video tab and select a higher FPS. Try experimenting to strike a balance between seamless mirroring and a framerate your laptop can handle.

For relatively low intensity tasks like surfing the web or typing up documents, you can use a less expensive monitor, but for things like video editing and gaming, consider looking for a monitor with a higher resolution and refresh rate.

If you need help identifying which port your monitor has, check out this picture. Some laptops may not have a port that corresponds to your monitor, but you can still connect the two with an adapter. For example, new Macbooks have only Thunderbolt 3. 0 ports, but this Apple adapter allows you to connect an external monitor with an HDMI cable (as well as charge your laptop and connect a standard USB device).