Think 'one' is bare minimum number of displays needed when a wifi network or a network cable is available.
You need a computer/laptop with a display which runs Raspberry Pi Imager. This is a one-time thing. Prepare SD card with SSH and eventually Wifi with the imager. Place the SD card in RPi.
When RPi has booted, you can connect from your computer/laptop (with its display) to the RPi by Wifi or wired network. This is called a 'headless' setup.
I run some of my RPi in this configuration. Only one display needed on my laptop.
One additional display will be needed if you have no wifi at all or no wired network at all. SD card preparation is still done on your laptop/computer (one display). Then connect a second HDMI display (could be your TV), keyboard and eventually a mouse to the RPi. Then do all the setup steps on the RPi itself. These steps are like configure users, install applications. But installing applications becomes complicated in this setup, as downloading from the internet does not work (remember: the assumption here is that no network is available).
Luckily, most people will have wifi or a wired network available.
If you get a prepared SD card from someone (OS installed, users configured, network configured, your applications installed, ...) then you need no display at all. Such a RPi could server as a web server, do the job of MQTT broker, run your home automation or provide your music collection, just to mention some.
Think this scenario is rare. There are dedicated SD card images, but some adjustments are always needed and you end up at a laptop/computer display needed.
The discussion is about the setup procedure. Could be your applications require more than one HDMI screen, but this is a different story.
You need a computer/laptop with a display which runs Raspberry Pi Imager. This is a one-time thing. Prepare SD card with SSH and eventually Wifi with the imager. Place the SD card in RPi.
When RPi has booted, you can connect from your computer/laptop (with its display) to the RPi by Wifi or wired network. This is called a 'headless' setup.
I run some of my RPi in this configuration. Only one display needed on my laptop.
One additional display will be needed if you have no wifi at all or no wired network at all. SD card preparation is still done on your laptop/computer (one display). Then connect a second HDMI display (could be your TV), keyboard and eventually a mouse to the RPi. Then do all the setup steps on the RPi itself. These steps are like configure users, install applications. But installing applications becomes complicated in this setup, as downloading from the internet does not work (remember: the assumption here is that no network is available).
Luckily, most people will have wifi or a wired network available.
If you get a prepared SD card from someone (OS installed, users configured, network configured, your applications installed, ...) then you need no display at all. Such a RPi could server as a web server, do the job of MQTT broker, run your home automation or provide your music collection, just to mention some.
Think this scenario is rare. There are dedicated SD card images, but some adjustments are always needed and you end up at a laptop/computer display needed.
The discussion is about the setup procedure. Could be your applications require more than one HDMI screen, but this is a different story.
Statistics: Posted by ghp — Fri Feb 13, 2026 6:02 am