MB to DVI to VGA to HDMI to Plasma?

[andy007]

I have my macbook connected to my 32" Samsung LER74BDX through a mini-dvi to vga and then a vga cable to the TV'S PC input. I must say this gives a really good picture.

It was also quite cheap £15 for the mini-dvi to vga (from apple) then a male to male vga cable for £19.99. In contrast to the dvi- HDMI cables you are probably looking at more than the vga option with the DVi - HDMI cables on apple store for £65 (i think).

If your TV has a PC input, which many of the new ones have i would recommend the VGA option and save your HDMI port.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Sound.

For sound, I would assume that you have a receiver hooked up to that nice shiny plasma. So if you have a decent receiver, it should have an optical digital input. You can use a 'mini TOSLink to TOSLink' fiber (or fibre, for you Islanders,) optic cable to connect the headphone jack of your Mac (which has both analog stereo, and mini TOSLink optical, in one jack,) to the receiver for full 5.1 surround.

And, yes, mini-DVI to DVI adapter, then DVI to HDMI would be your best video connection method. If the TV has its own DVI connector, that would be an alternative, since a DVI-to-DVI cable is cheaper than a DVI-to-HDMI. The video quality will be the same.

As for the person suggesting S-Video is better, since it has fewer adapters, it doesn't! You still have the dongle hanging off the side of the Mac (mini-DVI to Video, instead of mini-DVI to DVI) then you still have a cable running from the dongle to the TV (S-Video to S-Video instead of DVI to HDMI.) It would be CHEAPER, but the picture quality will be significantly worse.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Ok I went the Mini DVI - DVI - HDMI route and I all I can say is "Holy Crap flaps batman". The picture is amazing. I downloaded some HD content as I dont have a HD box yet and I was VERY happy.

I dont have the audio cable to hook up sound yet so I got to do a little bit more shopping I think the easiest way for sound is going to be Headphone jack from MB to the single Audio port in the HDMI section of the TV. Theres so many connection options its crazy

Really though I am waiting for iTV to be released so I can go all out HDMI which if im not mistaken includes sound?

In the mean time I may buy a Mac mini with wireless keyboard and mouse and get some use out of the frontrow remote.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

I have my macbook connected to my 32" Samsung LER74BDX through a mini-dvi to vga and then a vga cable to the TV'S PC input. I must say this gives a really good picture.

It was also quite cheap £15 for the mini-dvi to vga (from apple) then a male to male vga cable for £19.99. In contrast to the dvi- HDMI cables you are probably looking at more than the vga option with the DVi - HDMI cables on apple store for £65 (i think).

If your TV has a PC input, which many of the new ones have i would recommend the VGA option and save your HDMI port.

It does have an RGB/PC input but I wanted to keep it all digital and VGA is analog isnt it?

Anyhoo I managed to get a DVI-HDMI cable for £20 from Futureshop.co.uk they had some at £65+ but if I go all out HDMI later on I may as well save some money now.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Ok I went the Mini DVI - DVI - HDMI route and I all I can say is "Holy Crap flaps batman". The picture is amazing. I downloaded some HD content as I dont have a HD box yet and I was VERY happy.

I dont have the audio cable to hook up sound yet so I got to do a little bit more shopping I think the easiest way for sound is going to be Headphone jack from MB to the single Audio port in the HDMI section of the TV. Theres so many connection options its crazy

Really though I am waiting for iTV to be released so I can go all out HDMI which if im not mistaken includes sound?

In the mean time I may buy a Mac mini with wireless keyboard and mouse and get some use out of the frontrow remote.

Yeah, HD is amazing. If there is only one RCA-style audio port next to the HDMI connector, it's probably a digital signal, which the Mac doesn't output. (The Mac only outputs digital as optical, not electrical.) If the one port is orange, it's definitely digital audio, if it's yellow, it's actually an old-fashioned composite video. Of course, if it's a headphone-style jack, then it's probably stereo analog.

And, yes, HDMI does support 5.1 digital audio along with HD video over the one cable.

 

[mkrishnan]

Glad you're having a good time with it, 'Boobs!