DVI-to-Vide/SVideo converter

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koffiejunkie

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Hi guys,

Just wondering, how does this work on the Mini. It takes up the only port for a screen, so the TV now becomes the primary display.

Will OSX just use the TV is a crappy low-res screen and work as normal otherwise?

I saw the converter at Look&Listen and since our DVD player is on it's last legs I'm tempted....

Thanks
 
koffiejunkie said:
Hi guys,

Just wondering, how does this work on the Mini. It takes up the only port for a screen, so the TV now becomes the primary display.

Will OSX just use the TV is a crappy low-res screen and work as normal otherwise?

I saw the converter at Look&Listen and since our DVD player is on it's last legs I'm tempted....

Thanks
Click to expand...
Thats pretty much right - depending on the resolution of your screen of course. I've got mine going in via my plasma's vga port (going to try it via dvi as soon as I can get the right cable) so its pretty much perfect. When you go in via the a/v it will give you an overscan option which you'll need to use for video.

Apparently frontrow's oversized fonts are designed for tv's so it's still usable.
 
It's a pre-remotecontrol era Blaupunkt. Futuristic for its time, it has AV-in. No idea what the resolution will be, I guess I'll have to try.
 
koffiejunkie said:
It's a pre-remotecontrol era Blaupunkt. Futuristic for its time, it has AV-in. No idea what the resolution will be, I guess I'll have to try.
Click to expand...
Should be fine - I used to use the s-video to a/v converter for my old tv with my old headless powerbook and for watching movies etc it was more than adequate. Just dont try to read too much text or you'll end up with a headache. :)
 
Most TV's are just that... built to present a TV signal, which makes for a pretty crappy computer screen.

You'll have much better quality with a large LCD, most plasmas are still pretty low-res as well.
Viewing movies is probably going to be okay, but text is going to be a bit of a nightmare.
 
BobJones said:
Most TV's are just that... built to present a TV signal, which makes for a pretty crappy computer screen.

You'll have much better quality with a large LCD, most plasmas are still pretty low-res as well.
Viewing movies is probably going to be okay, but text is going to be a bit of a nightmare.
Click to expand...
The current resolution on my plasma (1280x720) is pretty decent considering it is a cheapo sansui from hifi. More than adequate for the mini anyway.
 
SV-PD42T - well impressed by it too - turns out it supports HD for the xbox360 too. :)

EDIT - btw - I know there are better sets out there but this is all I could justifiably afford at the time so I was under no delusions about what I was buying. Cheap and nasty. :)
 
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bwana said:
The current resolution on my plasma (1280x720) is pretty decent considering it is a cheapo sansui from hifi. More than adequate for the mini anyway.
Click to expand...

I was refering to the 842x576(?) res plasmas. Its only been the last 6 months or so that higher res plasmas are getting more common.

Its the same with projectors - finding a decently priced machine with native WXGA and better resolution isn't the norm.

When ur at 1024->1280 res or better the mini's graphics looks just fine.
 
bwana said:
SV-PD42T - well impressed by it too - turns out it supports HD for the xbox360 too. :)
Click to expand...

I cant find any information on this model, do you have a link perhaps? Google only offers pricing (all local) and a link to a thread on this forum by you lol.

Sansui.co.za dont have this screen listed either.
 
Fudzy said:
I cant find any information on this model, do you have a link perhaps? Google only offers pricing (all local) and a link to a thread on this forum by you lol.

Sansui.co.za dont have this screen listed either.
Click to expand...
lol - sorry - the only thing I know about it was it was the cheapest they had that day!
 
Well see thats what I cant get my head around, I prefer plasma to LCD but the lack of HD support has had me hesitant. I've read that there are HD ready Plasmas out there but they're more expensive than the lower res ones and your saying you bought the cheapest plasma available at hifi corp and it has HD support?
 
Fudzy said:
Well see thats what I cant get my head around, I prefer plasma to LCD but the lack of HD support has had me hesitant. I've read that there are HD ready Plasmas out there but they're more expensive than the lower res ones and your saying you bought the cheapest plasma available at hifi corp and it has HD support?
Click to expand...
As far as I can tell it does. I've only tested it with my xbox 360 and as far as that goes it handles everything nicely at 720p. I havent really tried 1080i yet though on the surface it seems to accept that too.

I'm making no assurances as to what's actually going on so please dont take my opinion regarding this as anything but uneducated. All I know is it looks really good compared to when I had the 360 set to normal tv.
 
Hi Folks .

If you connecting your mac to a tv & if you have a dvi or mini dvi, there is a converter dvi to s-video, you can change the resolution via mac mini to display fonts better but the video resolution pretty much stays the same .

For those who have a LCD or PLASMA HD display, you could buy a dvi to HDMI converter which pretty much ups the quality a whole lot more so you could enjoy your front row content :P you can find more info on the converter on the main apple.com website but so far no luck in SA finding it + if its so expensive on the apple.com website, just imagine what its gonna be in SA.

I enjoy my media content especially the HD apple movie trailers with my mac & my apple 20" LCD display, its freakin super clear!

I have seen the new samsung LCD's & fell in love with them instantly but did not fall in love with the price LOL, im going out on a limb here but Samsung is kicking Sony's & Nokia's butt with their new products. Maybe they going all out & not depriving the customers, they offer us what they can offer & not hold anything back.

Anyways ... too much said for now LOL :P
 
I bought the converter. IT does work, but there are two problems.

Firstly, it assumes NTSC output. If your TV, like mine, can only do PAL, you're screwed. Fortunately for me I have a TV tuner for my notebook, so I could hook it up, and change the display settings, then plug it back into the TV.

Second problem is that the TV's image is so crap I can't even figure out the buttons on the DVD player app. The DVD image is fine, but it's just about impossible to do stuff like pause, forward, eject, etc.
 
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