Please Help With Watching Mac Movies On Lcd Tv

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hi everyone, just got a new panasonic 32" LCD TV in my room and its right next to my imac g5. Ive got a few films and stuff on the mac i want to watch on the tv without burning dvds off. The new TV's got all sorts of ports like scarts and component plugs n things and i really dont have a clue what they do or what i need to get. Whats the best way to connect them up? any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
 
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from my personal experience, i would stay away from DVI to HDMI and stick to DVI to DVI or VGA to VGA.

what resolution as a monitor does your 32" support? (like my 37" LCD is 1080i for 1366x768)
 
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I use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect my Intel iMac to my 40" Samsung LCD. No issues, and there shouldn't be.
 
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ok that confusing but cheers lads, scooter why do u say that I shouldn't get a HDMI to DVI?
 

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For us to give you accurate cabling info, will need either the model # of the TV or you will have to tell us what ports are available on the TV.

If you have the current Panasonic model that CC is selling it has no VGA port. While Panasonic makes some nice TV's, this is one of their drawbacks. They just do not put PC ports on most of their TV's.

Am not familiar with the G5, so I do not know what port it has.

If it has a VGA out, you are basically up the creek, because you will need either 1) a converter box (typically around $300) to use VGA to HDMI or 2) a converter box (typicaly around ($150) to use VGA to component. While I have/had several computers connected to HDTV's, I have never used one of these converter boxes, so I am not familiar with the issues that will result in trying to obtain the proper resolution on them.

If the G5 has a DVI port, then you will use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect them.
 
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OK here are some specs for my TV. It is a Panasonic Viera 32" TX-32LMD70:

HDMI Input: 2 (2 rear)
Composite Video Input: AV3: RCA phono type x 1 (side)
S-Video Input: AV3: Mini DIN 4-pin (side)
Audio Input (for Video): AV3: RCA phono type connectors (L, R) (1 set, side)
PC Input: Mini D-sub 15-pin x 1 (rear)
Component Video Input: RCA phono type x 3 (Y , PB, PR) (rear)
Audio Input (HDMI, PC, Component Video): RCA phono type connectors (L, R) (1 set, rear)

My iMAC G5 has a mini DVI port as well as some USB and Firewire ports. Please let me know if you need to know anything else.
 

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You'll of course need the mini-DVI to DVI adapter. I would recommend a DVI to VGA cable. You can also use a DVI to HDMI.

I have used both on multiple brands of HDTV's; with XP, Linux and OS X. My recommendation for the VGA stems from it having set standards for communicating with computers. HDMI does not as of yet have minimum standards for this in place. What this means to the end user is that the EDID (the info passed to the computer from the HDMI port) may not provide all the necessary info in a way the mobo / system board is able to interpret.

I have had varying success with the HDMI, but it has depended on the brand of TV. Have had one brand where with a high end motherboard, you could not a) get into the BIOS and b) could neither install nor run any version of Linux from the hard drive (although 'live' disks would work). The issues with OS X have been relativly minor in comparison. But I have seen no significant improvement in the picture quality using HDMI over VGA. Plus, the DVI-VGA cables are still cheaper than the DVI-HDMI.

As with almost all 720p LCD HDTV's, you will note that the TV's display is 1366 x 768. Although it will accept anincoming signal of 1080, the resolution setting you will more than likely want to use is 1280 x 720. This is the 720p setting the ports are designed to accept and then the TV scales the image to it's display. You may have to play with settings close to this a little bit, but this is the one I have had the best success in using across all brands.
 
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ok thanks for your help. Will i need both ends of the dvi to vga cable to be male? as i wasnt sure if the DVI end of the mini dvi to DVI adapter was male or female ?
 

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I have not seen the mini DVI adapter either, but, you shouldn't have to worry about that when going to buy a cable if Apple has any sense. The adapter should accept any standard DVI cable, which will be male.

Just checked the Apple site, and you can also get a mini-DVI to VGA adapter. This would allow you to just use a standard VGA cable - probably a little cheaper than the DVI to VGA.

So, depending on which of the two adpaters you get, just ask for either the DVI to VGA cable or a VGA cable.
 
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The mini-DVI to DVI and mini-DVI to VGA cables cost the same. That said, I've used my iMac on the telly doing the VGA route. Worked like a charm.
 
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Hello everyone...

I just entered the Mac world and I am trying to connect my iMac to my projector using a component cable. Unfortunately the use of other cable is not an option since it is embedded in the wall.

With my pc I was using the DVI to component adapter form ATI. Will this adapter work with the ATI 2600 Pro of the latest iMac or do I need one of the VGA to component adapters that have been mentioned above?

Thanks in advance
 

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