MacBook to 1080p HDTV?

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You need the $19.00 Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, and either a DVI-to-DVI cable or an DVI-to-HDMI cable.
 
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wow that's cheap. will that send sound from my mac to the hdtv also?
 
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No it does not. You have to plug your surround sound or stereo system into the headphone input.
 
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first post. hello.

anyway - i have the same question, but heard these parts can be picked up from www.monoprice.com at a cheaper price.

i've been searching monoprice and my only concern is purchasing the correct Mini-DVI to DVI adapter. does anyone have a link or product # for the adapter?
 
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would that be a DVI M/F or DVI M/M cable?

It's the Male/Male... as the DVI on the Adapter is Female as is the port on the TV.

first post. hello.

anyway - i have the same question, but heard these parts can be picked up from www.monoprice.com at a cheaper price.

i've been searching monoprice and my only concern is purchasing the correct Mini-DVI to DVI adapter. does anyone have a link or product # for the adapter?

Here ya go:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore?productLearnMore=M9321G/B
 
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No it does not. You have to plug your surround sound or stereo system into the headphone input.

Yup you also can use the optical out if your stereo supports optical input
 
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okay, thanks for the help everyone. i just have one more question. will dvi to hdmi produce better quality than dvi to dvi or is it the same?
 
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Most HDTV's don't use DVI anymore, that's why everyone is suggesting DVI to HDMI. But no there should be no difference, both are a digital signal.
 
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Most HDTV's don't use DVI anymore, that's why everyone is suggesting DVI to HDMI. But no there should be no difference, both are a digital signal.

What I think he is asking is if he uses the DVI to HDMI will that produce 720p on the TV? And if he uses the DVI will that produce a lesser of a picture?

I was wondering the same thing as i use my 13" macbook pro on the TV and I went with mini dvi to dvi, then dvi to HDMI as I thought what the **** go big or go home. So hopefully my HDMI looks better than people going the route of DVI? I dunno...

Anyways to the OP, for sound I went with using a headphone jack to right/left rca male plugs and plugged it right into the back of my television.

As to people saying use optical.... Where is the optical on my macbook pro 13"? Is it hiding? Am I missing something?
 
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There will be no difference in DVI and HDMI from a macbook (unless there is a strange limitation by the TV). Remember it's coming from the same mini dvi port. DVI and HDMI on TV's are HD inputs which should be able to display 720 or 1080 (depending on your TV). What effects the picture quality is the video your displaying on the TV from the macbook. You will not get a HD quality picture without playing a HD video on your macbook. It would be just a SD video played at 720p, similar to digital zoom on a camera.


The optical output for audio is the headphone jack. If you plug in an optical cable into the headphone jack a red light will come out the other end.


What I think he is asking is if he uses the DVI to HDMI will that produce 720p on the TV? And if he uses the DVI will that produce a lesser of a picture?

I was wondering the same thing as i use my 13" macbook pro on the TV and I went with mini dvi to dvi, then dvi to HDMI as I thought what the **** go big or go home. So hopefully my HDMI looks better than people going the route of DVI? I dunno...

Anyways to the OP, for sound I went with using a headphone jack to right/left rca male plugs and plugged it right into the back of my television.

As to people saying use optical.... Where is the optical on my macbook pro 13"? Is it hiding? Am I missing something?
 
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There will be no difference in DVI and HDMI from a macbook (unless there is a strange limitation by the TV). Remember it's coming from the same mini dvi port. DVI and HDMI on TV's are HD inputs which should be able to display 720 or 1080 (depending on your TV). What effects the picture quality is the video your displaying on the TV from the macbook. You will not get a HD quality picture without playing a HD video on your macbook. It would be just a SD video played at 720p, similar to digital zoom on a camera.

Actually if I was playing a SD video it would only be 480p because that is what SD is. Once you go to 720p that is actually HD and is what is usually on HD channels. So I guess I am only getting SD 480p but movies still look good. Not terrible. But you can tell its not 720p. I wish that we had blu ray drives in our laptops like sony VIAOs do because then we could play blu ray 1080p on our TVs....

The optical output for audio is the headphone jack. If you plug in an optical cable into the headphone jack a red light will come out the other end.
Wow that is cool. I had no idea you could do that. Doesn't even look like you could fit an optical cable into that jack. good to know.
 
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I used the one from my mini disc player. It has a standard optical toslink on one end and a headphone jack on the other. The headphone jack has a fiber optic cable running down the inside so it carries the light down the cable.

As far as video quality is concerned I was stating that the video quality will effect the tv picture and not the cable/input. I know a lot of people grab tv shows (or video's) from torrents it they miss one. Well unless you grab the HD version (usually x.264) you will not get the true HD picture. I usually grab the lower quality (one I'm watching right now is only 624x352). My macbook will display this lower resolution at 720p because that's what the resolution is. But just because the TV resolution is HD doesn't mean the picture will be HD quality. That's what I was trying to say.
 

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