Connecting your Mac to your TV

[Thranmonster]

Lg 520

Hello, I am trying to connect my macbook pro to an lg and want to make sure I know what to get, new to the MBP and new to the TV.


1. What Mac do you have? Personally, I prefer to have the year, model and processor speed. Example: 2008 iMac 2.8, 2006 Mac Mini 2.0, or 2009 MBP 2.6.

2009 Macbook Pro 13"

2. What TV do you have? This means make and model #. A web link to your owners manual would be very helpful.

LG 42LD520

LG LD520 Televisions - 42” Class Full High Definition 1080p 120Hz LCD TV - LG Electronics US



3. Where do you want the sound? On the TV, a stereo, a 5.1 A/V receiver? If you want it someplace other than the TV, you'll need to provide the make and model of that piece of equipment also.'

The TV


Thank you so much!

 

[bobtomay]

Thranmonster - I'd start off trying the HDMI - Have seen a very few LGs have problems getting signal from a Mac though.

You'll need a mini displayport to HDMI cable at whatever length you need - link and a stereo 3.5mm mini-plug for audio.

Option 2 - get this adapter (combines audio and video) and then a HDMI cable.

(outdated image link removed)

 

[Thranmonster]

You're the best! I'll let you know how everything goes when I get the cables and hook em up. Thanks!

 

[abstractmotor]

cannot connect 2008 Macbook via Mini-DVI to RCA

Hi. I have a 2008 Macbook 2.4 GHz.
I am trying to connect it to an old standard definition TV with RCA input. I have an Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter. I then connected a S-video to RCA cord which I connected to the TV.

I have tried my setup on a Toshiba 27A34 (outdated link removed) and all I get are static lines.
I'd really like this to be able to work. Any ideas?

 

[bobtomay]

Note: I have not used composite or S-Video in at least 10 years for video signals.

Have you opened Displays preferences and tried other resolutions to the TV?

Next, I would grab a S-Video (preferable) or composite cable instead of using the S-Video to composite adapter.

The adapter should work, but the reviews are about 50/50 - depending on where you got it. You should never be using 2 adapters when you don't need to.

 

[Jonik]

Hi,

Dad's just bought a new mac mini, to be used as a media centre for his living room. It is plugged in via hdmi cable to the Panasonic TX32LXD70 he has. Panasonic TX32LXD70 LCD TV Technical Specifications for technical specs.

Once we got past the setting up windows, and were on the desktop, we noticed that the screen was not showing the entire desktop. The top bar is missing in all but a few resolutions (via display setting window) and the ones where we can see it are only just visible (and at a very small resolution!). How do I get the resolution right?

Thanks very much!

 

[bobtomay]

Jonik:

See Post 2, Item 2 at the beginning of this thread.
Panasonic does not have an option to turn off overscan, so you can save your time looking there.

 

[teekslodau]

Connection help

Hi, I would like to know how to hook my MBP to my LG HDTV, and that I get the right adapters and cables.

The MBP I have is: MacBook Pro5,4 ; 2.53 GHz (I bought it in Dec 09 so I don't know if it's a 2009 or 2010)

The TV I have is: 42LG5350. http://service.velaro.com/transfer/spec-42LE5350.pdf

Don't know if I need sound input as well. Are those links to the Amazon adapters and cables still the best bang for the buck? Or do you have some updated ones that you like better?

(Sidebar: I thought all the LG internet-connected TV's were wifi-ready, and of course, my model is the only hard wired broadband one. I already purchased the wifi dongle (LG AN-WF100). Is there anything I can do with it, or do I have to eat the money I spent?)

Appreciate all the help, thx!

 

[bobtomay]

teekslodau:

See post #262. You'll need the same cables. Looks like you should be able to use any of the 3 HDMI ports on the rear of yours.

I'd suggest returning the wifi adapter.

 

[Maverick177uk]

Hi I'm new here so be gentle, I've just bought a mac mini, I'm connecting it to my LCD TV via the VGA input, my question is can I just purchase a HDMI to VGA cable and not use the HDMI to DVI adapter? The reason been they seem cheaper than DVI-D to VGA cables. Also is there a HDMI to VGA cable with audio outputs available so I can have the sound through the TV?

 

[bobtomay]

Maverick177uk:

You cannot use a HDMI to VGA cable in this manner. It will not work. You are not going to get from HDMI "out" to VGA "in" without a converter to convert the signal from digital to analog. I have not yet seen such a converter under $100 U.S.

(The cables you are seeing are used in areas where there is existing analog wiring in the wall/ceiling. Ex. A school buys a new Blu-Ray player and a new ceiling mounted projector - both with HDMI. Problem, they only have existing VGA cabling run in the wall between the two locations. In this situation, instead of having to change out all the existing wiring, two of these HDMI to VGA cables could be used, one at each end of their existing wiring in order to transmit the digital signal between the 2 devices.)

You want VGA, get the Apple mini displayport to VGA adapter. You can save a couple of bucks getting it from Amazon - link.

For audio, you'll also need a 3.5mm stereo on the Mac end and either the same or RCA jack on the TV end depending on your TV's connection.

 

[Maverick177uk]

Thanks very much for that

 

[imresults]

TV hooked to mac

Hey guys, I am new to this post, and I think I have a similar issue, but enough differences to warrant a "new" question. I have a new (August 2010) Insignia 32" 1080p TV that I had hooked to my new (August 2010) Mac Pro 2.4 Quad Core. The thing was working great until I decided to see if I could increase the sharpness of the display. So I went into Sys. Pref. and Display menu, noticed the setting was "1080i", so clicked on "1080p." The screen turnde blue as if switching, but now all I get is "no signal." I've rebooted, hooked it to a Samsung monitor (via same cable), everything works fine. While using the samsung I changed the display back to "1080i", then rebooted everything and still nothing on the Insignia. I had purchased two of the exact same model of TVs, so I grabbed the other and hooked it up. Nothing. Any ideas on why it would have been working before, but not now (other than the obvious "you changed something dummy!"). If I could see a picture on the TV I would go back in to display settings and change it, but no such luck. Any help would be awesome. Thanks!

 

[teekslodau]

Thanks

Hey thanks for the reply and info. Can you refer me to the 3.5 mm mini plug for audio that you recommend? I'm working on selling the dongle on ebay... never have done that before, we'll see how it goes

 

[bobtomay]

imresults:

Open up Displays preferences, head for the appearance tab - check off 'Mirror displays'- that should bring up the Display window for the external monitor - see if you can change the resolution now.

Next try re-setting pram on the Mac - link.

teekslodau:

Any 3.5mm stereo mini-plug cable will do (remember you need the same on both ends - I get mine from Amazon or monoprice, but your local RadioShack, BestBuy or other electronics shop will have them. If they have two options at the same length, you can go with the cheaper one.

 

[Thranmonster]

Thranmonster - I'd start off trying the HDMI - Have seen a very few LGs have problems getting signal from a Mac though.

You'll need a mini displayport to HDMI cable at whatever length you need - link and a stereo 3.5mm mini-plug for audio.

Option 2 - get this adapter (combines audio and video) and then a HDMI cable.

(outdated image link removed)

Just got all the cables I needed and option one works great. Thanks!

 

[bobtomay]

Just got all the cables I needed and option one works great. Thanks!

Good deal!

 

[mtn1]

iMac 2.8Ghz i7 Quad Core, Panasonic PT AE4000u projector.

I bought a monoprice MDP to HDMI out and ran it into the projector. Things were fine for about a week and then it bailed in me. I can see the device listed on my iMac but all I get is static on my projector now. What a waste of cash, should I try another MDP to hdmi or go another route. I want to run VLC on my computer and show it through my projector0 full 1080p. I will run sound through a toslink cable to my receiver.

 

[bryce86]

I have connected my MacbookPro (2010) up to my 32" Toshiba HD tv with a miniDP convertor and HDMI cable. All is working well except text on website / documents etc is a little fuzzy / has a shadow effect like its not sharp enough. Ive had a fiddle around with the setting the best I can but it doesnt seem to be any better.

Suggestions please

 

[bobtomay]

bryce86:

About the best advice I can give is get a Windows machine. That's what I did. You'll notice in my sig, I use a Win7 box as my HTPC, not a Mac.

The rendering technology Apple uses is just fine for me on a computer monitor where the resolution is appropriate to the screen size. Put Apple's text on a big screen with low resolution and to me - after 4 years with a Mac now - it's a fail as far as I'm concerned.

Here is one of the sites that explains the difference in the philosophy of rendering fonts between the two of them - link.

edit:
You can head for System Preferences - Appearance.
At the bottom you can play around with checking and unchecking 'Use LCD font smoothing' along with increasing the 'Turn off text smoothing' option below. I used mine set at 12 for probably a year or so and the long timers would mention it when I posted screenshots.