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I am looking to purchase a mac computer (either macbook or mini) exclusively for the purpose of running OSXBMC. My TV does not have a dvi or hdmi connection so I will need to use component connections with a max resolution of 1080i. What will I need in order to connect a mac to my TV? I have read on some forums that a cable is all that is needed and other say you need some sort of converter box. Any information regarding this issue is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
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unfortunately, component out will be difficult as there is no such outlet on the mini or macbook. Does you tv have S-video? because that should be just as good as component and you can buy a simple adapter to go from the mac to S-video out and then an s-video cable to connect. Of course, the sound will come out of the mac, so you will need either a receiver (connect via mini toslink) or speakers plugged into the audio out of the mac...or of course just deal with the mac's internal speakers. I would humbly suggest that you need to do a bit more research before you make a purchase so you know exactly what you're walking into.
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I agree more research is needed. I am not interested in s-video quality at this point. It seems there must be a way to do it with and adapter of some kind. I have been using xbmc for quite sometime and it works perfectly outputting component 1080i with it only short coming being it use with HD video. I am really hoping there is a way to do it with a mac as I dont want to give up xbmc for one of those set top box's available.
Thanks
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does a mini-dvi to component adapter exist?
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I am waiting on a DMI-component cable I have organised from eBay to connect my mini to my LCD TV.
I will let you know how it goes when it arrives!
cjc
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It is possible to get component out of a Mac / Mac Mini but it is problematic and/or expensive.
I currently have my Mini using a DVI to VGA adapter and a VGA to component cable. It only works at 480P or 1080i though in my case. It also required purchasing one of the Mac OSX screen programs that let you use screen sizing/timing outside of stock OSX support. On top of all that it took weeks of messing around with it to finally get it working. Even at that it's still not perfect because the screen is oversized for the screen missing about 5% on the top and 2% on the right. I did all this because I wanted to get it working on my 1st HDTV which doesn't have HDMI or DVI so I had to figure out a way to get support via component timings.
A better option is to use a transcoder that takes a DVI signal and converts it to component (or VGA with component timing and a VGA to component cable). They start around $200 and go up from there and many don't support 1920x1080(i or p) at that price point. Component isn't also a typical output of these thing VGA was way more common and not all support component timings.
I messed with the Apple DVI to S-Video adapter as well. Plug and play. No overscan/unscan issues. No black screen or shifting issues. Nice, easy, and painless. The picture doesn't look as crisp as 1080i over component but then the component I have working is shifted to the right and missing a good chunk of the top picture as well.
Better would be to just make do with the s-video until you have something that supports DVI or HDMI input. It's not worth the headache and expense.
=)
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Couldn't you let your receiver do the heavy lifting? I send all sorts of inputs into my receiver and it spits out component to my TV. Granted, I'm not doing exactly what you're talking about with converting dvi->component but I wonder if any of the newer receivers that do HDMI switching would output to component. It's easy to go back and forth between HDMI and DVI.
It's worth looking into if you happen to be in the market for a new receiver.
Or I could just be talking out my ass. : )
Good luck!
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That is possible, as many of those receivers are just using transcoders. And the cost of the receiver isn't much more then a stand alone transcoder. Most of the one's I've seen though don't down conversion from DVI (HDMI) to Component. I have seen many that do up conversion from component to HDMI, or S-Video to component. In many of those cases the signel still needs to be in the proper format. IE even if it converts from DVI/HDMI down to component it's not going to take just any res, timing, sync so you still need to be outputing something compatible from the Mac.
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If you're looking at getting a new receiver to accomplish this is might just be better to get a HDTV with HDMI input(s). They cost nearly nothing now.
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Overscan is a bitch. On a regular basis I curse the ATSC for not addressing overscan properly. My (1080i only) HDTV is circa 2003, and is a huge reason that I keep coming back to XBMC.
As far as going DVI->Component, I know that DVI includes all the pins necessary to output a VGA signal, and that most chipsets have the capability to go into a component mode where they stop sending the H&Vsync signals along their own wires and populate the RGB wires with YCbCr. I wonder that nobody has figured out how to turn this on in os-x.
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