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Running XBOX/PS2 Through Mac

S

swinchkak

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 4, 2004
1
0
Hi. I'm new here--first post. Having been a PC user my entire life, I've decided to switch, so when the next round of upgrades hit, I'm a Mac user. My question is kind of strange, possibly stupid: Is there any way to run my video game systems through a Mac to the Cinema Displays? I'm a console gamer, and I can only imagine how good it would look. I've thought about running it through a TV tuner, or even an adapter of some sort, but I was just hoping someone new of the best way, or even a way at all.
Thanks.
 
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Answer

You could run it straight to a cinema display with the right adapter, but getting a tv tuner thru your mac is possible but impractical because it creates a slight lag (1-2) seconds, which is HUGE when playing video games.
 
grapes911

grapes911

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Jul 28, 2003
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appleretailguy said:
You could run it straight to a cinema display with the right adapter, but getting a tv tuner thru your mac is possible but impractical because it creates a slight lag (1-2) seconds, which is HUGE when playing video games.
Click to expand...

Is this a mac thing? Cause my tv tuner is in my pc. I can watch tv video on my pc and listen to the sound from my tv and they match up perfectly.
 
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26139

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No, not a mac thing

You can watch tv thru your mac just fine. It's the actual response from pushing the buttons on your controller that's the problem, not the video. But, like I said, a simple adapter directly to your cinema display should work just perfectly.
 
grapes911

grapes911

Moderator emeritus
Jul 28, 2003
6,995
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appleretailguy said:
You can watch tv thru your mac just fine. It's the actual response from pushing the buttons on your controller that's the problem, not the video. But, like I said, a simple adapter directly to your cinema display should work just perfectly.
Click to expand...

I just hooked my ps2 to my pc, it worked fine. Just as good as a tv.
 
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Okay...

How did you do it then? Enlighten us. What kinds of games are you playing?
 
Krizoitz

Krizoitz

macrumors 68000
Apr 26, 2003
1,734
2,088
Tokyo, Japan
grapes911 said:
Is this a mac thing? Cause my tv tuner is in my pc. I can watch tv video on my pc and listen to the sound from my tv and they match up perfectly.
Click to expand...

The problem is that all the Mac compatible tv tuners are external. There are a ton of PC tv tuners that are PCI based so they don't have the lag time that external tuners do. Under OS 9 on my G3 I used to use the ProTV tuner and it played video games just fine. On my iMac the eyeTV has about a 3-5 second lag as it converts the video signal and sends it to the computer.
 
Veldek

Veldek

macrumors 68000
Mar 29, 2003
1,789
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Germany
Krizoitz said:
The problem is that all the Mac compatible tv tuners are external. There are a ton of PC tv tuners that are PCI based so they don't have the lag time that external tuners do. Under OS 9 on my G3 I used to use the ProTV tuner and it played video games just fine. On my iMac the eyeTV has about a 3-5 second lag as it converts the video signal and sends it to the computer.
Click to expand...

There is a PCI TV card available for the Mac. Check AlchemyTV from Miglia
 
A

amnesiac1984

macrumors 6502a
Jun 9, 2002
760
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Europe
Veldek said:
There is a PCI TV card available for the Mac. Check AlchemyTV from Miglia
Click to expand...

This issue keeps appearing and i normally seem to be the one who resolves it but you got there before me.


I have this alchemy card and yes it works, I use it on my 17" cinema display for all my watching (freeview, ps2, vcr) pleasure

unfortunately it doesn't support 60hz and the quality looks bad, (although if you sit back from the computer then it looks just as good as any tv). In short it doesn't look as good as some lcd tv's I've seen but tis good.
 
grapes911

grapes911

Moderator emeritus
Jul 28, 2003
6,995
10
Citizens Bank Park
Krizoitz said:
The problem is that all the Mac compatible tv tuners are external. There are a ton of PC tv tuners that are PCI based so they don't have the lag time that external tuners do. Under OS 9 on my G3 I used to use the ProTV tuner and it played video games just fine. On my iMac the eyeTV has about a 3-5 second lag as it converts the video signal and sends it to the computer.
Click to expand...

ahhhh! This makes more sense. Thank you for the input.
 
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