Best way to connect MacBook to TV...

Yes Mini to VGA Plus VGA Cable Is All You Need

Top-Slacker said:

I'm going to buy a MacBook once Leopard is released, and will hook it up to my HDTV some of the time. What I'm wondering is what exactly I'll need to connect the two? The TV has VGA input, HTMI etc.

Also, I know Apple sell a Mini DVI --> VGA but this is tiny. Would I have to buy the connector, then buy a VGA --> VGA cable?

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You answered it yourself. Buy the mini to VGA adapter and a VGA cable. What res is your HDTV? 1920x1080 or less? MacBook can drive 1920x1080.

The best image you will get would be if you went with a miniDVI to DVI and a DVI to HDMI connectors.
So this:
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=16401925&nplm=M9321

and something like this:
http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/scan/ml=6/se=DVI/se=to/se=HDMI/se=Adapters.html

Multimedia said:

You answered it yourself. Buy the mini to VGA adapter and a VGA cable. What res is your HDTV? 1920x1080 or less? MacBook can drive 1920x1080.

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The MB can drive a 1920 X 1200. As far as I know, the highest HD TVs made are 1080p, which the MB will push no problems.

Mini DVI - something and another cable is the only way you're going to manage it.

If your tv has composite you can get one of these, but you still need composite cables.

If you have VGA, you can get one of these, but still need a VGA-VGA cable

If you have HDMI, you can get one of these, and there is a DVI-HDMI cable out there somewhere

HDMI is the most expensive, but will give you a better picture. I currently use the first option, and the picture is okay.

Get the DVI to HDMI at monoprice.

xparaparafreakx said:

Get the DVI to HDMI at monoprice.

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Ah, but won't the HDMI option cause overscan? He'll loose small but important parts of the edge of the picture, no? HDMI being designed for telly, and VGA for computer input....

Gee said:

Ah, but won't the HDMI option cause overscan? He'll loose small but important parts of the edge of the picture, no? HDMI being designed for telly, and VGA for computer input....

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In theory the HDMI should cause no more overscan than DVI or VGA. Either the TV supports 1:1 mapping over a digital connection like DVI and HDMI or he will get overscan.

snowmoon said:

In theory the HDMI should cause no more overscan than DVI or VGA. Either the TV supports 1:1 mapping over a digital connection like DVI and HDMI or he will get overscan.

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I don't know the tehnicalities of it, but the big ol' screen we have at work is fine on vga but overscans through dvi converted to hdmi.

Use VGA Not HDMI

Gee said:

Ah, but won't the HDMI option cause overscan? He'll loose small but important parts of the edge of the picture, no? HDMI being designed for telly, and VGA for computer input....

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The VGA port is for the computer. You will gain no benefit from hooking to the HDMI input and waste a HDMI port. It will either look the same or worse on the HDMI hookup. But the VGA will not look worse than the HDMI even if the HDMI works ok.

j26 said:

Mini DVI - something and another cable is the only way you're going to manage it. If you have VGA, you can get one of these, but still need a VGA-VGA cable

HDMI is the most expensive, but will give you a better picture.

Click to expand...

No it won't. USE VGA.

I'm sorry this question may seem stupid, and I really don't know all the acronyms for TV jargon, but:

I want to connect my MacBook to regular old TV with the red, yellow, and white things on the back.

Can anyone tell me in some sort of english what I'll need for that?

I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

surfstarchris said:

I'm sorry this question may seem stupid, and I really don't know all the acronyms for TV jargon, but:

I want to connect my MacBook to regular old TV with the red, yellow, and white things on the back.

Can anyone tell me in some sort of english what I'll need for that?

I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.

Click to expand...

The first one I listed above will do it - it's called the Apple mini-DVI to Video adaptor ($19) and then get a cable to connect the yellow on the screen to the input on the adaptor. You'll also need another adaptor to connect the red and white cables to your headphone jack on the macbook.

Many TV's will not allow full resolution input over the VGA input.

Even a 1080p set, most VGA inputs limit you to 1024x768. HDMI is the best choice for almost all home theater PC applications, which is what you are trying to do.

Also, be aware some TV's are very finicky, even over HDMI (which is identical to DVI from a video perspective) about displaying properly without overscan and with 1:1 pixel mapping.

It is harder than it should be.

Check out what your TV will and won't support over what inputs before you make a decision and buy something you can't use.

j26 said:

The first one I listed above will do it - it's called the Apple mini-DVI to Video adaptor ($19) and then get a cable to connect the yellow on the screen to the input on the adaptor. You'll also need another adaptor to connect the red and white cables to your headphone jack on the macbook.

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Dang, sounds like a lot of cables.

xparaparafreakx said:

Get the DVI to HDMI at monoprice.

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Do you need to buy an adapter with that cable if you use a macbook? Or, does it plug right into the macbook?

Does the miniDVi - DVi - HDMI run sound straight through from macbook to HDTV without any other cable connection to the TV?

CGRA84 said:

Does the miniDVi - DVi - HDMI run sound straight through from macbook to HDTV without any other cable connection to the TV?

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Computer outputs don't put audio through the HDMI, you'd need a seperate audio connection (likely the optical output through the 1/8" minijack ... buy that cable at monoprice too

Hi everyone,
I want to connect my macbook to my tv. its a pretty old tv and not great in terms of different connections! its only got the 3 red, yellow and white holes at the front!
i have the mini dvi to video cable and a composite cable for audio. i cant figure out what cable i need for the picture! its has yellow on both ends i think....
help!

Hi, has anyone tried connecting MacBook to TV this way?:

Mini-DVI to VGA ---> VGA to Composite (S-Video)? Like this:

---->

I want to have both - VGA for projectors at university and Composite for my old home TV. I dont want to buy Mini-DVI to VGA and Mini-DVI to Video, it is too expensive.

Anyone knows is it possible?

alloqba said:

Hi, has anyone tried connecting MacBook to TV this way?:

Mini-DVI to VGA ---> VGA to Composite (S-Video)? Like this:

---->

I want to have both - VGA for projectors at university and Composite for my old home TV. I dont want to buy Mini-DVI to VGA and Mini-DVI to Video, it is too expensive.

Anyone knows is it possible?

Click to expand...

I would be surprised if it didn't work, but I'm not entirely sure your "old TV" has those inputs. Those are composite inputs, discreet channels for each color, typically found on HDTV sets. They look the same as component (RCA) connectors with the exception that composite has 3 connectors for video and 2 for audio (for 5 total), and component has 1 connector for video (usually yellow) and 2 for audio (red and white) for 3 total.

If your TV, which you said was old, only has 3 inputs, a yellow, red and white, this is not going to work for you.

As you can see in the photo above, it's 3 connectors for video only; with audio it would have been 5.

ab2650 said:

I would be surprised if it didn't work, but I'm not entirely sure your "old TV" has those inputs. Those are composite inputs, discreet channels for each color, typically found on HDTV sets. They look the same as component (RCA) connectors with the exception that composite has 3 connectors for video and 2 for audio (for 5 total), and component has 1 connector for video (usually yellow) and 2 for audio (red and white) for 3 total.

If your TV, which you said was old, only has 3 inputs, a yellow, red and white, this is not going to work for you.

As you can see in the photo above, it's 3 connectors for video only; with audio it would have been 5.

Click to expand...

You're right, but you got composite and component mixed up. Composite is the single, yellow RCA connector, while component consists of three discrete video RCA connectors (green, blue and red).

Good pointout ab2650.

My TV has 3 inputs total, but only 1 (yellow) for vide.

Bengt77, you say that it is possible? Maybe using different cable like this for composite input:

I'm not sure all this cable hopping is worth it. I know the adapters aren't free, but at $16 apiece, I'd rather get something I know will work well. The attached pic is from Futureshop in Canada. If you are in the US, I am sure you can find something similar for even cheaper.

Odd problem. Could use your help

Hello,

So, I have followed the advice early in this discussion and bought A VGA mini-adaptor, and then VGA Cord for my 2006 Macbook. When I put it all together only my screensaver was appearing on the TV. I thought I might have a big problem. Then I accidentally discovered that if I move the internet window out of view to the right of my computer that it would then appear on my TV. So, in order to view things on my TV I have to move the window out of screen on my computer. Normally I would view this as a minor inconvenience but, if watching net flix or anything else, when I hit fullscreen it goes to fullscreen on my computer and cannot be moved. So, I guess my question would be is there a way to make my macbook center everything or to change the settings so the tv only picks up what's on my laptop. Thanks in advance for the help.

erin