Sorry for my ignorance...

[Lachlan9383]

Could someone please explain to me the advantage of using a thunderbolt display with the Retina MacBook Pro over just using my HD Tv with an HDMI cable? Cheers

 

[ebobster]

'advantage' in this context i think is entirely relative. In my opinion the biggest advantage is the peace of mind you get knowing that apple will not suddenly make HDMI adapters incompatible with it's device. I mean if you're dick about your graphics then obviously you buy the TB display. Or if you have $1000 burning a hole in your pocket. I'm guessing that there will be some compatibility issues with HDMI adpaters because apple always seems to find a way to force you to buy another adapter at apple prices if you opt not to buy one of their own.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

A TV or an HDTV is not a good computer monitor and 1920 x 1080 pixel stretched to 40" look different than 2560 x 1440 pixel stretched to 27".

 

[danetello]

A TV or an HDTV is not a good computer monitor and 1920 x 1080 pixel stretched to 40" look different than 2560 x 1440 pixel stretched to 27".

I agree

 

[mfram]

TVs are primarily designed to show video. Computer monitors are primarily designed to show text. So if you want to use the TV for web surfing that probably won't work very well. But if you want the external monitor primarily to show video, that might be okay.

 

[marzer]

Could someone please explain to me the advantage of using a thunderbolt display with the Retina MacBook Pro over just using my HD Tv with an HDMI cable? Cheers

The advantage of a quality computer monitor (TB or otherwise) is a higher res device with bettter clarity, contrast and color performance for general purpose computing. I've hooked my Mac mini to a 42" plasma via HDMI. It's fine for watching videos and other media from the couch, but sucks for applications and text oriented content.

If your into gaming, graphics will look better cranked up on a higher res monitor at a desk, but probably be more fun to play on the large HDTV from across a room. Esp. through a good HT sound system 🙂

 

[Lachlan9383]

Thanks guys!

TVs are primarily designed to show video. Computer monitors are primarily designed to show text. So if you want to use the TV for web surfing that probably won't work very well. But if you want the external monitor primarily to show video, that might be okay.

Thanks guys! Very informative, love the apple community.

 

[Poki]

Have you ever watched a iTunes SD movie (for example) on a big computer screen and then on a 60" TV? Ever wondered why it looked better on the TV although the resolution is bad?

The reason for this is simple. A TV has less resolution to start from, thous less interpolation is needed. And a modern TV utilizes some image processing units to smooth out motions and upscale lower resolution videos - again, less interpolation artifacts and better color.

But using a TV as a computer display is a entirely different story. First, the resolution is too bad to start from. Text will just look awful on 1080p on 30 inch and up. Second, color fidelity isn't even close to a good computer display, even if the TV features an IPS panel. And last but not least it doesn't look as good and isn't as convenient as a computer display.

I have the highest end LG TV from 2010, which features full-LED backlighting with local dimming, an awesome IPS panel and pretty much the best color in any TV. It even features 480 hz refresh ration (nothing that gives you any advantage in reality), but I would never consider using it as a computer display. It's just not built for this usage. And again, I would never watch a full movie on my 24" LED Cinema Display, although it's great, every movie simply looks better on my TV.