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I am quite confident that there will be a working solution soon but I have one concern and I am hoping someone can clarify this. Even if we get a full working adapter running @ 1080p. The Dashboard may look fine but don't most of the games run at 720p anyway? Im assuming we will have the same results in gaming video quality that RealEvil found in his tests with Atona adapter @ 720p.

I am thinking out aloud here and hope I am mistaken on this...but I would appreciate a more informed opinion from other members if possible.

Your are right!
As far as I know the only game that support 1080p is Wipeout HD, the rest should look just like they looked with the old Athlona.
 
I am quite confident that there will be a working solution soon but I have one concern and I am hoping someone can clarify this. Even if we get a full working adapter running @ 1080p. The Dashboard may look fine but don't most of the games run at 720p anyway? Im assuming we will have the same results in gaming video quality that RealEvil found in his tests with Atona adapter @ 720p.

I am thinking out aloud here and hope I am mistaken on this...but I would appreciate a more informed opinion from other members if possible.

That's fair enough, but this adaptor will serve more than just consoles.

I'm looking for one to hook up my tv set top box up to my iMac. It is most certainly capable of 1080p
 
Your are right!
As far as I know the only game that support 1080p is Wipeout HD, the rest should look just like they looked with the old Athlona.

The 360 upscales to whatever resolution you set on the dashboard. Its not like the PS3 that will output 720p (where possible) for 720p games (if you said your TV supports it) even if your XMB is set to 1080p.
 
Hey guys, will it work for just display, I need very fast answer and don't have time to search for it on 22 pages.

Connecting like that will give me some display from 360 on my iMac?
Mini Display -> DVI ->HDMI -> Xbox 360/PS3?
 
Hi All,

Firstly, I hope this is relevant to this thread as I was following it prior to getting my iMac and Atlona AT-DP200. This is my account of how to get the results I was hoping for

I was previously using a Benq V2400W @ 1920x1200 via hdmi which distorted vertically :(

I can confirm that the iMac 27" CAN be used as a screen for an XBOX 360 ( at 720p ) on an HDMI version of the Xbox 360 in FULL SCREEN ( no black surrounds as I had earlier feared )

I bit the bullet and today I received the Atlona DVI to Mini DisplayPort Converter ( AT-DP200 ) from MacFixIt.com.au AU$219 http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1094]Cables - Atlona DVI to Mini DisplayPort Converter - MacFixit Australia - Apple Accessories, Apple Mac Upgrades, Phone Cases, External Drives

You also need the equivalent of BELKIN MDP TO MDP 1.5M CABLE from Apple http://store.apple.com/au/product/TX706VC/A]Belkin Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort 1.5M Cable - Apple Store (Australia) $35

You also need to get from Male HDMI ( HDMI cable coming out of Xbox 360 ) to a DVI female so the Atlona converter can plug into it

I did this with a Male HDMI to female DVI connector $18 http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.s...c42742c0a87e0106c1/Product/View/P6723]Adaptor HDMI Male - DVI Female (P6723) | Dick Smith Online Store and a female to female hdmi $10 http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.s...c42742c0a87e0106c1/Product/View/P6720]Adaptor HDMI Female - Female (P6720) | Dick Smith Online Store

Now it took me a while to develop a working process, so here is the shorthand version.

Step 1. Set the resolution of your xbox 360 to 1280x720 before you disconnect your old screen / monitor ( REALLY IMPORTANT )
Step 2. Connect the Atlona Adaptor MDP adaptor to the 'frankencable' ( See pic ) http://www.demosite.com.au/jaytee/frankencable.jpg
Step 3. Connect USB cable from Atlona converter to a powered USB port ( front or back of xbox should be OK )
Step 4. Turn on Xbox using controller
Step 5. Wait until xbox has booted
Step 6. Connect Belkin MDP cable between iMac and Atlona adaptor
Step 7. Pray

I did not have to press Command - F2 for the Xbox screen to appear it took 10 seconds to register and it did flick once to an xbox image then back to black before stabalising

To get your iMac's screen back, either unplug the USB or the Belkin cable from either the iMac or the Atlona

To get the xbox displaying again you must disconnect the Belkin MDP cable then reconnect it. I could not get the xbox to re-display without doing this - ever.

The picture quality is pretty damn good and DVD's played well too.

I hope this is useful to some if not all

JAYTEE
 
To be honest SachaS, I didn't notice any pixels during gameplay. Viewing distance was 600mm ( 2 ft )

The text in Dashboard is obviously scaled but completely legible. I did not consciously notice the 'quality' of the onscreen text during gameplay either.

As the scaling ratio is exactly 2x ( 1280x720 -> 2560x1440 ) i was very happy with the result. Pixels remain 'square' too

The best way I can suggest you get a feel for it would be to get a 720p video source and watch it on your iMac at twice scale in Quicktime. This would be representative of how 'good' or 'bad' your viewing experience would be.

In terms of my own viewing tolerance, I would never convert any of my own 'home videos' to 350Mb files. I always go the MKV 720p route and produce a 1.09Gb file
 
I think I might pick one of them up then. I don't see how this scaler is going to do anything.
 
Read a lot on this thread about HDMI XBoxes...

What about VGA connections? Is there any way to connect a VGA Xbox 360 to the iMac? I'd imagine the Minidisplay - VGA adapter would work but I doubt they made it 'just work' like that ;)
 
Hi All,

Just a couple of things I have found when switching back to Mac mode from Xbox mode.

1. The mouse is not visible until you switch apps ( command - tab ) and click somewhere
2. The keyboard does not appear to type every character in the first 10 - 15 seconds after switching
3. All the Mac windows resize / reposition themselves in the same manner as when you would change the resolution to 1280x720

Still Very Happy
 
Hey guys, will it work for just display, I need very fast answer and don't have time to search for it on 22 pages.

Connecting like that will give me some display from 360 on my iMac?
Mini Display -> DVI ->HDMI -> Xbox 360/PS3?

So no way that it will be working when I do that?
 
To be honest SachaS, I didn't notice any pixels during gameplay. Viewing distance was 600mm ( 2 ft )

The text in Dashboard is obviously scaled but completely legible. I did not consciously notice the 'quality' of the onscreen text during gameplay either.

As the scaling ratio is exactly 2x ( 1280x720 -> 2560x1440 ) i was very happy with the result. Pixels remain 'square' too

The best way I can suggest you get a feel for it would be to get a 720p video source and watch it on your iMac at twice scale in Quicktime. This would be representative of how 'good' or 'bad' your viewing experience would be.

In terms of my own viewing tolerance, I would never convert any of my own 'home videos' to 350Mb files. I always go the MKV 720p route and produce a 1.09Gb file

I guess this demonstrates how subjective image quality is. I think the pixelation was an issue though I would class it as just about 'acceptable'. However, I didn't think that £150 + various cables to have a acceptable experience was worth it. Atlona and/or others will make a all in one box that improves (but by how much who knows?) on the DP200 by offering scaling to 2560*1440 in the near future. Your best bet is still to wait for that.

I dont think the pictures I took totally captured the image issues, but on the (final? - or almost final) level of MW2 where you start crouched down in sand, the screen was a shimmering mess up close. Only when I sat back about 1.5 - 2metres did it look 'normal'.

As for playing a 720p video in Quicktime - try making it full screen like the 360 does - and see if you can live with it. If you sit far enough back it will look great but up close it will look blocky.

If you are thinking of buying the DP200 I would be sure that you know what you are getting in to.
 
As for playing a 720p video in Quicktime - try making it full screen like the 360 does - and see if you can live with it. If you sit far enough back it will look great but up close it will look blocky.

Hi RealEvil,

Agreed, 'quality' or 'acceptable' are subjective, although my suggestion about watching 720p video in quicktime at twice size IS full screen on a 27" iMac
 
Few days ago, Apple released graphics firmware update.
We can't input 1080p yet? or...
 
I guess this demonstrates how subjective image quality is. I think the pixelation was an issue though I would class it as just about 'acceptable'. However, I didn't think that £150 + various cables to have a acceptable experience was worth it. Atlona and/or others will make a all in one box that improves (but by how much who knows?) on the DP200 by offering scaling to 2560*1440 in the near future. Your best bet is still to wait for that.

I dont think the pictures I took totally captured the image issues, but on the (final? - or almost final) level of MW2 where you start crouched down in sand, the screen was a shimmering mess up close. Only when I sat back about 1.5 - 2metres did it look 'normal'.

As for playing a 720p video in Quicktime - try making it full screen like the 360 does - and see if you can live with it. If you sit far enough back it will look great but up close it will look blocky.

If you are thinking of buying the DP200 I would be sure that you know what you are getting in to.

we share the same thoughts about this... how can anyone pay another 200 dollars to get 720p?? honestly i wont settle for less then 1080P since that is the resolution the ps3/360 outputs at and is considered full hd (imho, 720p is not HD, it just better then standard). why settle for mediocrity??

I honestly dont care if atlonas new solution coming out soon scales to the native resolution since im not a huge fan of upscaling, i just want a 1080p signal being displayed on the imac screen. then i will be happy.
 
we share the same thoughts about this... how can anyone pay another 200 dollars to get 720p?? honestly i wont settle for less then 1080P since that is the resolution the ps3/360 outputs at and is considered full hd (imho, 720p is not HD, it just better then standard). why settle for mediocrity??

I honestly dont care if atlonas new solution coming out soon scales to the native resolution since im not a huge fan of upscaling, i just want a 1080p signal being displayed on the imac screen. then i will be happy.

Don't delude yourself into thinking that the XBOX or PS3 actually outputs games at 1080p. The games are usually rendered at 720p (or sometimes less!, see Halo 3 and MW2) and then upscaled to 1080P. Maybe the consoles would AA better than the iMac, but that's splitting hairs. I could understand your complaint if you were watching 1080p Blu-ray Movies(cuz that is not upscaled), but with games 720p/1080p doesn't really matter.

http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/games/c/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/modern-warfare-2-will-render-at-600p-$1314777.htm
http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/ghostbusters-ps3-960-by-540-360-720p-$1304198.htm
http://xbox360.joystiq.com/2007/09/28/halo-3-not-hd-runs-at-640p-pixel-counters-claim/
http://www.playstatic.com/news/1023

If you wanna play MW2 in "Hi Def", play it on the iMac natively at max res (I don't know how well it would run even with the 4850)!
 
Don't delude yourself into thinking that the XBOX or PS3 actually outputs games at 1080p. The games are usually rendered at 720p (or sometimes less!, see Halo 3 and MW2) and then upscaled to 1080P. Maybe the consoles would AA better than the iMac, but that's splitting hairs. I could understand your complaint if you were watching 1080p Blu-ray Movies(cuz that is not upscaled), but with games 720p/1080p doesn't really matter.

http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/games/c/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2/modern-warfare-2-will-render-at-600p-$1314777.htm
http://www.gamezine.co.uk/news/ghostbusters-ps3-960-by-540-360-720p-$1304198.htm
http://xbox360.joystiq.com/2007/09/28/halo-3-not-hd-runs-at-640p-pixel-counters-claim/
http://www.playstatic.com/news/1023
...which is why I would never want to play such a game on a monitor with 4 times the resolution. The same game is going to look far better on a monitor/tv of the correct resolution, even if the display itself is not as good as the iMac. A 40"-50" 720p plasma will outperform the iMac any day on Xbox or PS3 games. Don't try to force fit a round peg into a square hole - the results are not pretty.
 
...which is why I would never want to play such a game on a monitor with 4 times the resolution. The same game is going to look far better on a monitor/tv of the correct resolution, even if the display itself is not as good as the iMac. A 40"-50" 720p plasma will outperform the iMac any day on Xbox or PS3 games. Don't try to force fit a round peg into a square hole - the results are not pretty.

Not really. If you sit as close to a 50 inch 720p TV as you do the iMac, BOTH will look blocky while playing games.

With 720p images, there is a certain distance for every inch of screen size that you should be sitting away. People have said sitting a few feet away makes things look better. With console games, there is the expectation that you are playing feet away on your couch. Thus, it is acceptable to run games at <=720p in the interest of maintaining fps, as speed is more noticeable than crispness with games.

Of course, none of this is a problem when you are using the iMac at native res.

I feel if all you want to do is play xbox or ps3, then just buy the Atlona box. If you also want to watch Blu-ray, then wait for something that can pass 1080p.
 
we share the same thoughts about this... how can anyone pay another 200 dollars to get 720p?? honestly i wont settle for less then 1080P since that is the resolution the ps3/360 outputs at and is considered full hd (imho, 720p is not HD, it just better then standard). why settle for mediocrity??

I honestly dont care if atlonas new solution coming out soon scales to the native resolution since im not a huge fan of upscaling, i just want a 1080p signal being displayed on the imac screen. then i will be happy.

Totally agree with you unamused and RealEvil.

The thing is though, if you actually think about it, what is this scaler actually going to do? If the iMac cannot accept native resolutions higher than 720p (excluding 1440p) a scaler isn't going to change anything is it?

This is my reasoning....

As demonstrated the iMac already scales automatically. If it didn't, we'd see a window of 720x1098 pixels, rather than 720x1098 being upscaled and taking up the whole screen!

Furthermore as previously stated most games are outputting at 720p anyway!

If anyone can explain to my why I am wrong, and why/how a scaler will do what is already being done (i.e. doubling up the pixels) any better, then I'll wait. As of right now I just don't see what the hell this scaler is going to do to improve the blockiness issue. I mean how can it do anything? It can't change what's being physically outputted by the XBox can it? A scaler will do what's already being done!

If the image from the Xbox was only taking up a small window of the 27inch screen (i.e. 13.5 inch window) then I'd see a point in a 'scaler', but seeing as it 'scales' and takes up the whole 27 inch, what will this scaler change exactly? The quality of the scaling as suggested? But how... all it's doing is doubling up the pixels, how can that be done improved exactly? It's not like it's intelligently going to soften the textures or anything is it?

Basically we're not going to see 1080 being natively inputted into the iMac, period. It's either 720p or 1440p.

I'm right yeah? Please tell me why I am wrong about this.
 
Totally agree with you unamused and RealEvil.

The thing is though, if you actually think about it, what is this scaler actually going to do? If the iMac cannot accept native resolutions higher than 720p (excluding 1440p) a scaler isn't going to change anything is it?

This is my reasoning....

As demonstrated the iMac already scales automatically. If it didn't, we'd see a window of 720x1098 pixels, rather than 720x1098 being upscaled and taking up the whole screen!

Furthermore as previously stated most games are outputting at 720p anyway!

If anyone can explain to my why I am wrong, and why/how a scaler will do what is already being done (i.e. doubling up the pixels) any better, then I'll wait. As of right now I just don't see what the hell this scaler is going to do to improve the blockiness issue. I mean how can it do anything? It can't change what's being physically outputted by the XBox can it? A scaler will do what's already being done!

If the image from the Xbox was only taking up a small window of the 27inch screen (i.e. 13.5 inch window) then I'd see a point in a 'scaler', but seeing as it 'scales' and takes up the whole 27 inch, what will this scaler change exactly? The quality of the scaling as suggested? But how... all it's doing is doubling up the pixels, how can that be done improved exactly? It's not like it's intelligently going to soften the textures or anything is it?

Basically we're not going to see 1080 being natively inputted into the iMac, period. It's either 720p or 1440p.

I'm right yeah? Please tell me why I am wrong about this.

To address the bolded text, usually Full Screen Antialiasing can help improve the blockiness, at the expense of clarity. An external scaler would take 720p or 1080p video and scale it up to 1440p, then send that 1440p video to the iMac. So a scaler would allow 1080p video to be input (as 1440p).
 
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