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27" iMac Video Input With Xbox 360?

dh2005 said:
Hello everyone,

Is the picture quality realised by this method as good as an excellent 720p television? Because that's what I have right now (Panasonic Viera). I'm considering selling it to a friend and going this route for my 360/PS3/etc.

Advisable, or not?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It is not a issue of quality per se, its a matter of how close you will likely be sat next to the iMac. If you have your iMac in a bedroom/lounge environment you can likely move away from it and the quality will look good. If you have it a home office environment you may not be able to move very far away from it and you will see problems with the image.

You said you have a Viera 720p so I am guessing its a Plasma? Plasmas do a better job of smoothing out edges and looking more like a older CRT image (I mean that as a compliment by the way) than a LCD so either way the iMac will likely look 'sharper' to you (and certainly more vibrant). I own a 8th gen Viera 1080p Plasma now and the iMac 'pops' better (i.e. more instantly appealing - or rather it was when I had the DP200) BUT I could sit no further away than about 1.5 metres (and that meant half hanging out of the door to my office) so I could see problems with the image up close. Mind you, thats no different to any TV/monitor - its just that 720p on the iMac screen means that up close it will look blocky.
 
Thanks for the considered reply.

It's actually a 32" LCD; I think its model number is TX-32LMD70. I bought it in summer 2007 when, as I understand it, it was fairly newly released.

Yes, strictly speaking it can perform 1080i. But it's never looked any different to my eye, and I'm pretty fussy, so if there is any difference then its negligible.

I realise it'd be slightly hard to go down from 32" to 27". But the thing is, I have a friend who'll pay me 350 quid for it. That'll subsidise my iMac purchase dramatically, and by combining my computer into my primary display I can radically downsize my technology real estate. And I'm moving into a smaller room next year, so compactness is a factor.


I won't sit right up against my iMac (listen to me saying "my"... I haven't even ordered it yet!), but I'd say I usually play Xbox games from around four feet away. Movies, more like seven feet away... in view of the smaller screen on the iMac, I'd probably sit slightly closer; say, three and six...?

What do you reckon to these viewing conditions?


Thanks again.
 
I just went home and did some measuring.

When videogaming I sit just under four feet away (120cm), and when watching films it's more like nine feet (275cm). Also, on measuring the diagonal distance on my TV, it's only just over 31".

Jagged edges on videogames, I can handle. Films, absolutely not. If I were watching films from, say, seven or eight feet (circa 225cm) away, do you think that would look good enough for a primary display?

Thanks again.
 
dh2005 said:
I just went home and did some measuring.

When videogaming I sit just under four feet away (120cm), and when watching films it's more like nine feet (275cm). Also, on measuring the diagonal distance on my TV, it's only just over 31".

Jagged edges on videogames, I can handle. Films, absolutely not. If I were watching films from, say, seven or eight feet (circa 225cm) away, do you think that would look good enough for a primary display?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

For Blu-ray, you could just buy a USB BDROM and watch the movies in windows...
 
Thanks for the input, mate. I have a USB Blu-ray drive, so yes, that's a possibility.

So, how's the video quality when watching at 1080p? I ask because the resolution of the 27" screen is greater than that - is there any blockiness, because of this?
 
So for everyone who has purchased the HDMI converter by Dr.Bott, do you agree it is a successful purchase? I'm tempted to order mine soon.
 
Got the drbott in the mail today, i'll get back to you guys about quality and audio configuration!
 
Ok here some info about the quality:

Quality is ok. Menu's looks a little low res (normally renders at 1080p), but cod mw 2 is looking great (because it normaly renders at 720P). I'm sitting like a meter from the screen and i have no problem with the quality. There's no lag at all.

Audio:
Audio work on the imac as well on external audio devices. Only con is that the signal will be stereo instead of full 5.1.

Conslusion:

Dr Bott is worth its money. Quality of the image is good. Of course if apple supported native 1080 it would look better but for now its ok. Lets hope apple changes it with a update to the firmware.
I reproduced the look in afx for you guys on a 720p still from ign.
This is how it look, just show it fullscreen on your imac and decide for yourself!
 

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Some help

Hi all,

I'm a newcomer to this forum, and I'm not english native so bear my poor english.

I ordered the Dr. Boot video link to connect my PS3 to my 24' Apple Cinema Display, but have not been to successful in making it work. The display just stays black. I tried to changed PS3 resolution to 720p using my TV. I tried pressing the on button of the PS3 by 5-10 seconds but nothing happens.

Dou you guys have any ideas?

All help is appreciated.

Thanks
 
Its not the cables. At least its not the HDMI cable. But I don't have any other display to mini display cable. It came with the Dr. Bott video link.
 
I'm waiting for some help from Dr. Bott, because i don't really have any extra display to mini display cable and I don't want to spend more money on a product I'm beginning to have some doubts about its quality.

I didn't think it would be this difficult to use the Dr. Bott video link. I tought I only needed to connect the PS3 via HDMI to the video link and then connect the mini display from the LED Display to the female mini display included in the package and then connect the other end of the cable (male display connection) to the video link (female display port).

But I should have known that this video connections have a life of its own. LOL!

Thanks.
 
I had an answer from Dr. Bott. It doesn't work on a Apple Led Cinema Display. It was probably my fault, but they could be a little more accurate on their web site. They say that: "Digital Video Link allows the use of monitors with mini DisplayPort on video sources with DVI or HDMI connectors" and the specifically mention the LED Display.

Now I'm 100 euros poorer.:mad:
 
MrMarques said:
I had an answer from Dr. Bott. It doesn't work on a Apple Led Cinema Display. It was probably my fault, but they could be a little more accurate on their web site. They say that: "Digital Video Link allows the use of monitors with mini DisplayPort on video sources with DVI or HDMI connectors" and the specifically mention the LED Display.

Now I'm 100 euros poorer.:mad:
Click to expand...

you could sell that on ebay. It cost me €160 including shipping for a dutch website shipped to Ireland
 
They were nice and said that I could send it back.

But now I can't connect my PS3 to my Apple Led Display... :(
 
I would do that, but they are going to refund me totally, so it would be the same price as if you buy directly from them.
 
Yes Orange.X, thats what they said to me. In fact I believe it works with the Led Display, but only with DVI sources, like a MacBook Pro, not with HDMI sources.

This is what they told me: "...you can connect the PS3 only to the 27" iMac, because only the 27" iMac can work with 720p video input. So, I'm sorry, PS3 + Digital Video Link will not work together with the Cinema Display."

So I think this does not scales the signal, but only converts the HDMI or DVI into mini display.

As I said, i don't think they were very accurate on their website.
 
Should I wait for Bi Directional Cables??

I know that Dr. Botts limits you to 720P. But from what I understand they are making Bi directional cables that will allow you to avoid the converter...is this correct? If so do we know when they will be out. Will this allow me to connect the external source to the Bi directional cable then to the mini dvi and see the 1080 P picture from either my Dish Network or PS3?

Or am I getting confused, will I still have to use the converter then a bi directional cable from Dr. Botts to get the 1080 P. What am I missing here.

I want 1080 P...Were almost in Feb. They should have these cables soon...Right?:eek:
 
Hi everyone, I just wanted to thank orange.x and everyone else here! I bought the Dr. Bott converter after discovering it in this thread, and I hooked it up yesterday. It works like a dream! I'm really impressed by it, and the total complete lack of lag. My Xbox has never looked so good, as I only had a CRT tv to play it on before now.

Thanks everyone!
 
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