27" iMac Video Input With Xbox 360?

I just ran out and picked up a Dr Bott Digital Video Link (I'm actually surprised I was able to find one locally). Everything works great! It even works with my studio monitors. I didn't even have to do anything to get the audio to come through my monitors. It works with whichever audio device I have selected. I'm very happy with this product!
 
Just thought I'd let people know my findings with a problem with Dr. Bott and my PS3. I installed Parallels and window XP on my iMac and it made the sound stop working, video was fine though. I took my PS3 through to the living room and it worked fine on my LCD so wasn't anything to do with the settings on the PS3. I've just had to do a full restore of my iMac and the sound came back. I guess parallels changes something in the displayport/sound settings or driver on the iMac.
Anyway I just thought I'd warn people if they were thinking of parallels!
 
Audio through spdif

Hi avihappy, is it also possible to pass the digital sound through the imac out of the imac's spdif output to an external audio device (and stil have 5.1 instead of 2.0 stereo?) Or is that not possible using the the alternate way that you discribed?
 
Baximus said:
Hi avihappy, is it also possible to pass the digital sound through the imac out of the imac's spdif output to an external audio device (and stil have 5.1 instead of 2.0 stereo?) Or is that not possible using the the alternate way that you discribed?
Click to expand...

While you could pass the audio via the spidf, it would only be 2 channel because I believe that is all the Dr Bott is able to pass through. Of course, you could just use the spdif on the device itself?

EDIT: Yah, I tried routing Dolby audio into the iMac via DP, and it ended up making a horrible noise. My guess is that the process (dp_audio) handling the audio is not capable of decoding AC3. However, that doesn't exactly preclude it from passing the audio to optical (it only shows that it won't downmix it for you). However, I don't have SPIDF speakers to test :(.

EDIT2: And even if it doesn't work, there is always the monoprice 4x1 HDMI switch with TOSlink to strip out the Dolby audio and send it to any SPDIF speakers...
 
Bitwise said:
I just ran out and picked up a Dr Bott Digital Video Link (I'm actually surprised I was able to find one locally). Everything works great! It even works with my studio monitors. I didn't even have to do anything to get the audio to come through my monitors. It works with whichever audio device I have selected. I'm very happy with this product!
Click to expand...

What is your studio monitors setup? I have a M-Audio fast track pro interface plugged in my iMac via USB and my BX5a monitors plugged in my Fast Track Pro via TRS cables. I am going to try AvilHappy's suggestion, I really hope it will work!
 
habsalltheway said:
What is your studio monitors setup? I have a M-Audio fast track pro interface plugged in my iMac via USB and my BX5a monitors plugged in my Fast Track Pro via TRS cables. I am going to try AvilHappy's suggestion, I really hope it will work!
Click to expand...

I'm using an M-Audio Firewire 410 connected via FireWire. My KRK Rokit 8 studio monitors are connected to the Firewire 410 via XLR to 1/4" cables.

It sounds like your setup would work fine. When I first set it up the audio worked without doing anything. The next day the audio no longer worked, so I went ahead and followed avihappy's suggestion and the audio has worked flawlessly ever since.

BTW thank you avihappy. You're awesome!
 
I was told by a sales rep yesterday that the 27" iMac's video input could be used to double the iMac as a monitor for a PC. I've searched this forum and didn't see anything specific to a PC but surely someone knows - will it work? I don't tend to automatically trust a sales rep:D



EDIT:......NEVERMIND....FOUND IT
 
The Dr Bott does the same thing. What we need is apple to release firmware to allow the 27" screen to allow the 1080p resolution.
 
Semi-Related Question

I know this has been touched on in this thread, but there wasn't a clear cut answer if this does or doesn't work, and I cannot seem to find any other concrete answers when I do a search.

I have an older MacBook with a mini-DVI port. If I use a Mini-DVI to DVI dongle, and then use a DVI cord to connect to the DVI to Mini-Display Port into the iMac, will I be able to use the Target Display mode? I am leaning towards no, but I wanted to confirm before I went out and bought all the pieces to try it.

The only thing that was mentioned in this thread made it sound like he had a bad port or cable, and they never came back to say one way or the other.

Thanks!
 
wildbill said:
I know this has been touched on in this thread, but there wasn't a clear cut answer if this does or doesn't work, and I cannot seem to find any other concrete answers when I do a search.

I have an older MacBook with a mini-DVI port. If I use a Mini-DVI to DVI dongle, and then use a DVI cord to connect to the DVI to Mini-Display Port into the iMac, will I be able to use the Target Display mode? I am leaning towards no, but I wanted to confirm before I went out and bought all the pieces to try it.

The only thing that was mentioned in this thread made it sound like he had a bad port or cable, and they never came back to say one way or the other.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You would need a converter like the Dr. Bott one. DVI is similar to HDMI in this case.
 
wildbill said:
Thanks for the confirmation!
Click to expand...

For this purpose, do NOT BUY DR BOTT. You will be limited to 720p. Instead, go for the 200 dollar atlona DP400 (NOT DP200!). That will let you drive the iMac at full rez (assuming the Macbook has DUAL LINK DVI.).
 
AT-DP400 vs AT-DP400

So according to Atlona's description, the AT-DP400 (shipping 3-10-10) is a "dual link version" of the AT-DP200, and thus is able to transmit the higher 1080p resolution from an XBOX 360. From what I've read in this thread though, it seems that the problem with getting 1080p onto that big 27" screen is an issue within apple's hardware/firmware, correct?

I'm getting a 27" soon, and would like to continue using my monitor as my xbox's display as well, so I've decided to settle for now on the AT-DP200, since it's at least reportedly stable with 720p input. Most games these days aren't higher than 720p yet anyway (including MW2 I hear), so I'm hoping I'm not missing out on much using this converter.

If, however, the issue with imacs not receiving 1080p is an firmware issue, and is theoretically fixed by apple with an update in the future, I'd kick myself for not getting the AT-DP400, which would now be worth buying for my setup. How likely is it that this problem is one that can be fixed by an update from apple/GPU driver manufacturer, etc? and would it be worth waiting another month, and paying another $50 for the AT-DP400, or is it unlikely this situation will change before an imac model refresh?
 
mr.thedaniel said:
So according to Atlona's description, the AT-DP400 (shipping 3-10-10) is a "dual link version" of the AT-DP200, and thus is able to transmit the higher 1080p resolution from an XBOX 360. From what I've read in this thread though, it seems that the problem with getting 1080p onto that big 27" screen is an issue within apple's hardware/firmware, correct?

I'm getting a 27" soon, and would like to continue using my monitor as my xbox's display as well, so I've decided to settle for now on the AT-DP200, since it's at least reportedly stable with 720p input. Most games these days aren't higher than 720p yet anyway (including MW2 I hear), so I'm hoping I'm not missing out on much using this converter.

If, however, the issue with imacs not receiving 1080p is an firmware issue, and is theoretically fixed by apple with an update in the future, I'd kick myself for not getting the AT-DP400, which would now be worth buying for my setup. How likely is it that this problem is one that can be fixed by an update from apple/GPU driver manufacturer, etc? and would it be worth waiting another month, and paying another $50 for the AT-DP400, or is it unlikely this situation will change before an imac model refresh?
Click to expand...

If Apple does put out a 1080p capable firmware update, then the Dr. Bott will work with it. The Dr. Bott itself caps out at 1920x1200. So 1080p would work.

In fact, the only reason to get the DP400 (even with a hypothetical firmware update allowing 1080p) is if you want to connect another computer to the iMac that only supports dual link DVI. This computer would also need a video card able to pump out the high rez of the iMac.
 
another related thread...may have found 1080p solution?

I was browsing forums and ran across this thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/801855/), and the OP seems to have a solution using a scaler (though an expensive solution) that's delivering a 1080p signal successfully to a 27" imac. Could this be the solution or is there some mistake in there and we're really still only at 720p?
 
mr.thedaniel said:
I was browsing forums and ran across this thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/801855/), and the OP seems to have a solution using a scaler (though an expensive solution) that's delivering a 1080p signal successfully to a 27" imac. Could this be the solution or is there some mistake in there and we're really still only at 720p?
Click to expand...

That signal is not going to an iMac, it's going to an LED Cinema Display (1920x1200). There is probably NO HDMI scaler that would scale to the massive resolution of the iMac (2560x1440). And even if you did find such a scaler, you would need to buy the more expensive AT-DP400 just to pass the upconverted 1440p (which requires dual link DVI) signal to the iMac.
 
Hi,

I've trawled through this massive thread and couldn't find an answer to my questions. Might have missed something, but here goes anyway.

I want to hook up my Xbox 360 to my 27" i5 iMac. I have ordered the Dr. Bott thingy (should arrive tomorrow) and have changed my Xbox output to 720p. I've now moved the Xbox next to the iMac.

- Does the Dr. Bott include all the cables I need? ie. to go from the Xbox to the Dr. Bott and from the Dr. Bott to the iMac? I don't want my new toy to arrive and then find I can't use it because I don't have the correct cables.

- Can anyone confirm that the sound from the Xbox will play through the internal iMac speakers? This is what I want, but when testing the Xbox on my telly yesterday (after changing the resolution) I couldn't get the sound to play on the telly through HDMI.

Any help or clarification much appreciated.

Steve.
 
Steven Jackson said:
Hi,

I've trawled through this massive thread and couldn't find an answer to my questions. Might have missed something, but here goes anyway.

I want to hook up my Xbox 360 to my 27" i5 iMac. I have ordered the Dr. Bott thingy (should arrive tomorrow) and have changed my Xbox output to 720p. I've now moved the Xbox next to the iMac.

- Does the Dr. Bott include all the cables I need? ie. to go from the Xbox to the Dr. Bott and from the Dr. Bott to the iMac? I don't want my new toy to arrive and then find I can't use it because I don't have the correct cables.

- Can anyone confirm that the sound from the Xbox will play through the internal iMac speakers? This is what I want, but when testing the Xbox on my telly yesterday (after changing the resolution) I couldn't get the sound to play on the telly through HDMI.

Any help or clarification much appreciated.

Steve.
Click to expand...

Yes it has all the cables included.

Yes the sound comes through the internal speakers, although it sounds like you may have to adjust your sound settings on your xbox if it's not working with your tv. If you can get the sound working over HDMI with your tv it will work through the iMac Speakers.
 
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