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Rico Muerte

macrumors member
Original poster
May 19, 2020
70
12
Sydney, Australia
Wondering if anyone knows whether a 30" cinema display can be used as an external screen with a nintendo switch?
Didnt work on my Xbox Series X, Xbox 360, or PS3...

Got 2 spare laying around so was hoping to make use of one...
 
Apple 30" Cinema Display only supports two modes: 1280x800 60Hz and 2560x1600 60Hz.

The latter requires a dual link DVI connection. You'll need a HDMI to DisplayPort adapter with a DisplayPort to dual link DVI adapter if you want 2560x1600 from HDMI.

Modern game consoles usually support HDMI which should be compatible with single link DVI which can get you 1280x800. If your game console supports arbitrary modes, then 1280x800 should be possible.

If your game console doesn't support the modes that the display supports (I don't know if any game consoles do), then you'll need a scaler that can scale the output from the game console to the mode supported by the display. I don't know if a scaler exists for this use case. The scaler may also need to be able to change the timing since the 60Hz used by the display might not be the same as the 60Hz of the HDMI output of the game console. Some scalers only support specific output modes. Also, the Cinema Display only supports RGB so you can't use YCbCr 4:4:4, 4:2:2, or 4:2:0. The Cinema Display is 16:10 instead of the usual 16:9 so the scaler may need to add black bars on the top and bottom if it cannot get a 16:10 mode from the game console.

Do consoles require HDCP? The newer Apple 30" Cinema Displays support HDCP but there are older ones that do not.
 
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Thanks for the response - sounds like the simple answer is "no".
I think it's just best to buy a proper "gaming" monitor...seems a shame since I have 3 x 30" cinema displays & a 27" thunderbolt display...
 
I was going for "you never know until you try".
True, & while having a "glass half full" approach can be beneficial, in this case if it doesnt work natively then a proper screen is likely a better idea...especially considering modern resolutions & refresh rates!
 
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