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New Cinema Displays and HDTV?!?!

BigEvan23

BigEvan23

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 17, 2004
91
0
Does anyone know if the new cinema displays (either the 20 or 23, no way im gonna be picking up the big daddy diesel) will display HDTV with a DVI output, or any other output via DVI conversion, from a high def cable box. (Yes, I am willing to buy a DVI switchbox.) I am starting a new home office and would like to avoid purchasing the cinema display and comparably sized flat panel display for television. I would go 30-37 inch plasma or LCD without the apple display but I fear the resolution just wont be enough. The highest I have seen is 1024x1024 and thats not gonna get the job done. As a side note if you were using DVD Studio Pro, Keynote, LiveType, some FCP, photoshop and doing some web design which monitor would you use, the 20 or the 23? Compared to the 15 inch Apple LCD im using now either one would be a huge difference, I just don't know if I need the additional real estate of the 23 inch. Please provide your thoughts and suggestions.

As always, thank you for your time,

Evan
 
The highest def HDTV I have heard of is 1080i which is 1920x1080. The 23" can handle this as it has a res of 1920x1200. I think this is why Apple call the 23" and 30" the Cinema Display HD, but the 20" is just called the Cinema Display (with no HD).

I'm not sure about the connection, but as far as I know there is nothing non-standard about Apple's DVI connector.
 
Nope it will not work sorry. The Apple Cinema display line are meant for computer use, so they do not have built in scalers. Scalers, are in essence hardware that tell the display what resolution to run at, without a scaler, the Display does not know how many lines are trying to be shown and how to show them

The video card on your mac tells the display what resoltion to run at and is in essence the scaler.

You can buy hardware scaler boxes that allow you to use the Cinema display as a HDTV, but they are expensive, around $1000-$1500.

Here is a link to a hardware line doubler with built in scaler on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25321&item=5707898461&rd=1

The above item would rock, becuase it has a built in line doulber as well. A line doulber basically allows you to upscale the resolution of SD material by doubling the resolution lines. For example, you can hook up a DVD player and display the DVDs in 1080i/p resolution, the same goes for any console gaming machine and even SD TV telecasts.

I wish I had the money to spare to by a Line Doubler/Scaler, but I am saving money for a steadicam rig and a Panasonic AG-DVX100A(Mini DV cam that shoots in 24p).

So the bottom line, yes and no, it just depends on how much you are willing to spend. But if one chooses to go this route it is worth every penny. I saw a several 23" Cinema Displays at NAB this year that were hooked up to scalers showing 1080i/p footage, and needless to say I was very impressed.

Hope this helps.
 
NICE

Great post...thanks for the info I knew it had to be more than just plug and play. Its plug, drop another G, then play!
 
Won't work right out of the box

but you can take a look at this: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040426151111599&query=HDTV

You can also buy an elGato adaptor that will allow you to record/watch HDTV, works on any firewire mac IIRC, but it will look stunning on one of those new displays! I am thinking about calling my cable company up and asking for one of these bad boys, once football(college and Pro, I'm from Pittsburgh and go to Penn State) season starts. :D
 
Well, here is the problem with eyeTV HD and the VDVHS (macoshints article) program that you guys recomended.

The eyeTV only captures over the air HD, (meaning any digital and cable channels, i.e HBO ESPN, etc) will not work, only over the air, like your local CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX and such. And this will only work if you local affiliates are even equiped to to recieve the HD signal (they need updated reciever towers). Most metropolitan affiliates are pretty much all up to date, and HD ready, but I know that in my area there is only one local affiliate that is broadcasting HD content, and that is CBS. So for me, I would only get one channel in HD that I would be able to record. There is no way to hook up the eyeTV (that I can find on their site) to a digital cable box or satelite box, and capture the streams, in fact is specifically says "over the air HD". So this is a pretty limiting option.

As far as the VDHVS (the option in the macoshints aticle). This only allows you to capture the stream, and not view it while you are capturing, unless you have your reciever box hooked up to a HDTV (which BigEvan23 doesn't have and wants to use his 23" for). Even if BigEvan didn't care about watching live TV, and wouldn't mind watching the streams later (which I am sure look great), it may or may not work in the area he lives in, and if it does work it won't for long if the HD content is encypyted. If the HD content is encypted, you can capture it, but it will be worthless, and not viewable. So, if people out there are trying to go this route, they better hurry before their carrier starts to encrypt their content, (but it may already be too late).

For me, my local cable provider does not encrypt their HD streams, but their HD reciever box that they offer does not have firewire on it!!! I cannot use VDVHS either.

Anyway, it seems to be a matter of confusion among most, but that is the way I believe both products work, and which makes it a non-option for most, and probably BigEvan.
 
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