A few questions about HDMI and the MBP 17" (2010 and later models)

[hajime]

Hello. I would like to connect my MBP 17" 2010 model to a high-res LCD monitor. I have a few questions:

1. Which is the best adapter? I heard of the Moshi Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter, Griffin's Mini DisplayPort to HDMI/DVI Adapter and the Kanex Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Cable. I read some reviews. For each product, there are both good and bad comments.

2. It seems that at least for the Moshi and Griffin products, they support a resolution up to 1920x1080. How about external LCD monitor of larger resolutions? Don't they support external LCD screen of higher resolutions? I am not quite sure what the Full HD 1080p means in this case. Does that mean both products support 1920x1080 with Full HD 1080p. They do support external LCD monitors of higher resolutions. However, there is no Full HD 1080p support?

3. As I may connect the laptop to a monitor of higher than 1920x1080 resolution in the future, regardless of Full HD 1080p, which product(s) support the highest resolution? What is the maximum resolutions that the adapters/wire can support?

4. I am connecting my MBP to an external LCD monitor using the Mini Displayport to VGA Adapter. Sometimes I see flickering on the screen. Is this a problem with my Mac/Adapter? Will I have this problem if I use HDMI connection instead?

Thanks.

 

[Hellhammer]

1. I went with a cheap eBay adapter and have had zero issues. I can't justify paying 30-40$ (or € in my case) for a small piece of plastic and copper. The ones Apple and most stores sell are overpriced. You can get several of those eBay ones for the cost of retail one.

2. Full HD = 1080p = 1920x1080
These adapter may use an older version of HDMI which supports resolutions of up to 1920x1080.

3. Dual-link DVI and (Mini) DisplayPort support resolutions of up to 2560x1600.

4. Could be VGA as it's analogue, or your adapter.

 

[hajime]

Thanks Hellhammer.

It seems that there is no HDMI adapter for the Mac that supports resolutions more than 1920x1080. Anybody please correct me if I am wrong.

So, if I want to connect my MBP to a LCD monitor that supports a native resolutions of larger than 1920x1080, I better get a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter. Otherwise, I could use either a Mini DisplayPort to DVI or aMini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. The video output quality will be the same. However, the latter might be better as it can send audio signal as well. Am I right?

 

[tmagman]

Thanks Hellhammer.

IHowever, the latter might be better as it can send audio signal as well. Am I right?

pending you get a MDP to HDMI that is compatible with HDMI 1.3 or higher then yes it will also carry sound.

Personally I just have one of each- a MDP to VGA, DVI and HDMI and I keep them in my computer bag so my output is foolproof for any setup.

 

[hajime]

Thanks for the replies. Are the Moshi, Griffin and Kanex products (both the iAdapt V2 and the minidisplayport-HDMI cable) fully compatible (both video and audio wise) with Windows 7 under Bootcamp and VMware Fusion? Anybody tried?

 

[tmagman]

I haven't tried to those ones under bootcamp but any of the ones that Apple sells online or in their stores should be fine. VMware I dont see being a problem at all because you're still running OS X.

 

[dal20402]

Where are you finding a monitor with greater than 1920x1080 resolution that doesn't also have a dual-link DVI or DisplayPort input?

To my knowledge, the only "monitors" with HDMI but without DVI or DisplayPort are TVs, which typically top out at 1920x1080.

 

[Consultant]

Use DVI for resoltuion above 1080p

 

[hajime]

Thanks for all the replies. I have a desktop PC and a MBP at home. The 24" monitor from HP has 3 input ports: DVI, HDMI and VGA. 1920x1200 is the native resolution for the monitor. Sometimes I switch to Bootcamp for 3D-related applications.

Originally, the VGA port is connected to the Windows PC and the HDMI port is connected to a TV box. I want to share the monitor between both computers.
I connected my MBP to the VGA port of the monitor. Then, I added a new cable to connect the PC and the monitor via DVI. However, the monitor often fails to switch inputs between the two computers. So, I am trying to decide if I should buy a MiniDisplay to DVI for the MBP or get a HDMI adapter for the MBP. In the latter case, I have to forget about the current TV input box and get a USB TV tuner.