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ANY way to use 2011 iMac's LCD for xbox?

B

bungiefan89

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 5, 2011
565
76
YI know this topic has come up time and time again, and I'm fully aware of how fussy the two thunderbolt ports in the back of my 2011 27" iMac are when it comes to inputs.

But, I need to have this key question answered: Is there any way I could use the 2011 iMac's LCD screen to display anything other than information from the computer itself, or information from another mac connected via thunderbolt.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this computer! It's brought me so much joy with its power and interface and support. But I need to know if there's any way to get past thunderbolt in order to use the LCD screen inside the iMac for stuff like playing a game console, a monitor for a PC, a small TV, or whatever one would like to use a 27" display for.
 
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what is meant by it will look awful, is that the video will have to be non-hd via a tuner box, so the quality will be 480p at best, Until someone comes up with an HDMI to Thunderbolt dongle that works, or better yet, elgato can you release a thunderbolt device that allows an incoming HDMI source to have its own window whilst the mac is running (Ideal solution and a device people obviously want)

/achievement unlocked/ ramble on sunday morning
 
Nightarchaon said:
what is meant by it will look awful, is that the video will have to be non-hd via a tuner box, so the quality will be 480p at best, Until someone comes up with an HDMI to Thunderbolt dongle that works, or better yet, elgato can you release a thunderbolt device that allows an incoming HDMI source to have its own window whilst the mac is running (Ideal solution and a device people obviously want)

/achievement unlocked/ ramble on sunday morning
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Ooooooh! I can live with 480p! I need to find me one of these tuner boxes... how does that connect to the LCD? Do I have to take the iMac apart and solder some stuff together, or is it as simple as using one of the computer's ports?
 
macmastersam said:
i think only the 27" imacs of 2010 can allow you to plug an xbox to the machine without anything added to it.

but do correct me if im wrong.
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I have a 2010 imac 27", if I were to hook it up to an xbox what adapters and stuff would I need? Could i get 1080p? (just curious)
 
tokyo77 said:
I have a 2010 imac 27", if I were to hook it up to an xbox what adapters and stuff would I need? Could i get 1080p? (just curious)
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Since your iMac uses mini displayport instead of thunderbolt, all you need is this. Just plug an HDMI cord from the xbox in to one end and mini displayport in to the iMac. And I don't think you'll get 1080p resolution, probably only 720p... but since Xbox 360 games rarely play at a resolution higher than 720p, this shouldn't be a problem.;)

AdrianK said:
No, it's an officially supported feature called Target Display Mode.
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I know about Target Display Mode, I just need to know how it physically connects to the computer. Does it plug in through USB? FireWire?
 
bungiefan89 said:
Since your iMac uses mini displayport instead of thunderbolt, all you need is this. Just plug an HDMI cord from the xbox in to one end and mini displayport in to the iMac. And I don't think you'll get 1080p resolution, probably only 720p... but since Xbox 360 games rarely play at a resolution higher than 720p, this shouldn't be a problem.;)

I know about Target Display Mode, I just need to know how it physically connects to the computer. Does it plug in through USB? FireWire?
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through the video port..aka screen port.
 
AdrianK said:
Then why not use google to find out what interface it uses? :confused:

Anyway this should help.

So you just need an HDMI to thunderbolt converter (if such a device exists).
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I've searched through this pretty deeply, and no, there's no such device that directly converts an HDMI signal in to a Thunderbolt signal. But I'm not talking about that now.

Now, I want to know how I'd connect a TV tuner to my iMac. The connection from my xbox 360 to my iMac's LCD screen cannot work with thunderbolt.
 
Oh, I'm with you. Sorry.

I believe Elgato's EyeTV (via USB) has composite inputs and allows you to view the inputs live, but I don't know how bad the latency is.

EDIT 2: Looks like an EyeTV Hybrid will work

Can I connect my PlayStation 3, Wii, or XBox 360 to EyeTV Hybrid?

Solution
You can. The analog inputs of EyeTV Hybrid have a delay of only few milliseconds, allowing for excellent live gameplay. Other EyeTV devices have encoding hardware that causes a larger delay, rendering gameplay difficult to impossible.

Next generation systems like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 can use component or other higher end connections. EyeTV Hybrid can only use composite RCA and S-Video from these systems, and cannot receive HDTV via component or other connections. Nintendo Wii does not feature HDTV, so this platform will be supported just like the current PlayStation 2/GameCube/Xbox consoles.
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What about hdmi to mini display port adapter? The thunderbolt port is the same and can't you use a mini display port monitor with thunderbolt?

I have no idea if such an adapter exists or if that would work for target display mode
 
AdrianK said:
Oh, I'm with you. Sorry.

I believe Elgato's EyeTV (via USB) has composite inputs and allows you to view the inputs live, but I don't know how bad the latency is.

EDIT 2: Looks like an EyeTV Hybrid will work
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Sweet Jesus, mother of God! THANK YOU!!! :D:D:D:D
 
bungiefan89 said:
You mean the thunderbolt port? Are you sure that will work?
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The question I replied to was for a 2010 iMac, which does not have thunderbolt. Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt, but the previous gen does not

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CRIIM44 said:
What about hdmi to mini display port adapter? The thunderbolt port is the same and can't you use a mini display port monitor with thunderbolt?

I have no idea if such an adapter exists or if that would work for target display mode
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Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt for input.
 
old-wiz said:
The question I replied to was for a 2010 iMac, which does not have thunderbolt. Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt, but the previous gen does not

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Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt for input.
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Wasn't sure on this. Cause thunderbolt can output to mini display port no?
 
old-wiz said:
The question I replied to was for a 2010 iMac, which does not have thunderbolt. Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt, but the previous gen does not

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Thunderbolt requires thunderbolt for input.
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Are you sure? I've purchased the normal mini-displayport to vga and dvi adapters and they both work on my 2011 Macbook Pro. Thunderbolt works just like mini-displayport.
 
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