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Connect your MacBook to an HDTV

F

FrenchPB

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 15, 2005
389
0
Hey guys,


I have a 2Ghz MacBook with 2gigs of RAM, and was wondering whether I could connect it to an HDTV to watch DVDs, divx and other videos.

Is it powerful enough, or is the resolution high enough, for viewing on a Full HD or HD-ready TV ?

Which connector would be best for that (mini-DVI to YUV, VGA, HDMI... ?) ?

What happens on the MB screen when you watch a movie on the HDTV, does it mirror everything or can you still use your MacBook for other purposes ?

I'm new to all these stuffs, so I appreciate your help and advices.

Cheers,
 
Hey, its max resolution i believe is 1080, so u should be fine. And basically depends on the file you are trying to watch. If you can get some HD streams, i believe you will be fine. Anyhow the best connection would either be Mini-dvi to anything digital (DVI or HDMI) followed by mini-dvi to component, svideo, composite (respectively). Now how are u planning on getting sound? Will you be using your laptop speakers? or do u have speakers hooked up to a reciever with digital in?

When using another monitor, you can have it mirror the computer or use it as a second monitor also. If you plug in an external keyboard and mouse, you can close the screen and have it output to the TV only also. Hope this answers ur question.
 
Thanks for the reply. 1080 is a resolution of 1900x1200, right ? Is the video from the MacBook interlaced or progressive (dummy question probably) ?

Anyway, the video I watch the most on my MacBook are at best 720x480 HD caps of sporting events, and also DVDs.

For the sound, I have speakers linked to the MacBook.
 
1920x1080 is the MacBook resolution, right ? But 1900x1200 is a Full HDTV resolution ? Damn it's hard for a newbie :)

If I get an HD ready TV, should I use VGA or HDMI ?

Thanks for your help !!
 
FrenchPB said:
1920x1080 is the MacBook resolution, right ? But 1900x1200 is a Full HDTV resolution ? Damn it's hard for a newbie :)
Click to expand...

No. It (the HDTV standard) is called 1080p because it has 1080 vertical lines. 1080p devices are supposed to have a vertical resolution of 1920x1080. Some devices do 1920x1200 and then let you see 1080p on it (with letterboxing), but you'll note that 1920x1200 is not a 16:9 resolution (it's a 16:10 resolution). 720p HDTVs are typically either 1280x720 or 1366x768; AFAIK, 1080p TVs are almost always 1920x1080.

As far as DVI/VGA, you can use either, but HDMI / DVI are slightly better options whenever they are available.
 
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