Connecting iMac to HDTV, help?

[badbradderz]

Hi all, i'm wanting to hook up my 24" iMac (early 2009) to my 40" HDTV Sony Bravia (http://www.welectronics.com/tv/SONY-KLV40V400.HTML) so that i can use Plex or even front row to play my media through my TV and take advantage of the surround sound setup i have in my room.

My questions are...

1. what cables/software do i need to achieve this?
2. is there any way that i can use my TV as a secondary monitor in a way that means i can run media off my iMac, through my TV set, whilst still being able to use my iMac for general tasks such as web browsing. or can i only have the TV mimmick exactly what is on my iMac screen?

thanks in advance.

Brad

 

[spinnerlys]

1. One of these: http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=mini+display+port+hdmi&x=0&y=0 - mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables

2. Deselect Mirror Display and arrange the way you like.

 

[badbradderz]

fantastic, thanks for your help, will i need a separate cable running from iMac to TV to get the sound?

 

[spinnerlys]

fantastic, thanks for your help, will i need a separate cable running from iMac to TV to get the sound?

Yes, as the current mDP in Macs doesn't support audio-out.

The audio-out port of the imac supports analog stereo out and digital optical out, so if your TV or hifi set has an optical audio in, you could give that a try.

 

[badbradderz]

thanks a lot for your help, in the end i have purchased the following (http://www.amazon.co.uk/DisplayPort...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257954912&sr=8-1)

it is mini displayport to HDMI with a USB connector for the audio output, hopefully this will do the trick *crosses fingers* as it seems to tick all the boxes, ok so the sound wont be true surround sound but the setup i have should distribute the sound quite well even through USB.

 

[badbradderz]

my stuff arrived and it works a treat...a 24 inch screen and a 40 inch second screen, very good picture quality, having one or 2 issues setting up the sound to come through my surround sound but im getting there.

 

[barnum1]

Hi badbrazzers

Did you have to do anything specific to get this working? I have a MacBook Pro and a Sony Bravia 32W5500, and I bought the adapter Mini DisplayPort to HDMI w. USB Audio. I got 1080p picture for a while (20 seconds?) and then the TV went black. (No info about resolution etc. on the TV, so I guess it doesn't detect any signal....)

Thanks for any advice!