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DVI to HDMI... Please Help

macpastor

macpastor

macrumors regular
Original poster
I am looking at getting a Dell LCD TV to use as my monitor. However, the
only input that seems to be compatible with my DVI output on the PowerMac
is the HDMI input. I know that they make a converter, but what I want to
know is if there is significant signal loss or if it looks as good as using a
Cinema Display monitor.

For $1799 you can get a 36" LCD TV... If the signal will look good, I would
rather put my money into somethng that has other uses.

Anyone tried this or have any opinions that may help me or others???
 
macpastor said:
I am looking at getting a Dell LCD TV to use as my monitor. However, the
only input that seems to be compatible with my DVI output on the PowerMac
is the HDMI input. I know that they make a converter, but what I want to
know is if there is significant signal loss or if it looks as good as using a
Cinema Display monitor.

For $1799 you can get a 36" LCD TV... If the signal will look good, I would
rather put my money into somethng that has other uses.

Anyone tried this or have any opinions that may help me or others???
Click to expand...
All I know about them is that every LCD & plasma I have seen with HDMI specifically says NOT to hook up a computer to them via HDMI. Maybe I am just looking at crappy TV's, or maybe there is a reason. (Some however do have PC inputs, but even those say not to hook up the PC via HDMI)
 
IndyGopher said:
All I know about them is that every LCD & plasma I have seen with HDMI specifically says NOT to hook up a computer to them via HDMI. Maybe I am just looking at crappy TV's, or maybe there is a reason. (Some however do have PC inputs, but even those say not to hook up the PC via HDMI)
Click to expand...

Most LCD's and screens in general do not support computer resolutions via HDMI. They will display the signal, it will just be at a much lower and streched out resolution versus a straight DVI or VGA input. This is the case on my Samsung, and I have seen it on several others. It is not that you can't, it just won't kook nearly as good.
 
I was looking at some 32" LCD's today... They even have PC hookup (VGA/RGB) I wonder how my 17" MBP would look on that... any ideas???
 
As mentioned above, HDMI is literally just DVI + audio, so it doesn't matter which input(s) the TV has - HDMI, DVI, or VGA. As also mentioned, an HDMI/DVI/VGA input does not in any way imply what resolutions the TV will accept. For example, my 37" Westinghouse (~US$1500) has two DVI inputs. One very nicely displays 1920x1080 from my mini duo. The other doesn't accept resolutions nearly that high. The VGA one supports a resolution between the two DVI ones.

You need to check the specs for not only the native resolution of the TV but also the resolutions allowed by each input - they can be different, even for the same input type on the same TV.
 
jsw said:
You need to check the specs for not only the native resolution of the TV but also the resolutions allowed by each input - they can be different, even for the same input type on the same TV.
Click to expand...
You may also have to fine tune the settings using something like SwitchResX.

My 27" Toshiba has the usual "hook up computer to VGA only" warning, and claims only to 1024x768 from the VGA port. The native resolution is 1280x720.

B
 
macpastor said:
For $1799 you can get a 36" LCD TV... If the signal will look good, I would
rather put my money into somethng that has other uses.
Click to expand...

This is probably going to run a very low resolution. Even lower then a 20" cinema.
 
macpastor said:
I am looking at getting a Dell LCD TV to use as my monitor. However, the
only input that seems to be compatible with my DVI output on the PowerMac
is the HDMI input. I know that they make a converter, but what I want to
know is if there is significant signal loss or if it looks as good as using a
Cinema Display monitor.

For $1799 you can get a 36" LCD TV... If the signal will look good, I would
rather put my money into somethng that has other uses.

Anyone tried this or have any opinions that may help me or others???
Click to expand...


Is there a reason why you want to use a TV for your monitor? If you don't need the larger size..you're better off going with a good display. I have a 62 inch Mitsubishi DLP max resolution is 1920 x 1080 but will only display a max signal from a CPU that is 1280x 768 @ 60hz (maybe..1280x720 i forget) or less..i know that i tend to run much higher resolutions on CPU displays. The big screen is nice, but not always nicer than a good high resolution. You might be better off going with a a smaller higher res display. I can guarantee you though the THe LCD tv from dell won't look as good as a one of their Cpu displays or an apple one....but depending on what you're doing it might not matter....
 
My experience PowerBook to 40" Samsung LCD TV...
1360x768 native screen.

DVI-HDMI
1) Overscans by default and borders around edge lost.
2) Overscan off leaves 1280x720 pixel for pixel, leaving a 37" screen with a black border to the 40" edge.

DVI-VGA adapter - 5 meter VGA
1360x768 at 60Hz (sometimes 75Hz iirc) with a pretty fine picture. This is what I have settled on and it works fine for me.
 
lol, that's why i was asking him if there's a reason why. So we can all know what it is. He doesn't seem to know if the signal would look good on the display, so he's lacking a little tech knowledge on all the resolution crap. So just wanting to make sure he's aware and thinking about all the different options. If he's interested in running higher resolutions then he really shouldn't be looking at using TV's as displays... If not then yeah a LCD makes a pretty decent display.

And on another note i forgot to mention about the westinghouse that Jsw said he had. Macpastor you should look into that westinghouse. Reviews have varied widely on it, but it does actually accept a 1920x1080 PC signal. There are exceptionally few TV's out there that actually do, but it's also in the price range and size you mentioned so it would be worth taking a look at.


aussie_geek said:
Maybe he want's to watch tv on it as well mate 😉

aussie_geek
Click to expand...
 
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