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Hdtv

S

skygremlin

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 14, 2009
40
0
I just bought a new 15 inch MBP: 3.06 GHz with 4 GB RAM. and want to hook it up to a HDTV for a monitor. I'm looking at getting a Proscan 40" 1080p HDTV from Costco and using that, along with a wireless keyboard and mouse. I do a little video making, and Amateur photography...

I know the Proscan is not top of the line, but it's $500.00 and the reviews on the Costco website were pretty good. Does anybody have any thoughts on this setup? Good idea / Bad idea??

thanx
 
Do you plan to watch movies on the HDTV? Will this be your cable TV? You said you only do video making, and amateur photography, maybe you only need a 24in Monitor.
 
opps meant to add that in, I plan on this being my primary TV. I've been in need of a new one for a while now

thanx
 
Well if you plan to watch online movies/TV shows on the HDTV, then its a great choice. Your resolution will only be 1366 x 768 on the HDTV.
 
Unless you have the space well configured it may be awkward using the tv and imac together. You could think about an ATV or a mac mini as a media centre. The second is the route I chose.

That way my imac is free.
 
MacMini2009 said:
Well if you plan to watch online movies/TV shows on the HDTV, then its a great choice. Your resolution will only be 1366 x 768 on the HDTV.
Click to expand...

What? He said that the TV was 1080p, which is 1920 x 1080.

If you're watching movies on the TV in native resolution you will need to use the extended desktop mode. Your 15" is at 1440x and the TV at 1920x.

Btw, TV's are horrendous for reading text and small objects (since the pixels are gigantic). As long as your just watching the video and doing just photo work it will be fine. You'll also need to buy the right MDP converter.
 
sammich said:
Btw, TV's are horrendous for reading text and small objects (since the pixels are gigantic). As long as your just watching the video and doing just photo work it will be fine. You'll also need to buy the right MDP converter.
Click to expand...

This is not true at all, I use a philips 42" 1080p hdtv as my primary monitor on my PC and Hackintosh.. text is perfectly sharp and looks great.
 
doox00 said:
This is not true at all, I use a philips 42" 1080p hdtv as my primary monitor on my PC and Hackintosh.. text is perfectly sharp and looks great.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have my old mini hooked up to a 1080p HDTV over the DVI to VGA adapter that the mini came with (had a VGA cable lying around and didn't want to buy a DVI to HDMI adapter) and text is sharp.
 
sammich said:
What? He said that the TV was 1080p, which is 1920 x 1080.

If you're watching movies on the TV in native resolution you will need to use the extended desktop mode. Your 15" is at 1440x and the TV at 1920x.

Btw, TV's are horrendous for reading text and small objects (since the pixels are gigantic). As long as your just watching the video and doing just photo work it will be fine. You'll also need to buy the right MDP converter.
Click to expand...

As the 2 said above, you're completely wrong. Everything's perfectly readable, no "huge pixels" or anything.

Personally I'm going to use my MBP 13" with a 30ish " HDTV (HD Ready) 720p. Normally I'll get something like 1380x768 resolution, which last time I checked was pretty sharp when watching movies on it through my old laptop. After that anything small was even readable.

Sides, did anyone ever try gaming a bit on a TV? Does it look allright? (Do games pick up the resolution?)
Since it's also just like "movies" should turn out good I hope ;)

Anyways to stay ontopic: from my previous experiences with hooking up TVs to laptops, it's a good idea OP. Saves the trouble of having 2 monitors (a small PC-like one and a big TV). :D
 
doox00 said:
This is not true at all, I use a philips 42" 1080p hdtv as my primary monitor on my PC and Hackintosh.. text is perfectly sharp and looks great.
Click to expand...

Heh, well my experience with my 46" 1080p Bravia is pretty ordinary to say the least. I can read it, but not for a stretch of more than a few seconds without needing to rub my eyes. I think I just need to calibrate my TV a bit, but then again I don't use it much.

Hang on...maybe it's the MBP, because text on webpages on the PS3 are much friendlier on the eyes.
 
More HDTV questions

I want to show dvd's (and download video podcasts and movies from my macbook) on a large screen for public viewing.

Here are some of the questions I am having:

Is it best to use a large monitor or a hdtv with connectors?

What hdtv's are compatible with my macbook G4, (10.4.11)? What connectors do I need? Will they soon be obsolete making the TV useless in this way?
I have read that at times the connectors do not transfer sound.

If I upgrade my computer to a newer mac I want to continue using this setup if possible for the next few years.
Since the technology is changing so rapidly what is the best course for me to take and not have to buy new equipment in a year or two?

Recommendations and advice are very welcome.
 
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