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Hooking MacBook Pro to Plasma

W

winty03

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
237
5
I was thinking of trying to hook up\use my 52 inch plasma to my MacBook Pro as an external monitor. Been doing some searching and product research....and had a few questions.

1# I would assume all I would need is a DVI (MacBook Pro) to HDMI (Plasma) cable? (not worried about carrying audio, and I don't have a VGA or DVI port on my TV)

2# Is it worth buying the cable and or setting it up?

I have ran a pc through the VGA port on another LCD TV I have, and it wasn't anything impressive.

What would the highest resolution I could get on a 52" plasma using DVI to HDMI? On the VGA port I only got 1024 by 768 on a 19" and it was not that great.

Is it any good and or worth the hassle or am I going to do it and never hook it up again?
 
winty03 said:
I was thinking of trying to hook up\use my 52 inch plasma to my MacBook Pro as an external monitor. Been doing some searching and product research....and had a few questions.

1# I would assume all I would need is a DVI (MacBook Pro) to HDMI (Plasma) cable? (not worried about carrying audio, and I don't have a VGA or DVI port on my TV)

2# Is it worth buying the cable and or setting it up?

I have ran a pc through the VGA port on another LCD TV I have, and it wasn't anything impressive.

What would the highest resolution I could get on a 52" plasma using DVI to HDMI? On the VGA port I only got 1024 by 768 on a 19" and it was not that great.

Is it any good and or worth the hassle or am I going to do it and never hook it up again?
Click to expand...

what is the plasma's p? 720 or 1080?

i plug my macbook into my 32" lcd + 42" plasma to watch 720p movies on, but dont leave it plugged in for too long (static image wise) or it will burn in things like the menubar and dock on the tv. if it was an lcd thats a different situation..
 
The DVI (MacBook Pro) to HDMI (Plasma) cable should work fine and allow for sound also. I was able to get a higher res than 1024 when I hooked mine up a few weeks back but don't recall the exact resolution?

Hooking it up took less time that it did to boot my MBP and worked great. Surfing the net from my 42 inch LCD TV was ok but not something I will do much. I used the Apple BT keyboard and mouse and it worked like a charm from 15 feel away.

I purchased the $19 cable from the Apple Store locally. XtremeHD HDMI to DVI cable Link
 
srl7741 said:
The DVI (MacBook Pro) to HDMI (Plasma) cable should work fine and allow for sound also. I was able to get a higher res than 1024 when I hooked mine up a few weeks back but don't recall the exact resolution?

Hooking it up took less time that it did to boot my MBP and worked great. Surfing the net from my 42 inch LCD TV was ok but not something I will do much. I used the Apple BT keyboard and mouse and it worked like a charm from 15 feel away.

I purchased the $19 cable from the Apple Store locally. XtremeHD HDMI to DVI cable Link
Click to expand...

Although DVI doesn't carry audio....
 
Ya I know that DVI doesn't do sound...thanks So it doesn't sound like its nothing spectacular, more than a can do that a will do or will run. What is the reason then that people hook it up? I was going to buy a Monster DVI to HDMI, but thinking that I will not run it that much off the time. I thought maybe it would be something comparable to PS3 resolution , which I think is decent. I know that vga i ran on the 19 inch I can surf but the font was kind of hard to read. But maybe the $19 cable from apple worth a try?
 
Ya I know not to use VGA, it was just on a 19inch 720p LCD, not my 50 inch 1080i, that had "PC compatibility" and had the VGA port on it. I hooked that up and it works but wasn't too spectacular, 1024 x 728. Just contemplating if I should buy a cable or not, but for the $20 for the XtremeHD HDMI to DVI might just be worth a try?
 
alphaod said:
Buy this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10419&cs_id=1041903&p_id=2396&seq=1&format=2
Then choose one of these on the bottom half of the page:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240

Your TV should be plug and play compatible, so just plug the DVI-HDMI converter to your MBP, and the cables in both ends and your computer should auto detect the resolution and timings needed.

Don't buy a VGA cable. I degrades quality a lot.
Click to expand...

Or you can just buy the DVI-->HDMI cable from Monoprice.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10231

I have both the DVI and VGA cables, and indeed, the VGA looks like garbage compared to the DVI. With DVI, text is crystal clear and easy to read. With VGA, aspect ratios get screwy, and text looks blurry.
 
Isn´t it a poblem that static pictures do remain on the plasma screen after a certain amount of time? Doing research includes static pictures I assume, so I would be aware of that problem. We have a 47inch plasma at home too, but I only use it for gaming, so the pictures are never static.
 
Teddman said:
Isn´t it a poblem that static pictures do remain on the plasma screen after a certain amount of time? Doing research includes static pictures I assume, so I would be aware of that problem. We have a 47inch plasma at home too, but I only use it for gaming, so the pictures are never static.
Click to expand...

1) Static pictures have become much less of a concern with newer plasmas, particularly if you properly break in the panel when you first get it (most susceptible to burn-in at earlier stages). Also, pixel orbiters that come with TVs (which shifts the image minutely every so often), also reduces burn-in. Of course, if you are using the plasma primarily as a computer monitor, you will probably get inevitable burn-in.

2) Gaming is precisely the type of thing that causes burn-in, and precisely the kind of thing that dissuades many from buying plasmas in the first place. Gaming, as opposed to watching HD tv, poses many static images, such as life meters, bars, boxes, and maps, all of which often cause burn-in.

3) This all being said, I wouldn't use my Pioneer Kuro plasma as a computer monitor because of the issues with burn-in. I will certainly use it from time-to-time to surf or otherwise watch videos and such. But I would never use it as a primary computer monitor.
 
Ya I wouldn't use it as a primary monitor, because I am burn in anal.....heck got my 4 year taught to never leave the tv on and religiously setting sleep timer to make sure the dvd doesn't finish and get suck at the main menu. Its a year and a half old so I don't think I really need to worry about burn in. But I know what it is and do not play games on it, if I do I stop and watch tv for 10 to 15 mins and then go back. But the reason I posted the question was if I was going to get the same quality and or result I did with the VGA. I know that DVI is digital and vga is analog, heck I don't run my regular pc monitor vga because its terrible looking compared to dvi so thats hooked up dvi. I was just wondering if some of you have hooked up theirs to plasmas or lcd and how it looked at 50inchs big. readable text? blurry pics? distorted images? Some say they ran dvds on the MBP through their tv, so it can't be that bad?

Which cable matter in quality?

http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/products/monster/m1000hdmi-dvi.html?id=3645&utm_source=nextag&utm_term=M1000HDMI/DVI-6m&utm_campaign=monster&utm_medium=comparison

I can get for $50

or

http://www.xtrememac.com/xtremehd/dvi/index.php

I can get for $25
 
winty03 said:
Ya I wouldn't use it as a primary monitor, because I am burn in anal.....heck got my 4 year taught to never leave the tv on and religiously setting sleep timer to make sure the dvd doesn't finish and get suck at the main menu. Its a year and a half old so I don't think I really need to worry about burn in. But I know what it is and do not play games on it, if I do I stop and watch tv for 10 to 15 mins and then go back. But the reason I posted the question was if I was going to get the same quality and or result I did with the VGA. I know that DVI is digital and vga is analog, heck I don't run my regular pc monitor vga because its terrible looking compared to dvi so thats hooked up dvi. I was just wondering if some of you have hooked up theirs to plasmas or lcd and how it looked at 50inchs big. readable text? blurry pics? distorted images? Some say they ran dvds on the MBP through their tv, so it can't be that bad?

Which cable matter in quality?

http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/products/monster/m1000hdmi-dvi.html?id=3645&utm_source=nextag&utm_term=M1000HDMI/DVI-6m&utm_campaign=monster&utm_medium=comparison

I can get for $50

or

http://www.xtrememac.com/xtremehd/dvi/index.php

I can get for $25
Click to expand...

As I mentioned above, I'd go with Monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10231

If you research Monoprice, you'll find that it is very highly recommended. It is often compared to the "best" cables out there. And it offers some of the best prices out there. I am using this cable, and it looks excellent.

Also, just to reiterate, I have both a VGA cable and a DVI cable for use on my 50-inch plasma television. There is no competition. The VGA makes text look blurry, is stubborn with aspect ratios, and colors looked washed out. DVI is the exact opposite on all counts.
 
2) Gaming is precisely the type of thing that causes burn-in, and precisely the kind of thing that dissuades many from buying plasmas in the first place. Gaming, as opposed to watching HD tv, poses many static images, such as life meters, bars, boxes, and maps, all of which often cause burn-in.


Wow
I didn´t know that. I thought that all the static images like maps and such would be refreshed along with the moving image, so that the frames per second apply for them aswell. I`ll have to be much more careful with our pioneer plasma tv then.
 
winty03 said:
I was thinking of trying to hook up\use my 52 inch plasma to my MacBook Pro as an external monitor. Been doing some searching and product research....and had a few questions.

1# I would assume all I would need is a DVI (MacBook Pro) to HDMI (Plasma) cable? (not worried about carrying audio, and I don't have a VGA or DVI port on my TV)

2# Is it worth buying the cable and or setting it up?

I have ran a pc through the VGA port on another LCD TV I have, and it wasn't anything impressive.

What would the highest resolution I could get on a 52" plasma using DVI to HDMI? On the VGA port I only got 1024 by 768 on a 19" and it was not that great.

Is it any good and or worth the hassle or am I going to do it and never hook it up again?
Click to expand...

It'll work fine, I have a 52" Sony Bravia XBR4 and hook my 2.4ghz mbp SR model onto it to watch mkv 1080p/720p movies on it and works great. But my Sony's native res is 1920x1080 but I have to set it to 1024x768 and works like a charm.

Of course though I do prefer the .wmv format to play 1080p/720p as it looks much better via streaming xbox 360, but I use the dvi/vga cable works fine and quality wise looks like a halfway between native 1080p movie and a dvd movie. Well still looks alot better than regular dvd =D
 
winty03 said:
Ya I wouldn't use it as a primary monitor, because I am burn in anal.....heck got my 4 year taught to never leave the tv on and religiously setting sleep timer to make sure the dvd doesn't finish and get suck at the main menu. Its a year and a half old so I don't think I really need to worry about burn in. But I know what it is and do not play games on it, if I do I stop and watch tv for 10 to 15 mins and then go back. But the reason I posted the question was if I was going to get the same quality and or result I did with the VGA. I know that DVI is digital and vga is analog, heck I don't run my regular pc monitor vga because its terrible looking compared to dvi so thats hooked up dvi. I was just wondering if some of you have hooked up theirs to plasmas or lcd and how it looked at 50inchs big. readable text? blurry pics? distorted images? Some say they ran dvds on the MBP through their tv, so it can't be that bad?

Which cable matter in quality?

http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/products/monster/m1000hdmi-dvi.html?id=3645&utm_source=nextag&utm_term=M1000HDMI/DVI-6m&utm_campaign=monster&utm_medium=comparison

I can get for $50

or

http://www.xtrememac.com/xtremehd/dvi/index.php

I can get for $25
Click to expand...

If all else fails have a look at this

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

Its called the popcorn hour and its great, it has component and hdmi built in and can play almost any format :
Media files supported

Video containers:
MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)
MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
VOB
AVI, ASF, WMV
Matroska (MKV)
MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
Video codecs:
XVID SD/HD
MPEG-1
MPEG-2
MP@HL
MPEG-4.2
ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC
WMV9
MP@HL
H.264
BP@L3
MP@L4.0
HP@L4.0
HP@L4.1
VC-1
MP@HL
AP@L3
Audio containers:
AAC, M4A
MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
WAV
WMA
Audio codecs:
WMA, WMA Pro
AAC
MP1, MP2, MP3
LPCM
Audio pass through : DTS, AC3
Photo formats : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
Other formats: ISO, IFO
Subtitle formats : SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA

Also you can play it anyway you'd like, you can play it with a cheap external dvd hooked up via usb onto it (just pop in a burned dvd and it will pick it up!) or you can stream it wirelessly or even add an internal 3.5" hdd or use an 2.5" external hdd (just load whatever movie on the 2.5" external hdd and just plug it into the popcorn hour and your off) and on the huge plus side the popcorn hour supports dts and supports optics!

And its not that expensive $179.99 but only downside is that you have to wait about a month or two to get an invite to order one as demand is high. I've seen some people sell this on ebay and it goes as high as $320 but I'm waiting for next month to get my invite.
 
alphaod said:
I think the OP is looking for now rather than a couple months later. Also he will probably be using his computer on the TV and PCH won't allow that.
Click to expand...

I'm just giving him another option, he can use the popcorn hour for any movie to play while using the laptop on his lap while watching a movie? or he could stream anything that's on his mbp straight to the popcorn hour while surfing the web?

man using the 50" hdtv as a web browser is over kill imo. I never use my 52" sony bravia just for webbrowsing/computer tasking. Plus the popcorn hour provides hdmi with optics for sound.
 
For sound, the headphone output is also an optical digital output, so that would be the best option. Otherwise yes, you can use the mini jack to RCA cable.

alphaod said:
Buy this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10419&cs_id=1041903&p_id=2396&seq=1&format=2
Then choose one of these on the bottom half of the page:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240

Your TV should be plug and play compatible, so just plug the DVI-HDMI converter to your MBP, and the cables in both ends and your computer should auto detect the resolution and timings needed.
Click to expand...

Funny enough, some TVs don't like the seperate dvi-hdmi adapters. The store I worked with had a... hmm.. might have been Pioneer? That worked just fine with the integrated cable but wouldn't accept an hdmi cable with a seperate dvi-hdmi adapter. Goofy, huh? The benefit of doing it the seperate cable/adapter method is that down the road you'll have a hdmi-hdmi cable that is more useful than a cable that will always have dvi on one side and hdmi on the other. If you ever end up using it for straight home theater use.
 
DocSmitty said:
Funny enough, some TVs don't like the seperate dvi-hdmi adapters. The store I worked with had a... hmm.. might have been Pioneer? That worked just fine with the integrated cable but wouldn't accept an hdmi cable with a seperate dvi-hdmi adapter. Goofy, huh? The benefit of doing it the seperate cable/adapter method is that down the road you'll have a hdmi-hdmi cable that is more useful than a cable that will always have dvi on one side and hdmi on the other. If you ever end up using it for straight home theater use.
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it any better.
 
woodekm said:
Just curious, if I get the HDMI to DVI cable which (I believe) doesn't do sound,

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10231

what's the best way? Just the old red /white RCA at the same time as the dvi cable? I assume the headphone out of the laptop to the RCA into the tuner/TV. Correct? I'm just wanting to watch on line movies occasionally.

Thanks!
W
Click to expand...

No the DVI-HDMI doesn't do sound.

If your equipment supports it, you can get a Toslink optical cable and use that on your connection. Otherwise get a 3.5mm stereo to Left-Right RCA splitter.
 
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