Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How to Connect MB to Pioneer Plasma?

C

CR7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
2
0
Hi Boys and Girls

I've searched and searched on this site (and on google) to find the answer to my question above, but am getting more and more confused by the page!

Please direct me to a relevant or similar page where this has been discussed before, if it saves time.

But please let me explain my (basic?) situation and hoping some of you MAC guru's can sort me out.

Ok, I have a MB (15inch).
I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma TV (HD)
I want to watch DVD's on the TV, being run from my MB. Therefore, i would need both audio AND video to go across.

I have just bought a mini-DVI to DVI adapter (from Apple store - the guy told me to!).

So what do i need now to get DVD's to work? Do i need a DVI to DVI (or DVI to HDMI) cable to connect to my Plasma? Which one is better? Which one has the best results?

I read fellow MAC users struggling with audio. Is this a general problem, or something they were facing individually?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Jase (aka Cristiano Ronaldo ;) )
 
Hi

Thanks that does help. But i still dont understand about the sound? I should get a phono cable that goes into my 'line out' and stick the other two ends into the plasma (or amp)?

Many thanks for your help

Jase
 
There are a few factors to consider:

First, what ports are available on your Plasma? HDMI? VGA? If it's HDMI, you can get a simple DVI->HDMI adapter from Monoprice for $3.63. I use that very product on a regular basis and it works great. If it's VGA, you should already have a DVI->VGA converter that came your MacBook Pro, if I'm not mistaken. In each case, you will be able to use a standard VGA or HDMI cable.

Second, different plasma screens react differently to computer inputs. For example, my Panasonic plasma has overscan (a bit of the top + bottom of the screen is cut off). The Pioneer may not have such a problem, however, or it may be that the VGA doesn't have a problem but the HDMI does, or vice versa. It's probably best to find the avsforum thread for your particular model: I bet someone there has tried to do what you want and arrived at the best solution.

Third, as for audio, it depends what you want to do with it. If you just want the audio to come out of your TV, a simple 3.5mm stereo->RCA cable will work. Monoprice can set you up for under $1. Now, if you want Dolby Digital and surround sound from your DVDs, you can also pass that along to a receiver via a miniTOSlink -> optical cable. Again, Monoprice delivers, this time for $2.31. I use this cable as well and it works perfectly. In either case, you plug the 3.5mm end into your headphone-out (it doubles as an analog and optical port).

Good luck, and let us know if you have any more questions.
 
Did you ever figure this out?

Hi,

I have the same question (I have a pioneer HDMI plasma TV and and MacBook.) Which cords did you end up getting and did you find success?

Thank you so much!


CR7 said:
Hi Boys and Girls

I've searched and searched on this site (and on google) to find the answer to my question above, but am getting more and more confused by the page!

Please direct me to a relevant or similar page where this has been discussed before, if it saves time.

But please let me explain my (basic?) situation and hoping some of you MAC guru's can sort me out.

Ok, I have a MB (15inch).
I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma TV (HD)
I want to watch DVD's on the TV, being run from my MB. Therefore, i would need both audio AND video to go across.

I have just bought a mini-DVI to DVI adapter (from Apple store - the guy told me to!).

So what do i need now to get DVD's to work? Do i need a DVI to DVI (or DVI to HDMI) cable to connect to my Plasma? Which one is better? Which one has the best results?

I read fellow MAC users struggling with audio. Is this a general problem, or something they were facing individually?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Jase (aka Cristiano Ronaldo ;) )
Click to expand...
 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back