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iBook to TV

F

fBaran

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2003
218
0
I've got a 12" iBook G4 (Panther .3).
I have this big TV.

I want to watch my DVDs on my TV, through the iBook. What kind of cable do I need? The TV has the (composite?) Red White and Yellow plugs, and also has S-Video in. If it's any help, I still have that plug that turns that little slot on the side into VGA.

I would like to get it simple and as cheap as possible. Thanks.
 
fBaran said:
I've got a 12" iBook G4 (Panther .3).
I have this big TV.

I want to watch my DVDs on my TV, through the iBook. What kind of cable do I need? The TV has the (composite?) Red White and Yellow plugs, and also has S-Video in. If it's any help, I still have that plug that turns that little slot on the side into VGA.

I would like to get it simple and as cheap as possible. Thanks.
Click to expand...

First you need to go out and buy yourself an Apple Video Adapter (under Apple Accessories in the online store) 19.99 US to plug into your video out port.

Then if you don't have one already, you need either an S-Video cable or those RCA Cables I believe they are called... red, white and yellow plugs work (it is the yellow one you need) (S-video cables range in price but are mainly more expensive... and RCA cables can be found for very cheap prices around $3)

This will allow you to see video, but you will not get sound unless you plug your iBook into your sound system or use an external pair of speakers.

I am not sure what you could buy to get your speakers hooked up to your iBook but I'm sure someone on these forums knows.

P.S. - Video on TV's isn't very good because TV's resolutions are very low making the image blurry. Video only looks true quality when you're actually watching a video (like a DVD), otherwise it looks like garbage unless you have an HD TV.
 
Luckily, I have an HDTV. I plan to watch DVDs, but DiVX movies too (if that makes any diff.).
 
I've got a S-Video cable and a 3.5mm minijack (headphone) to RCA audio cable (as well as the above mentioned apple adapter). Works great.
 
Danrose1977 said:
Does it display the desktop cleanly? or do you have to drop the rez on the output?

You couldn't let me know what TV you have could you? I'm thinking of doing the same myself.
Click to expand...
I actually don't have a TV of my own, but I've used it on TVs in hotels and places I was working. The resolution automatically drops. On just plain ol' el chepo TVs, OS X looks like crap, but movies were fine.
 
Apple actually sells a cable that plugs into the iBook's video-out and into the red/yellow/white RCA inputs of your TV. Think it's called the iCable or something similarly imaginative. Or you can get the cables separately at your local Radio Shack or equivalent.

On my PowerBook, I always find that I have to decrease resolution when doing video-out to the TV; and since I've never managed to get spanning to work for that, only mirroring, I guess that would apply to the iBook too.
 
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