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Mac Mini Best Media Center PC? TV as monitor

Undo Redo said:
I do it all the time and it looks great. Most of the shows look about DVD quality and that's perfectly adequate (in my opinion) on a 37" TV.
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knewsom said:
One thing to note is that CBS's tv shows on their website look AWFUL - for example if you try to go fullscreen, it's usually offset down by about a quarter of the frame so you can't see the pause button, or the whole lower quarter of the show. Ugh. It drove me to TPB.
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Thanks on both of those. I'm thinking about this as I barely watch TV anymore, with the exception of a few shows. (Fringe, House, Psych, and the kids watch some cartoon stuff).

I'm almost thinking that between renting stuff through iTunes, and being able to watch almost everything on line anymore, I might just get rid of cable altogether.

Mmm, this just got even more tempting. Can you say, last minute Christmas gift to myself, LOL.
 
knewsom said:
One thing to note is that CBS's tv shows on their website look AWFUL - for example if you try to go fullscreen, it's usually offset down by about a quarter of the frame so you can't see the pause button, or the whole lower quarter of the show. Ugh. It drove me to TPB.
Click to expand...
I watched The Good Wife on CBS.com using Firefox this evening and didn't have any problems. The quality was good. There was a little stuttering near the end of the show but I don't know if that was a CBS server problem or something on my end.
 
Im trying to make my mac mini as a media center but i have sound issues. i use a dvi/hdmi cable for picture and an rca cable for sound that i plug it in the rear of my tv (Philips 8404). Thats all i got but i dont have sound. How can i solve this?
 
Your TV is likely expecting the audio over the HDMI port. You may need to see if your TV permits reconfiguration of audio-input; otherwise you'll need to input video so that it matches the audio input (e.g., VGA or DVI interface). Alternatively, USB audio/DVI to HDMI cable.
 
Cave Man said:
Your TV is likely expecting the audio over the HDMI port. You may need to see if your TV permits reconfiguration of audio-input; otherwise you'll need to input video so that it matches the audio input (e.g., VGA or DVI interface). Alternatively, USB audio/DVI to HDMI cable.
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yes i see, what you are saying seems logical, but i have no clue how to do this or try to see if it can be done! i have the Philips 8404, can someone help me?
 
zoran said:
yes i see, what you are saying seems logical, but i have no clue how to do this or try to see if it can be done! i have the Philips 8404, can someone help me?
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Read the Philips manual. Everything you need to know will be in there.
 
zoran said:
yes i see, what you are saying seems logical, but i have no clue how to do this or try to see if it can be done! i have the Philips 8404, can someone help me?
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Do you have the owner manual for the TV?

Another option might be to get the converter from monoprice.com which will take audio from USB and video from mini-Displayport and convert it to HDMI. Link

(requires a 2009 Mac mini with mini-Displayport)
 
Undo Redo said:
Do you have the owner manual for the TV?

Another option might be to get the converter from monoprice.com which will take audio from USB and video from mini-Displayport and convert it to HDMI. Link

(requires a 2009 Mac mini with mini-Displayport)
Click to expand...
I have the manual yes, but i have no idea what im looking for, whats it called.
Regarding Monoprices solution im in Europe and i dont think i can find it here!
 
Undo Redo said:
In my manual it's called "external equipment connections." There are several pages showing how to connect various kinds of video and audio sources.
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my manual unfortunately is a slim version and i cant find what you are saying! you think i can get a pdf vesrion of it so i can have a better look?
which philips lcd do you have btw?
 
zoran said:
my manual unfortunately is a slim version and i cant find what you are saying! you think i can get a pdf vesrion of it so i can have a better look?
which philips lcd do you have btw?
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You again... I searched for you and found it then I get back to this thread and realize it's you - use google and you can find the philips manual.
 
Zoran,

The manual can be found on the Greek Philips site: www.philips.gr

The relevant section (at least in the English manual) is 5.2.2
Basically you use a 3.5 mm stereo audio cable (like iPod headphones) with two male connectors. One plugs into the minis headphone socket the other into the TVs Audio L/R, HDMI/DVI jack on the back of the TV.
 
flopticalcube said:
Zoran,

The manual can be found on the Greek Philips site: www.philips.gr

The relevant section (at least in the English manual) is 5.2.2
Basically you use a 3.5 mm stereo audio cable (like iPod headphones) with two male connectors. One plugs into the minis headphone socket the other into the TVs Audio L/R, HDMI/DVI jack on the back of the TV.
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thanx for the help i have already done this, problem is that i dont get any sound through the rca cable, maybe because the tv set thinks i already am coping with sound using the hdmi cable. What it doesnt know is that the hdmi isnt transfering any sound because its connected to the dvi port of the mac mini! So real question is how do i make that specific hdmi to cancel sound so sound can be used from the rca cable!
That i guess is what im looking for!
 
aha! works like a charm, thank you guys and sorry for the inconvenience! :) i wish you all have a happy new year!
 
I am having some issues, well not issues, but config problems with trying to use my LG TV with the Mac Mini. Let me start by saying that they work. The only problem is that I can not find the proper resolution to let me fit the Mac OS X desktop onto my TV. I either have to use 1368 x 768 (something like this. do not remember the exact sizes), or I can use 1080p but I cannot get to the menu bar at the top of the screen. I turned off over scanning and this helped but I get a black band all around the desktop and the full size of my screen is not utilized. By the way, I am running an LG LH7020 47 inch TV. Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
I need to get a HDMI cable to hook my mini-displayport adapter to the hdmi port in my TV.

I see there are "category 2" hdmi cables... HDMI 1.3; HDMI 1.4... What do I need? Will a $5 HDMI 1.3 cable do it? Thanks
 
Actually my issue hasnt been solved 100% yet. I still cant get the sound properly, but ive found how when its not coming, how to activate the sound. I just switch back n forth in the tv to watch a channel and then go back to the computer mode.This initialises sound for the mini... any ideas why this back n forth trick has to be done?
 
New Mac Mini to HDTV

I just hooked up a new mini to my sharp 42 inch using the mini-displayport to DVI adapter and the mini-dvi to dvi adapter attached to a dvi to hdmi cable and I don't see a difference. I was advised by the apple store to buy the mini-displayport adapter but I don't think that was necessary. And now I see that I could have just bought mini-displayport hdmi adapter and bypassed the whole dvi part. Does anyone have any experience with this?

ALso, in 1080p mode with overscan turned off, the picture doesn't quite fill the screen. Anyone have any clue how to get it to fill the screen -- at least when a dvd is playing?

Thanks!
 
lperlste said:
I just hooked up a new mini to my sharp 42 inch using the mini-displayport to DVI adapter and the mini-dvi to dvi adapter attached to a dvi to hdmi cable and I don't see a difference. I was advised by the apple store to buy the mini-displayport adapter but I don't think that was necessary. And now I see that I could have just bought mini-displayport hdmi adapter and bypassed the whole dvi part. Does anyone have any experience with this?
Click to expand...

I've tried both too and see no difference. Best to just use whatever adapters and cables you have on hand and minimize the expense.

ALso, in 1080p mode with overscan turned off, the picture doesn't quite fill the screen. Anyone have any clue how to get it to fill the screen -- at least when a dvd is playing?
Click to expand...
Well, you could turn on overscanning while watching DVDs. Otherwise, unless your TV has a format option like "scaling," I don't know.
 
sapporobaby said:
I am having some issues, well not issues, but config problems with trying to use my LG TV with the Mac Mini. Let me start by saying that they work. The only problem is that I can not find the proper resolution to let me fit the Mac OS X desktop onto my TV. I either have to use 1368 x 768 (something like this. do not remember the exact sizes), or I can use 1080p but I cannot get to the menu bar at the top of the screen. I turned off over scanning and this helped but I get a black band all around the desktop and the full size of my screen is not utilized. By the way, I am running an LG LH7020 47 inch TV. Any ideas?

Thanks.
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Finally I can put the 6 month or so of research on media centers & hdtv/computer to good use(other than spending my money).

the resolution on the mini should be set to 1080p
I assume you are using the mini-dvi to dvi adapter and a dvi to hdmi cable to connect to the tv. I cant seem to get the detailed specs on your tv but I would first make sure the tv isnt auto scanning and manually set the resolution to 1080 which should get you the best picture quality. If thats the case then you prob just need to recenter or atleast lower your picture a bit.

Let me know if that works
 
mikeyc21 said:
Finally I can put the 6 month or so of research on media centers & hdtv/computer to good use(other than spending my money).

the resolution on the mini should be set to 1080p
I assume you are using the mini-dvi to dvi adapter and a dvi to hdmi cable to connect to the tv. I cant seem to get the detailed specs on your tv but I would first make sure the tv isnt auto scanning and manually set the resolution to 1080 which should get you the best picture quality. If thats the case then you prob just need to recenter or atleast lower your picture a bit.

Let me know if that works
Click to expand...

Hi. Funny that you posted. I just figured out via the Apple Support Forum what to do. I am using the Mini DVi Port to HDMI adapter to connect. I switched the tv to: "Just Scan" and it corrected the problem. The resolution is insane. :) It all works. However, if I turn off Overscan, I lose some of the picture on all four sides. The images seems to scale down.
 
lperlste said:
I just hooked up a new mini to my sharp 42 inch using the mini-displayport to DVI adapter and the mini-dvi to dvi adapter attached to a dvi to hdmi cable and I don't see a difference. I was advised by the apple store to buy the mini-displayport adapter but I don't think that was necessary. And now I see that I could have just bought mini-displayport hdmi adapter and bypassed the whole dvi part. Does anyone have any experience with this?

ALso, in 1080p mode with overscan turned off, the picture doesn't quite fill the screen. Anyone have any clue how to get it to fill the screen -- at least when a dvd is playing?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
there is no advantage to using the mini display port over the mini-dvi when connecting to a tv that goes for picture quality computer performance.
 
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