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Major Confusion Connecting Macbook to SDTV

W

waynechriss

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 7, 2009
166
0
Hi its me again. I'm confused right now. I came home after buying a Mini DVI-Video adaptor and composite cables so i can connect my macbook to my television. However it doesn't work and i'm not sure what i'm missing. The composite cables are really weird as the yellow cable is separate from the red and white. Can someone suggest what i can get to make it work? i want to watch downloaded movies from my computer to my tv.

Below is what i have. I believe i've gotten the wrong cables as they don't fit in the Mini DVI to video adaptor.

Photoon2009-11-27at1154.jpg


Photoon2009-11-27at1153.jpg


Photoon2009-11-27at11532.jpg
 
That middle picture shows an S-Video port. So you need an S-Video cable to connect to your tv. (I would assume that your TV has an matching S-Video port).

The yellow port next to the S-Video port (middle picture) is for the audio. Use the cable you show in the top picture to connect it to the audio in port on your TV.
 
The yellow, white and red cable use RCA as a plug.

Yours seems like they were a bit more expensive, and might be harder to plug in into certain sockets.

Try plugging in the red or white cable into the yellow composite output of your DVI-to-Video-adapter, and also try to plug the yellow cable into one of your stereo's/TV's audio or video inputs.

Also know that one can use the red or white cable for video transfer too, there are not different from the yellow one, except the colour.


EDIT:
swiftaw said:
That middle picture shows an S-Video port. So you need an S-Video cable to connect to your tv. (I would assume that your TV has an matching S-Video port).

The yellow port next to the S-Video port (middle picture) is for the audio. Use the cable you show in the top picture to connect it to the audio in port on your TV.
Click to expand...


That is wrong.
The yellow one is for video, called composite.
Audio is not transferred via the DVI adapter, as DVD does not transmit audio.
The black video output is called S-Video.
 
Ugh my television doesn't have an S video port. Only the red, white and yellow. Thats it.
 
swiftaw said:
Then you need a different adapter.
Click to expand...

So would you suggest that i return both the adaptor and cables i have or only the adaptor? I plan on going out to return something to get what i need xp. And i'm not even sure what i need.
 
spinnerlys said:

Have you tried what I suggested?

Also, the yellow one is for video. On the adapter, and on your TV.
Click to expand...

No none of that worked. When i plugged the yellow in it showed a very faint image of my screen on the television but yeah just barely. Also i wouldn't know what to do with the other outputs, there is nothing that can really connect the cables to the adaptor.
 
spinnerlys said:

Have you tried what I suggested?

Also, the yellow one is for video. On the adapter, and on your TV.
Click to expand...

Oh wait, yes, sorry, I was wrong.


Connect the yellow cable from the yellow port on the adapter to the yellow port on the TV. That's the video.

For the audio, you'll need a mini-Jack to red/white cable I think.
 
swiftaw said:
Oh wait, yes, sorry, I was wrong.


Connect the yellow cable from the yellow port on the adapter to the yellow port on the TV. That's the video.

For the audio, you'll need a mini-Jack to red/white cable I think.
Click to expand...

Yeah the problem is the yellow thing doesn't work at all. I connect it to the adaptor and to the yellow port of the tv and it doesn't work. So i'm not sure waht i'm doing wrong.
 
wait nevermind when i plug in the yellow to the adaptor and tv it shows my screen but horribly. black and white and faded bad. i dunno what to do about that. xp
 
The adapter you have is for video only; either s-video or composite (yellow). You say you dont have s-video on the tv so you can use the composite connection. If the yellow cable you have doesnt fit on the adapter, go get a different cable with a connector that will fit on the adapter, although I dont understand why the cable wouldnt fit on the adapter. If you get a different cable that does fit and it still doesnt work, then you have a bad adapter. Also make sure you are putting your TV on the correct input. If you want the audio from your computer to go to the TV, you will need an additional adapter to connect the red and white cables to.
 
I think it may be a bad adaptor i'm not sure. The yellow plug goes in fine in both the tv and adaptor and i do understand how i need another adaptor to hook up the audio to the audio jack on my macbook. But all i get is a black screen on the television though the resolution on my macbook changes dramatically.
 
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