mid 2011 iMac + an external LCD

[oosk2k11]

yo, a while ago i was looking into using my iMac as a display for blu ray or the xbox, discovering that thunderbolt doesn't accept input from hdmi / only accepts input from another thunderbolt source.

now i'd like to buy an LCD for dual-screening. since the apple thunderbolt display prices ridiculously at almost one grand, does anyone know if i can connect a vga or dvi LCD to the iMac thunderbolt port using a mini-display to vga/dvi cable?

technically, the thunderbolt port, here, will be used for output only.. but anyone see any problems still?

cheers

anoush

 

[SR20DETDOG]

Any MDP->VGA/DVI/etc adapter should work fine.

I've got an 18" CRT hooked up to my iMac via a MDP->VGA adapter and haven't had any problems.

 

[KylePowers]

I output my 2011 iMac to my TV all the time for Hulu, etc via an MDP to HDMI adapter. Got mine from Monoprice.com for 6.65 plus shipping. You can probably find the same (unbranded) version on Amazon for a tad cheaper though.

It's such a bummer that target display mode requires a Thunderbolt source. I really wanted to use it to play Xbox 360 or PS3 (which I have no idea if they even support 1440p, but I just wanted to sit at my desk while I play)

 

[simon567]

Just confirming what others are saying really, but I use the adapter I bought for my non-thunderbolt Macbook Pro with my thunderbolt iMac and it hooks up to my TV just fine.

 

[oosk2k11]

awesome cheers for the responses. i've found something that could theoretically connect the xbox or ps3 in target display mode to the thunderbolt iMac. the intensity extreme converts the hdmi signal to thunderbolt, however it is £200. besides that, my xbox is the old school rgb scart so that won't work for me..

cheers again.

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*my xbox has a component hd av cable, rather.