Mini-Display Port to VGA to HDMI

[lamella]

Hi All,

For several years I have been connecting my Macbook Pro (mid-2009 13") to my TV using an Apple "Mini Display Port to VGA" adapter. However, I recently purchased a new TV which doesn't have a VGA port, only HDMI. I'm wondering, therefore, if I could simply buy a VGA to HDMI adapter to add on to my existing set-up to make it work with this TV. In other words, I'm wondering if I can do "Mini-Display port to VGA adapter---> VGA cable---> VGA to HDMI adapter ---> TV with HDMI port." Would Mini-Display-VGA-HDMI be too many steps? Would it affect the quality of the video signal too much?

I'd appreciate any advice you can give.

 

[pdjudd]

Why bother with that complication - lots of places sell an Mini display port to HDMI. Like Monoprice

Better to cut the middle man..

 

[AdrianK]

You could. It would be more expensive and the quality would be worse than using mDP to HDMI, but there's nothing stopping you, but as pdjudd said it would make no sense.

 

[lamella]

Thanks for the advice.

Well, the reasoning behind the convoluted setup is basically that I would then only need to buy a VGA to HDMI adapter, right? If I bought that adapter you linked to on monoprice, for example, I would then also need to buy an HDMI cable, no? (I wouldn't use Monoprice though, since it charges ~30 dollars shipping to Japan, where I'm located.)

Am I right in thinking a VGA to hdmi adapter (with a male hdmi connection) could be plugged directly into the tv's hdmi port w/o using an HDMI cable?

I'm not especially concerned about optimal video quality, just as long as it works well enough.

Thanks again.

 

[pdjudd]

From a cost standpoint, you really aren’t going to be saving money. You can get an HDMI cable for really cheap and the converter is going to cost roughly the same for VGA versus HDMI. I think that you are going to need the cable anyhow - I don’t think there is a converter that has the interface that you want - you are talking about two very different connections.

I don’t know the quality drop off, but I can imagine it being not good. Converting to an analogue format is a big drop.

HDMI cables are cheap. You can get them for about 6 bucks in some places.

 

[lamella]

Ok, thanks for the help. I think I'll follow your advice and just go with the mini display to hdmi. I found this on Amazon: http://goo.gl/qq9Pr5. It seems like it wouldn't require an extra HDMI cable, so it's maybe the best bet. Thanks again.

 

[pdjudd]

I was going to look into that and check it out unfortunately I forgot one small detail - I cannot read Japanese (is it Kanji??) characters and was unable to figure out what brand or anything it was.

Oh well...

 

[lamella]

Oh sorry about that. The japanese doesn't give much more information. The brand is Maclab, apparently. On closer inspection though I see that it says it only works on models after late 2010, and that it's for a thunderbolt connection (even though it says mini display in the title). My laptop is 2009 and only has the mini display port. So I guess that's out.

Anyway, I think I know what I need to do now. Thanks for your help.