Trouble connecting second monitor to iMac

[Elite Spork]

I'm trying to set up a duel monitor for my Mid 2011 iMac. I'm trying to connect it to a 2004 20" LCD Panasonic TV. I have a mini display port to HDMI and an HDMI to video component to connect it to the TV. However when I plug it in my Mac doesn't detect it. How can I get this to work?

 

[AcesHigh87]

I assume you're running Mountain Lion and have done the obvious thing of making sure that the TV is set to the correct input?

I know it seems like a simple enough response but it's good to get out of the way first. I know I hooked up my iMac to a TV last week and forgot the TV was set to AV instead of HDMI (what I had it hooked up via) and thus my iMac didn't read it at all.

 

[Elite Spork]

I assume you're running Mountain Lion and have done the obvious thing of making sure that the TV is set to the correct input?

I know it seems like a simple enough response but it's good to get out of the way first. I know I hooked up my iMac to a TV last week and forgot the TV was set to AV instead of HDMI (what I had it hooked up via) and thus my iMac didn't read it at all.

Yes I have tried all inputs and none have seemed to work. It should be set to Component right?

 

[AcesHigh87]

Yes I have tried all inputs and none have seemed to work. It should be set to Component right?

If the HDMI is splitting into a set of red, green and blue cables than yes, that would be component. Assuming this and that everything is hooked up to the correct ports, in theory, there is no reason it shouldn't work.

Could you take some pictures of the set-up maybe so I can see if something strikes me as odd?

 

[Elite Spork]

If the HDMI is splitting into a set of red, green and blue cables than yes, that would be component. Assuming this and that everything is hooked up to the correct ports, in theory, there is no reason it shouldn't work.

Could you take some pictures of the set-up maybe so I can see if something strikes me as odd?

 

[AcesHigh87]

I'm honestly not sure, short of the iMac simply not reading that a TV is connected, possibly on account of age. Not to sound rude but why is it you're trying to hook your iMac up to a TV from 2004?

 

[Elite Spork]

I'm honestly not sure, short of the iMac simply not reading that a TV is connected, possibly on account of age. Not to sound rude but why is it you're trying to hook your iMac up to a TV from 2004?

I have it laying around my house and I figured as I could use it as a second monitor

 

[AcesHigh87]

I have it laying around my house and I figured as I could use it as a second monitor

That's what I was expecting. I'm gonna be honest with you, if you get it working you'll likely be pretty underwhelmed with the quality. TV's are designed to display pictures, not the amount of text you get on a computer screen. I hooked my iMac up to my 24" LCD through HDMI and found the text to be really choppy and hard to read. I can only imagine an older TV through component would be worse.

If you want a second monitor I would suggest the one I just ordered from Best Buy which you can find HERE. I'm not sure exactly where you are, it was $100 (free shipping) for me on the Canadian site but the American one is on for a decent sale as well. From what I've read this thing pretty closely matches the quality of the iMac screen and (at least for me) the size is exactly the same which is a nice bonus.

If, however, you were just trying this because you had the TV lying around I'd say it's probably not worth the effort required to get it running. TV's were never really designed to be computer monitors. Just my opinion though.

 

[kpgh554]

I have it laying around my house and I figured as I could use it as a second monitor

if running mountain lion if you go to macupdate .com and look for app called detect displays. it supposed to replace the detect app they omitted in 10.8 not sure if work but as free app worth a try