New Macs connecting to HDTVs: they just work

I know, I know, it's a cliche, but it never ceases to amaze me how true it can be. I have been connecting computers to HDTVs that don't support PC resolutions for years. I have even written about the challenges here at HDBeat. Well today I connected my MacBook pro to my HDTV via DVI for the first time and I am here to tell you: it just works. If you have ever tried to connect a PC to a HDTV that only accepts 1080i you know how challenging it can be. If you are one of the lucky ones that has a HDTV that supports PC resolutions, than you just won't understand. If you are not so lucky, software has to be installed and tweaked, drivers might need to be updated or changed. You might get VNC working in advanced to help you out, when things go wrong.

Not on a new Mac: It just works, seriously you plug in the DVI cable and OSX does the rest. It sets the appropriate resolution for your TV, how it knows I don't know, but let me tell you it does. Now some HDBeat readers aren't content when things "just work" and for those people there are advanced settings such as overscan correction and pre-set color profiles. Don't go looking in your display preferences just yet, they only show up if the DVI is connected to a HDTV.

The other thing that just works is sound. With the correct cable you can output digital audio out of your Mac to your AV receiver and enjoy your videos in Dolby Digital 5.1 Just make sure you plug the cable into the out, not the in like me, a quick search through the manual solved that one.  

I am thrilled that it is this easy and I hope that future Windows PCs are this easy, yet another reason to look forward to Vista.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:07PM]

There is some info passed back to the computer, about what resolutions are supported, etc. If you load up something like DisplayConfig X most of those resolution programs have an option to Export DDC I think it is. It will output your TVs info to a text file.

My old iBook hooked up with HD-15 was a pain to get set up, but it's like 3+ years old now. Hearing how easy it is is just another reason I am DYING to get a new mac mini for my living room.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:33PM]

It's called EDID. --Bill

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:35PM]

Errr, it didn't let me embed the Wikipedia URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDID

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:36PM]

Why are you looking forward to Vista if your Mac just works? I would think the only people looking forward to Vista are PC writers. Now they have something to fill probably a years worth of magazine articles with. "Macs just work" doesn't really help fill column inches. And who's going to buy a handly guide to setting up your PC with HDTV if it's twenty pages of "Just get a Mac it works."

[BenD Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:37PM]

Thanks for the tip Bill!

[BenD Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:43PM]

mcloki,
Are you kidding, Vista is going to rock! I can't wait,
I could go on and on about the new features I am looking forward to and Aero is not one of them. There is something for everyone in Vista. I love new technology not just Apple's, it just happens that Apple releases a new OS ever 18 months and MS does it every 3 or 4 years.

[BenD Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:45PM]

Bill,
I read through that link but it only mentions Computer displays. What makes you think HDTV's are complying? Do know for a fact they are or are you assuming?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 2:49PM]

Very cool, more reason to get a Macbook pro.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 3:17PM]

hi - just notice you hooked up your macbook and got it working - i tried the same and it worked on both my philips and sony plasmas but it both instances i had issues with getting the picture to fit the screen - 1920-1080 was a tad bit too big and i couldnt see my menu bar for osx and the program icons in the dock where a bit cut in half - the the smaller resolutions left screen realestate unfilled.. will the mac mine with dual core work more efficiently because the intel 950 chipset is made specifically with dvd-d in mind|?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 3:48PM]

Ben, did you use a DVI to HDMI cable or a DVI to HDMI converter and then an HDMI cable to the TV? Also, did you mirror the displays and did that slow down the playback of HD content? MY MacBook Pro is on order and I can't wait to try this!

[BenD Posted Mar 3rd 2006 3:53PM]

Dwight Mix,
My tv has DVI so I didn't need to use an adaptor but considering the similarities between DVI and HDMI it should work the same with an adaptor.

Yes I mirrored the display and I don't think it slowed the playback of HD content. The MacBook as more than enough power so it would have had to slow it down alot to be noticable. Either way it wasn't dropping any frames.

One more tip I will add is don't put any content in your Movies folder that QT can't play because Frontrow doesn't like it.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 4:03PM]

There is no HDMI/DVI conversion, it's merely a connector thing. HDMI is just DVI + coax digital audio in one connector. The voltage levels, nothing changes.

[mcaron1234 Posted Mar 3rd 2006 4:56PM]

Can any tell me what video formats front row will support play back of? DivX? mpeg-2? I can't seem to find any mention of this anywhere.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 3rd 2006 7:03PM]

any one know if this is also true for the Intel iMac with mini-DVI out?

[BenD Posted Mar 3rd 2006 8:06PM]

FrontRow seems to support anything that QT supports.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2006 2:12AM]

What about component video? I wonder how many hoops I have to go through to get it to display properly on my component-only 65" Mits.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2006 11:59PM]

I have connected (prev) a Dell XP laptop and presently a HP MCE to my LCD (via DVI) and in both cases, the Windows resolution panel offered me the 1280 by 768 option which is the TV's native resolution.

Note that this option is not normally available in the laptop (and I am guessing, neither in the HP). So, yes there is some communication from display to PC.

Thus, it works quite painlessly in the Windows world too (when dealing with DVI).

As an aside, nothing like a massive desktop =)

[BenD Posted Mar 5th 2006 12:13AM]

Kal,
That is prety nice but try a TV that doesn't support any res except 1920x1080i and let me know what it does.

[epobirs Posted Mar 5th 2006 4:51PM]

What it really comes down to is a computer vendor seeing HDTV support as a significant selling point. HDTV profiles are longstanding standards but PCs are intended to be versatile. All it takes is for ATI and Nvidia to support the needed modes in their drivers. The hardware has known how to handle the mode for a long time but that is only half the battle. Since both GPU vendors are hoping PC-based Media Centers will be a growth sector for them I expect they'll give HDTV more priority in the future. It's becoming mandatory for Windows Vista.

There is no particular reason why a current XP system cannot easily support HDTV output so long as the driver is up to snuff. The big difference in Vista is that HDTV support is becoming a requirement for WHQL approval. It was the appropriate point to make that transition. Before Vista it would have been difficult for Microsoft to make it a requirement without a lot of resistance from the vendors. This sort of thing is easier for Apple because they get to dictate everything in the box. So long as you stick with the stock video card (kind of hard to do otherwise in a Mini) you'll see the advantage. But in the DIY PC world it takes a lot more cooperation between companies. Such is the price of being able to make your own machine.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 2:23AM]

I think this is just more evidence that Apple is planning an easy-to-use HD movie/tv download service.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 12:20PM]

Matt: Frontrow is just a frontend for Quicktime, In theory as long as you have the proper components DivX/XviD/Mpeg-2 whatever should play

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 3:01PM]

Great to know. I hope it works the same with an Intel Mac Mini (no reason why it wouldn't). Question about the sound, though. Were you just playing a DVD w/ Dolby 5.1? What about an .avi with AC3 sound or an HD trailer w/ AAC 5.1 from Apples site? This is the last link that I've been waiting to find out about. On my G5 iMac, Quicktime won't pass-thru a Dolby audio stream w/ the optical digital out, but DVD Player will. I don't get it.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 5:30PM]

Big deal! for more than a year, i am able to hook my G4 powermac to my HDTV Optima RD50 without much problem using DVI.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 6:14PM]

For Matt,
Front Row will play whatever codecs that you give to QuickTime (to be precise, /Library/QuickTime). If you give DivX and mpeg-2 codec to QuickTime, they will be playable via Front Row.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 6:31PM]

And what codecs QT supports by default can be extended through additional QT Components. (e.g. you can download free DivX, XidD, MING, etc. QuickTime Components)

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 6:40PM]

Frontrow supports anything quicktime supports. I can view my divx/xvid/whatever files in there just fine with the correct codecs installed.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 6:53PM]

One thing to be aware of when connecting your Mac to a TV is that just because the different DVI standards are compatible doesn't mean the different DVI cables are.

I had a hell of a time when trying to connect a Mac mini to a Hitachi plasma. The Mac mini uses DVI-I which is compatible with both DVI-A and DVI-D, the connector on the back of it also fits both DVI-A and DVI-D cables. The plasma only takes DVI-D, no real problem there.

The problem was with the cable I used. It had the large field of pins on the one side, and then a flat blade on the other with four pins around it in a square. This fit just fine into the Mac, and seemed to fit into the plasma as well. The Mac even recognized that the plasma was there and gave me the model number and available resolutions, but the plasma couldn't see the mac. Eventually I discovered that the connector on the plasma didn't have those 4 pins around the flat blade. I pulled them out of the connector on the cable and that solved the problem.

What those pins were there for in the first place I don't know...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 7:10PM]

Hey there,

Using a Dell 5150 Inspiron (2 yrs old), XP and I had zero issues attaching it and displaying HD video (WMV HD)or playing DVD's in HD. This is not a world only MAC's can play.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 7:17PM]

That's cool that it "just works" -- but you are dealing with a brand new computer with a brand new version of the OS and brand new graphics drivers.

I have a MCE machine at home I built ... and recently put an ATI Radeon 9550 in, also installing the latest Catalyst drivers.

I moved it over to my Sony KD-XBR960 (34" HDTV w/HDMI) and it also just worked.

It booted into 480p ... I opened Catalyst and it was detecting "Sony HDTV" ... switched it to 1080i and 32bit color his OK and all is working perfectly.

I have had so much trouble in the past with bad drivers, etc..... but it seems ATI at least has worked out the HDTV issues nicely.

Do the new macs support component out with a dongle?

[BenD Posted Mar 6th 2006 7:30PM]

Thanks for all the comments, but many of you are missing the point.

My TV only accepts on HD resolution 1080i(if you care about SD you are on the wrong site), which is not a normal PC resolution. It has always been easy if your TV supports a number of other resolutions but mine doesn't which is what makes it difficult.

It has alwasy been possible to tweek the driver (no matter how trivial) or find a way to make it work.

But the point of this post is that in this case it "just worked".

I guess PC users don't understand because nothing has ever "just worked". On the other hand they did finally fix "Plug and Play" in Windows XP.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 7:58PM]

Just another data point: this works just fine with the DVI output from a Powerbook G4 (AlBook, fairly old) to a Sony HDTV with HDMI in. Don't buy the $150 DVI to HDMI cable from Belkin - you can get the exact same cable from a noname manufacturer for $25, and the image quality is exactly the same.

I'm severely bummed out that the TV overscans, so I can't see the menu bar at the top, but aside from that this setup is quite sweet - it's what we're using for DVD playback, since our old DVD player doesn't do 1080i.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 8:32PM]

Was wondering if you can surf the web while hooked up to the tv, through the tv?

Was thinking about getting a Mac Mini and wireless keyboard and mouse to hook up in the living room.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 8:53PM]

I see your point now, didnt read the bit about the tv being only 1080i. If i try that, will let you know. Glad for you that Apple took appropriate care of HTPC users.

One question, does the image seem "solid"? As in typically progressive?

How does a desktop get converted to interlaced and then converted back to progressive since i am guessing your HDTV display is non-crt.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 8:57PM]

One more thing, my HDTV accepts 480p, 720p and 1080i, but I run it at 1280 by 768 (native rez). And it just worked, like I said earlier.

My point is that I did not use any of the supported resolutions. As long as an HDTV has a digital display, XP + DVI seems to easily adapt to the Native rez of the panel.

May I ask whether your Mac works if you use the native rez of your panel, assuming again that it has one.

[BenD Posted Mar 6th 2006 9:38PM]

My TV is a CRT rear projection and it's native resolution is 1920x1080i.

Since it is interlaced it is hard to read text, but video looks great.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 6th 2006 9:40PM]

The 1080i output from my Powerbook G4 looks as solid as a progressive scan image. I presume that the TV is actually deinterlacing the video before it displays it, but I don't know for a fact that that's true - it may be simple persistence of vision that makes it work. But in any case, there's no evidence of the refresh beating against the flourescent lights in the house or any of the usual problems that we all remember from the days of interlaced CRTs.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 7th 2006 6:12AM]

I see, Ben. In that case, well done Apple.

i understand now why you so appreciate the ease of use. For a CRT, its a boon.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 7th 2006 8:34AM]

Can you play *smoothly* 1080i MPEG2 transport stream (.ts) content with the new Mac mini?
That was impossible with the previous G4 model.

What do you use to deinterlace (the TV set or VLC?)?

[BenD Posted Mar 7th 2006 9:17AM]

MJA,
Yes the new Dual core mini can smoothly playback 1080i MPEG2 with VLC.

The playback software unless you were feeding the TV 1080i like in my case then it doesn't get de-interlaced.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 11th 2006 5:48AM]

Ben,
What are the results trying to actually play 1080i and 720p content with this set-up, especially through H.264, VC1 or divx, xvid etc.?
I would love to set up a new Mac mini as a Media Center for my home entertainment system, but I read that without a brand-new graphic card, frames per sec would not be sufficient for smooth rendition of movies.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2006 11:28PM]

The question is, can I hook up my Power Point presentation and give it on a TV on a PAL system (Europe)? I must give several presentations in Spain next month, and don't know if this alternative to a projector will work. Please advise.

Thanks.

[motech Posted Mar 21st 2006 6:51PM]

whatever qt supports - so go donwload divx for quicktime and flip4mac
and install them, at this point front row will support most files.
(or try downloading fortytwo from version tracker, once you run this application it auto installs a bunch of codecs for quicktime)

regarding mac mini with dvi or hdmi ,
everytime i connect via dvi it fits the screen perfectly,
but with hdmi no matter wha i do i cant get it to fit perfectly.
vga also fits perfectly also so when hdmi doesnt fit thescreen
i usually have to resort to vga : (

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 25th 2006 11:57AM]

Just got the new Miglia TVmini HD and it works great with my new MacBook Pro. Can record HDTV over the air then edit out commercials and then display on my HDTV through the DVI output. Looks flawless on playback on my HDTV. If you have a new MacBook Pro, Intel Mac Mini or Intel iMac I highly recommend this. For around $200 you can have an HD PVR!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2006 1:50PM]

Hi,

Came across this web-site via google. I was wondering if you knew if the MacBook Pro could push out 1080p onto TV or not?

The image above shows a limitation of 1080i. Is that because of the TV or MacBook Pro? Please e-mail me back.

Thanks

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 30th 2006 10:11AM]

Ben,

What's your experience in running Front Row on your HD set with the MacBook's "lid-closed" mode? I just got a new plasma and now want a MacBook, but this will be the deal-breaker for me.

[BenD Posted Mar 30th 2006 10:41AM]

I didn't try it, but I am pretty sure it will work fine.
I know it works fine when connected to a external monitor, so I don't see how this would be any different.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 8th 2006 5:48PM]

thanks for the tip

one question that is not really clear
what kind of audio cable did you use?
or does the dvi cable include audio

i just ordered a dvi to hdmi cable to connect my mini to a HD LCD TV, do i need a seperate audio cable?

thanks for the info

[(Unverified) Posted May 9th 2006 3:35PM]

does anyone know where I can buy these cables I have a macbookpro and a sony 51" with what I think is HDMI can someone hook me up with links. thanks

[(Unverified) Posted May 19th 2006 12:38PM]

Any clue whether the new MacBook will display on an HDTV? I know they have the DVI out...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 29th 2006 3:13PM]

I havea 20" Cinema digital monitor. Can I use it with my Mac G4 to receive and play HDTV?