Convert iMac to LCD Monitor

I wont be doing it for a few years yet, but I was just wondering if it was possible to convert the 1G Aluminum iMac to a standalone LCD monitor. Because it was a beautiful screen in it and would like to use it on my new computer once the iMac is useless. Is it possible?

It's "possible," given sufficient electrical hacking skills. It would be a difficult and ugly process. In other words, there is no plug on the iMac that turns it into an regular display.
would like to use it on my new computer once the iMac is useless
By the time that iMac is "useless" as a computer, the lamps lighting the LCD will have dimmed somewhat, so the display may not look quite as great as it does now. When you do get a new computer that needs a display, it is likely that the iMac will still be more valuable than a reasonable LCD display. Sell the iMac and buy a new bright LCD. Or better yet, get the 8-core 10 GHz iMac with Mac OS 11.x that will be the new model by that time.

Similar Messages

Convert iMac to separate monitor/internals?

So my monitor on my 2007 21.5" iMac is failing. I have blotches and dark vertical lines all over the place. It's a mess. Its obviously out of warranty and I. Not sure I want to pay $$$ to have it replaced. I'd rather get a MacBook.
However, Im wondering if anyone has done a conversion if an iMac internals to a pc/monitor as separate parts. So I could use one of my other LCD monitors. I realize I could use an external display but I don't really have the room for 2 screens on my desk.
So... Is this possible? Thanks.

Guess not, dang. Haha.

IMac 400 VGA Out to LCD Monitor works but CRT Display is Black

Hello.
Our church has an iMac 400 with the VGA out port in the back. We connect the iMac an LCD projector to display PowerPoint presentations.
Intermittently, the iMac's CRT display works, then the next time it may not work. Some Sunday mornings it won't work at all, though the desktop can be seen on the screen overhead because the Mac is sending the signals to the LCD projector, which worksf ine. If I disconnect the VGA cable and boot the iMac, then the display works perfectly. Everytime.
I've changed the VGA cable twice, thinking it was bad, but there is no consistent rhyme or reason why this occurs. Some Sundays, both the CRT and the LCD projector work as they should. Other times, only the projector works.
The VGA port always works because the LCD projector always displays the desktop. But the screen on the iMac itself is used as a viewing monitor of sorts for the speaker, and we need it to work properly (the speaker faces the iMac, while the screen for the LCD projector is over his head and behind him).
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
RW Harris, Pastor
Crossview Community Church
CrossviewChurch.com
iMac DV 400 Mac OS X (10.4) 1 gig RAM

It sounds like you may already have the answer in your post... Dual Link versus "not compatible"
The only other thing I can suggest is to connect them up, then go to System Prefs --> Displays --> Detect Displays
That works for me when it doesn't connect immediately - but then again most of the time my display notices the input immediately

External 1080p LCD Monitor with Intel iMac

I have a 17" Intel iMAC. I would like to connect it to a new 40" 1080p LCD Monitor/TV. With the mini-DVI cable, and DVI to HDMI cable, will I be able to view 1920X1080 resolution on the external monitor? Will I be able to use both mirror and extended display modes? I am aware the internal graphic card can support up to 1920X1200 resolution.
Thanks.
iMAC Intel Dual Core Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Welcome to the discussions!
You should be able to see it in the full 1920 x 1080 resolution. You can use either mirrored or extended desktop, but not both at the same time. It is an "either/or" proposition.
Does this new display have a DVI port? I would use that if possible. I understand that HDMI is digital, but you will not get a better picture by using it over standard DVI. HDMI is DVI plus audio.

Sansung LCD Monitor mirroring

I have a new HP Pavilion M6-1045dx laptop using Window 7/64-bit. My 8-yr old widescreen Samsung Syncmaster 226cw monitor will not "mirror" the laptop display. The monitor is connected via an adapter which is a DVI-I female-to-VGA Male video converter. The female end is connected to the monitor and male end to laptop. How do I enable this monitor to work with this laptop so that I can choose to use both displays at the same time or choose just the monitor(preferred)? I am not using a wireless setup. I need step-by-step detailed instructions. I feel it must be a simple fix but I am not sure. This is my first post on this excellent forum. Thanks in advance!

TrailTrim wrote:
My iMac 24 LCD screen is damaged to the point where it is basically worthless. I have attached an external monitor via a VGA adaptor. Problem...since I cannot see the screen, I cannot get into system preferences to select "detect displays". Is there any way for the computer to detect the external monitor automatically?
The last message of this thread may help:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6909570

IMac Display as Monitor for PC

I have an iMac 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, OS X 10.6.2 and an old Dell Pentium III 933 MHz which I would love to somehow connect together. I am considering to install Linux on my Dell and use both computers for different reasons. I wonder if I would be able to use my iMac like a monitor for the old PC.
I have come across the following discussions but it seems that they don't cover my case, i.e., an old Dell that does not have a port for a display port.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2246912
Any suggestions and thoughts would be most appreciated.

Ron-
There are more details here--
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2205633&start=30&tstart=90
--but the basic problem is that you need a DisplayPort signal to drive the iMac monitor. You can convert a digital DVI output (or HDMI which is the same thing with audio and a different physical connector) to DP format with an expensive converter, but there is no way to convert an analog VGA signal to DP format. The cheaper but more complicated solution for a PC with DVI output, and the only solution for one with VGA output, is to replace your video card with a DisplayPort or Mini-DisplayPort card. Mini-DisplayPort has the same signal but a smaller physical connector.
This was not actually Apple being arbitrary: DisplayPort is more efficient and less expensive than DVI/HDMI because it dispenses with a lot of the conversion hardware needed for that format. Therefore Apple couldn't provide DVI/HDMI compatibility without increasing the iMac cost substantially.
-JAFDC

External display HD LCD monitor vs HD LCD TV ??

Hello All
I'm needing to up-grade me second display and, have been shopping around.
In my shopping I'm getting mixed thoughts, I finding HD monitors and HD TV's so, I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction, I'm finding HD monitors in the area of $200. but, all the HD TV's $300. + , is there any real advantage of one over the other ?
I know just going with a standard LCD monitor would not be a good option, it's the HD monitors
that added to my future purchase confusion.
Thanks for any advice and or recommendations

They will probably both do as monitors. The Acer is a Computer Multisync Monitor, claiming to have a full resolution of 1920x1080. It is probably a progressive scan device, with some image processing on board, since they claim "Max. Refresh Rate 60Hz" on the Acer web site, so if you'll preview interlaced video on it, it may have the artifacts associated with standard poor or nonexistent de-interlacers. But it maybe o.k., specially if you are going to output most of your work for the internet, true Multisync Monitor maybe a good thing.
The Samsung is almost a TV set. It appears to be a 1680x1050 monitor. The bells and whistles appear to be associated with the HDTV tuner. As an ATSC tuner, it will have to tune the standard US ATSC channels and decode the standard 18 ATSC formats, including 640x480i30, 704x480i30/p24/p30/p60, 1280x720p24/p30/p60 to 1920x1080i30 and 1920x1080p24/ p30. But all this is converted into the monitor native 1680x1050xwhatever scan rate. From the HDMI inputs it will probably depend on drivers running on the graphics card on the MAC. Make sure that they have MAC drivers for this one, often they have just Windows drivers for these monitors.
I have a 26" Samsung, without the tuner and speakers, as my second monitor, to preview TV destined footage. It's resolution is 1920x1080, and it does an excellent job to show any artifacts that would show on TV.
I would recommend seeing the inputs before ordering the monitor on the WEB, because the most important characteristics are usually unavailable reading the specs. Also check about MAC driver availability.
Best of luck.

Philips 22inch lcd monitor for mac pro

hi there,
I have recently bought a philips 22 inch lcd monitor (220WS8) for my mac pro, but everytime when i start up the system, it keeps booting up with my old display setup (which was my old 15 inch monitor) and having a big black area on the right.
I have to reset it back to 1680 X 1050 everytime when i startup my system.
I was reading the manual and it suggest resetting the PRAM while starting up the system. That worked, but if I have to do this everytime when i turn on my computer, this is really annoying.
I was wondering if anyone has experienced this or know the solution to this?
* by the way I am currently using the dvi > vga converter at the moment.
Thanks
Thomas

Hello:
That's interesting. The first time I experienced the problem I was using a vga cable also. I've since switched to dvi.
I've had some strange issues with the 10.4.9 update though. Aside from the video problems the machine was logging itself off every few hours, some disk images ( .dmg and .iso ) refusing to mount, slowness and some USB devices acting strangely. I took it ( 10.4.9 ) off and everything is working great again. Some people have told me it's the 2007-005 security update causing the havoc.
Being an old windows machine convert I am used to straightening out software ( and hardware ) problems. I'd like to experiment and find out what is causing the issues, but I don't have enough spare time to tinker right now. My time is much better spent tending my web sites. The main reason I bought the Mac was to save time, knuckles and aggravation and so far it's done a great job of handling the work load demanded of it. I see now why Mac owners consider their Mac their friend.

FrameMaker and LCD Monitors

Hello,
Just wanted to get your thoughts/opinion(s) as writers in using FrameMaker on LCD monitors. Specifically, I've used word processing and desktop publishing programs on CRT monitors for years. I've never had any problems whatsoever. Recently, my employer provided me with a 20 inch widescreen LCD monitor. I'm now having a difficult time with it because of the higher resolution (e.g., headaches and the like). As you all know, a lower resolution only distorts or stretches desk on LCD monitors (which is why I guess I've avoided these monitors for so long). Please note, I have bad eyesight and wanted to see if others may have ideas to address this issue. I've given the monitor two weeks and things haven't improved. I'm just concerned/frustrated because I know the world is going in the direction of LCD monitors.
For a solution, I've thought about a square like LCD monitor; maybe at 17 inches to address the problem. But I'm wondering if I'll still be at the mercy of the native resolution. Just to let you know, I've tried all the display scenarios to address the problem (i.e., appearance, settings, dpi) without success. Just miss the 800/600 resolution I had in the past due to my bad eyesight.
Any ideas or thoughts are most appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.
Paul

Paul...
Here are some ramblingthoughts on your issue. They expand on the good advice you've already received, and thus do not dispute what others have said.
Make certain your drivers for the graphics card are the latest and greatest. This is the first step you should take. You probably have already done that. If not, go do it. But check the next paragraph first.
If your graphics card has a DVI output, by all means use it. If it doesn't, opt for a different graphics card, preferably one with two DVI outputs, known as a dual-head graphics card. I address this again below.
Life is too short to drink cheap wine. It's also too short to spend a professional career working with inadequate computing resources, especially when you consider the cost of the capital outlay versus the salaries and the wasted time fooling around trying to make things right. If your employer has artificial limits on spending, go make a business case for better gear.
You already seem to understand the concept of the monitor's native resolution. High resolution monitors are best for image processing, when programs like Photoshop are used to edit photographic images. For text-based work, they're the wrong way to go, as you've discovered. Part of the problem is that many web pages and all operating systems seem to be stuck with a one-size-fits-all set of icons, menus, page sizes and the like. With Windows, you get two choices of text size, but those choices don't apply to all text instances and only in the operating system, not in the applications that run on top of the application. So driving a high resolution monitor at its native resolution results in tiny text, icons and the like. I get some email messages that I cannot read because the very popular marketing company that creates them uses what must be 4 point typefaces.
I have dual 20.5" Samgung monitors with 1600x1200 native resolution on two of my workstations. They're beautiful monitors, but I would trade even-up for the same monitor with 1280x960 native resolution. One thing that's nice about LCDs, by the way, is this. If you get ones that pivot clock- or counter-clockwise, and many do, you can easily run them in portrait mode by rotating them and changing the settings for the driver. My FrameMaker workstation has one monitor set to landscape orientation and the other to portrait mode. Try setting a 17" CRT on its sidegood luck!
LCD monitors will ONLY look their best when the image is displayed at their native resolution, or perhaps in some cases, at a submultiple of the native resolution. For example, a 1600x1200 monitor might look OK when the graphics card is set to 800x600. In my case, that makes the icons and windows appear too large, though. Something in-between is best for me. I doubt, however, that you have a 840x525 choice, but if you do, try it.
Sheila asks about your video cable. An LCD monitor *should* be driven by a graphics card with a DVI (digital) output. Otherwise, the signal must be converted to analog (VGA) and back to digital for display purposes. Since the image is inherently digital to begin with, converting to analog video and then back to digital has its obvious drawbacks. I'm not sure if a modern graphics card can properly identify the connected monitor though a VGA cableit's been so long since I used a CRT and a VGA card that I've forgotten.
A CRT monitor also has a "native resolution" based on the pitch of the phosphor triads and the shadow mask in the tube. Because that was an analog interfaced world, and CRTs are relatively "soft" compared to LCDs, the effects of non-native scan rates and resolution settings were not as troublesome or as obvious as they are for LCD screens. Once you get the settings right on your LCD display, though, you will NEVER consider going back to a CRT display.
It's probably too late to lobby for this, but if I were you, I would strive to get a "dual-head" graphics card, one with two DVI outputs, and put two identical monitors side-by-side. Once you've experienced a dual-monitor setup, you will never be happy with just one screen.
Setting the graphics card resolution for a 16:10 aspect ratio in any other than the native resolution of the monitor will result in "aliasing" artifacts, which may be what you mean by "distortion." The simplistic way to describe the aliasing effect is that some elements of a character inevitably fall in the "cracks" between pixels. When the image resolution setting matches the native resolution, the video data from the card "lines up" perfectly with the pixels, giving the most accurate representation. The other type of distortion that you may be referring to is due to a mismatch of the aspect ration associated with an image resolution setting versus the aspect ratio of the screen. In such situations, a "truly" round circle would appear elliptical on the screen. This is what Winifred is describing. You cannot expect acceptable results with any graphics card setting whose resolution aspect ratio is , relative to the display, mismatched. You must use a setting that corresponds to the 16:10 ratio.
Another way to understand the artifacts associated with aliasing is to imagine viewing a checkerboard through a piece of wire fencing with a square pattern laid on top of it. When the size of the squares in the fencing material are the same as the checkboard squares, you can make things line up and see all of the checkerboard. If the screen wire is a different size, then there's no way to place the wire over the checkerboard without covering some of the squares with wirethat is, unless the pattern in the fence is twice the size of the square, ot four times, and so on.

IMAC G4 LARGER MONITOR?

I just ordered a Imac G4 15'' monitor. I definitely want a larger screen lol. The 15 was the cheapest so that's why I bought it.
Is it possible to get a larger screen for it? I would prefer 20 or larger if possible. Where's the best place to look and is it easy to install as is with a pc?
Thanks.
This is my first mac.

Unfortunately, the only way to "upgrade" the LCD on an older iMac G4 is to purchase another iMac of this type. There were two other versions that Apple manufactured.
A 17" LCD model and 20 " LCD model. The screens are part of the entire unit.
iMacs are considered all-in-one type computers systems.
You cannot swap LCD panels between these models and there is no way to attach a larger, secondary
external LCD panel for use.
Sorry.

Old Aquablue G3 iMac as a monitor?

Folks, I'm as dumb as a box of rocks, never more so than when it comes to computers. That established, I recently bought a Mac mini and hoped to use my old G3 iMac as a monitor. The 'poser' at Compuserve sent me home with all manner of expensive cables and adapters and thought, "in theory", that it could be done. Can it? If so, what do I need?
Thanks in advance,
Rick

Well theoretically this would be possible and it really depends on which iMac we're talking about.
On the iMac tray loader CPU speeds 233-333 the video comes out of the back of the mass store/logic sled. It's the old Mac standard connector and to make this work you'd need to feed the male plug that plugs into that sled. So you'd need a VGA to Mac female adapter. I actually think I have one of those. That would be easy to make work.
Now for the iMac Slot loaders CPU 350 - 700 that would be a much bigger problem. You could probably make it work but it would require extensive disassembly of the iMac. The feed to the video section of the iMac comes off the back of the logic board from underneath and feeds RGB Cable 992-4034 which is normally screwed to the divider panel. So to make that work a special cable would have to be made up. So probably not worth the trouble.
I'd just look for a regular VGA monitor. Around here Apple Studio monitors and the old large CRTs are going for nothing and even first generation LCD monitors are going for very cheap. That would be a great way to go. Otherwise go out and buy a Apple Cinema monitor like the 20" and really go in style.
Richard

Connecting LCD Monitor to lenovo n100 0768-ffg

Hello
I recently purchased a new LCD monitor (Samsung syncMaster t220)
I have connected it to the VGA port in the computer.
and what i get is a yellow picture!
how can I solve this?
please help
Message Edited by dshmidt on 02-09-2009 01:21 PM

If your laptop LCD do not display a yellow tinge, then the most likely the vga adapter on your laptop probably have a bad connection or have dirt in it. There is the option of getting a port replicator, which i believe have a vga out port, or a cheap
usb2vga converter box, which can be bought for a cheap price over the net.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Can i use my new 2011 21.5 inch imac as a monitor for my ps3?

hey guys well i really want to use my 21.5 inch imac as a monitor for my ps3 i know that there are devices such as the kanex xd and some belkin thingy that converts hdmi to mini display port, but guys i really want to know
thanks for your help!!
much appreciated

Have a read at this thread with almost same questionhttps://discussions.apple.com/message/16550956#16550956
Currently no solution but hopefully in the future.
The Kanex XD only works with earlier iMacs not with ThunderBolt until Kanex updates it.
Stefan

I'm using a viewsonic 19" LCD monitor with a powermac 7100/66. The only resolution available in the monitor control panel is 640x480. The viewsonic gives me a message to use 1440x900. The mac specs state it's capable of 1152x870 @ 8 bit. Help!

I'm using a viewsonic 19" LCD monitor with a powermac 7100/66 running Mac OS 7.6.1. The only resolution available in the monitor control panel is 640x480. The viewsonic gives me a message to use 1440x900. The mac specs state it's capable of 1152x870 @ 8 bit. How can I get a higher resolution?

For unsupported resolutions, one may need to see if there are any software
solutions; maybe the minimum specs of the display are not met by an 8-bit
color specification of the video card in the computer.
Does the display support two kinds of connections, another one, plus VGA?
Could be the display needs some other support for it to work. Drivers?
VRAM? A different control panel and (third-party) software?
The limits may vary due to the VRAM on the card. With enough there, and
with a VGA connection (or supported converter to/from older Mac DB-15)
and the video graphics card with minimal supported specs will show that.
Been several years since I've run any PowerMac, & only used a variety of
Apple CRT color displays with them. Most times, they were very adequate.
A wider array of original choices appeared in the Displays control panel...
So I suspect the lack of video support in the graphics card or VRAM, to be
a player in this resolution limit you see in the control panel. A later CPU/GPU
and better hardware, later Mac OS, offered greater support for newer driver
along with better results.
There may not be a workable upgrade to a different graphic video card for
that old a vintage computer; or if there was one, to locate that now may be
a next-to-impossible mission. Was there any hints in the web site for older
Macs, the LowEndMac site, or others? Some are no longer current sites.
In any event...
Good luck & happy computing!

6100 PPC connect to a modern LCD monitor

For old timers. Believe it or not, I have an exhibit that has several video game type interactives run by several 6100 PPCs. I don't know exactly what type: 6100/60, 66 or AV. They run mid-1990s Apple monitors that look great after over ten years of use. I'd like to remove the Apple CRTs and replace them with modern LCD monitors, but I don't know if a 12 or 13 year old computer (especially a low-end version to start with) will run them. I have a PPC 9600/300 and a Beige G3/266 to take parts from, if that's useful. The G3 has an extra PCI video card. The 9600 came with a separate video card I think. I hope the 6100 is running OS9. I'd like to keep using the 6100s for reasons that are beyond the scope of this forum. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
MGuilfoile

You can hook an LCD up to the built-in video port on your 6100s without a new video card. The LCD will be able to run at least as well as your original displays. They may run even at a higher resolution, but that isn't guaranteed. You won't loose any capability with this change but you will need an adapter to use an LCD.
If you happen to be replacing Apple AudioVision 14 displays (how could you!!), you might not have any adapters to start with. But if you had any other display, you should have adapters that convert the rather large port on the back of your 6100s (called HDI-45) to a typical Mac monitor port. You can get an additional adapter that goes from the typical Mac monitor port to a VGA port, the port that your LCD will have. So it will go LCD -> VGA to standard Mac adapter -> Standard Mac to HDI-45 adapter -> 6100.
You also could get one adapter that goes directly from VGA to the HDI-45 port on the back of the 6100s, but I'd recommend the dual adapter method if you already have the first adapter. That's the way I always did it and it left me the option of using any kind of monitor, VGA, Mac, or AudioVision.
If you do choose to install a video card, this will allow you to get higher resolutions and more colors on your LCD, beyond where you were before. You must also get a right-angle adapter for this card because the 6100 requires the card to be installed sideways unlike the 7100 and 8100. This adapter is somewhat hard to find. A Sonnet Crescendo G3 upgrade card can serve as a right-angle adapter but those are kind of pricey.
Note that some video cards are NuBus and some are PDS. You need the proper right-angle adapter. The Sonnet Crescendo G3 upgrade card works with PDS video cards. (Most video cards for the 6100 are PDS.) Some right angle adapters are yet a third kind of strange slot intended to be used with a DOS card. These will not work with any video cards I am aware of.
Please check out this wonderful 6100 website, if not for reference, at least for fun:
http://www.kan.org/6100/
It explains graphics upgrades in fine detail.

Convert iMac to LCD Monitor

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