Mac Mini W/ DVI Projector???

I'm Interested in getting a DVI projector to use with my Mac mini. Is this possible? any suggestions?

Sorry for the delay in my answer,
Thanks a lot for your help. I'll try this this evening and tomorrow I'll respond tou.
Again, thanks for all.

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Mac mini, macbook + DVI to HDMI + projector = No soup for you!

This is driving me nuts!!! I have tried 3 different macs, 4 completely different cables/adapters and they all do exactly the same thing.
1. I connect the mac to the DVI to HDMI cable and/or adapter combo, then connect to the projector
2. I get 2-30 seconds of wonderful projector screen usage (it works, picture looks crystal clear)
3. Then POOF! No projector signal, though it appears mac recognizes the projector.
I can repeat from 1 using a different adapter and/or cable and I get exactly the same results, but if I re-use the same cable I used previously, I get no signal at all.
What the $%@! is going on here??? Is Apple black-listing my cables or something??? I'm using everything from cheap-o cables to $$$ cables with exactly the same result.I run this projector with absolutely no problem from a dell desktop via DVI to HDMI.
For what it's worth, I'm connecting to a LG HS201 projector.
using Core-2-duo macs either with pure DVI or mini-DVI

samberl wrote:
DVI to HMDI is not supported on the Core 2 Duo Mac Mini.
You need to connect via DVI or VGA to your projector.
I have had Core2Duo Mac minis working with Sony LCD TVs and a Toshiba Plasma via DVI to HDMI cables with no problems. Obviously audio has to be run separately. There have been many reports from others that this works. It should do since both DVI and HDMI support HDCP and both are digital video connections, this after all is why a simple DVI to HDMI cable works.
What can be an issue is if your trying to do things like 3D or YCbCr colour encoding. However standard video works fine. Another common issue is if your are switching inputs to the TV perhaps via an AV Receiver or if the TV is allowed to sleep or be turned off, in these cases the Mac can see the handshake signal disappear. It is for this sort of situation Gefen makes the DVI Detective+ and the HDMI Detective+.
Since in your case the common factor is your projector and not the computer or cables it might be it at fault. Early HDMI products did have HDCP handshaking problems.
People have been using Mac minis as media center computer with HDMI for ages since the Mac mini is small and quiet, this probably goes back as far as G4 models let alone Core2Duo models.

Mac Mini with DVI to video adapter REFUSES to display on TV!! Please help!!

I purchased an apple DVI to Video adapter - which says for Mac mini and power mac G5 on the package. However not matter what I do, I can't get a picture on my TV, I have tried on 2 TV's and I get nothing but blank screen on both, with occassional grey flicking.
I thought maybe the adapter was faulty so had it changed, the new one shows the exact same behaviour. I have started up in safe mode, with the TV connected and still nothing, I have reset the PRAM and still nothing. Trashed the windowserver plists - and still nothing!!
I have searched through the forums as much as I can and can't find any answers.
Someone please help me out and tell me what I'm doing wrong.
Thanks very much.
Naj

Hi Thesserax,
Thanks for your reply, however I have already tried your suggestions - my tv's do not let me switch manually between PAL/NTSC, and I am definately on the correct channel.
I also tried connecting it to the TV and VNC'ing into it to try to change the resolution, however I although I see the correct CRT resolution opions i.e. 800x600 and 1024x768 only, I notice that I don't see any tv specific options such as overscan, and that the rates are stuck at 60Hz (NSTC) - I am in europe so the tv is PAL 50Hz and the adapter is also labelled PAL.
Any other ideas, please?
Thank you

Mac Mini and DVI to ADC adapter

I have an old Apple Cinema Display with an ADC port. I have the DVI to ADC adapter, which I have been using to connect to an old Power Mac which is on its last legs. I want to replace the Power Mac with a mac mini and connect it to the display from the HDMI-DVI cable (included) to the DVI-ADC adapter, and then connect on to the Display. The Apple sales representative (after laughing for a while, which I thought was fairly insensitive) said that I won't have audio with this setup, and I will have to get a whole new display. Is this true?

when you say "Mac flat screen LCD", do you mean this:
http://www.ares-woo.com/christmas2005/images/pc_cine.jpg
if it is, you might wanna try this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

G4 mac mini via dvi to hdmi problems

I am trying to get my g4mac mini to work via a dvi to hdmi cable to a new sony lcd screen kld-46x2000. I can connect ok via the vga/pc input but the max resolution the lcd will support with the pc input is 1360x768. It is supposed to be one of the new true1080p screens that will support 1920x1080@60hz via the hdmi input. All I get when I try is a black screen and a message saying unsupported signal. Any ideas on how I can get this to work?

Assuming you actually have a KDL-46X2000, the manual clearly states that PCs should be connected to the PC input, so it sounds like Sony doesn't support what you are trying to do. And Apple of course doesn't claim the mini will work with all DVI displays, just most of them.
The G4 Mac minis are notorious for having issues with DVI-connected displays. You might try a third party application like SwitchResX to try and get the video settings to agree with your Sony.

Mac Mini and DVI-Video PAL Adapter no picture

Hello,
I have a mac mini g4 (late 2005) and the pal video-adapter to connect this thing to my tv however I don't get a picture out of this on the tv. In the system preferences I don't have the choice to a pal setting but just 800x600 in different colors and 1024x768.
When the mac boots with tv connected (s-video cable) I see some flickering but nothing comes out of it.
Any hints how to proceed here?
konstantin

After rebooting the mac mini with a vga-monitor connected, then unplugging that monitor and plugging in the tv adapter it is working.
If somebody could shed some light, what has happened there I would really be interested..
Konstantin

Trying to connection Mac Mini to HD Projector 100 ft away....

Is HDMI an option or will I need to go another route? Setting up a new HD Projector in a church sanctuary and want to get the best picture available out of it.

100 feet is near enough 30.5 metres. This is longer than HDMI or DVI would normally go, and also VGA. What you are going to have to do is use a product that converts the video signal to send it over different cabling and allows you to go a longer distance. I am listing an example product below, you would need a converter at each end, the following is for a pair.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cablesson%C2%AE-Extender-Ethernet-Single-network/dp/B003 XFSNSA/ref=pd_cp_ce_4

HT201173 mac mini hdmi dvi VAG connection problem.

It looks very similar, but doesn't fit a standard VGA cable? Do I need an adapter?

If the monitor has HDMI port(s) then just get an HDMI to HDMI cable.
Optionally you can also use a VGA connected monitor, but you will need a MiniDisplay Port to VGA Adapter connected up to the Thunderbolt port.
see > Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

HT2998 Hi, I try to conect Mac Mini from 2009 with my HD Tv Samsung F 6400 . With Mini Dvi conection and adapter to HDMI input in TV I got picture but not sound! I have analog cable from the phones out from mac but imposible to conect to TV? Can you HLP

Hi, I try to conect Mac Mini from 2009 with my HD Tv Samsung F 6400 . With Mini Dvi conection and adapter to HDMI input in TV I got picture but not sound! I have analog cable from the phones out from mac but imposible to conect to TV? Can you HLP?

You really need a newer Mac Mini with a true HDMI output, because that Mac Mini's DVI output does not support Audio.
You might try a 3.5mm to RCA adapter
from the Mac Mini's headphone jack to the TV's audio input,
but that would require being able to select the Audio input in the TVs menu while using it's HDMI input.
Optionally you could also use an external 2.1 Speaker System or patch the audio from the Mac Mini to your home stereo system to enhance that older Mac Mini's audio.

Mac Mini behaves poorly through DVI at 1920x1080 on HDTV displays

I recently purchased a Samsung LN-S4695D - a 46" LCD TV capable of 1080p with HDMI and VGA inputs. I've had been using my 23" Cinema Display + a Mac Mini G4 + Rotel Amp as the centerpieces of my Home Theater, and decided to change out the display to accommodate a gaming system and perhaps some other digital or component inputs (and, of course, nab a larger viewing surface). It seems like a fairly standard use of the Mini, but unfortunately many of us are running into disappointing results using our Minis as connected to an HDTV display. I'm writing here to see if we can clear up the issue with the mini and to attempt to identify reasonable workarounds or solutions until Apple gets the Mini right for HD home theater.
The current problem with the Mini and the Samsung TV/Display is that when the Mini is connected via DVI-HDMI (with a Monster 400 2m cable) to the display and asked to run at 1920x1080 (60hz NTSC) it does a reasonable job until it is required to refresh a lot of pixels (scrolling through album art in iTunes, playing DVD or other video, etc.). At that point, the screen fills with bands of static, and (if the rate of change is sustained) eventually looses the signal all together. With heavy scrolling operations, the signal returns as soon as scrolling stops, but with full-screen video it usually stays out until the mac resets its video resolution. Another article shows examples of this "DVI static" here:
http://www.freewebs.com/themagius/minidvipics.htm
So it is clear that the Mini and HDTVs don't play well at 1080 resolutions, as many of you have attested to. The samsung seems to do a better job than most with the Mini in that it it actually renders the 1080 as well as other resolutions, but flakes out on fast updates. While some other resolutions are also problematic, it is important to note that 1280x720 runs flawlessly on the Samsung, and is currently how I have mine set up (VGA input was too disappointing compared to DVI, though it scanned great and fit the image w/o over/underscanning.). Also, my Powerbook G4 1.25ghz (older than the mini) powers the Samsung perfectly at 1920x1080 as a secondary display, running DVD video or anything else that I throw at it, which leads me to believe that the mini is the problem. Here is another story very similar to mine that reports almost the same results with a Sharp LCD panel:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5940932
So I've three sets of questions for Apple and the rest of you on this forum:
1) Why does the Mac Mini underpeform with the LCD display? The Powerbook works great, and the mini works great with my Cinema display (also 1920x1080) - where is the disconnect between the Mini and the Samsung? I understand very little about the actual details of DVI signals being carried across the wire, and don't understand what would cause the Powerbook to succeed, but the Mini to falter.
2) Assuming the Mini video hardware is at fault, has Apple improved this with the new Core 2 Duo line? Has anyone had success where previous Minis or other Apple hardware failed at 1080? If not, is there any announced intention to make the hardware that is positioned as being most ideal for the living room (ie, Mac Mini) actually DVI/HDMI-compatible with the finest HD living room devices?
3) An unfortunate sideffect of the DVI connection to the TV is that it requires the image from the Apple device to be oversanned (about a menu-bar's worth of pixels disappear on each edge) or underscanned (2" of black space around the image). Is there a common industry standard to correct this? Who is managing the overscan - the TV or the Mini? Also, can any utility, such as ScreenResX correct this until Apple manages to build in correction options into the OS for their living-room devices?
Thanks for all the help! Hopefully we can outline clear answers here in this thread for everyone else having similar problems.
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Samsung LN-S4695D, Monster 400 DVI-HDMI 2m cable

David,
Great post. There's a lot to digest here. Let's get started!
The first question relating to noise, or static, over a TMDS (DVI) connection has to do with with the interoperability of various TMDS transmitters and receivers and how they are implemented. At this point in the market place there are thousands of combinations of transmitter/reciever pairings and obviously some are working better than others.
If you were to observe a TMDS signal with a scope there is something called the "eye" which is framed by the swing voltage and the bit time. When the eye collapses and is encroached upon, digital noise is the result. The noise margin is degraded by higher bit rates. That is why the mini and your TV are working at 720p but failing at 1080p...because the dot clock is that much higher for 1080p. The solution for cases such as this is to build a custom 1920x1080 timing that has reduced blanking, which allows for the lowering of the dot clock. Generally you can lower the dot clock sufficiently to get the noise to stop. LCD displays are relatively immune to reductions in blanking time so you can squeeze a lot out of a timing that was designed more with a CRT in mind.
To answer your second question, you can't fairly say the problem is with the mini. When you consider TMDS compatibility between two devices you have to take a whole system view. This includes not only the transmitter (mini) but the transmission line (PCB traces from the TMDS transmitter inside the mini to the mini's DVI connector -> the cable -> PCB traces from the DVI connector on the TV to the TMDS receiver in the TV), and the receiver. All three have to work together to make things come out right. You could probably just as easily find a display that works well with the mini that doesn't work with your PowerBook. It can be really had to pin the blame down to one device except in the most obvious cases where a certain device seems to be incompatible with just about everything. But I don't think the mini can be labeled that way. Compatibility is definitely an issue the industry still struggles with, especially at the higher clock rates approaching the 165MHz TMDS speed limit.
As for question 3, overscan is being forced by the TV, not by the mini. And, no, utilities like SwitchRes X and DisplayConfigX cannot be counted on to reliably deal with this except in the case of pure analog displays with magnetic deflection systems (e.g. old TVs and monitors). Once you have a digital processor involved and a matrix addressed display, tweaks to porch timings and blanking and such do not have predictable results. It seems to work in some cases but it is basically voodoo when it does. Purely luck.
If you want, I can help you to build a reduced blanking, 1080p timing that will most likely eliminate the DVI static. But you'll still be stuck with overscan. I should point out that a lot of manufacturers are starting to "get it" with respect to the public's desire to attach computers to their hi-def LCD televisions. I see a real shift in 2006 models. I believe the current crop of FHD (Full HD; native 1080) LCDs from the three "S" companies (Samsung, Sharp and Sony) all can display 1080p bit-for-bit now, meaning no overscan. So at least that is changing for the better. Write back if you want help with the timing.
Cheers. And thanks for starting this great thread.

Possible to use iMac 27" as monitor for PPC Mac Mini (DVI)?

This question appeared on the support community, about 4 years ago, but the adapter mentioned as a solution is now discontinued.
DreadnoughtNov 14, 2010 12:27 PM
I have an old PPC-based Mac Mini that I would like to connect to my new iMac 27", but my Mac Mini has DVI output and the iMac 27" has Mini DisplayPort input. Is this the only way to connect a PPC Mac Mini (or any DVI device) to the iMac 27"?
http://www.atlona.com/Atlona-DVI-to-Mini-DisplayPort-Converter-p-17859.html
I am in the same exact situation, and would appreciate any suggestions!
Thanks!

Sorry, no the MM is simply too old. Please read Apple's FAQ on Target Display Mode and you will see:
Target Display Mode: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Mac Mini MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA issue

Hi all,
We have a brand new Mac Mini in our office (not the one in my sig) connecting to a VGA projector via a MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA adapter. When the Mac Mini reboots the projector loses connection and it can take multiple reboots, repeated plugging/unplugging of all cables and a frustratingly long time to get video back up and running. We've tried usual tricks like applying all outstanding software updates and resetting PRAM, SMC etc.
Anyone got any ideas?
Regards,
RT.

Richipedia wrote:
Hi all,
We have a brand new Mac Mini in our office (not the one in my sig) connecting to a VGA projector via a MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA adapter. When the Mac Mini reboots the projector loses connection and it can take multiple reboots, repeated plugging/unplugging of all cables and a frustratingly long time to get video back up and running. We've tried usual tricks like applying all outstanding software updates and resetting PRAM, SMC etc.
This does seem to unfortunately be a universal problem on the new Mac mini with VGA screens.
The apparent best workaround is to boot the Mac without the adapter connected, then after it has finished booting plug the adapter in.
If you can you could try using DVI instead, many projectors support DVI as well.

Mac Mini HDTV

Have 2005 Mac Mini with DVI-I connector. Have a 2009 Toshiba HDTV 15" with component, composite and S Video connections. Have found DVI-I to component adapter thru amazon.com. Will the Mac Mini video card support that configuration? What's my best bet? Component adapter or buy Apple's DVI to Composite/S video and add cable?

Toshiba 15LV506-T
User Manual http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?ct=SB&os=&c ategory=&moid=2805126&rpn=undefined&modelFilter=15LV506-T&selCategory=2797337&se lFamily=2797340
There is a picture size menu - Theatre Wide 1 seems to be the best setting for the computer, but of course its contrived and stretches the sides, looking unnatural. Also, when you switch between video (the S video from Mac Mini) and television, it doesn't save the settings.
I clicked on the green resize function in Safari and its all screwed up. The images of the web pages are displayed way off to the right. You can drag your way to the images but can do little else. This is my father's set up and trying to add "resize" to bookmarks bar but can't remove any to make room. "open book" doesn't appear on bookmark bar.
Firefox acts fine.
Thanks for your help.

Mac Mini (not Thunderbolt) to Thunderbolt display

Dear apple friends,
I jumped into the Apple world a few months ago now, with a lot of pleasure.
Still, I have some pending problems:
I have a Thunderbolt display and a Mac Mini (old generation, old square-ish display port) + a Windows PC (tower)
I have also an adapter to connect the Mac Mini to DVI or VGA which I used before with a "normal" screen.
I'm currently connecting solely my MBP Early 2011 to the Thunderbolt display, great!!!
I'd like to do the same with my old Mac Mini and my Windows PC (DVI or VGA)
Is there any easy way to connect each one to the display alternatively or EVEN better all of them to the display and switch between them.
I know, I must get rid of em all but I still need them for the moment.
Any help will be extremely appreciated.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Cheers
NRJ

The MacMini should be able to connect to it natively using the mini-display port.
The PS3 will need an HDMI to mini-display port adapter. Belkin and Kanex make such adapters.

Widescreen TV resolution (unsupported?) intel mac mini

I'm having problems setting the mac mini up to my tv, i'm in the uk so no HD yet but the resolutions the mac mini with dvi-component adapter is displaying only have 4x3 aspect ratios, so when watching widesreen tv or movies it double letterboxes them. Is there any way i can force the mac mini to display at 1024x576 rather than just giving me the options of 720x576, 800x600 and 1024 x 768. I remember on older mac with older monitors there was abutton in teh system prefs which allowed you to display resolutions that might not be supported is there any way around this?
It doesn't appear to be the tv as when hooked up to a powerbook the display options are far greater and include 16x9 meaning tv and movies are displayed full screen.
On the plus side it is seriously fast, with handbrake in universal binary it runs 3-4 times faster than my powerbook, 15fps on the 1.67ghz pbook and 60fps on the mac mini, which compares well to 37fps average on a mates dual 1.8ghz G5 nice.

I have the same sort of problem with a brand new Dual Core Mac Mini and a Pioneer Elite PRO-710HD. The TV is quite capable of handling 1080i input via the VGA/RGB jack, but the Mini won't give me 1920x1080 as a resolution option. I've currently got it set to 640x480, which displays fine, but I really want the higher resolution to work.
If anyone can point me to a guide to hacking the display settings tables that Display Preferences uses to figure out what a particular display is capable of, that would be great. I tried the restart with cmd-opt-a-v and that didn't change the available options (which are many, btw, but none with 1080 as a vertical resolution option, 1050 and 1200 being the closest and they don't work).
Cheers,
-Sam

Mac Mini W/ DVI Projector???

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