Panasonic 42px50u & Mac Mini

I am in the market for a Mac Mini and was wondering if anyone here has successfully hooked one up to a 42px50u? If so, what are your settings and are you getting 1080i?
Thanks!

I bought my mac mini to specifically hook-up to my 42px50u. I also picked up a DVI to HDMI cable. It was a little expensive. I connected the audio to my existing reciever. The mac mini recognized the TV and among the resolutions to choose from was 720 as well as 1080i. I assume the 720 is 720p. My preference so far is the 720. I had been using an older DVD player and had not been pleased with the image quality. The plasma is now displaying the image I bought it for.
MBP 15" Mac OS X (10.4.6) Mac mini 1.5 solo iPod shuffle

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Mac mini HDMI 1080p SUCCESS with Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ81B

I recently purchased a Panasonic TH-50PZ81B. This is a UK model with a built-in satellite ("Freesat") receiver, and displays full 1080p and uses a 1920 x 1080 native panel. I used to connect my Mac mini HTPC to a Sony 42" plasma by VGA, and the Panasonic has a VGA input which displays 1,368 x 768 out of the box - no SwitchResX. It's decent. But, I wanted the "full" 1080p so bought the Belkin DVI-HDMI cable. Like a lot of people I got the choice of either the big black bars all around, or enabling "overscan" in Displays which would fill the screen, but, well, overscan! I spent all morning playing with SwitchResX and it just wasn't working (and the instructions at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=751713 bothered me in that it seems to suggest you need to increase the resolution so it wouldn't be 1:1 pixel mapping). I tried to look at the service menu but it wasn't obvious what to do so I left it alone, and there is no manual picture adjustment like there was on my old Sony. Urgh.
But, by chance I noticed in the TV's Menu -> Settings menu on page 2 there is an option for Picture Overscan, which was turned on. I turned if off, and just like that got full 1080p 1:1 pixel mapping.
So, that's Mac mini with overscan ON. Use the great (weird) advice from Adam Nash to enable the Display menu bar item as seen here:
http://blog.adamnash.com/2008/01/24/yes-you-can-get-1080p-out-of-a-mac-mini/
It works - you have two identical-looking outputs but your TV will tell you one is 1080i and the other is 1080p.
On the TV settings go Menu -> Settings -> Picture Overscan and make sure it's OFF. Done!
I don't know if other Panasonic screens are similar but I can tell from the frustration on other posts - which I shared, believe me - that there are a lot of people with this issue wondering why SwitchResX is so non-intuitive etc. so I am hoping that for all those people who know how to use Google, this will show up in their searches.

I decided to post in the display forum because it was fine outputing via DVI-HDMI to a 1368*768 TV, and also fine via D-sub to the Full HD TV (although at 1368*768, but that's the limitation of the TV)
But thanks for your advice. I'll post there as well

No picture when connecting Mac Mini GMA 950 to Panasonic TX-PF42G10 via HDM

Hi !
I have a Mac Mini Core Duo 1,66 GHz with GMA950 chipset (MacMini1,1 sold from february 2006 to september 2006) which I was using as a Plex mediacenter connected to an old CRT display via an s-video adapter.
I purchased a brand new Panasonic TX-PF42G10 plasma screen the other day, and for the life of me I can't get my Mini to feed anything to the HDMI inputs via a DVI/HDMI cable.
When I remotely connect to my Mini with ARD or VNC, I can see it successfully detects I have a "Panasonic-TV" and lets me choose 1920x1080 either in 24Hz, 50Hz or 60Hz. I tried all three : no picture.
Tried connecting this Mini via the VGA input: works fine.
I tried to install SwitchResX but I don't really know what to do with it. Tried to install Snow Leopard too, but it didn't help either.
YET I FOUND SOMETHING RATHER INTERESTING.
I have another more recent Mini (one of the new 2009 models), hooked up to a Samsung T240HD display via DVI. Since this display also has an HDMI input, I tried to connect the other, older Mini to it. And then... the Samsung display wouldn't let me pick the HDMI input from the source menu!
I thought "***???", and then I tried to connect the newer Mini to this HDMI input: works great! I then kept the HDMI end connected to the display, unplugged the DVI end from the newer Mini and plugged it back to the older Mini : BINGO, picture at last...... except the display kept showing a "No signal, check cable" message (even though it was displaying my Mini desktop!).
So I thought "OK, some handshaking problem I guess". I unplugged the HDMI connector from the Samsung display and replugged it immediately: like I thought, once more the display wouldn't let me pick the HDMI input!
So I guess this is the same problem I'm having with the Panasonic plasma: this older Mini is unable to tell the TV that it is connected to it, even though it can perfectly read the TV specs. I've had no time to check what happens if I connect the newer Mini to the Panasonic plasma, but I'd bet it will work just fine.
So basically, my question is: will I ever be able to use this old Mini of mine with this shiny new plasma screen, or will I have to purchase another 2009 Mini? Is there anything I can do with SwitchResX? If so, what should I try?
Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Sounds quite possibly like the Panasonic enforces HDCP over its HDMI inputs and the older GMA950 equipped mini is unable to oblige.
That's what I thought too, as the newer Mini works just fine with my two screens, using the very same cable I used with the older Mini. Bugger...
FYI, I tried 720p : no picture either.
Does the Panasonic's user guide make reference to making computer connections over HDMI? It could be that only one of the HDMI inputs on the TV is designated for computer input, e.g. only one of the TV's HDMI inputs can work from a non-HDCP compliant source.
I do think I tried all 3 inputs, and the user manual never suggests that one of them is designated for computer input (I know some Samsung screens work that way, but this Panasonic doesn't seem to). Anyway, I'll give it a try once more, but I have little hope...
Meanwhile, I connected my Mini via VGA, 1366x768 resolution. Not too bad when viewed from the sofa, but it kills me not to be able to use the digital input...
Thanks for your replies, though

Mac mini minidvi to hdmi does not display correctly new Panasonic TC-L37D2

Hi,
I have the 2009 mac mini (2.2GHz cor 2 duo nvidia 9400 256mb) and I recently purchased the Panasonic TC-L37D2 LED LCD tv. I use the mini dvi to dvi adapter with a belkin dvi to hdmi cable I purchased at the apple store to connect the mac mini to the tv. I cant seem to get the display to correctly fill the screen. When I select 1080P the top menu bar is out of view. Basically the desktop is larger than what is displayed on the screen making navigation difficult. I tried overscan but my screen then has black bars framing the entire desktop. Are there any updated display drivers I can try to fix this. I tried the third party software switchresx but I was only able to correct the vertical issue and not the horizontal issue (so the apple pulldown in the upper left corner is off of the screen). Why is it such a hassle to get this working? My buddy has a 42 inch Panasonic plasma and does not have any problems. Anyone know the correct switch resX settings at least? I see that Apple has added an hdmi port to the new mac minis but that just means I should have waited to buy mine. :/

Read my post in Mac Mini to HDTV. A 3rd party utility called DisplayConfigX will allow you to create a custom resolution that will resize the Mac DVI/HDMI output to fit.
It is annoying when that top menu bar is off the screen huh?

Problem Mac mini G4 with Panasonic 52" Plasma using s-video (composite)

I am upgrading my mac mini but until then I'd like to watch some movies on my new Panasonic 50" Plasma (TH50PZ80U). The first I connected them together using a DVI-to S-Video adapter it worked but with low resolution (can't remember). The resolution was fine for movies but not reading. When I tried to increase the resolution the screen became all grey and black (like when there's no the TV channel in the old days). I tried all of the following but nothing has worked:
1) Played with the mouse for an hour to try to change the resolution but kept starting new programs instead
2) Connected to my apple display cinema, change resolution to the minimum, and then reconnected it and nothing
3) Asked a friend to bring his laptop to do screen sharing but my OS 10.4.11 doesn't support this functionality
4) Tried starting in safe mode and it won't start in safe mode. It gets stock on the gray apple screen at launch
5) Tried getting an HDMI cable but this mac mini is not strong enough for the plasma screen. It kept going black after a few minutes
6) Tried using keyword shortcuts with SwitchResX but I couldn't seem to find the right sequence.
Remember that I tried to the above blind since the screen was all blurry.
Can someone help. Thanks

+I tried with an HDMI cble, through a DVI adapter, but it seems that my 1st generation mac mini is not powerful enough for that. It comes out at first but as soon as I start any application, it looses signal+
I'll ask again; what happens if you try starting in Safe mode connected by HDMI? I understand that with a normal start and running 1080p, the mini is not necessarily stable. But if you start safe, or start normally, and quickly change the resolution to something lower than 1080p, the mini should be "powerful enough" to run the Panasonic at 720p for example. That should not present a problem.
If you really just want to get back to using the S-Video interface at 640 x 480, you should be able to throw out the display preference files to get back to a clean start. That usually works. Try the following; in /Library/Preferences find the file com.apple.windowserver.plist and throw it in the trash or drag it to the desktop. Find also in /Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences/ByHost the file com.apple.windowserver.xxxxxxxx.plist where xxxxxxx is a string of letters and numbers and yourusername is the name on the main user account and throw that in the trash, too (or drag it to the Desktop). Then restart and see if function returns to S-Video when connected to the Panasonic.

New Mac mini and Panasonic 37LZD70 can't see top menu bar.

Hi I have just converted and got a new mac mini to make into a media centre and am plugging it into a Panasonic 37LZD70.
For some reason I am missing the top menu bar. I have tried all the different display sizes in the settings box, but all of them seem to miss the top menu bar.
Anyone know how I can get it to fit correctly?
TIA

go to system preferences and click displays and then click the options tab and make sure that over scan is turned off

Using a Mac Mini with my Panasonic CT-30WC14J

Please excuse the length of this question, but theres a lot of info that may be relevant.
I have a Widescreen HDTV, Panasonic CRT 30 inch Model CT-30WC14J, and have been using it connected to my iMac for a while to watch TV shows etc. For Christmas I decided to get a Mac Mini for this TV so we didn't need to constantly bother whoever was using the iMac to watch TV or whatnot. Anyway, I hooked the Mini up using the same cable I've been using for the iMac and although it is the same TV, OS (Leopard), and HDMI cable, the Mac Mini only offers 3 resolutions. 640x480 720X480 and 1920x1080. The first two being way too small the last being an insanely high resolution. The on the iMac I had it running in 1280x720 (and had the choice of a few dozen other resolutions if I'd wished it) . However I can't get the Mini to show any but those 3 resolutions. I found a program (SwitchResX) that can change the Mac to a resolution that is not normally selectable but any of the resolutions I need are not default. When I try to use it's custom resolution I'm way in over my head because I need timing parameters for my TV. I decided to install the program on my iMac and see if it could show the correct parameters for the resolution when the TV is hooked up to the iMac but that does not seem to work when I use those numbers on the Mac Mini, so that was a dead end.
I doubt anyone could help me but is there anyone who thinks they might have an idea on what I can do, like what would be all of the timing parameters etc to input for 720p/i for the Panasonic CT-30WC14J? Maybe any other suggestions?
Thanks for looking.

Here is one thing I recommend trying since it has worked for other people under Leopard. Go into Displays preferences and click on the "Show displays in menu bar" checkbox. Go to the menu bar and click on the display icon. In the resulting drop down menu, scroll to "Number of recent items" and select 5 (or possibly try 10 if 5 doesn't work) and then restart the Mac. Hopefully this will expand the list of choices and you will see the 1280 x 720 timing that shows up on your iMac.

Panasonic 50" Plasma TH-50PH9UK - can mac mini display be set to 1366X768

My mac mini is connected to a Panasonic high definition plasma display (TH-50PH9UK) using a DVI to VGA adapter and a VGA connector. The native resolution for the display is 1366 X 768 but this is not an option under the display settings in system preferences? How can I match the native resolution?

No guarantees, but try this (the following precedure must be performed with the Panasonic attached to the mini):
Download and install SwitchRes X Control Panel (note: not the full version called Universal Installer). Open SRX and with the "Resolutions" icon highlighted in the main window, click on the "Custom" button on the button bar. Click on the "+" in the lower left corner of the window to add a new resolution. A second window will open filled out with timing values of the current timing in use. Make sure the "Use simplified settings:" check box does not have a check mark in it. Fill in the boxes with the following data:
Pixel clock: 86.18
Horizontal Active: 1366
Horizontal Front porch: 40
Horizontal Sync width: 96
Horizontal Back porch: 280
Vertical Active: 768
Vertical Front porch: 3
Vertical Sync width: 14
Vertical Back Porch: 21
Put check marks in "Positive sync." for both Horizontal and Vertical sync.
You should observe that the Horizontal Scan rate is around 48.36 kHz and the Vertical Scan rate should be around 60 Hz. Click on the OK button and and then the Apply button. Quit SRX and follow the directions for saving and restarting.
When the mini is restarted, open Displays preferences and the newly created timing should now show up. Select it and hopefully you will get a native resolution output. Good luck.

Problem with Mac Mini and Panasonic PT-AE700 projector

I just bought a brand new Mac Mini and intended to connect it through hdmi to my Panasonic PT-AE700 projector (with a 10 m hdmi-hdmi cable and a dvi-hdmi adapter). However there is no signal recognized by the projector.
Any suggestions? I have tried with two different dvi-hdmi adapters between the Mini and the cable. Both work fine with my MacBook Pro, but with the Mini there is no signal.
Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Thanks again BSteely for your answer.
Unfortunately I still haven't been able to get anything out from the projector through HDMI.
However, I've found someone with a similar problem. It seems the problem is the lenght of the HDMI cable (which in fact is closer to 15 m than 10 m). HDMI is designed to handle at least those 10-15 m runs, but the problem seems to be DVI, which is only capable of something around 5 m. Since I'm converting from DVI to HDMI, I'm subject to DVI's limitations. And the MBP seems to have better capability of handling the weaked signal than the Mini.
Read more: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=712218
Gefen should have an amplifier (HDMI Super Booster) that could solve the problem. I just ordered it to see if it could help in strenghtening the signal and solve the problem for me.
Read more: http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2939
If someone has any experience from the booster, please let me know.

Mac mini panasonic projecter issue

I am connecting a mac mini to a Panasonic AE3000U full HD projector with a VGA cable via adapter (I have both Mini DisplayPort and mini dvi adapters). The image looks wonderful except that I cannot get the full horizontal width. Display is set to 1920 x 1080 but doesn't appear to have the proper ratio. Anyone have experience with this? Is this a limitation of VGA and I should be using HDMI?
Many thanks!

Are you shure there's not a setting on the projector that controls that? That's where I'd be looking.

Mac mini with a Panasonic 42" plasma screen

I am new to macs to bear with me.
I am trying to connect a mac-mini to a Panasonic 42" plasma screen (TH-42PX20)
According to the Panasonic manual the max resolution is 1024x768 with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The plasma screen connects to the mac with a D-Sub 15P connector (standard PC)
I select 1024x768 screen resolution and the image seems clear but there are things off the screen (top menu, bottom dash board). Is there a way to change the ascpect ratio? I tried the detect monitors option but that caused the screen to "white out" and never return with an image.
thanks,
wazzu62

There is are a couple of programs available to solve your problem. One is "switchhresx". You can download it from "Versiontracker.com". There are lots of posts in this forum regarding its use and setup. Just do a search on "switchresx" and take your pick.

Using 1.920 x 1.080 pixel panasonic plasma screen with Mac Mini Intel

Do you know if i can connect a mac mini
with a belkin "dvi to hdmi" cable
to a panasonic plasma screen with a 1.920 x 1.080 resolution (screen 42 inches)?
I thought the screen was too big, but some friend told me that the resolution i supported by the mac mini.
thanks.

Yes, specs-wise the TV is able to be driven by the Mac mini both via DVI and VGA.

Mac mini - Switchresx - panasonic 37px80

Any ideas about configuration of SwitchResX for a mac min and panasonic 37px80 ?
Thanks.

Hi gollum72,
Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Are you sure that you need to use SwitchResX on your Mini, or do you already have it?
From what I can see, the Panasonic 37px80 supports 1024 x 720 pixel resolution.
That is well within the specs of a Mac Mini.
How are you connecting your Mac Mini to the display?
David

Which Mac Mini should I buy for use with a 65 inch Panasonic GT30?

Im very interested in surfing the web from the comfort of my Lay Z boy. I have a 65inch Panasonic GT30 tv along with an Onkyo TXNR609 av receiver that handles everything (DirecTV, PS3, X360, Wii, Apple TV). My only concern is the lag issue in dealing with the big display. Should I buy the base modle with the slower processor and upgrade the RAM? Or should I buy the i7 and rock out that way? I can afford either but would like to spend the least considering this isnt going to be the main computer in my house. Thanks for any advice!!

If you ever (*ever*) want to fire up a serious 3D game (one with a 2010+ appetite for GPU power), go for the midrange model with the real videocard. If you only want to browse the web, maybe do some flash, things like that, the low end model has enough videocard for that. That Mini has the same Intel HD Graphics 3000 as my MBA13/2011 does, and that is currently driving my external 24" 1920x1200 screen just fine. Your TV is 1920x1080, so that even though it may have a lot more inches, it has fewer pixels than that, and it's the pixels that cost GPU power, not the inches. Size doesn't matter, its what you do with it!
Since you're comfortable upgrading the ram yourself, obviously put in 8 or 16 instead of the 2 or 4 it comes with. The pricing on that ram is insanely low right now and while I'd personally go for the 16 on a desktop machine, I reckon for your intended usage 8 is well more than sufficient (4 would probably work, it does on aforementioned MBA13 after all), and it's about $50ish difference which is not nothing.
If you can live with a small capacity drive, and are willing to open up the Mini further than just the base cover over the ram, I'd recommend getting a 128 GB SSD and installing it. The Apple price for the 256GB SSD, only on the midrange, is probably not worth it. You can even get a second-hard-drive-kit from one of the two well-known vendors and add the SSD while keeping the existing drive as an internal storage drive.
P.S.: I don't actually believe in CPU upgrades. Even when you start with the midrange, the i7 is still $100 and that will also buy you that SSD, or get you most of the way to that SSD plus the second hard drive kit. The difference in performance between the i5 at 2.5 and the i7 at 2.7 is really pretty darn minimal, so as long as you're choosing to do one thing and not the other, get the SSD before the CPU upgrade, no question. If you wanna go full-option balls-to-the-wall-everything-maxed, that's another thing, just don't go for the i7 upgrade as the first thing.
P.P.S.: Now that the 2012 MBAs and traditional MBPs are out, it seems likely that a Mac Mini refresh is coming relatively soon which contains an Ivy Bridge CPU and chipset (which means USB3 and HD4000), a more capable discrete GPU in the versions that have them, and (speculation tempered with hope) one of those new 35W TDP Quadcores in the midrange model, possibly as the CPU upgrade (pretty please, Apple?). It might be worth waiting for. On the other hand, waiting for new computer hardware is also a chump's game. There's *always* something better around the corner.

My mac mini is connected to my panasonic LCD and the screen has gone blank

So here's what I did.
I plugged my old mac mini (10.4.11) to my Panasonic Viera LCD flat screen with a VGA cable. When it loaded up and i logged in i noticed the screen sizing looked odd - as in looked stetched. I then jumped into the display settings and must have clicked on of the options which for some unknown (to me anyay) reason the screen just went blank. I then cannot do anything as I cant see anything. If I turn it off and turn it back on again then its all good as before untill I have logged in and it loads the desktop - then it goes blank again.
Any ideas?

Look for a solution here:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3353
Ciao.

Panasonic 42px50u & Mac Mini

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