Using an HDTV

I have a Panasonic Viera TC-32LX85 42" HDTV that I have been wanting to use with my Mac Pro. I am connecting the desktop to my display with a DVI to HDMI cable from Belkin.
The native resolution is 1366 x 768 and in Leopard this resolution was not available. I was not able to find a resolution/overscan combination to make the desktop fill the screen of my HDTV, it would either have a black border all the way around, or would cut off the screen edges. The former would have been live-able but the graphics never really seemed that crisp.
I saw that Snow Leopard was going to have support for HDTV displays, so of course I was excited and waited patiently. Now that I have Snow Leopard installed, I see options for HDTVs and by default 720p was selected. Problem is, I am still having the exact same problem as before... 720p & no overscan has a black border, and 720p & overscan cuts off the edges. I don't quite understand why this is happening, I assumed that a "proper" HDTV setting would full my screen perfectly.
Any help or advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Message was edited by: Sonburn

Certain TV's have issues with computer input through hdmi/dvi.
My vizio displays using the 720p setting just fine before and after snow leopard using a mini display port to HDMI cable.
Yours does not.
You have the option of installing and using a system hack or just putting up with a bad display.

Similar Messages

How to smooth text when using 720p HDTV as monitor?

I know I'm not using the best choice for a Monitor, but want to tweak it the best I can.
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1080P Display Setting in Mini's display profiles
720P ibid
Connected via HDMI
Have tried tweaking around with different Mac Display profiles and color calibrations. Above look the best as far as resolution and picture when sitting far away from screen.
Closer I get to screen, the more pixelated and crappy the text looks, which is really bad
What are the tweakablle settings, both in the monitor and computer I would want to play with to smooth the text out as best as is possible given my monitor choice?
What would be a better "TV" choice to use as a monitor for my Mini? I only run a Roku and OTA HDTV into the TV tuner.
Is there a choice that looks good in both TV and Mini monitoring applications?
Thanks so much.

I have never used any of this, I have never needed to use it. I just know that the information is around and has been useful to others.
I also saved this tutoial that I found once. Perhaps it can help you;
SwitchResX Tutorial
0. All of this is easier to do if you have a portable Mac, since you can configure the external display while viewing everything on the built-in display. You can do it with only the external display (your big TV, that is), but it's tedious.
1. Get the proper cable to connect your Mac to the display (VGI, DVI, or DVI->HDMI, depending on your display's inputs; if you're using a portable Mac with only mini-DVI you'll need the adapter *and* a cable).
2. Connect the display and turn on the Mac. Launch the SwitchResX Control application (if all you're doing is setting up a custom configuration, you don't need the preference pane and thus don't need APE either).
3. In the SwitchResX Control application, select the display you want to configure in the "Settings of:" menu (if it isn't selected already) and click the "Display" tab. Then click the "Export DDC" button and select a location to save the file.
4. Using the text editor of your choice (TextEdit works, or you may have a preference for something else) open that file you just exported. You should see at least one Monitor Description Block (mine has two, labeled Descriptor #0 and Descriptor #1). This should give you a starting point. Mine looks like this:
Code:
    Descriptor #0 is Timing definition:
    Mode = 1920 x 540 @ 60Hz
        H. Active...............1920 pixels
        H. Blanking.............280 pixels
        V. Active...............540 lines
        V. Blanking.............22 lines
        HSync Offset............88 pixels
        HSync Pulse Width.......44 pixels
        VSync Offset............2 lines
        VSync Pulse Width.......5 lines
        Pixel Clock.............74.25MHz
        Horizontal freq.........33.75kHz
        Vertical freq...........60.05Hz
        H Image Size............16mm
        V Image Size............9mm
        H Border................0 pixels
        V Border................0 lines
            Interlaced
            Sync: Digital separate with
                * Positive vertical polarity
                * Positive horizontal polarity
Note that the Mode is described as 1920 x 540 @ 60Hz, interlaced. It's actually 1920 x 1080, interlaced. I'm not sure why the vertical resolution is half what it should be there, but that's an important detail to note. If yours looks like it's half what it should be, you'll have to double it below. Use your common sense here.
The next step depends on what problem you need to solve. If you have a picture and you just need to adjust its position and/or size, you have the easier task and these instructions can help you. If you don't have a picture at all, the values provided by your display are invalid, and you'll have to do some research to find valid values (I can't help you find them). Search and/or ask on this forum, and also try Google.
5. Click on the "Custom" tab in the SwitchResX Control app. Click the "+" button to create a new resolution. Select "Custom" in the menu at the top (as opposed to "Scaled"). Start by entering the values in the Monitor Description Block you exported and opened in a text editor. The thing to realize as you get started is that all the numbers interact with each other, and as you change one value the application will recalculate the others if they're affected by the change. At a given resolution, the number of horizontal pixels and the number of vertical lines in each box always have to add to the same totals, and you can get those values by adding the "Active" and "Blanking" values in the Monitor Timing Block. To stick with my display, the horizontal pixel values must add up to 2200 (1920 (H. Active) + 280 (H. Blanking)), and the vertical line values must add up to 1124 (2 * (540 (V. Active) + 22 (V. Blanking))). The horizontal and vertical scan rates are calculated using those total values and the pixel clock value.
This is a very important concept to understand. With a constant pixel clock value and constant totals of Active + Blanking in both axes, the scan rates should also remain constant. If you have changed your active, porch, or sync width values and the scan rates don't add up, you won't get any picture. To use my display as an example again:
Code:
Pixel Clock 74.25 Mhz, Interlaced
            Horizontal      Vertical
Active:     1920 pixels     1080 lines
Frt. porch: 88 pixels       4 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels       10 lines
Back porch: 148 pixels      30 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz       60.05 Hz
Note that 1920 + 88 + 44 + 148 = 2200, and 1080 + 4 + 10 + 30 = 1124.
6a. Adjust the values to fit your display (heh). This is the trial-and-error portion of the task, and is also slightly counterintuitive. You can get an idea of the adjustments you need to make if you use DisplayConfigX to display an "Image Size Test" (in the "Test Screen" tab). It'd make life easier if that were built into SwitchResX, but anyway:
If you need to shrink the visible area, decrease the Active value and increase the front or back porch values by the same amount. If you need to increase it, do the opposite. It helps to work incrementally (say, by multiples of 8) and save and test your work as you go along. Note that you may not actually need to restart the computer: I found that I could just unplug the HDMI cable from the back of my display and plug it back in, and the new settings would take effect. Remember to click "OK" (and not "Cancel") in the Timing Parameters window, then "Apply" in the main window, before you do this, or before you reboot. Otherwise your changes will be lost.
The porch values are counterintuitive. The horizontal "front porch" is the right edge of the screen (not the left as you might expect); the vertical "front porch" is the bottom edge of the screen. To move the image to the right, decrease the horizontal front porch and increase the horizontal back porch; to move it to the left increase the front porch and decrease the back porch. To move the image up, increase the vertical front porch and decrease the back porch, to move it down, decrease the front porch and increase the back porch. Again, it helps to save and restart or disconnect/reconnect the display to test these adjustments. The "Quick change" buttons in the bottom right-hand corner of the Timing Parameters window will adjust the porches for you, but note that in older versions the buttons were reversed (down means up and left means right, if you catch my drift). That's been fixed in version 3.7.6, apparently.
Also, remember as you adjust porch values that you shouldn't ever need to change the sync width.
6b. You know how I said you might not need to restart the computer? That's not actually 100% true for some displays. When I boot my computer with the display connected, the image is shifted to one side. If I subsequently change resolutions in software or disconnect and reconnect the display, the image will shift back. I got around this problem by first coming up with a configuration that was properly aligned after such a switch. After I had that I rebooted and estimated how far the image was shifted to one side. I then adjusted the porch values, saved, rebooted, and tested again. I now have two configurations, one for "fresh boot" that's adjusted for that sideways shift, and one I can use if I've changed the resolution for some reason. After all that, my default settings are now:
Code:
Pixel Clock 74.25 Mhz, Interlaced
            Horizontal      Vertical
Active:     1834 pixels     1024 lines
Frt. porch: 120 pixels      40 lines
Sync width: 44 pixels       10 lines
Back porch: 202 pixels      50 lines
Scan rate: 33.75 kHz       60.05 Hz
Again, 1834 + 120 + 44 + 202 = 2200, and 1024 + 40 + 10 + 50 = 1124. The Pixel Clock and both scan rates are the same as I found in the DDC.
Note also that if you have the same sideways shift problem, your two resolutions can't be identical (the system won't know which one to select). I made mine different by two pixels of horizontal resolution, which turns out to be rounded off in practice anyway (so one's 1832 x 1024, and the other's 1834 x 1024, with porch values adjusted accordingly, but they both look the same).
At this point you should be able to align your desktop to your display by iterating through these steps, applying your changes, and either disconnecting and reconnecting the display or rebooting.
7. If ever you go horribly wrong and go from having a misaligned picture to having no picture at all, you'll have to delete the override installed by SwitchResX. Boot the computer into Safe Mode, launch the SwitchResX Control app again, and click the "Factory settings" button, then the "Apply" button, and reboot.
And as a preemptive strike: no, I probably don't own your display and don't know the numbers for it offhand, and my consulting rate is $45/hr (really!).
Copyright Fedward. All rights reserved, all wrongs reversed.

MacBook Pro using an HDTV as External Display

I come to you again with another quandary im sure youll be able to help me with. I have a MacBook Pro 15'. a few years old. Recently bought a 42" LCD HDTV and hooked it up using it as an extra display. Video works perfectly for what im using it for, an extra BIG display. however, the audio is still coming from my MacBook. Is there a way to make the audio come from my LG TV speakers and not my MBP. Thanks for your help

Yes you need a lead from the small phono headphone out socket into the HDTV - depends what Inputs it has to determine the exact cable needed - possibly 2 phono jacks ? possibly a TosLink (Digital Audio) cable ?

Can the 30" HD Display be used for HDTV?

I was wondering if it is possible to use Apple's 30" display for HD television. I am not talking about the signal going through the computer, as Microsoft does with their media center. I am talking about the display being plugged in directly to the HD Cable Box. Is there a card/adaptor that can be purchased for this? For $1800, it would be nice to be able to watch some HDTV when I am not working in Final Cut Pro.

Thank you for your response. I have got to believe that this feature will be added soon. Asking someone to spend $1800 (and initially $3000) for a display that is limited to working with your computer is a tough sell, at least for me. Now, if it had the HD jacks that worked with a cable box, I would be all over it.
Scott

Can I use a mini-DVI to HDMI adapter to use my HDTV as a monitor?

I've been looking into this and haven't found a direct and complete answer yet. I read this article that states its possible when using mini-DVI to VGA/DVI adapters, but didn't mention mini-DVI to HDMI adapters.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3413
Apple also doesn't offer mini-DVI to HDMI adapters, so where would be a good place to look for one and what do you think I should pay for it?

If you have a unibody MBP, you need a mini-Displayport adapter, not a mini-DVI adapter.
If you don't mind running a separate audio cable in addition to the HDMI cable from your MBP to your TV set, buy this adapter:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=5311&x=0&y=0
If you want to combine video and audio into a single HDMI cable, buy one of these two adapters:
http://kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3323 (for two-channel stereo audio)
http://kanexlive.com/products/item.aspx?id=3495 (for 5.1-channel digital surround audio from sources that include it)

Using LCD HDTV as a display Buyer Beware!

DO NOT BUY A SAMSUNG TO USE WITH A MAC
I just purchased a G5 and wanted a screen larger (an less espensive) than what they sell at the apple store. I bought a 23" high def at Best Buy at the suggestion of the sales guy. The HDMI output to the PC does not work. There is a 1" border around the edge of the display where your pointer gets "lost" ( you cannot see the top and only a portion of the bottom bar) I went to return the monitor and Best Buy informed me that they would charge a restocking fee which I feel is very unfair as they were the ones that suggested the monitor. I highly recommend that you take your mac to your retailer (and I would stongly advise aginst Best Buy) to test the display before you purchase.
Good luck all!

Composite Video (the yellow RCA-style jack) has NO provision for Audio. It is used in conjunction with Stereo Audio, generally supplied on two additional RCA jacks, Red for Right and White for left.
There are a number of non-interchangeable schemes that combine composite Video and Right and left Audio onto a multi-jack. The issue is which ring the Ground (for everything) is on -- that cannot be re-arranged easily. Your SONY TV may be using one of these:
http://pinouts.ru/Home/avjackpinout.shtml
Clamshell iBooks use yet another different non-compatible pin assignment that puts the ground on 4, Video on 3, R_Audio on 2 and L_Audio on 1. That cable is often still available from Apple retail stores.
Sometimes you can get those signals to "play through" another device in your collection, such as a VCR that has the correct jacks.

Using a HDTV LCD for mirroring

Hello all,
I have a 20" imac and have been looking at buying a Samsung LE32R41BDX for a new TV, half the reason for this is so I can mirror the imac and watch DVD's etc. The Samsung has a resolution of 1366x768 with 800:1 contrast and 500cd/m2. it also has s-video and HDMI (DVI comp.)
Can anybody put me at ease that I will get good enough results to be worth buying, if not can you recommend an alternative LCD. and also, should I use s-video or DVI for best quality?
Kind Regards

Hucky, Welcome to the discussion area!
You need the Apple VGA Display Adapter M8639G/A. Check the box your iBook came in. That cable came with my iBook.

Can i use my hdtv as a computer screen?

hi i was thinking of get a mac mini but i dont have a computer screen so is it possible to use a hd tv as computer screen if im not useing it as a tv at the time and still use it as a tv as well a computer screen?

YES! use it for your mac mini computer screen. Thats why they have the hdmi port on it

Can I keep firefox at a 125% zoom level? I use my HDTV as a monitor and would like the view to be larger without having to hit "ctrl +" on each web page.

I would like firefox to default to a 125% zoom level. Is ther a way I can do this through firefox or through my desktop?

The following Add-on will allow you to set whatever default %-age works best for you. After install, go to Add-ons > Extensions > Default FullZoom Level > Options, in the Options window, "Default FullZoom Level (percent)". That will set ALL pages at your choice.
*'''''Default FullZoom Level''''': https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/default-fullzoom-level/
*Support for '''''Default FullZoom Level''''': http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=659681&start=75
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*'''''NoSquint''''': https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nosquint/
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'''If this reply solves your problem, please click "Solved It" next to this reply when <u>signed-in</u> to the forum.'''

HDMI use to HDTV from MacBook Pro - configuration

New to Mac's and have hooked up PC's to tv monitor before but not with new MacBook.
Have purchased MAC connector from mac to convertor and then to male to male HDMI cable to the HDMI connection in back of TV.
How to view Mac From TV then? What programs do I need running on Mac to do this?

Welcome to Apple Discussions
Once your cables are connected open System Preferences/Displays on the Mac and you should then get a new panel appearing for the TV in which you can adjust resolution etc. For example my Panasonic Plasma shows:

HDTV as external monitor using ethernet connection

Hello,
I want to connect my HDTV to my iMac and use it as an external monitor.
My HDTV is about 25 ft away from my iMac.
A HDMI cable of that length cost over 200 $.
So, its not an option to me.
I just bought a smart rooter but my HDTV Panasonic Viera P50GT30 is not a smart TV.
It needs a DLNA server and I can't find one.
Question : Is there a way to use my HDTV as an external monitor using the Ethernet or Wifi connection?
Thank's,
Pierre.

This look's good.
http://www.startech.com/AV/Extenders/HDMI/HDMI-over-IP-Extender-with-Audio~IPUSB 2HD2
But its not.
OS Compatibility Windows® XP(32bit)/ Vista(32/64bit)/ 7(32/64bit) Aero themes supported

Using HDTV as monitor for iPhone 3GS?

Hello everyone,
I've heard of mirroring the newer iPhones and iPads using Apple TV and AirPlay however I am still that guy with an iPhone 3GS. I was wondering if there was anyway of using my HDTV (HDMI or Streaming) to simply act as a larger screen for when I am writing on my iPhone? Or if anyone knows of a text editing app that streams itself as a video feed so I can see what I'm doing! Either one would be great!
TJ

David Owen3 wrote:
It's a pity that by now they hadn't added a HDMI port so you could send video & audio through one cable to a HDTV, a lot of strange decisions going on at Apple. Glad Steve Jobs is back maybe he will sort these anomalies out.
What anomalies? DisplayPort is a newer standard than HDMI. It's also royalty-free, which was likely a business driver for the decision.
As a pro user the current MBPs are unusable to me having no analogue video out,
"Pros" should probably be using digital equipment. I agree about the ExpressCard to SD switch - bad idea, IMO. But analog is going the way of the dodo. Apple does offer a mini-DP to VGA. The audio ports do analog as well as digital. That's pretty on track, I think. Why do you think Apple should support older technologies? What's next? Should we say Apple really needs to make a mini-DisplayPort-to-Rabbit-Ear-Antenna adapter?

Can i connect my time capsule to my hdtv for use as an extra display for my mac book pro?

I want to use my hdtv as a display wirelessly. Can one connect their time capsule to the tv?

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They have been dual band since gen2.. yours is gen4 or at worst gen3.
2. Is the TC likely to provide better performance than the BT Home Hub router, as the Apple store suggest?
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MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

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Cp,
Thanks for the reply. However, it appears that the issue is not with the hotspot, but with the network settings in the MacBook Air as every other device I have (including non-Apple devices) will connect to the iPhone hotspot. Another symptom is that my MacBook Air can find my iMac (and other network devices) on my wireless network, but the iMac can't find the MacBook Air.
KDR

Using an HDTV

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