best option for TV out?

dubdub
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have downloaded around 300 divx movies that i play on my mac and i want to be able to watch them on my bigscreen. ive seen several usb options and also was thinking of getting an old xclaim card that will do this. Who knows the best and cheepest way to do this?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    dmgeistdmgeist Posts: 153member
    I think its called The MyTv. Its a usb tv out for mac, the company also makes a tv-fm usb tuner for mac. Check out <a href="http://www.compusa.com"; target="_blank">www.compusa.com</a> search for mac tv tuners & stuff. cya...
  • Reply 2 of 2
    scadboyscadboy Posts: 189member
    The MyTV, by eskape labs, is strictly a one-way street, it'll take a tv signal and pipe it into your mac via USB, but nothing goes out. The MyVideo, however, does video output through USB, but I wouldn't recommend it. USB has limited bandwidth, making video output either jerky or pixelated. Either smooth motion or pixel depth has to sacrificied in order to squeeze a video signal through a 12mbit/sec connection. And at over $150, there are better options.



    <a href="http://www.eskapelabs.com/myvideo.html"; target="_blank">MyVideo Product Page</a>



    <a href="http://www.macconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?sku=185417&SourceID=k15505"; target="_blank">MyVideo On MacConnection $155</a>



    I'd recommend the either the Formac Studio at $399, the Radeon 7000 PCI video card at $119, or the TView Gold at $199.



    The Formac Studio is basically a firewire version of the MyVideo, but it also offers a range of great features besides video input and output, Firewire has more than enough bandwidth to handle a full-screen full-motion video stream to your TV, though at $399, there are cheaper options. But it certainly is worth a look, and the fact that a "DVR" version will be available in July is particularly interesting.



    <a href="http://www.formac.com/html/shopformac.html?cid=shop_products_studio"; target="_blank">FormacStudio Product Page</a>



    The ATI Radeon 7000 is a PCI video card would be the cheapest of the high-quality possibilities. It's simply a video card that happens to have composite video outputs, perfect for your purpose. This is bound to be the most straightforward solution as well as least expensive.



    <a href="http://shop2.outpost.com/product/3258321/"; target="_blank">Radeon 7000 on Outpost: $119</a>



    If your PowerMac has a VGA output somewhere, you may consider something like the TView Gold, which takes your VGA signal and dumbs it down to composite for your TV. The quality isn't going to be great, but definitely passable. Prices vary between less than $100 to over $200 depending on quality and features.



    <a href="http://shop2.outpost.com/product/2346329"; target="_blank">TView Gold on Outpost: $199</a>



    I'd personally go with the Radeon 7000 for your setup, it's cheap, and it'll more than do the trick, and also offer you the ability to hook up another monitor. If you don't have a PCI slot to spare, then I'd go with the Formac Studio, it has a heckuvalotta features, though the price is abit much.



    Hope I helped,



    ciao,



    michael



    [ 06-11-2002: Message edited by: scadboy ]</p>
Sign In or Register to comment.