Mac mini and TV as display

Jump to First Reply
mimacmimac
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Just a quick question or two on using a television as a display for Mac mini...

Which adaptor(s) should be used to display on a TV and what sort of picture quality could be expected (playing DVDs and general use)?

I've got a 21 inch 4:3 TV and a 28 inch 16:9 TV both having S-Video via scart and RCA audio inputs.



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    First question: what is the resolution of the 16:9 set? If it's standard resolution, you're limited to using the TV as a rather small 720 x 480 resolution monitor. (This is also DVD resolution.) If the 16:9 set is EDTV (enhanced definition), the resolution goes up to 1280x720. If it's true HDTV (high definition), it's up to 1080x1920.



    If these really are just standard TVs, the input won't matter as much but the image will be pretty poor because of both the input and the low resolution.



    If either one of these is enhanced definition or high definition, avoid the S-video and composite inputs if you can. They're relatively low quality. Go either DVI or component inputs if possible. Still, S-video at 1280x720 is better than S-video at 640/720x480. IMO, using the mini with a TV is only really viable with EDTV resolution and up.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 3
    mimacmimac Posts: 872member
    Thanks Buon! Yes, I believe the resolution of both TVs is standard 50Hz. Given this I don't think using TV as a monitor would be viable so a better option would be a large (cheap) lcd display. Any suggestions?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 3
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    First question: what is the resolution of the 16:9 set? If it's standard resolution, you're limited to using the TV as a rather small 720 x 480 resolution monitor. (This is also DVD resolution.) If the 16:9 set is EDTV (enhanced definition), the resolution goes up to 1280x720. If it's true HDTV (high definition), it's up to 1080x1920.



    If these really are just standard TVs, the input won't matter as much but the image will be pretty poor because of both the input and the low resolution.



    If either one of these is enhanced definition or high definition, avoid the S-video and composite inputs if you can. They're relatively low quality. Go either DVI or component inputs if possible. Still, S-video at 1280x720 is better than S-video at 640/720x480. IMO, using the mini with a TV is only really viable with EDTV resolution and up.



    Reading your post, that I means I wouldn't have much of a problem driving my 22" LCD TV with the the mini using DVI, though, right?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
Sign In or Register to comment.