Hooking up a Mac Mini to your HDTV: If it doesn't just work
by Richard Lawler 
posted Mar 20th 2006 at 1:45PM
Then you probably
don't have a television that includes a digital input like DVI or HDMI. If you own an older HDTV that is a likely
scenario but not one that should prevent you from enjoying the 1080i Apple loving that our friend Ben has shared with us. robg of Mac
OSX Hints.com has created a walkthrough for connecting a Mac Mini running OS 10.4 using RGB cables and adjusting
overscan. Even if you're not a Mac-phile check out his page anyway for the DVD quality/HDTV quality comparison of the Harry Potter trailer available. Blow them up full screen and check out the additional detail noticeable even in those stills.
Update: You can also get more information on Rob's HD experience with the mini in this article.
Filed under: DIY
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eagle117 @ Mar 20th 2006 2:32PM
Is this really so hard? I've been running my box connected to my HDTV at 1080i over component for almost 2 years now and it's a Windows box...
Joey @ Mar 20th 2006 5:07PM
#1 I agree its not that hard. Im using MCE and on either VGA or DVI input on my pdp it just works. We may be in the minority so maybe thats what this article is intended for.
Ben Drawbaugh @ Mar 20th 2006 5:12PM
Eagle117,
I belive you are trivilizing your setup.
Why don't you write up how you did it and let other judge how easy it is.
Joey,
You are correct, PDP's are easier to connect. The TV's that are trouble are older CRT based displays that only accept 1080i input and without DVI, VGA or HDMI inputs.
Eagle117 @ Mar 21st 2006 10:11AM
I have a CRT HDTV with a homebuilt PC running Windows Media Center.
1) Buy PNY GeForce 6600 with S-Video and HDTV TV-Out
2) Plug in TV-Out dongle
3) Hook up Composite, S-Video, or Component cables to dongle (Component in my case)
4) Plug other end of cable into TV
5) Turn on computer and set to the proper input on TV.
Done deal!
Ben Drawbaugh @ Mar 21st 2006 12:09PM
You didn't mention the steps to set the correct output resolution.
Are you trying to tell me that your Video card automatically outputs 1080i?
I am not going to pretent to know anything about the GeForce drivers, but I know for a fact that ATI didn't include 1080i as a standard resolution 2 years ago. Even today you have have a way to make the change (ie VNC) because your PC monitor doesn't accept 1080i and your TV doesn't accept 1024x768. Today ATI navtivly supports 1080i but it is about 6 clicks deep from the desktop, wihch is hardly simple.
It should just work.
Eagle117 @ Mar 21st 2006 12:39PM
You are right, I did forget to say how I set the resolution. When I booted the PC it displayed 800x600 resolution which my TV showed as 480p I believe. It just worked natively. When I installed the drivers for the card, I went to the display properties>TV>1080i and it was done. Worked just great.
Before I had the 6600 I had an X800 XT from ATI on it. Same thing there. It displayed the low resolutions just fine on my PC since it knew what I was doing and after installing the drivers, could select 480i/p, 720p, 1080i from the HDTV menu in the display properties. Couldn't have been easier with either card.
Neil @ Jun 20th 2006 3:00PM
This is for a mac... Yes some cards for mac + pc support HDTV out of the box, this is for old unsupported machines.
you need a VGA - 5 BNC cable to hook to most HDTV's that take COMPONENT or RGB
We know you can do X and Y with windows, the problem is kids in slovenia have more control of your PC than you do.