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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / February 2005Mac-Mini to TV & CRT
I am not sure if this is mainly a hardware question or if it is an issue of support in OS X but I'll try here first. I plan to buy a Mac-mini, it has one dvi output but I want to use it as a mediacenter as well as a desktop machine so my question is if there are some adapter I can add to the DVI to get the image both to my ordinary CRT monitor as well as to the TV for movie watching. Prepherably the movie should be shown on the TV at the same time as I am able to work with other things on the CRT so I would need virtual screens or virtual desctops or similar. I am not verry familiar with OS X and the local Apple center were far from helpfull so any pointers would be much appreciated. Tim > I am not sure if this is mainly a hardware question or if it is an issue > of support in OS X but I'll try here first. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Tim You can get a DVI-VGA adapter for the CRT and a DVI-composite video adapter for the TV, but you can't use both at the same time. The mini's video card is only capable of driving one screen at a time. >> I plan to buy a Mac-mini, it has one dvi output but I want to use it >> as a mediacenter as well as a desktop machine so my question is if >> there are some adapter I can add to the DVI to get the image both to >> my ordinary CRT monitor as well as to the TV for movie watching. > You can get a DVI-VGA adapter for the CRT and a DVI-composite video > adapter for the TV, but you can't use both at the same time. The mini's > video card is only capable of driving one screen at a time. Is it not even possible to find a dvi to vga & tv? I mean something that takes the dvi signal and converts it to vga & tv at the same tim? The Mini shouldn't really need to be involved if the conversion was done by the hardware? Maybe I could use something that split the dvi into two equal dvi signalas and then I put a dvi-vga on one and a dvi-composite on the other. Or is there some hidden problem with this? I would ofcourse get the same image on the TV as the crt with this setup but it is still better than having to change the cables all the time. Tim > Is it not even possible to find a dvi to vga & tv? I mean something that > takes the dvi signal and converts it to vga & tv at the same tim? The [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Tim Just a FYI, if you take a regular television signal and split the cable enough times, you get a crap picture or in some cases (with digital cable boxes) no picture. Similarly, take a composite video feed, split it to 2 sources and you get a lower quality picture. I would assume the same for a DVI output. You would be splitting the voltage in half, and I don't know what the outcome would be. But I've never seen a DVI splitter. The closest I can think of is get a KVM and run the video feed in reverse. You'll already have the DVI-VGA converter to hook the mini up to a KVM, then just attach a VGA-composite converter to the other end for the TV. My bet is it will look like crap. If you definitely want a feed to 2 sources from ONE computer, and you want a Mac, my suggestion is to get an eMac. They have S-video and composite output buit in for mirroring. And since you are going to use a CRT anyway, you've got a very good one built-in. It also comes with more ports, a faster and bigger hard drive, and all the mini's BTO options are available for that too. o-chan <poda@REMOVEmac.com> writes in article <cu04uv$5nhi$1@netnews.upenn.edu> dated Fri, 04 Feb 2005 10:39:10 -0500: >Just a FYI, if you take a regular television signal and split the cable >enough times, you get a crap picture or in some cases (with digital >cable boxes) no picture. Similarly, take a composite video feed, split >it to 2 sources and you get a lower quality picture. I would assume the >same for a DVI output. Probably. >You would be splitting the voltage in half, and If you used a purely resistive (voltage divider) circuit to do it, yes. I think TV splitters do more of a wave-channel thing, which cuts the power in half (cuts voltage by sqrt(2)). >I don't know what the outcome would be. But I've never seen a DVI >splitter. The closest I can think of is get a KVM and run the video >feed in reverse. NO!!!!! Decent KVMs process the video signal electronically using some kind of amplifier; there are several inputs and one output and if you try to run a signal backwards the best possible outcome is it won't work at all. There are devices which amplify VGA signals to multiple outputs. Most multi-screen conference rooms have them. I bet they're expensive, tho. >If you definitely want a feed to 2 sources from ONE computer, and you >want a Mac, my suggestion is to get an eMac. They have S-video and >composite output buit in for mirroring. And since you are going to use >a CRT anyway, you've got a very good one built-in. It also comes with >more ports, a faster and bigger hard drive, and all the mini's BTO >options are available for that too. That's not a bad suggestion. There are probably also VGA->TV adapters with VGA pass-thru. So DVI->VGA->TV... -- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer. > o-chan <poda@REMOVEmac.com> writes >>Just a FYI, if you take a regular television signal and split the cable >>enough times, you get a crap picture or in some cases (with digital [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Probably. Thanks for all the information from both of you I didn't know these things. So what I need is a splitter with its own powersource and amplifier. I am surprised this is not commonly available and that many people use it for this kind of set up. >>If you definitely want a feed to 2 sources from ONE computer, and you >>want a Mac, my suggestion is to get an eMac. They have S-video and >>composite output buit in for mirroring. And since you are going to use >>a CRT anyway, you've got a very good one built-in. It also comes with >>more ports, a faster and bigger hard drive, and all the mini's BTO >>options are available for that too. > That's not a bad suggestion. There are probably also VGA->TV adapters with > VGA pass-thru. So DVI->VGA->TV... I don't do this kind of thinking, I do what the comercials tell me and the cool thing of the day is the Mac-mini :) Tim > You can get a DVI-VGA adapter for the CRT and a DVI-composite video > adapter for the TV, but you can't use both at the same time. The mini's > video card is only capable of driving one screen at a time. I just want to add that the Mac Mini comes with a DVI-VGA adapter.  SignatureMike Rosenberg <http://www.macconsult.com> Macintosh consulting services for NE Florida <http://bogart-tribute.net> Tribute to Humphrey Bogart Toyota Prius fans: Check out alt.autos.toyota.prius >>You can get a DVI-VGA adapter for the CRT and a DVI-composite video >>adapter for the TV, but you can't use both at the same time. The mini's >>video card is only capable of driving one screen at a time. > I just want to add that the Mac Mini comes with a DVI-VGA adapter. Cool, I didn't know that and I thought it would eventually become a problem once I had sorted out how to split the dvi into two signals or found some other solution. I cannot possibly be the first person who wanted to turn a Mini (or any dvi computer) into a mediacenter at the ssame time as an ordinary computer. Tim |
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