I have a late-2007 17" MacBook Pro, and today I purchased a DVI-RCA adapter which I connected to a friend's Panasonic Viera HDTV so I could watch a movie. The movie looked fine on the big screen, but I noticed artifacts around my cursor as I moved it around and when I dragged a couple windows around the artifacts appeared all around the edges of the windows. I'm quite the newb when it comes to stuff like this, and since the TV is super-expensive I really don't want to end up screwing it up in some totally unforeseeable way (especially since it isn't mine). So, is this just the usual HDTV blur or should I just wait 'till I get home to watch movies on the big screen?
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DVI-RCA-HDTV artifacts?
- Thread starter zeeman48
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By RCA, do you mean component inputs (there would usually be 3-5 RCA connections altogether, 3 for video and then either 1 for digital audio or 2 for analog audio)?
And are you using Leopard or Snow Leopard?
When you open the display preferences, what resolution does the Mac think it has? And then when you press the info button on the HDTV remote, what resolution does the TV think it's receiving?
Usually this issue arises because the Mac is trying to use some non-native resolution the TV doesn't like.
In SL, you may get 1080p or 720p HD resolution options in display prefs, which should be the easiest way to correct this. In Leopard or below, you should try to find the native resolution of the TV and find it in the display prefs.
FWIW the ghosting (I think that's what you're experiencing shouldn't be dangerous to the TV in any way.
And are you using Leopard or Snow Leopard?
When you open the display preferences, what resolution does the Mac think it has? And then when you press the info button on the HDTV remote, what resolution does the TV think it's receiving?
Usually this issue arises because the Mac is trying to use some non-native resolution the TV doesn't like.
In SL, you may get 1080p or 720p HD resolution options in display prefs, which should be the easiest way to correct this. In Leopard or below, you should try to find the native resolution of the TV and find it in the display prefs.
FWIW the ghosting (I think that's what you're experiencing shouldn't be dangerous to the TV in any way.
EDIT 2: Wow, wrong again... It's composite.
Leopard. I've got software that has some issues with SL.
It says 480i, but the resolution was set to 800x600. I changed it to 640x480 (since that's 480i) and the artifacts persist and are no better or worse than before.
I don't know what the TV's native resolution is, and I can't figure out the model number.
Alright, thanks. I was almost positive that it wasn't, but I remember that both the manual to my PlayStation 2 and all of the separate game manuals have a big warning on the first page that says not to use them with a certain type of HDTV because blah blah blah not my problem.
Try a higher, widescreen resolution like 1280x720 or 1920x1080 if they're available...
A DVI to HDMI adapter might be a better solution, also, FWIW, if you want to do this regularly. That's what I use with my TV. Or as a second best, DVI to VGA if the TV has a VGA port.
TVs tend to be more flexible on what resolutions they'll support on VGA/DVI/HDMI than on Component.
A DVI to HDMI adapter might be a better solution, also, FWIW, if you want to do this regularly. That's what I use with my TV. Or as a second best, DVI to VGA if the TV has a VGA port.
TVs tend to be more flexible on what resolutions they'll support on VGA/DVI/HDMI than on Component.
Yeah, I was going to get an HDMI cable but the TV in question is the only one that I would be using that is actually HD. All the other TVs that I use with any frequency are standard definition and have only component ins.
I am kind of surprised this works. I didn't think the mac video cards would output YPbPR instead of RGB. I would think you would have sync issues as well.
Anyway, has this cable worked on other SDTV's you have? Do they show the blur and artifacts?
Wild guess, your friends HDTV may be having issues with upscaling the low resolution and causing artifacts in the fast motion from the mouse? Were there artifacts in the movie you played?
Anyway, has this cable worked on other SDTV's you have? Do they show the blur and artifacts?
Wild guess, your friends HDTV may be having issues with upscaling the low resolution and causing artifacts in the fast motion from the mouse? Were there artifacts in the movie you played?
From what I've heard, DVI ports are basically every different type of video output mashed into a single port. Different pins correspond to different types of output, so all the adapter has to do is connect the pins in the DVI port to whatever type of port it adapts to and... Voilá! You now have VGA/Component/S-Video/HDMI/whatever type of output you're using.
I just got it today, so I haven't had a chance to test it out on other TV's.
That was my guess, too. I noticed no artifacts while watching The Matrix, Pink Floyd: The Wall live at Earl's Court, or the iTunes Visualizer.