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HDMI signal into 24" imac

B

BUK

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 23, 2002
7
0
NJ
I know that this has been asked before, I just cannot find it. Sorry for being lazy.

I have a digital cable box (Cablevision) and a 24" imac. I want to watch digital TV in a window on my screen while I work, and then have the option of using the whole 24" screen as a primary TV when I want. The cablebox has the dvr stuff in it so no need to use the mac for that.

EyeTV seems to be a coax to usb which as i understand is not an HD signal.

Is there an easy way?

Thanks in advance.
 
You might try a firewire cable between your box and mac. I believe you need SDK18 software from apple. I've seen this around the web. try a search.
 
BUK said:
I know that this has been asked before, I just cannot find it. Sorry for being lazy.

I have a digital cable box (Cablevision) and a 24" imac. I want to watch digital TV in a window on my screen while I work, and then have the option of using the whole 24" screen as a primary TV when I want. The cablebox has the dvr stuff in it so no need to use the mac for that.

EyeTV seems to be a coax to usb which as i understand is not an HD signal.

Is there an easy way?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Not sure if you have checked out the Elgato 610. You can insert your cable card into a CAM (T Rex supermodule/Diablo) and this will allow (via firewire) to input HD signals to a Mac. Not sure of your location; Elgato is sold from Germany into UK, but doesn't support use with UK cable - officially that is. Am halfway to sorting it, though hasn't been quite as easy as I'd originally thought. The Elgato site has a list if compatible countries.

This forum maybe helpful if you're in the UK,

http://forums.digitalworldz.co.uk

HTH
 
I'm pretty sure the Elgato 610 will only work in Europe. I know of no way to use a CableCARD with a Mac, in the U.S. (please let me know if there is a way). The best way, since you already have a Comcast box and HDTV subscription, is to use firewire. It shouldn't be that hard as there are people out there using Mac Minis as PVRs. Keep in mind though that this will only give you unencrypted HD channels (e.g. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX... not sure if you can get ESPN, Discovery, etc.... definitely not HBO or other premium channels).

This web site might help you out: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040426151111599

You will need the Apple Firewire SDK.
 
ive been trying to find a way of inputing an HD signal into my imac since i got it and as of now it seems there isnt a way of doing HD. Just SD thru composite or a coaxial cable
 
CRIIM44 said:
ive been trying to find a way of inputing an HD signal into my imac since i got it and as of now it seems there isnt a way of doing HD. Just SD thru composite or a coaxial cable
Click to expand...

Look at the link I posted above. You certainly can get HD into a Mac, just not the encrypted channels. You could also get an EyeTV 500 with an HD antenna and get the Over-The-Air HD channels into a Mac.
 
Leon Kowalski said:
Sorry, frayed knot!

A full HD video feed (1920x1080 x 3 colors x 8 bits) exceeds the maximum bandwidth of FW800 -- at any frame rate above 16 FPS.

FW800 can handle lower resolution compressed video formats, but it can't possibly compete with an HDMI or DVI video cable.

LK
Click to expand...

You're statement would be true if cable boxes sent raw 1920x1080 feeds out the firewire ports, which they don't. The firewire ports on cable boxes output an MPEG2 stream. It's that same MPEG2 stream that the cable boxes themselves decode and send out the HDMI port to your TV so you loose no signal quality using firewire to a mac vs hooking the cable box to an HDTV via HDMI.

So, yes, you can get HDTV into a Mac. People have been doing this for several years in the PC world with MythTV and Windows MCE.
 
mslide said:
You're statement would be true if cable boxes sent raw 1920x1080 feeds out the firewire ports, which they don't. The firewire ports on cable boxes output an MPEG2 stream. It's that same MPEG2 stream that the cable boxes themselves decode and send out the HDMI port to your TV so you loose no signal quality using firewire to a mac vs hooking the cable box to an HDTV via HDMI.

So, yes, you can get HDTV into a Mac. People have been doing this for several years in the PC world with MythTV and Windows MCE.
Click to expand...

With risk of going OT here, do u then say its possible to use the iMac as a seperate monitor through DVI or normal VGA?

Im interested in this, since id like to be able to use my iMac as a monitor for my PC, maybe in some kind of Picture in Picture, would be awesome.
 
mslide said:
You're statement would be true if cable boxes sent raw 1920x1080 feeds out the firewire ports, which they don't. The firewire ports on cable boxes output an MPEG2 stream.
Click to expand...
That's correct. Firewire can handle compressed HD video streams such as MPEG2; so, as you said, it certainly IS possible to stuff HD program material into an iMac. Thanks for the correction.

OTOH, the OP (or at least his subject line) was asking whether there's any way to feed an HDMI signal to an iMac -- and the simple answer is NO. By definition, HDMI and DVI are uncompressed video feeds, and the iMac has no inputs to accomodate them.

Technically, it would be possible to compress an HDMI signal to MPEG2 and transmit it over firewire -- but that's essentialy a "movie" of the HDMI signal, rather than the signal itself. There is a HUGE difference.

It's that same MPEG2 stream that the cable boxes themselves decode and send out the HDMI port to your TV so you loose no signal quality using firewire to a mac vs hooking the cable box to an HDTV via HDMI.
Click to expand...
No argument there. Firewire has enough bandwidth to handle cable-quality HD programming, without loss -- but not nearly enough to be a general-purpose substitute for an HDMI, DVI, or VGA "monitor cable."

LK
 
PellePirat said:
With risk of going OT here, do u then say its possible to use the iMac as a seperate monitor through DVI or normal VGA?

Im interested in this, since id like to be able to use my iMac as a monitor for my PC, maybe in some kind of Picture in Picture, would be awesome.
Click to expand...

Practically speaking - no. You would need to get a video transcoder or A/D converter that converted the DVI or VGA signal to a DV data stream on a Firewire port, and then run a video capture program on the Mac to display it.

It is totally impractical. Besides the cost of the outboard hardware, there will be a lag time in display.
 
CanadaRAM said:
Practically speaking - no. You would need to get a video transcoder or A/D converter that converted the DVI or VGA signal to a DV data stream on a Firewire port, and then run a video capture program on the Mac to display it.

It is totally impractical. Besides the cost of the outboard hardware, there will be a lag time in display.
Click to expand...

arh oki, thanks, just had my hopes up there :)

Without stealing topic, is there a piece of software that i can use on iMac to control my PC? Like a terminal service of some kind?
 
Thanks

This community is the BEST!

The firewire solution seems to be the best. I will try it this week.

Unfortunately, Cablevision charges me another $6 a month for a digital cable box. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet or else use the old box and the elegato with the coaxial connector. That's an analog port and therefore incapable of transmitting HD signal, right?

Too bad about the hdmi roadblock.

Thanks again.
 
Works great!

Thank you all for the information.

The step by step tutorial using the sdk and the vlc worked perfectly.

Thanks so much again.
 
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