iMac as display.... :)

[Qjuu]

Ok, here is a maybe strange idea...

If I want to use a PC only as gaming box and an iMac for all the other cool stuff....and don't want to put another display on my desk:

Is it thinkable, to use some kind of video capturing hardware at iMac's USB oder even better FW800 port and connect PC's DVI out to this port?? Not for capturing - just for viewing!

iMac has no DVI input - and I think will never have. But in this way I could play PC games at my iMac screen. Just for mouse and keyborad I need a KVM or another mouse/keyboard set, but thats another story...

What do you think about this idea? Does such firewire video capturing hardware exist? And if so, what performance could I expect?

Is it just a "signal pass-through" without performance loss or not? Best case would be, I could use iMac's full resolution 1920x1200!!

Any ideas?

 

[iMpathetic]

Ok, here is a maybe strange idea...

If I want to use a PC only as gaming box and an iMac for all the other cool stuff....and don't want to put another display on my desk:

Is it thinkable, to use some kind of video capturing hardware at iMac's USB oder even better FW800 port and connect PC's DVI out to this port?? Not for capturing - just for viewing!

iMac has no DVI input - and I think will never have. But in this way I could play PC games at my iMac screen. Just for mouse and keyborad I need a KVM or another mouse/keyboard set, but thats another story...

What do you think about this idea? Does such firewire video capturing hardware exist? And if so, what performance could I expect?

Is it just a "signal pass-through" without performance loss or not? Best case would be, I could use iMac's full resolution 1920x1200!!

Any ideas?

Try ScreenRecycler.

 

[mackindergarten]

Hi!

Synergy is a free alternative. Seems to be work the same way.

/Rupert

 

[iMpathetic]

Hi!

Synergy is a free alternative. Seems to be work the same way.

/Rupert

Excellent! I had been looking for a program like that as well, but was too cheap to pay $25 for Screen Recycler.

 

[Qjuu]

Mhm...interesting. It works over network, does it? So is it sufficient for gaming?? I've some experiences with remote desktop on PC's and this isn't nearly sufficient! Not even video is thinkable....never gaming....

And btw...I think I need an opposite solution! I don't want to use a second display at one Mac - I need one display (iMac's) with two computers (PC and iMac itself).

 

[mackindergarten]

It runs over the network, yes. If it's enough for gaming I can't verify here. Just give it a try. I think it will be faster as any remote desktop thing, since it only maps the keyboard/mouse input to the other computer and not the entire screen content (as with remote desktop).

I'm eager to find out how well it works. Please tell me, how it went.

As for your second question, to use the iMac's display as a screen for your PC, it depends a bit, on what you need. For minor things, a connection through VNC will be needed.

/Rupert

 

[Qjuu]

Thanks! But I think creenRecycler and Synergy is not what I'm looking for. I want only one display on my desk - an iMac. And VNC will never work with games.

So I searched the internet a bit and found this: Elgato EyeTV Hybrid: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?find=Elgato EyeTV Hybrid

It will do the job ("...Connect game consoles to your Mac..."), but it doesn't support higher resolutions and digital signals: http://faq.elgato.com/index.php/faq/more/443/

I hoped I could play games with iMac's native resolution 1920x1200. But this is a HD resolution and not supported by EyeTV Hybrid.

And here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6251181 I found another post about this topic. According to this post, even iMac's FW800 port isn't able to transfer display data with 1900 x 1200 x 60Hz

Meh....

 

[takeabyteoutta]

you're going to loss frame rate trying to run it. You'd be better off buying a 20" HDTV for around $250-$300, and using that for gaming, dual screening and with the iMac and TV viewing.