Mac HD Cinema Display as TV using firestick?

[ohdearlouise]

I have acquired an old Mac monitor, a HD Cinema Display. I’ve recently moved house & don’t have a TV… can I utilise the monitor as a temporary TV using my firestick?

The monitor doesn’t have a hdmi input, so not sure which connector to use.

I don’t know if the monitor has Bluetooth capabilities so assume I will also need to connect speakers somehow.

Can anyone help/advise?

Thanks!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Not sure if it will work HDMI TO Cinema Display's Mini Display port but you might try this dongle. That might only work the other way Mini DP TO HDMI. In other words, it might only work ONE way (conceptually old Mac to HDMI display instead of HDMI anything to Display Port hardware). Why? Content protection. A key part of HDMI is to prevent copying of content and I can't recall if Display Port has good support of "end to end" content security or not.

As to audio, Cinema Displays did have speakers, so if it works, you should have sound too. Else, you might want to get a little A/V amp or receiver with HDMI jacks and some "dumb" speakers.

Firestick HDMI into AMP:

• HDMI OUT of AMP to Dongle to Cinema Display.
• AMP speaker terminals to "Dumb" speakers via speaker wire.

But first, you better see if you can get HDMI TO DisplayPort working from Firestick. It may not. My best gut guess is that it will NOT work but maybe someone else will chime in with a success story.

Else, small, off-brand HDTVs can be purchased for < $100. Between the money for the fire stick and a dongle, you might have 30% of so of the price of one of those $100 televisions, some of which will have at least mainstream video apps on board like this one or this one or this one. $100 TVs will NOT be spectacular televisions but you'll get a picture and sound with no hack/dongle requirements and security complications.

If the TV idea appeals, another option might be to go cheap projector for a bigger "screen."

 

[Boyd01]

Which Cinema Display? I have an old 23" that I got around 2005. It has a DVI connector plus USB2 for control. No speakers. Still works, and I even have an HDMI adapter but I no longer use it. Not a good choice as a TV, IMO.

But you specifically say "HD Cinema Display". That would suggest this version that uses the proprietary ADC connector and also has no speakers. I really don't think that is a good choice, not sure if you could even find an adaptor today.

Either way, you would need to split the audio and send it to separate speakers. You'd need a special box for that, I have an old one myself. By the time you're done with buying adapters, cables and speakers it will cost more than a "real" TV.

Also, both of these screens are 1920 x 1200, so not actually 16:9 aspect ratio. I suspect that HD video would be letterboxed on the screen with black bars above and below, but not sure what would happen when connected to a device that isn't a computer.