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mac mini HDMI ? ? ? ?

I

ibookowner2005

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 12, 2005
24
0
just wondering...

i have a sony LCD tv with a 'hdmi' and 'dvi' input. (correct me if im wrong) you can connect mac mini to tv with a 'dvi' connection but NO sound. however a 'hdmi' is a video and audio connection so by connecting this to my tv would i get sound?

sorry if i wrote this wrongly, im so confused...... all i want to do is connect my mac to tv with AUDIO and VIDEO in ONE connection.

is this possible... THANKS
 
As far as I know DVI only carries video. So you would need the DVI connection plus the audio out separate.
 
ibookowner2005 said:
just wondering...

i have a sony LCD tv with a 'hdmi' and 'dvi' input. (correct me if im wrong) you can connect mac mini to tv with a 'dvi' connection but NO sound. however a 'hdmi' is a video and audio connection so by connecting this to my tv would i get sound?

sorry if i wrote this wrongly, im so confused...... all i want to do is connect my mac to tv with AUDIO and VIDEO in ONE connection.

is this possible... THANKS
Click to expand...


If your tv has hdmi on the back then this might work for you
 
so if i used a 'hdmi' cable which carries AUDIO and VIDEO and connected it to my mac mini and tv, would i hear sound ?

the reason im asking this is because im not sure if audio is sent out of the mac minis connection?
 
ibookowner2005 said:
so if i used a 'hdmi' cable which carries AUDIO and VIDEO and connected it to my mac mini and tv, would i hear sound ?

the reason im asking this is because im not sure if audio is sent out of the mac minis connection?
Click to expand...

You should hear out of tv speakers unless you got external speakers connected to the mini.. IIRC

Since hdmi carries both audio/video on the single cable :eek: :eek:
 
np .. the community is like that .. very helpful :)

if you got a problem post it and if someone knows the answer to the question they'll answer soon or there trying to solve it when they got time .. so don't get mad when no one replys right away to your question :eek:
 
iphil said:
np .. the community is like that .. very helpful :)

if you got a problem post it and if someone knows the answer to the question they'll answer soon or there trying to solve it when they got time .. so don't get mad when no one replys right away to your question :eek:
Click to expand...

the community might be helpful but also in this case uninformed. you need either a cable that connects the audio out and dvi out to your hdmi in on your tv ( i have not seen such cables yet) or need to get an adapter for dvi out to hdmi in (as linked above) and connect the minis audio out to a standalone amplifier.
 
hdmi to hdmi will carry sound but that is it. Once you change hdmi to dvi or dvi to hdmi the sound feature is lost because dvi will only carry the video. You will have to hook up the speakers with a separate cable
 
thies said:
the community might be helpful but also in this case uninformed. you need either a cable that connects the audio out and dvi out to your hdmi in on your tv ( i have not seen such cables yet) or need to get an adapter for dvi out to hdmi in (as linked above) and connect the minis audio out to a standalone amplifier.
Click to expand...


I said IIRC earlier .. so don't get all puffy..
iphil said:
You should hear out of tv speakers unless you got external speakers connected to the mini.. IIRC

Since hdmi carries both audio/video on the single cable
Click to expand...

thies: then i knew
KINGJR3 said:
Those cables won't work. Converting DVI to HDMI will only convert the video.

To the OP: why is it such an issue to use DVI cable + this $5 audio cable?
Click to expand...
was right i was wrong and i forgot to say so .. :eek: :eek:

I thought hdmi cables had the capable to carry a/v on the same cable and i was coming from memory in my answer on a/v hdmi issue .. Thats why i said IIRC..
__________________
 
i QUOTE apple on the mac mini accessories page - http://www.apple.com/macmini/accessories.html

"HDMI is electrically similar to DVI, but has a different physical connector that may include an audio signal. You’ll need a DVI to HDMI adapter, such as the Belkin PureAV HDMI to DVI cable to use these televisions."

wot do they mean by 'MAY' include audio signal, does it or doesent it ??:confused: ??:confused: ??
 
As I said earlier HDMI to HDMI can carry sound other than that you WILL NOT get sound from it. If you take HDMI to DVI it WILL NOT carry sound, if you take DVI to HDMI it WILL NOT carry sound. For your computer you will have to hook up any sound source separately because DVI does not carry sound.
 
HDMI = DVI + Digital Audio + remote control functions (hardly ever used) + HDCP (high def copy protection, future technology, not in use now)

I know theres ways to take DVI and Digital Audio and put it through an HDMI cable, but it would be easier to run a dvi cable and audio cables seperately.
 
Mac Mini HDMI & DVI

To try and clarify this

HDMI carries video and audio
DVI carries only video

anytime you use dvi whether dvi to hdmi or hdmi to dvi you will only hve video and no audio

even dvi to vga adaptor will be audio only

Mac Mini connector on rear is DVI so makes no difference if you go DVI to HDMI will still be only video (where source starts from) no audio

HDMI to HDMI would produce video and audio but connector is not HDMI on rear of mac mini

will need separate audio connection when going from DVI on rear of mac mini to HDMI or DVI on lcd screen

just use 3.5 mini jack from mac mini to 2 rca phono which you should have ports for on the rear of your lcd screen, amplifier audio component
 
seattleda said:
I know the mac Mini has digital audio out, and the DVI -> HDMI cable is out there. But how do I add the Digital Audio (5.1) and my DIV into one HDMI cable?

Is this what I need?
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3570
Click to expand...


My question would be why?

If you are going straight into your TV than the audio wont be in 5.1 anyways. At best you will get 2.0 dolby digital. The best method would be to do dvi ->hdmi into tv and a seperate digital cable into a receiver or processor.
 
seattleda said:
I know the mac Mini has digital audio out, and the DVI -> HDMI cable is out there. But how do I add the Digital Audio (5.1) and my DIV into one HDMI cable?

Is this what I need?
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3570
Click to expand...

Yes that will work, however...

That's probably overkill for simply hooking up a mac mini to a TV. There are only a couple of situations where I could imagine those DVI+audio->HDMI converters would be useful. One would be if you had your TV mounted to the wall, you only had a single HDMI cable going through the wall to it and you didn't want to route another cable. In which case you could use that converter, and an HDMI switcher if you had multiple HDMI sources. Another case would be if your TV had an HDMI port but no dedicated audio inputs, which is highly unlikely (in this situation, take that $299 and put it towards a decent receiver and speakers instead. Then route the optical audio to it. It'll sound better). Some people like to route their HDMI sources through their receiver and use it as a switcher. It could be useful there as well, but personally I like to keep the video stuff outside of my receiver. There are other situations where it would be nice to have, but those come about when building a higher-end home theater.

Any decent HD TV will have at least 2 HDMI ports. One of those should have dedicated RCA-style audio jacks associated with it. Just use a 3.5mm->RCA cable to hook up the audio. Don't worry about not having optical audio going to a TV. You won't be able to tell the difference anyway, considering you'd be using the TV's built-in speakers. I don't use a mac mini, but for my home theater computer I route the optical audio to my receiver and the video to my TV's HDMI port.

The apple stores sell all the video cables and converters you'd need, at a decent price.
 
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