Mac Mini to Sony Grand Wega

[steve515]

Hello...

I am wanting to purchase a mac mini and to set it up to my Sony Grand Wega tv. Its a 60" LCD projection tv that is about 5 years old. It does have two HDMI ports.

Yesterday, i hooked up my dell computer to it just to see what it would look like. Needless to say, i wasnt impressed. I have an XFX geforce 8600gt video card in it. It has a DVI output and i used a DVI to HDMI cable for my tv.

I know that a mac mini and my dell arent comparable. The desktop on my pc along with various web pages looked fuzzy. I did try playing with the nvidia video settings on my computer.

What i am wondering is, will a mac mini hooked to my tv have a better screen resolution and look just like a monitor does. Just hate to spend 1K on a mini and not be happy.

I saw nothing in my tv's users manual about hooking up a pc. My tv is an HDTV. Sony KDF-60XS955.

Thank you
steve

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I haven't found what the maximum resolution of that TV is, it should be 1920 x 1080 at that size and price, but I found "1386 x 788" (http://www.highdefforum.com/rear-projection-tvs/3410-sony-kdf-60xs955-resolution-refresh.html) mentioned, and if that is true, it might explain the ****** looking picture.
Btw, what resolution did you use with your Dell?

And know, that TVs are not good monitors and will show computer's content not as good as a dedicated computer display.

Have you played a video or two in full screen on that TV from the Dell to see how it looks?

 

[steve515]

I haven't found what the maximum resolution of that TV is, it should be 1920 x 1080 at that size and price, but I found "1386 x 788" (http://www.highdefforum.com/rear-projection-tvs/3410-sony-kdf-60xs955-resolution-refresh.html) mentioned, and if that is true, it might explain the ****** looking picture.
Btw, what resolution did you use with your Dell?

And know, that TVs are not good monitors and will show computer's content not as good as a dedicated computer display.

Have you played a video or two in full screen on that TV from the Dell to see how it looks?

Well i didnt play any dvd's if thats what you mean. I just played random junk that i have downloaded in the past.

Well, i have tried pretty much all of the nvidia screen resolutions on my dell when i had it hooked up. And you're right. Sony screen resolution is 1386x788. I just found that in my users manual.

Thanks for responding..

-steve

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Well i didnt play any dvd's if thats what you mean. I just played random junk that i have downloaded in the past.

Well, i have tried pretty much all of the nvidia screen resolutions on my dell when i had it hooked up. And you're right. Sony screen resolution is 1386x788. I just found that in my users manual.

Thanks for responding..

-steve

Wow, a 60" TV with a that low resolution?

Anyway, the Mac mini will probably look the same and as that is such a low resolution for such a big screen, you will see artefacts, unless you have properly encoded video, like commercial DVDs or such. Maybe try some of Apple's Trailers in 720p or 1080p?
http://trailers.apple.com/

 

[bearcatrp]

I have the same tv as yours except mine is the 50 inch. Hooked mine up using HDMI, had to play with the settings to get it to look descent. Doesn't look as good as my blu ray player playing a DVD but it's ok.

 

[steve515]

Well that sucks. I was really wanting to use my tv as a monitor. Just sounds cool sitting at the couch and doing computer stuff, doesnt it? And the expense of the mini's compared to the imacs are very cheap. I was wanting a 27 imac i7. Guess i am gonna end up with an imac anyhow.

Well back in early 2005, that resolution was good. I mean, that was a VERY expensive tv. It was just under the XBR series. The picture in HD and blu ray are great. Of course, it wouldnt cut for most people nowadays. That tv is using what is now considered OLD technology....LCD projection. And if i am thinking right, the sony tv's had better resolution than all the other tv's.

I was just looking in my manual and it says "Note that this tv displays all format types of picture in a resolution of 1368x788."

I really appreciate you all stopping by and taking the time to help me with my ignorance.

thank you...

-steve

 

[bearcatrp]

You will be able to use it as a monitor. Yeah, these rear projection tv's look real good with my blu ray. Your mini will recognize 1080. You may think it's good enough for you so don't get disappointed until you hook it up. Let me know how it turns out. If I had 2 HDMI ports, my mini would be hooked up. But my blu ray player is hooked up on the only HDMI port. Good luck.